Monday, August 31, 2009

Please Pray

"In You, O LORD, I put my trust; Let me never be ashamed; deliver me in Your righteousness. Bow down Your ear to me, Deliver me speedily; be my rock of refuge, a fortress of defense to save me. For You are my rock and my fortress; therefore, for Your name's sake, lead me and guide me" (Psalm 31:1-3).

Please be in prayer for us as we await a verdict with the upcoming hearing. Pray for Lic. Chávez, our attorney, to present a good defense, please pray for favor with the judge, (this lady with a reputation of not being very kind). Pray for the MP (public minister) not to arraign, but above all, pray for God's perfect will to be accomplished!

Dan would like to request permission to speak to the judge that day (Friday, September 4th). Above all, he wants to be a witness of God's love to this lady. He is praying for God to give him the words to say to her.

Thank you so much. My family and some members of our congregation will be fasting as well as in prayer that day. You are welcome to join us, if you wish...

Love,

Ana & Roshon

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Happy Easter!!!


Easter Sunday is my favorite day of the year. I just love it! Growing up in Mexico we didn't do the Easter bunny, nor did we do candy or presents, we didn't get a 'Easter outfit'. I remember a few Easter egg hunts, but I had no idea that it was because of Easter... just that it was for fun!
Easter is just so much more, when I think about GOD the Father giving HIS ONLY son to die in the hands of horrible, disgusting people... His precious son, tortured willingly for you, for me. I can't describe with words how that makes me feel.
In Mexico, we get up at 4 in the morning and start climbing a mountain, Cerro Prieto. It's just so beautiful and it makes me feel so alive, alive in Christ. Last night I was talking to my mom and she told me they weren't going to climb the mountain this year. It literally brought me to tears. My parents have been living a nightmare. They are in the fire, they have been for a while now. They have made me so proud because they are still standing, full of integrity, showing the world how a child of God deals with the hardest of situations. But they are human and they do get tired.
This morning after we got back from the Sunrise service I had a message from my dad, he called me from the mountain! I thank God for His love and mercy and faithfulness. He has conquered even death. The battle has already been won, all that is left is to walk according to His will, in His love and strength. Living in HIM...
May God fill you this day with His LIFE and may His glory surround you...

Saturday, April 11, 2009

The inevitable...

You know your sons are going to grow up to be little red necks when their aunt is teaching them to shoot their favorite ducks...















Going to work




Brian has a hard time leaving for work... can you blame him???

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Hopeful news from Rancho Maranatha

Oh, give thanks to the Lord! Call upon His name; make known His deeds among the peoples! (1Ch 16:8)

Well, where should I start...? We have been waiting on the Lord, but at the same time knocking on all the doors we could think of. WE WANT OUT GIRLS BACK! We kept saying. Yesterday was Trini's 14th birthday (one of the girls DIF took), we wanted so bad to get permission to visit her, to bring a birthday cake to her. We could not get a permission. We bought a cake and sent it with a note...

Today, again, we kept making phone calls, seeing people in Navojoa, but really nothing we could see, seemed to be happening....the lawyer in charge of DIF Navojoa, told us again, how much she wanted to help us, how she had no problem with us seeing the girls, even getting them back, but had to wait for the proper authorities to do the investigation, and till they said everything was okay, she really couldn't grant us a permission to even see them.

Back home today, although we were sad, we were still convinced God was on the throne,  just Dan & myself were here, (Carla, Marilú & Lolis were in Navojoa with Cindy and her children), when one of the lawyers that  searched our house on Friday, showed up with the District Attorney from Hermosillo in charge of the investigation. Wow! We were pretty amazed this important man had come to see us in our house.

They sat with us, drank coffee, and we talked. He told us that as soon as the report had gotten to him, he knew right away we were victims, and that there was nothing to accuse us about. He said that that was why nothing had transpired in the news, they didn't want to harm us in any way, he said.

The adoptions, including Trini's, were done illegally, and will have to be done again, the birth certificates will be revoked. But he said, (the District Attorney), that he will personally make sure that the procedures, having to be done again, are done quickly. He told us he would be our spokesman.

He said that us being so willing to cooperate with the authorities right away was a sure sign of our innocence too. We greatly rejoice in our Lord, our Defender, our Deliverer! I know many of you are right now rejoicing with us too! THANK YOU, ALL OF YOU FOR YOUR AWESOME SUPPORT TO US IN THIS TIME OF ANGUISH! WOW! WHAT TRUE FRINEDS WE HAVE IN ALL OF YOU!!! 

Tomorrow we will present ourselves to declare against Lic. Ceballos. I know you will be praying for us and for that I am so thankful. We want to glorify our Lord in all that we do, and in all that we say, may the Lord help us to do just that!

Daniel's perspective: It's truly been a difficult time knowing that the girls are not at home where they belong. It's so hard to not be able to protect and defend your children when the authorities are involved. I know that our Redeemer, our Rock and our Refuge is God Almighty and He neither sleeps nor slumbers. I haven't been able to sleep myself so I've had a lot of time for prayer. I want to thank first of all our God. He has surrounded us with people that love us and have been laboring in prayer. In the second place I want to thank all of you for praying with us and waging war against the enemy. The battle isn't over. The girls will hopefully be home tomorrow and then we will be able to truly rest. Then of course, the battle will continue for their souls. 
Again, thanks and please keep the prayer cover up!

Maranatha! Jesus come soon!
God bless you all,
Daniel & Ana

 

 


Saturday, February 28, 2009

URGENT PRAYER REQUEST

 From my parents:
 
"Therefore I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me" (Micah 7:7)
 
I don't really know how to start this, although many of you already know the events that took place in our house yesterday as we were away in Hermosillo.
 
Marilú called me around 10AM, but I was not able to talk to her right away, but more towards noon. It turned out the state police were at our house searching the entire house. They had orders to break any lock, or do what ever they had too do to search everything...
 
I ended up talking to the Public Minister, he was one of the ones in our house doing the searching. He told me they had found out our ranch was working with a lawyer doing illegal adoptions, and trafficking with children, etc. They said they received an anonymous letter that stated that. Also they knew for a fact that Trini's adoption was not done legally. We raced to the ranch from Hermosillo after trying to get in touch with the district Attorney there, but where not able to see him. They told us to go to Alamos as soon as we arrived back home and present ourselves with the Public Minister, which we did.
 
Two weeks after we came back from Monterrey finishing with Marilú's adoption, we found out that the adoption had been done illegally, as well as Lolis. I was precisely finishing declaring that with Child Protection Agency in Hermosillo, when I learned about what was happening in our ranch. We were outraged knowing our lawyer had done everything illegaly...why...? We cannot understand...
 
I was planning on going to the Judge in Navojoa to let her know our side of things, but was waiting for some documents, Lic. Ceballos, (the lawyer that did the adoptions), was supposed to give me. Of course he never did.
 
We find ourselves in a HUGE legal mess. We are pleading to God for His mercy. We want the girls back, but at this time have no idea what will happen...
 
Good thing our Lord is in control of all things, it is amazing how things can get out of hand in a blink of an eye. All the girls were crying and holding on to my dad when they took them. We are praying for them to be witnesses for the others girls and that they remember we are not fighting against flesh and blood.
 
As you can see, we desperately need God's intervention in this matter. We know things don't get out of hand with Him. We are confident that He is able to deliver us from the snare we find ourselves in. He has a purpose for everything He allows in our lives and of that we are also very confident.
 
Before we got home, around 5PM, DIF Navojoa, with orders from Hermosillo, had come and taken all the girls, except for Carla, Marilú & Lolis since they were declaring in Alamos. All evening yesterday I kept thinking I was having a nightmare and I just needed to wake up.
 
In Mexico, you are guilty till you're declared innocent. I thank God we can be home and not in jail right now.
 
Thanks to all of you, our wonderful family, you are the greatest! Also to the precious body of Christ that lifts our arms up in times of needs, we are forever grateful to God for each one of you.
 
Love,
 
Daniel & Ana
 
 
P.S. We are celebrating Daniel's 53 birthday today.
 
P.P.S. I, Daniel, say that it's my party and I'll cry if I want to! Okay I don't want to cry. At 10 PM last night one of the men asked me my age. I told them I was 52. At 12:30 someone else asked  me, (there was SO much paper work being generated!) and I looked at my watch. The man restated that he was asking my age not the time, thinking that I had misunderstood him. I told him that I was looking at my watch because it made a difference since for the last 30 minutes I had been 53 years old! (Thanks Daryn for that story I finally got to use it!)
 I was expecting something like this for the last week or two. It's funny how sailors, farmers and Christians get to sense things in the atmosphere, that suggest to them coming storms, or good winds, etc. I have been telling people for a couple of weeks that things have been so great that something big was coming. The most awesome thing is that when you know a storm is coming, you are prepared for it. When you know that Jesus is in the boat with you, you don't sweat whatever storm comes up. That is the assurance that we have in Him, that no matter what the weather, (or enemy) brings, we will be able to ride it out as long as Jesus is at the helm.
 
God is so faithful and is always our strong defense. All the authorities are aware now that we have been victims of our lawyer and things are looking better, although until the girls are safe back at home, there will be little rest. 
I went and was able to see the new director of Child protection services, and also the new lawyer in charge of the legal things. The new lawyer is an old friend of ours and knows us well. The new director was very impressed with all of our girls. She was telling me how well they were behaved and how they all arrived with their Bibles under their arms. They also told me several times that they had nothing to do with what was going on and tha everything would be okay.

Fire purifies gold. We and the girls have an inheritance more precious than gold. We don't like going through the fiery furnace but we sure like the way we feel once we are through it!

God is on the throne, the enemy knows his time is coming to an end and we are on the greatest team!

God bless you all,

Daniel
 
 
 

Friday, February 6, 2009

Do not touch!!!


Yes, Jesse likes to eat Levi's 'nose'. It's a filter for his airway. It also humidifies his air, since it doesn't pass through his real nose. It's important for it not to be too wet and it really needs to stay in his trachea...


Because there is a foriegn object in Levi's lungs, his body will constantly try to 'push' it out. We need to suction Levi pretty often. It's very important for the suction catheter to be very, very clean... yes, Levi has it in his mouth.



Daddy made a gate!


What can I say? He likes to type.



I got kinda scared when I couldn't find Levi, but I could hear him...



Monday, January 26, 2009

Tania

If you've known me for a while, you know about my baby girl Tania.

I was almost 17 when we got this little baby girl at our children's home. She was so sad and confused. She needed her mama. She didn't come from an abusive situation like most of our girls. Her mom had mental problems and her dad was an alcoholic and a drug addict. When the mom found herself without a husband and no where to go she decided to take her two young children to DIF(child services). They brought them to us.
Tania and I bonded in an amazing way. She was MINE and I was her mommy. Some people would tell me that I couldn't love her like a daughter because I didn't know what that was like. Now I can honestly say that I did love her like a daughter, I still do.

Anyway, a couple of years later mom and dad get back together and decide that they want her back. They already had her older brother but hadn't been as interested in Tania.

She was a little princess, every ones pride and joy. My mom and sister who had never gotten attached to a child that was not a part of the family, loved Tania and were so attached to her. We all were crazy about her, but especially me. So when DIF decided to give her back to her family it broke my heart. Tania wanted nothing to do with her parents, she was so little. Her mom told us that she would cry for us and call our names.

When I saw her again my little princess was changed. She had rough feet and scars on her body. Her hair was dry and damaged, full of lice. The sparkle in her eyes was gone. The pain I felt was sometimes unbearable. I would ask her mom to let me take her, I would clean her up and love on her. Every time I had to give her back it was like my heart was being pulled away from my body.

One day Tania's mom got scared. Her and her husband were doing really bad, he was drinking, they didn't have jobs, their shack was disgusting. They knew that if social services went to check on them they would take the kids away. So they took off. And for 7 years I have been praying my heart out for my baby girl. I had heard that her mom went to the south of Mexico and left her kids there.

My sister told me that on Saturday someone came to the ranch, it was Joanna, Tania's mom. She came looking for my mom and me, to apologize. She said that her life had been a nightmare but that God had changed her. I still can't believe it. Roshon asked for Tania immediately so Joanna came back the next day with her, with my baby girl that I loved so much. I couldn't stop crying when Roshon told me!

They had been in the south, Joanna and her husband had separated again and and he had the kids. She did everything to get them back. She truly fought for them.

They are staying with Joanna's mom, I don't know how long they will be there. I had been waiting so long for them to come back. Many, many times I had wanted to go look for them. I just didn't even know where to start. God heard my prayers. And it is because of Him that I didn't go crazy thinking about my baby girl. I trusted God with her life, I knew she was surrounded by danger, by nasty, evil people. But He has protected her.


The crazy thing is that I can now see how God used her to prepare me for the birth of my sons. I grew so much with what I went through with Tania. Anyway, God IS good.

Monday, January 19, 2009

Welcome to Holland!

Well, I am finally making an entry to this blog! Yeah, it only took me a few months... Anyway, I wanted to start with this: "Welcome to Holland".
My friend Amy told me to read this... Wow! I could not have put it better! It's a great analogy, and it really does describe the feeling of expectation, wanting and waiting for something, and then, getting something totally different. Enjoy...

WELCOME TO HOLLAND
byEmily Perl Kingsley.
c1987 by Emily Perl Kingsley. All rights reserved
I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......
When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.
After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."
"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."
But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.
The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.
So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.
It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.
But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."
And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.
But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.