Testimony
of what God is doing in the lives of the people
of Mexico, and TLCCM
Hi everyone,
We would like to share with you some testimonies of what is happening or
what has happened in the past. This is to encourage you and give glory to the Lord for
what He has done and still is doing amongst our people in Mexico. We hope these
testimonies will encourage you and bless your hearts.
Both vans for Pastors Martin & Angel
have been purchased. It is an absolute miracle
that in 3 months the Lord has supplied the
funding for both vehicles.
As a ministry we see the Lord's hand at work on a daily basis. Every year,
we experience many blessings and miracles. In 2010, we received two awesome
bigger miracles. These two awesome miracles were certainly the funds that
came in within a 90 day period to buy vans for both Pastors Angel & Martin.
In September 2010, we bought a 2004, 15 passenger van for Pastor Angel. This
vehicle is mainly used to transport teams that come down on short term mission
trips. It is also used to transport the youth from Pastor Angel's church
to various youth activities.
On January 6th, 2011, with funds received in November 2010, we bought a 2006,
10 passenger van for Pastor Martin. This vehicle is used daily to transport
our workers to and from our TLCCM feeding station, along with the food supplies
for each day. It is also used to transport food and other valuable items
bought or received from across the border in San Diego.
Both vehicles are Ford Econoline 350, Heavy Duty. When we discussed buying
vehicles, Denise expressed the desire for two white vans. While shopping
for these vehicles we certainly had more important details to consider than
the color. But, the Lord in His great kindness, gave us two white vans. He
is so very faithful!
Thursday
June
17, 2010
Because of Pastor
Jean Turpin of Centre
Réveil
International in Orleans, the International
Church of Las Vegas, with Pastors
Paul & Denise
Goulet, donated and delivered to TLCCM
six pallets of much needed supplies like diapers,
cleaning supplies, pots & pans, dishes, paper
towels, toilet paper ect. ect. On April 22, brother
Joe Rodriguez and his team drove a truck from
Las Vegas to our storage in Chula Vista.
Again, when we work together, so much more can
be done.
Thank You Pastor Jean & International
Church of Las Vegas !
Luz Elvira Hernandez,
10 years old: "I will work if in return you will
feed me!"
A Testimony from our “Centro Réveil” Feeding
Station
On a beautiful spring morning when my precious
team of ladies arrived at our “Centro Réveil” Feeding
Station in
Terrazas del Valle, they found a little girl sitting
on the bench near the door. She arrived one hour
and a half before the
doors were scheduled to open. Pastor Claudia went
to talk with her to inquire if there was a problem.
Luz Elvira is 10 years old. She came early to see
if they had dishes to wash, floors to sweep or
garbage to take out. She
was willing to help if the ladies could in turn
give her something to eat. Although Elvira Luz
is only 10, she was willing to
work to “earn” a meal.
Pastor Claudia explained to her that she could
come every day except Saturday and receive a delicious
free meal. Her
eyes grew big and her little face lit up like a
candle on Christmas morning. She asked if she could
stay and wait for the
other kids. Pastor Claudia invited her inside the
Feeding Station. Once inside, her eyes grew even
bigger. She had never
seen such a big kitchen!
Pastor Claudia asked Luz Elvira if she would help
her clean the tables and make sure the benches
were all in their places.
This was a way to get to know this little one a
bit better.
Her mom is a single mom. Most to the time there
is not enough money to put food on the table. Pastor
Claudia then
asked her why she was wearing boy shoes that were
also obliviously too big for her. Elvira replied
that she had a bigger
brother. Because her mom does not have any money
to buy her little girl shoes, they are sharing
her brother’s shoes.
Pastora Claudia told me that although she sees
poverty every day, this little girl broke her heart.
It was quite emotional
and difficult not to cry in front of this child.
Over the last 20 years, we have seen many similar
situations. Each new
situation breaks our hearts. I asked Claudia to
keep a close eye on this little girl. To also encourage
her to come a little
earlier and find her a few things she can do to
help. This is a way to learn her trust, invite
her to our Sunday Services and
introduce her to JESUS, the best friend she will
ever have. It will also help her self-esteem knowing
that her help is
appreciated.
Yes, you guessed it, I also asked Pastora Claudia
that next time she goes to San Diego,
to please stop at Wal-Mart and buy this little
girl a pair of “girl’s shoes”.
What else are we suppose to do?
Please give! For $35.00 a month you can help feed
two hungry children like Luz Elvira.
Click
here to open the sponsorhip form.
Thank you!
The Lord is so faithful! In 2009
we had a leaking roof problem in our kitchen
in Centro de Amor. But, like everyone else, TLCCM
was affected by the economic downturn. There
was no money to do the necessary repairs.
In January 2010 during a thunderstorm,
the wind lifted the roof and threw it on the
ground. After several days of torrential rains
our kitchen was completely destroyed. My team
started to rebuild with cement blocks.
When I arrived on the scene
in February, I was completely shocked to see
the primitive state of our kitchen. Our TLCCM
workers were working in a dark room with no running
water and no electricity. Part of the room had
no cement floor. It was actually dangerous for
my precious ladies. Pastor Martin knew that the
TLCCM finances were limited, therefore he had
not told me about the “extra needs” necessary
to finish the kitchen.
I consulted with two of our
TLCCM Board members who were visiting me at the
time. Renovations started immediately. Water
was installed, the cement floor was redone, new
light fixtures were installed, the room was painted
and a metal door and windows were ordered.
Then, the workers were to build
new wood shelves to store the equipment, BUT,
in April, the Lord came in to finish the project.
A Mexican non profit organization
called Pastor Martin and asked if he could use
some kitchen cabinets!!!!! Within a week our
new kitchen cabinets were installed. TLCCM bought
a laminate countertop. A sink was also installed.
I saw the results of some the
renovations before I came home in late March.
But, I must admit that when they sent me the
pictures of the completed project, I sat at my
computer and cried tears of joy. If I had not
seen the primitive state of our kitchen with
my own eyes, I would not have believed that this
was the same room.
“Give
thanks to the LORD, for he is good; His love
endures forever.” Psalm 107:1(NIV)
In December 2009, Pastor Angel
Diaz from our TLCCM Station in Rosarito,
delivered 24 Spanish bibles to Pastor Ernesto
Zamarripa of Iglesia Cristiana Bethel in
Cuernavaca, a few hours south of Mexico City.
Pastor Angel and his sisters flew from Tijuana to Cuernavaca to visit their
elderly mother who lives in that city. They packed the bibles in their suitcases. Pastor
Ernesto had contacted TLCCM last summer asking for bibles. At the time,
we called various organizations that sell bibles but none of them would ship
to Mexico.
Pastor Angel delivered the bibles to
Pastor Ernesto who was delighted to
see how the Lord answered his prayers.
As always, God knew the need and provided
a way. He is so very faithful!
Praise Report on TLCCM
Website: July
2007 Newsletter
Dear
friends and supporters,
Roger and I are so very excited about our
new TLCCM website. As
you may recall it was launched at the end of May
2007.
One of our objectives for a website was to
give TLCCM some exposure
and possibly help us continue to raise funds for
the children of Tijuana and Rosarito. Since
Roger has been sick, we have been unable to speak
in churches to get the necessary exposure needed
to keep the finances coming in on a regular basis. Praise the
Lord that so many of you have been very faithful
in continuing your financial support.
The other objective was to make our TLCCM spanish curriculum
for children available free of charge to any spanish
speaking church or individual interested in learning
or teaching the Word of God.
Over
the years we have written over
350 lessons. These
lessons are divided in two groups:
a) Through
the Bible which is our Sunday School curriculum,
and
b)
various lessons for our Bible Study curriculum. All
these lessons are complete with teacher’s instructions,
copy for the students, which contains a section
with questions that the children must answer. This
is an excellent way for the teacher to assess
if the students have understood the lesson. Every
lesson also has a memory verse and the
graphics appropriate to each lesson.
Pastors
Martin and Angel are using this curriculum on a weekly
basis. But, we felt it would
be beneficial to so many more Spanish speaking
churches if we could make it available through
our website.
In early July, our website provider provided
us with the following information:
During the month of June, TLCCM’s website
was accessed 190 times.
A total of 30 lessons were
downloaded. Some of these lessons were downloaded
as many as 4 times each. 2
memory verses were download 5 times each. Total
for June: 77 lessons or memory
verses downloaded. Praise the Lord!
We certainly expected downloads from Mexico,
but we are happy to report that we have had downloads
also from Canada, United
States, Argentina, Venezuela, Puerto
Rico and Chili.
We
are absolutely delighted. The Word
of God is being downloaded and used
to teach children in many spanish speaking
countries or Spanish speaking communities
in Canada and the USA.
To God be the glory. Amen.
The devil has tried to stop us, but he has
not succeeded. Sickness has slowed us down, but
by the grace of God, His Word and our vision for
the spanish speaking people is going forward.
If
you know of any spanish person, pastor, children’s
worker that could benefit from this curriculum, please
direct them to our website.
Thank
you for your prayers for healing and restoration for
Roger. Please continue to
storm heaven on his behalf.
We are also grateful for your
faithful financial support. Forms
for donation purposes can be downloaded
from our website.
May the Lord bless you all as you continue
to serve Him.
Sincerely,
Revs.
Roger & Denise Deschamps
Tender Loving Care Children Ministries
Tijuana, Mexico
Today (June 1, 2007) is the 15th anniversary
of Tender Loving Care Children
Ministries. Wow!
All
praise and honour goes to
the Lord for those beautiful 15 years.
When
we arrived in San Diego on
August 19th, 1990
little we knew what the Lord
had in store for us. We were there to
serve and love the Mexican people.
We had gone to work with an american
missionary that was already working
in Tijuana and it’s surrounding areas.
As
months went by, we realized how much
love the Lord was putting in our hearts
for those beautiful people, especially
the children. In
the same token we realized the lack of care
and teaching where those children were concerned. Every
time we would be in Tijuana, these
little ones would hang on and try
to communicate with us. Of course
it helped that we always had treats
for them.
On our days off, we would
return by ourselves to the colonias
and bring sandwiches, milk, punch, and
an english-spanish dictionary. In
early 1991, Roger was helping to build a
church in Colonia 3 de Octubre. That
quickly became our favourite location.
Families
by the hundreds were coming to this
mountain after having been forcibly
removed from their homes by a rich Mexican
developer who wanted their land to build
condos. These people were living in
cardboard boxes or under blue plastic tarps. The
poverty and desperation was tremendous.
While
Roger would work on the construction
with some of the older men and even
some boys of the colonia, I would open
up the back doors to our red van. Within minutes
I had a crowd of kids and adults. Even
though at the time, my spanish was very very
limited, we understood each other. Some
of the moms started to help me to feed the
kids peanut butter sandwiches and milk. They
also helped me to distribute clothing. Not
once did we have a problem with order. The
crowd would stay until we left
go back to San Diego around suppertime.
After
a few times I realized I needed
to keep those kids busy. I
would type a memory verse
out of my spanish/english
bible, glue that to a page
from a colouring book and
then make copies. We
bought some crayons and before
we knew it we were in business.
We started
to pray for opportunities to work with
children. The ministry we
were working with had no vision for children’s
ministry………..so
we prayed to the Lord all the more.
In
the fall of 1991, one morning as I was
brushing my hair the Lord said: “Be
prepare to go”. We continued
to look for opportunities to work with children
staying where we were, but no opportunity
came. In May 1992 after months
of prayer and reflection, we resigned
our positions with the ministry
in San Diego.
During these
months we had been in contact with
our friend and the man that had
previously been our pastor for
nine years here in Ottawa. We
discussed with him our plans and
hearts for the children of Tijuana. Barry encouraged us to follow
the calling of the Lord and even helped us
in choosing a name for the ministry.
On
June 1st, 1992
Tender Loving Care Children
Ministries was birth out of
our hearts and we believe
out of the heart of God.
It has
been an amazing fifteen years
full of challenges and lots
of hard work but mostly with
many many personal rewards. Over
the years, the satisfaction
of seeing the fruit of our
dreams and labour grow and
flourish has been absolutely
wonderful.
Time and again, we saw the
hand of the Lord provide food,
finances, favour to get across
the Mexican border, healings
and salvations. His faithfulness
to these two canadian missionaries
has been absolutely outstanding.
Today
we stand in awe of Him who
has permitted us to be part
of His work in Tijuana and
Rosario. He has been
with us every day in the small
and bigger details, in the
good days and in the hard
days.
When
at the end of the week the freezers
and shelves at our TLCCM warehouse
in San Diego were bare, the Lord
was always faithful to provide
food come Monday morning. We
remember one Friday afternoon having almost
no food left and thinking of the week ahead……we
panicked. On Saturday morning we went
and bought 300 pounds of rice and 300 pounds
of pinto beans. On Monday morning someone
called us………they had
food for us. So much food, it filled
the warehouse and we did not use what we
had bought that weekend until about
2 months later.
Looking back at
all the times we went across
the border undetected with
hundreds and hundreds of pounds
of food. Sometimes
the Mexican guards would
stop us and look through the
windows of the van and see
nothing…………other
times they would simply say “Pasale” meaning “go
ahead”. By 1995
it became harder and harder
to get across without special
papers from DIF the social
agency, and also from the
Mexican Customs (Aduana) in
Tijuana. Again, the
hand of the Lord was there
to help us. He gave
us favour with the man that
was second in command at the
Mexican Customs. He
loved children and for years
he signed all the letters
we needed to get food and
clothing across the border.
At
one point we approached the
manager of the San Diego warehouse
for Keebler Cookies. After
learning of what we were doing
and seeing a few pictures
of the children we fed, he
gave us lots of cookies on
a weekly basis for a number
of years. In return the children
would pray for Mr. Richards
especially that he would give
them more cookies.
For years there was a
local bakery that gave us bread every
week. When they
sold their business, the new owners informed
us that the unused bread was going to be
thrown in the dumpster. Once again,
we started to pray. We wrote them a
letter explaining how much we needed those
1,000 loaves a week, we also included pictures
of the children. After a few weeks
they changed their minds and they continued
to give us bread until we came home
in 2005.
We cannot forget to mention
the mexican company Delimex that gave
us hundreds and hundreds of pounds of
frozen mexican food every week for years. Other
missions would approach them to get
food, but they would only give them
whatever we could not take.
We
are so privileged to have worked with
so many wonderful people. Today, even
if we cannot be there physically, our pastors
and workers diligently continue the work. Every
week we talk with them and together we follow
the leading of the Lord to teach and feed
about 650 kids every week.
Since
2005 we have been blessed to start
two bible school programs, one
in Centro de Amor in Tijuana and
one in Rosarito. A total of
37 young adults are taking the five semester
courses provided by International School
of Ministry.(ISOM). Tender Loving
Care Children Ministries is fully responsible
for the financial costs for all of our
37 students.
All
and all it’s been wonderful
and today we want to give thanks to
the Lord for His faithfulness throughout these
last 15 years.
We
want say a special thank you to our children,
Chantal, Alain and Eric for
their love and support during all
the years we were away and their continued
support since we have been back.
We
also want to thank all of you that have faithfully
prayed for us over the years. Thank
you for all you that have
partnered with us financially over the
these last 15 years to help us provide
for the children of Tijuana and Rosarito.
We can truly say that with God nothing
is impossible.
Please
continue to pray for Roger’s
complete healing and restoration.
Victor came to us in Centro de Amor when he was about
14. His dad had
abandon his mom, Victor and a younger brother and sister.
He started to
come because he was hungry and he's been with us ever
since.
Because there was no money to go to school, Victor
would hang around the church on a daily basis. He would help Pastor Martin
with all different
chores. Every Saturday he was there to help with the kids.
When we came, he was always right behind Roger wanting to lift boxes and
help prepare grocery bags for the children.
He was always in a good mood
and never asked for
anything. Because we knew of his home situation, we
would always give him a
bag of food to take home to his family.
In January 2005 he was trying to help a family near
his home by hooking
wires from their house to a high tension electrical
line. His hand touched
a wire and he was electrocuted. He fell from the top
of post and hit his
head on a rock.
It took a while before people managed to get to the
church to get Pastor
Martin.
During this time Victor lay unconscious on the ground.
Pastor Martin called
the Red Cross and they finally got him to a local hospital.
The youth from
the church rallied together and spent the night at
the hospital praying for
him.
Victor after the accident in January 2005
The prognosis was not good. The doctor told Pastor
Martin and Victor's mom
that in the 20 years he had been in that hospital he
had never seen someone who
had been electrocuted in this manner live more than
a day or so. He even
told Victor's mom to start thinking about making funeral
arrangements.
Early the next morning, Pastor Martin called
us. We were devastated. What
could we do except pray. Pastor Martin was on
his way back to the hospital
and he promised to call us later on that afternoon.
Once he got to the hospital the doctor told him that he did
not understand it, but Victor's vital signs were all normal
and he was conscious, although very very weak.
Because of this the doctor told Martin that there were treatments
and medicine they could give Victor but it was expensive.
Pastor Martin called us collect from the hospital. Victor
needed $350.00 in US funds. We immediately told him we would
bring the funds to the church. (Victor was not allowed visitors
except his mom and Pastor Martin).
On Monday morning they started the treatments and within a week Victor was walking. After two
more weeks they let him go home. He was bandaged up and could hardly walk. The youth would
go to his house and take turns carrying him to the church. On February 14th, 2005 when the
church had a going away service for us, Victor sat in the front row.
Victor with Pastor Martin and Roger in 2005
Two years later he is fully recovered, has
a job and still helps at the church on the
weekends. When
we were there in February, he was right there by our side helping us to give gifts
to the children.
We want to give glory to God for
His restoration power. Alleluia!
We also want to thank our faithful
friends and supporters for the
faithful financial giving. Because
of your generosity, Tender Loving
Care Children Ministries was able
to help Victor at his time of need.
Victor knows that his friends in
Canada are the ones that financially
assisted in his recovery. He is
most grateful.
