One Week To Go...

Well, things are coming together for the store at Una Esperanza. The above picture shows progress that's been made in the last few weeks - the exterior is being covered with stucco and will soon be painted to match our ministry center, and we have roll-up security doors to cover the doors and windows (which we learned the hard way are a necessity in Mexico...).

Texas State SIFE (Students In Free Enterprise) has been working with us on this project and has so generously given so much to make this project a reality. It's so encouraging to interact with people who seek to help out in Kilometer 33, among the people of Una Esperanza, and in such a tangible way. It is our prayer that this store and the financial proceeds that it brings will help the people of Una Esperanza and also help to fund the ministry center in some way. We have also been brought into relationship (through SIFE) with a ministry in New Mexico that would like to be an ongoing help in supplying food for our feeding program in the future, so we definitely thank God for His divine appointments.


The grand opening of the store is scheduled for next Friday, March 7th, and we are so excited about this. We want to give God thanks publicly for all that He has brought to pass in this project and to dedicate it to His glory, and we would ask you to pray that God would supply the finances for us to go out to Una Esperanza and be part of this celebration. With all the struggles and battles of the past season, we just want to rejoice in what God has done.



Also along that line, we thank God that we were able to have a feeding for some of the children yesterday. It's been a tough few weeks when we haven't had the finances to feed our kids, and we praise God that we could do it yesterday.

We so appreciate the prayers and encouragement we have received from so many people who are standing with us in this season of challenge. We know that God is good and faithful, and we praise Him for bringing people into our lives that are truly people of faith and are led by the Holy Spirit. Please continue to pray for us as and when God leads you to do so.

THE UNA ESPERANZA O. C. KIDS

The Una Esperanza O.C. Kids

In the summer of 2006, I was asked to lead a group of children in our hometown during a church-sponsored Vacation Bible School (VBS). I must say that I really wasn’t all that interested at the time. I already had the physical and spiritual needs of some 150 neglected Indian children in Mexico to keep me busy, and I wasn’t really looking forward to working with the often over-indulged children of South Orange County California. However, I strongly felt that God was calling me to take on this group of children, so I carved out the time.

It turned out that the group of children that I was assigned was the only group of Latino children attending the event, out of some 700 children. Working with these kids was such a wonderful blessing that we established a local ministry (The Una Esperanza O.C. Kids) for these same children. Ministering to these children is a bit different than ministering to the neglected and often abused Tarahumara children of Mexico. Physical poverty is not really the issue for these children, but it soon became clear to us that the spiritual needs were much the same.


This local ministry has since become an integral and rewarding part of the Kingdom Flight ministry, and we’ve seen incredible spiritual growth in several of these children. The Una Esperanza O.C. Kids accompany us to church, we’ve held our own beach Bible studies and VBS events, and when we’re not out spending time with these kids in our local area, they’re often hanging out with us at our home.



I just finished a short video highlighting the Una Esperanza O.C. Kids, which can be accessed from our home page. We’d greatly appreciate your prayers for this local ministry as well as your continued prayers for the children of our Una Esperanza-Juarez ministry center.

Still Standing

God's Word Promises Peace Amidst The Storms Of Life.

Last summer, Lesli had the idea of posting this blog as a way of communicating what God is doing through the ministry. I agreed and one of our very first posts was on the successful Mariquita rescue last July. We literally had hundreds of people following this story as it unfolded, and the prayers of many were felt during the rescue. However, sharing the trials and difficulties we encounter are not naturally reported with the same enthusiasm as praises. But if we truly believe that God is in control, shouldn’t we be able to report them this way?

Over the past several months, God has been teaching us to be content in all situations, and believe it or not, this means contentment even during the difficult times. God’s Word says that we have the ability through His strength to be content in all situations. If His Word says that I can have this contentment, I’m going to do my best to achieve it!

Over the past six months, we lost our only Kingdom Flight aircraft, financial giving has been way down, and because of this we’ve had to limit our visits to Una Esperanza. As a result, the ministry to the Tarahumara in general has suffered setbacks. The ministry center remains closed for the second week in a row due to the continued lack of funds. To add to all of this, we’ve encountered intense spiritual warfare on every front during these difficult times!

Una Esperanza June 2005

Una Esperanza Today

I can honestly say that in spite of our current circumstances, God has given us a wonderful peace and contentment through all of this! God has used these trials to deepen our relationship and dependence on Him. I used to do well to devote fifteen minutes a day in dedicated prayer. Yes, I prayed often during the day, but the recent trials placed on my heart the need to spend much more time in prayer without distractions. Each day I now climb a hill behind our house and pray for at least an hour and most often find myself praying for much longer. God has used these difficult times to confirm our calling, give direction, and strengthen our marriage. We’ve even had the time to intensify our study of Spanish so that we can communicate more effectively when we are able to finally get back to ministering in Mexico.

I’ve learned that His yoke is indeed easy and that I do not have to carry the burdens He never intended for me to carry! Sometimes we just have to be patient, wait expectantly, and trust Him. God is good and He is trustworthy!

Note: We believe that God may be about to provide us with yet another aircraft for the ministry soon. We would humbly ask that you keep this in your prayers, as this is a vital tool for helping us reach the lost and “the least of these” in remote areas.

Not My Burden

It’s Not My Burden! I’ve been resting in God’s peace by saying this quite a bit this week. This week has been an unusually difficult one for me. Our Una Esperanza ministry center in Juarez, Mexico has been closed for just over a week now because we ran out of money. It costs us about $200 per day to operate the ministry center and for the first time in quite a long while, we’ve had to close the center.

Traditionally, we see a dramatic drop in giving right after the holidays each year, and this year it’s even lower than in previous years. God has been incredibly faithful in providing for this ministry for over five years now, but when we’re forced to close the center because funds are low, I tend to try to fix things through my own strength.

We firmly believe that Kingdom Flight is called to be different than other ministries when it comes to fundraising. Our fundraising methods are spelled out in detail on our website under the “About Us” section, so I won’t spend time on the details here, but in a nutshell, we do the majority of our fundraising through prayer alone.

We take Mathew 6:33 literally. We believe that Kingdom Flight belongs to God and that He will guide and provide all that we need if we “seek first His kingdom”. His word says so, doesn't it? Or does this mean that we should seek His will and His kingdom first and then add our own ideas (or fundraising efforts) to the mix? Most ministries nowadays spend a great deal of time focusing on fundraising methods, and there’s nothing really wrong with this at all. However, we firmly believe that God has called us to fundraise primarily through prayer alone, and this is what we do.

In my human reasoning, I often do not understand God’s plans or why He would ever allow our funds to get so precariously low that we have to close the ministry center. Doesn’t He want us to continue reaching these precious children? Doesn’t He ultimately want to us to take the gospel to the estimated 70,000 and virtually unreached Tarahumara Indians living in the mountains some 250 miles further south? I believe that He absolutely does! Then if so, why does money run low from time to time? Why after our recent spiritual breakthrough with the Tarahumara children of Kilometer 33 are we suddenly brought to a screeching halt?

I tend to take these financial burdens on myself, and if Una Esperanza is closed, I question whether it’s because I’m failing to do something I should be doing to make sure that we have the money to continue. I’ve concluded that this might be true if we were called to operated like most other ministries. What God has taught me this week is that I have played very little part in raising any of the money He has ever provided for Kingdom Flight to date. We funded this ministry through my construction business initially, but over three years ago the demands of Kingdom Flight became so great that I had to close the construction business altogether and devote myself to the ministry full-time. Lesli joined me in full-time ministry in October of 2006, and we’ve been totally dependent on God’s provision for us and Kingdom Flight ever since!

This week God has taught me that He will meet all of our needs in His timing, not mine. He may not necessarily meet all of our wants, but He will meet all of our needs. This even applies to Una Esperanza being open. Una Esperanza is His, and if He wants it open, it will be and I have to trust Him on this. I’ve also learned that we’re right where He wants us right now and that I do not have to carry this burden myself - it’s His!

Matthew 11:29-30 says, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

This week I’m doing my best to carry His yoke and I’m also doing my best to separate His burdens from my burdens. Are you carrying any burdens this week that belong to God? If so, may I encourage you to take His yoke upon you and lay your burdens at His feet? He is faithful, and it’s wonderful to find rest for your soul, even when things don't necessarily make sense.