What I Failed to See...

Shame

When my parents showed up to surprise us a couple of weeks ago (see previous email or blog post) my mom gave me a picture of a little girl in Jesus's arms. She pointed at the little girl and said, “This is You.”  

I tear up almost every time I see it. It reminds me that as His little girl, He loves me just as I am.

Having ADHD, I have often felt that no matter how hard I try, I often let people down by forgetting to do something important, being late, making an impulsive decision in which I didn’t consider all the angles, or failing to plan adequately. 

This shame can get heavy sometimes. 

This picture reminds me that I don’t need to seek this validation from anyone else. I already have it. God knows my heart and loves me as I am.

Overwhelm

I have been reading a book called “ADHD is Awesome.” I love it.

One of the things I am learning is that when people with ADHD have too many things on their to-do list, their brain shuts down. 

I had noticed this in myself lately, I couldn’t seem to control my thoughts or progress in all of the many projects, and I stared off into space constantly.

Or  I brake into tears at the thought of taking anything else on. I normally love challenges, but I just felt like I was frozen in place with my nose just over the water, not knowing which direction to swim. 

I'm sure you know that feeling too.

What I Failed to See....

What happened was that I wasn’t seeing all of the hands that were being extended towards us. I had the opportunity to reach out for those hands last week…

I forgot that I was gifted a booth for a day at a homeschool conference in Utah… until 2 days before the event!  I sent a Polo out to our events team to see if they thought we could put something together and then an email to all of you to see if anyone could help represent us at the booth. 

The response warmed my heart so much. You were willing to help. And you totally pulled it together beautifully last minute.

You Are Incredible

Events Team

After the event, during the debrief, I felt such an abundance of love for you guys and felt such a sense of relief from the feeling of drowning. It’s like they extended their arms out to me as I was in the water and pulled me up so I could breathe and look around at how many good people have helped us and will continue to help us.  

Monthly Donors

I cannot tell you how grateful I am for you, our monthly donors. 

 I love each of you for believing in this work and for not leaving us out here alone! Each time one of your donations comes in, I remember your trust, and pray for you with gratitude and a hope that you will be blessed for what you are doing. We would seriously have to contemplate having to quit all of this right now if it weren’t for your support.

Thank you Erin, Brittany, Benjamin, Christine, Mary, Michelle, Sara, Melinda, Jocelyn, Linda, Janis, Alycia, Jenny, Michelle, Jennifer, Heidi, Denis, and Stephanie <3 <3 <3

Website/Social Media Team

Also our web-design and social media team are incredible! We are a small group of three, but you are powerful and talented! And our talks are great therapy. I am so blessed to have you in my life. 

Everyone on this List!

And thank you for donating when you can, sharing social media messages, commenting on our posts, and doing your part in so many ways. It is so, so clear now that this is not just our work and that God wants lots of people involved. Thank, you, thank-you for your help.

Volunteers in Mexico

I can’t believe how many people we have had visit all the way out here, ready to help! The people we have met through this are abundantly good and confirm to us that with people like them, we will be able to bless lots of youth who just need a little direction and opportunity. Thank you for coming out and serving!

Perhaps You Were Born For Such a Time as This:

You are living the principles that I talked about at a weekly prayer meeting for the Universal Peace Federation last week (I spoke thanks to my friend Mary Christmas, who is a chaplain, which I think is SOOO cool).

I talked about how perhaps we are each born for such a time as this and what we can do about it. My speech starts at 28:40 (it should be at that point when you push play below) It is 8 minutes long. The other two speakers (one Jew and one from Islam)  were also very inspiring.

I love these kind of dialogues where we are just there to listen and learn from each other. I learned a lot from the other presenters.

I hope it also helped you stop to consider why you were born at such a time as this <3

Here are some of the things you are doing to help with the work here:

What You're Doing

"Antony"

“Antony” passed the English test and will get to start the Pathways Program in September! Thanks to your donations, he should be able to work here to pay his tuition in the next few months. This week, Esther from Michigan donated for him to get a computer! Thank you, thank you Esther! 

"Susy"

The school is going well and we have a new little girl. She is 6, but can’t be accommodated at the local school here. She can’t walk because her legs are twisted. She uses her arms to drag her legs everywhere she goes. She is adorable and she is SOOOO excited to be at school and to learn. Her little eyes light up when she answers questions and all the kids love clapping for her when she does it. 

Her favorite thing is to get a star for her hard work at the end of the day <3

What a privilege to get to be a part of this work of helping to educate God’s beautiful children!

Campus

Getting this campus ready is going to take a lot of time and resources, but it is so neat to see it begin. Our friends from Nebraska planted trees, weeded, mulched, and organized. We started some paths and garden areas. The kids from the school planted seeds and herbs. Our goal is to have one group of volunteers here each month so we can progress quickly (we progress much more slowly when it's just our family working on things....) You can sign up to volunteer here:

Service Trips

There is a special discount if you sign up to come this year before December (instead of $550 per person, it is $375) There is also a discount it you come before December of 2025 ($450 per person).

Remember, all of your trip fees go to your food, stay, and the project you will be working on!

Needs:

I have had a few people ask me for what our needs are right now so I will try to start including them in each email. My friend, Janell Howard made a list that I need to get from her, but for right now, here are a few of them:

• Monthly Donors: We have 19 monthly donors!!! With 20 more monthly donors at $30 per month, we would be able to keep our head above water and have enough to sustain what we are already doing. We could afford to pay young adults to help us and use that money for their education. When we eventually reach 60 donors at $30 per month, we could grow the work here. If you can donate just a little each month, it helps us tremendously!!!

• Another computer: We have another incredibly talented, hard working, insightful, and super kind young man who just turned 18 and who is also hoping to start Pathways in the fall. I met him at a Bible study here and he impressed me because he attends alone. His family is not interested. He stays after and washes dishes, cleans tables, and does what he can to help. He is really smart and would love the opportunity to get an education. Estimated cost $250

• Wood Slabs: We need shelves to hold the books we have. We can build them with the wood slabs that are sold here. We also need some wood slabs to make a couple of bunk beds for volunteers. Estimated Cost: $600

• Books: We brought a few books in English, and some were donated by the Feyereisen family (thank you!) We also want books in Spanish to inspire these kids to know they can do hard things. We would love to get them some Christian Heroes: Then & Now biographies, the Chronicles of Narnia series, and some of the amazing classics out there like the Hiding Place, Pollyanna, and Up from Slavery. Estimated Cost $10-15 per book

• Sports Equipment: Jump ropes, Sports Balls, Flag Football set, Volleyball net, Pickle ball set, ping pong table. Estimated cost: $5-$400

• Musical Instruments: We would love to teach kids music. We would like to have a variety of instruments for the kids to try and practice. The ones that are of most interest right now are probably a guitar, violin, and ukulele

Next Building Project: Volunteer Dorm: Estimated Cost $80,000

To Mail Things:

If you prefer mailing things instead of sending money, the address where we can receive mail is: 

Karen Bates

C. Emiliano Zapata S/N

Kantunilkin, Quintana Roo, Mexico 77307

Thank you for anything you can contribute <3

With lots of love and gratitude,

Karen Bates