Ministry Update

We’ve been going all out over the past few weeks with the Una Esperanza O.C. Kids ministry here in Orange County, California. Summer is when we typically have our hands full here in California and in Juarez, Mexico at the Una Esperanza children's shelter. We normally spend one week out of each month at Una Esperanza-Juarez and then return to our home base here in California to tend to the administration end of the ministry, and our focus turns to the local Una Esperanza O.C. Kids ministry.

During the school year we only have these local kids on the weekends, but the summer months afford us the opportunity to spend a great deal more time discipling these kids. We take them to church each week throughout the year, but during the summer months we’re also able to take them to a local beach for Bible studies, and our home is generally filled each weekend with these kids. It’s a real blessing watching some of them grow in their faith as a result.






Giving is typically down during the summer months, and this year is no exception. For this reason, we have not been able to go to Una Esperanza-Juarez in a while. We still have some staff issues to deal with in Juarez, so we do hope to get back out there soon. We’re confident that God will work everything out in His timing.

August will mark the one-year anniversary for us without an aircraft to use for our mission flights, and we just found out that the commercial airline we’ve been using this past year is going out of business September 1st. Its easy sharing the praise reports when things are going smoothly, but sharing the tough stuff can be difficult, to say the least.

Even though we don’t always see God's hand at work during our difficulties, we’re doing our best to stand in His goodness, His faithfulness, and His love in this and every situation. Please know that we covet your prayers. Please pray that God would be glorified through Kingdom Flight and that we would be faithful in all that we do.

If We Are HIS Hands, Why Aren't We Reaching?

This past week we gathered up our Una Esperanza O.C. Kids and took them to a Vacation Bible School (VBS) at a local church. There were about 250 kids at this particular VBS and our racially diversified group of mostly Latino kids stood out quite a bit amongst the sea of predominantly blond-haired and blue-eyed kids in attendance. I found this to be a bit disheartening, considering the rather large Latino community in the vicinity of this particular church.

The idea for the Una Esperanza O.C. Kids ministry came about after we led a group of children during a sponsored VBS outreach from another church to this very same community some three years ago. Back then, the church we were attending sent an outreach team into this area offering free sponsorships to their upcoming VBS. The response was overwhelming, and we ended up leading the entire group of sponsored kids during the event. They were so spiritually hungry and receptive to learning about Jesus that we decided to establish the Una Esperanza O.C. Kids ministry for these kids.


We do not presently have any particular church that we call home, and the main reason for us is that we’ve been having difficulty finding a church that seems to live out the biblical model for the church. We believe that the church is here to glorify God primarily through prayer and worship, for training and equipping the saints through sound teaching, and to challenge each follower of Christ in their local body to reach a lost world around us with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We’ve found plenty of churches that focus on one or two of these, but surprisingly, we can’t seem to find one in our area that does them all!

It seems as though the great commission of going forth is the one that often gets lost and the local church itself becomes the end-all to the Christian experience by focusing on numerous events and programs. We live in a world where the vast majority of people around us are lost! Shouldn’t we who call Jesus Lord be living with a sense of urgency for reaching them?


God has not only brought these Una Esperanza O.C. Kids into our lives, but He has also given us immeasurable joy through knowing these kids. The relationships that we’ve developed with these kids are priceless! They each have their own unique personalities and gifts, and it’s an incredible blessing to watch them grow in their faith! We’ll be spending a great deal of time with these kids during these summer months. We’ve already begun our twice-weekly Bible studies and we also have several more events planned for these kids, and hopefully each and every one of these events will point them to our wonderful Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.






This post is not intended as a rant against the Church. God has ordained the Body of Christ as a whole to be His ambassadors to the world, and we strongly believe in that calling. It is just so disappointing sometimes to see that calling watered down to the point of primarily focusing on those within the walls of the church. I praise God that a body of believers decided to reach out to these overlooked children three years ago and I pray that God would light a fire under many churches across America to reach out beyond their own walls to a lost and dying world.

Summer is here at last!

Today’s expected high is forecasted to be 106 degrees at Una Esperanza in Juarez, Mexico! Here in South Orange County California it’s a warm but bearable 87 degrees.

Our local ministry with the Una Esperanza O.C. Kids shifts into high gear this week as the school year ends for the kids and their summer vacation begins. We’ll be spending an entire week with these kids during an upcoming vacation bible school (VBS) event at a local church. We’ll also be kicking off our twice-weekly bible studies at the beach. We have several day-trips planned for the kids and even a weekend camping trip later this summer.

We hope to add even more kids to this ministry but we’re very limited to the number of children we can include without additional transportation. We’re in need of a passenger van or SUV capable of hauling all these extra kids around so please keep this need in your prayers!






Una Esperanza-Mexico Update:
Patsy our onsite missionary at Una Esperanza has had some recent health problems and the ministry center has been closed for the past three weeks as a result. She reports that she’s doing much better and we’re hoping to have her back in action and the ministry center opened again sometime this week.



The Kids cool off at Una Esperanza in Juarez, Mexico

Training for Battle

“Praise be to the LORD my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle.” Psalm 144:1 Lately, I can truly relate to this particular verse.

It would be wonderful if verses like this relating to battle somehow didn’t apply to us as we lived a peace-filled life as “turn the other cheek” Christians. The sad reality is that there is evil in the world around us, and sometimes we are forced to face and even confront this evil. This is especially true in Kilometer 33. Juarez has had almost 400 murders this year alone, and all of Mexico is at war with the drug lords that have held this country captive for decades. Danger is a reality. We ultimately rely on God’s protection when we travel to Una Esperanza, and we have experienced this divine protection many times, but it’s also wise to prepare the best we can.


I’ve trained in martial arts for years, and after a two-year layoff, I felt the need to hone my skills again so I joined a local MMA (mixed martial arts) fight training gym that teaches Jiu Jitsu, Muay Thai kick boxing and wrestling. The idea is to master each unique discipline and combine them all together, i.e. MMA.


Most of my instructors are professional fighters and they very much look the part. My personal trainer Adam looks like he could kill you with his bare hands, and quite honestly, he probably could if he wanted to! He’s covered in tattoos, (which seems to be common in the profession) shaves his head and looks just plain mean!

Adam and the other instructors also train our son Noah three times a week, and I’ve learned (and so has Noah) that you can’t judge a book by its cover. As we’ve gotten to know Adam, we have found that he’s genuinely one of the nicest guys we’ve met in a long time.


I’ve since discovered that many of the instructors at the gym are also Christians, and Noah and I have had a great time establishing friendships and honing our self-defense skills. Lesli and I have even established some meaningful relationships with some of the parents of the other students as we sit in on Noah’s classes. We never know when or where God may use us but it’s exciting to see how He does when we least expect it!

O. C. (Orange County) Kids update:
Our Una Esperanza O.C. Kids spent this past Memorial Day weekend at our home as they often do and it was a great time of building relationships and having fun. We had church at our home with these kids on Sunday and it was a great time of studying God’s word together. We thought we’d give the home church concept a try, and I must say that everyone enjoyed the experience greatly! The kids seemed to get a lot out of it and we were able to share specific needs and pray for each one, and I think that meant a lot to the kids. It reminded me of how the early church must have been where they gathered in homes and sought to meet each other’s spiritual and physical needs.

Una Esperanza Juarez, Mexico Update:
Patsy (our on-site missionary at Una Esperanza) has been reporting that she has been seeing a real breakthrough with the kids at Una Esperanza ever since our January trip where we made a point to hug and pray for each child at the center.

The Easter trip with the Iowa State Navigators also made a huge impact on these kids. She says that they have really been responsive to the bible teaching like never before. Una Esperanza has been doing well, but we still have many obstacles ahead to overcome, and we would greatly appreciate your continued prayers as we seek to reach the “least of these” in Jesus name.

Mother's Day

I just wanted to express how thankful I am that I get to be a mother to quite a few kids, both here in the US and in Mexico.  I couldn't ask for a sweeter son than my Noah.  He has such a sensitive heart for God, and he's always my #1 little man, and he so willingly shares my love with so many other kids who call me "Mom."  I am so grateful that God has opened up our world and our hearts to include all of them.  My heart is full of blessings that each one of the children in my life have brought into my life, and I can't imagine life any other way.

Our Orange County kids fill our home with joy and have added many girls to our lives, which is a wonderful addition, and I love my God-given daughters so very much.  They make me laugh, and they brighten my life and my weekends.

All the little (and big) ones that God has brought into my life through the work of Una Esperanza fill my heart with love and hope for them, that they will have a better future because they are coming to know Christ as their hope.  God has given Brad and I the privilege of unique positions as the father and mother of so many children who know no other love or parenting.  

I'm also so thankful to God for my own mom.  Hopefully she'll forgive my using this picture from our past.  She has taught me and continues to teach me much about living by faith and loving God.  I'm so proud of the legacy of faith that my mom has given me, and I want to always pass that on to my children - God is good, and He is faithful, and He can be trusted with anything and everything.  Thank you God, and thank you, Mom.

Fruit That Will Remain...

One of the tasks the Iowa State team took on when they came to see us over Easter was to paint the interior of the ministry center, and as I look at the pictures that we have on the photo gallery (*shameless attempt to get you to go view them*), I'm reminded of a verse in John 15 that God kind of highlighted to me back in October of last year. Verse 16 of John 15 says, "You did not choose me, but I chose you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask of the Father in My name, He may give to you." We've long talked with Patsy about how we all wanted to have scripture and art work on the walls where the children can learn the significance and apply it to their lives, so were all excited when Hunter and his crew jumped right in to bring our dreams to life.

The first day they spent a lot of time cleaning the junk off the walls and masking out the line between the "earth" and "sky" that we wanted painted, then they laid the foundation of the blue sky and the green grass. There was a lot of detail work and more than once, someone had to clean a little paint off the windows that had errantly found its way onto the glass. That day's work kind of reminded me of how we've been laying a foundation with these kids at Una Esperanza, establishing relationships in the community, "cleaning the junk off", if you will, and laying a firm foundation for the Word of God to take hold of them.

The second day the painters started sketching out the trees and envisioning the details of what the scene would entail, where would the trees be, what scripture would be painted on the wall, what types of trees, etc. This reminds me of the visions that God has put before us as a goal -plans and ideas of ways to reach these Tarahumara Indians for Christ. Just as there were adjustments to the planned artwork to make it more beautiful, God has also brought about adjustments and tweaks to the plans we've begun, altering them slightly to give God alone the glory and to make the outcome more fruitful.

Finally, as the tree trunks were in place and the scriptures were posted on a banner across the trees (in Spanish and in English), the leaves were sponged onto the landscape, creating a lush background for the fruit that would be added at a later time (pictures of our kids, in this case). As I saw all the foliage on the trees, I was so excited. God had promised us fruit that would remain, and I was seeing so much room for all that fruit! It's such a visual reminder of all that God has promised to do through Una Esperanza, and we look so forward to the trees being full of fruit that will remain in Him and grow to full maturity.

She's Back!

(Lesli here...)What an awesome day this has been. We've had a great week with the Navigators group from Iowa State. They were such a blessing to us and to our kids. More about that in a moment.

When we arrived at the ministry center this morning, we were greeted by a familiar face - Mariquita (Alicia) arrived back at Kilometer 33 last night and we were so thrilled to see her beautiful smile and give her lots of hugs. It truly felt like that blessing was more than we could even imagine to top off this week. It felt like God was giving us an extra special gift to have her back.


As I mentioned in the beginning, we've had a marvelous time with these young men and women from Iowa State. We were blessed in so many ways by them as they served and loved on our kids. We've never had our kids so impacted by people that have come to Una Esperanza. They were truly examples of servant leadership and were such amazing examples of Christ's love, and we're confident that the investment they made this week will have wonderful eternal results.


We are so grateful for their willingness to serve in any way that was needed - they renovated our playground set using their engineering and ingenuity skills, they painted the interior of our ministry center with a wonderful new mural, they told Bible stories and acted out skits that wonderfully engaged the kids, they gave countless "caballo" rides on their backs, they led the kids in music and worship, helped the kids with crafts, and just loved the kids in any every way they could.



Please keep them in your prayers as they will be driving back the 20-something hours to Iowa in the next two days. We thank God for bringing them into our lives and to the children of Una Esperanza. Brian, thanks so much for listening to the prompting of the Holy Spirit and bringing your crew to Juarez. God bless you guys and we love you all!

Kingdom Flight Update

Easter 2007 at Una Esperanza


The grand opening of the Tienda de Una Esperanza store was held last Friday. Our purpose for this particular project is to promote self-sustainability for the people of Kilometer 33, and a percentage of the proceeds will go towards providing for our daily feeding and ministry program at the Una Esperanza ministry center. We’re already seeing results, and Monday we were able to feed the children for the first time in weeks. This has been a welcome blessing, especially during this difficult time where the need has far outgrown our current resources! Please join us in prayer for this “Store of Hope” addition to the Una Esperanza ministry center.


We’re getting ready for our annual Easter trip to Una Esperanza and looking forward to celebrating Easter with the children of Kilometer 33. We have a team of 21 from Iowa State University joining us for the week and we're looking forward to making much about Jesus!


We’ll be flying out this Saturday March 15th and returning Monday March 24th and we would appreciate your prayers. Please pray that many would come to know Christ through our efforts and that God would bless this trip abundantly!

Ministry Update

We are praising God that our second annual Easter mission trip has been confirmed. A team of 21 from Iowa State University will be visiting Una Esperanza March 16-21. They will also be sponsoring fundraising events at two separate churches in Iowa for Kingdom Flight this Sunday, March 9th. Please join us in prayer for God’s blessing on their efforts!

We were hoping to be able to travel to Una Esperanza this week for the grand opening of the Una Esperanza store scheduled for this Friday, but unfortunately, we just don’t have the funds to do so. Una Esperanza also remains closed for the fourth week in a row for this same reason. We are still waiting on God’s provision, and we know that this is something that only He can fix. Please pray for the children of Una Esperanza and for us during this difficult season. We may not always see God at work through our circumstances, but we do know that He is faithful.

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.