OUR STORY
Written by Karen Bates
Above: Karen and Bill Bates and their family
Our family sold everything we owned to move to Mexico... why?
Above: Karen and Bill Bates and their family
OUR STORY
Written by: Karen Bates
The Surprise
We never expected that one service trip would change everything about our lives.
We simply wanted to help a little — to be more grateful, to grow closer as a family. But what we experienced opened our hearts in ways we could not ignore.
The Beginning
Everything started when we traveled as a family to serve at an orphanage in Mexico. We expected discomfort. We expected hard work.
What we didn’t expect was that we would fall in love with the kids we met — their humor, their tenderness, their resilience.
What we saw stayed with us.
My Mom
I felt an immediate connection because my own mother was an orphan in Mexico.
She lost her mother at age five and spent her childhood afraid, alone, and often hurt by those who should have protected her.
She rarely spoke about it, but when she did, I always wished I could go back in time and rescue that little girl — give her a safe, loving home where she didn’t have to be afraid.
Standing in that orphanage decades later, I began to recognize my mother’s eyes in the faces of the children I met.
The Bates family along with other volunteers at an orphanage in Tijuana.
The Choice
As we spent time with the kids — kids starving not for food, but for love, attention, and stability — we felt a quiet question forming inside:
Would we walk away…
or would we try to do what we wished someone had done for my mother?
That question changed everything.
Coming Home
When we returned to the U.S., we walked into what suddenly felt like a very large house full of comforts we no longer needed.
We felt the jarring contrast between what we had and what the children we had just hugged did not.
We learned there were over 100 orphanages in Tijuana alone. The need was beyond anything we imagined.
We couldn’t ignore it.
Trying to Help from Home
Before moving, I had written a book about discovering your gifts and using them to make an impact in the world.
I began using the principles in the book to help families identify and use their gifts to serve orphanages in Mexico.
I created a school and led many service trips, and those children gained more people who loved and supported them.
But the more time we spent there, the more clearly we saw the deeper issues facing vulnerable teens.
Karen Tavares Bates with children at an orphanage.
The Issues
The more we visited, the more we learned:
Many orphanages in Mexico won’t accept teenagers.
Many orphanages As children become teens, they have to leave and go to a holding facility until they can find an orphanage with an opening for teens
Many orphanages are not equipped to deal with the unique needs of teenagers.
Teens sometimes run away from these institutions.
When they age out of the system, youth are often alone with no support system or path forward.
These intelligent, resilient, and creative young adults take jobs with minimal pay and sometimes return to the generational cycles of abuse, poverty, and addiction.
Being Someone who Cares
There are wonderful organizations providing food and shelter. But very few are addressing the unique needs of teens — the need to be heard, to belong, to be believed in, to have a safe place to heal, and to discover they matter.
Teens and young adults need:
A safe home
A caring community
An education
Guidance and mentorship
Opportunities to grow
A network of adults who believe in them
There was the gap — and we had a deep desire to help fill it.
Our Family's Decision
After months of prayer, family discussions, and wrestling with fear and excitement, our family chose to sell our home in Utah and almost all our belongings.
We purchased a plot of land in Solferino, Mexico, and moved there to begin building Find Your Path Mission.
We came not as "rescuers", but as partners — ready to walk alongside youth with others in the community as they grow into who they were created to be.
We aim to help vulnerable youth understand their purpose and make their unique impact on the world.
Invitation
We invite you to be part of these youths’ network — the circle of people who lift them, believe in them, and help them create meaningful futures.
You can:
Sponsor their education - become a monthly donor
Support campus projects - See our current needs
Come on a service trip or do an internship - Serve directly, teach, build, and grow as you experience community and culture.
Share this mission with others
Every young person we serve has unique gifts that can bless the world.
They simply need:
A little direction,
A lot of love, and
People who believe in them
We invite you to be one of those people.
Together, we are building an environment of community, healing, growth, and impact — a place where youth can discover who they are and build a purposeful future.
We are building an environment of community, healing, growth, and impact.
Youth listening during a team building activity on Find Your Path's ropes course.
OUR WHY
These faces and their love is what motivates us to do all we can to make this happen. This video is from a summer we spent at an orphanage and highlights some of the activities we planned with the kids.
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