Jonathan's Hope

The first time we visited an orphanage in Mexico back in 2020, we met a young man I will call Jonathan.

He was fourteen and so shy.

I would sometimes notice him looking at me and when I would turn to look at him and smile, he would look away, embarrassed.

By the end of our time there, he had started smiling back at me. His smile melted my heart because you could see he needed love so badly, but didn't feel worthy of it.

His smile seemed to say, "Maybe there is hope."

You can imagine how disappointed I was when we returned to the orphanage one year later, and he was no longer there.

The kids told me he had gotten in trouble with one of the caretakers and was taken away.

A couple of months ago, I got a friend request on Facebook from Jonathan!

He had turned 18, left the orphanage, and now had a phone. I asked him what he was up to. He said he was working as a guard at a rehab center and that they let him live there.

He asked what we were up to. I told him we were currently in Texas trying to raise money for a home and school in Mexico for teens and young adults who wanted to study.

He asked questions about the school and asked if he could come when it was ready.

Because of learning difficulties, he had not gone to High School. I told him that we would love to have him when we were back in Mexico if he was willing to abide by the standards, get his government ID to travel, and save for a plane ticket.

He had the rehab director (closet person to family that he had) call me to get details.

I was able to ask her a lot of questions about him and his character. She told me he is very noble and is often helping others. She wasn't sure about his ability to learn English because of his learning difficulties, but that he could try and she would support him by helping him get what he needed to go.

I told her that we didn't yet know when we would be back in Mexico, but that we hoped to get back to the work soon.

Because of your kindness, we are getting closer to being able to get back:

Update:

You have helped us raise $6700 to continue the work in Mexico. You have helped us get to 33 monthly donors! We are so thankful. Right now, we are saving all of the money that comes in from your monthly donations so that we can use it to:

1. Fix the road so we can get people to our house and to the ropes course

2. Buy some books for English classes

3. Begin building a youth home

4. Hire 2 teachers

Our only expense right now is to a very good man who is watching our house and feeding the dogs.

He is also preparing plans for the youth home and for the projects that the next service group will be doing. We pay him $180 per month to do this. When he begins working on projects, we will pay him more since we will need more of his time.

He and his family are doing a lot of good in the community and we are glad we can support them in a small way as he keeps our house safe and our dogs happy.

Once we get back to Mexico, the first steps will be:

1. Digging ditches for re-routing water away from our road (a school group is coming from Idaho on the first week of February who will help us do this)

2. Start building the youth home with the group that is coming and with the resources you have sent.

3. Meeting with the local head of the Children's Protective Services to begin working with the government in helping youth who are in state custody be able to come experience a loving home and learn with us. I will have a meeting with her in January.

4. Marketing the ropes course so we can have a business to sustain the work. We will take flyers to local hotels and tourist areas.

5. Networking with other local businesses about partnerships for getting local tourism to our ropes course.

6. Building relationships in the community by teaching English to the local youth we were teaching before we left ,and beginning a couple of night classes for adults.

How We Are Using Your Donations:

In order to get back to Mexico to continue this work, we need 200 monthly donors (averaging $25 each).

This will allow us to have resources to continue building slowly with a monthly building budget, hire 2 teachers, buy supplies and books for the school, market the ropes course (print and deliver flyers), and have our basic needs met (food, drinking water, and gas until we get the ropes course business established.)

Once we are making income from the ropes course, all of the donations will go towards teachers, school supplies, and building the home for youth.

When the first home is finished, donations will also sponsor youth and their education.

How You Can Help

If you can make even a small monthly donation, it would really help.

If you are not able to donate, could you please share our website with friends to find someone who can help?

Also, if you know of any podcasts, media, or YouTube channels that would be willing to have me talk about this work, educational principles and systems for finding your unique path, or to share our story - could you please tell them about me or tell me about them? My email is karen@findyourpathmission.org and my phone number is +52 (985) 215-4307 I know if we can get our message to more people, there are more who would be willing to help.

Make a Donation

Events

Here is a fun way to get your Christmas shopping done while you help with this important work:

You can shop, donate items, food, or services to sell, or even perform! It is going to be such a fun event. I hope you can come support us and tell your friends <3 Here is a link to the Facebook Page for the Event.

Thank you!

Your support has done so much and we are so excited for how far we have come! There is so much to do, but we are encouraged by your love, prayers, and support. With people like you and your faith, this has to succeed. We are so grateful.

With Love,

Karen Bates

P.S. It only takes a few minutes to make a donation. Will you consider becoming a monthly donor (a PathMentor)?

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