Generational cycles…this is a huge topic. As a team, this is a critically important topic to us and at the forefront of our thoughts as we prepare and develop our program. We all can see generational cycles in our own lives and families. Some are good, wonderful and beautiful. And some are harmful and detrimental and need to be broken. At the heart of this topic is the Gospel of Jesus. The redeeming power of Christ to save us from our sins and free us from the lies that we

Why is turning 18 years old considered a cliff for young people growing up within Guatemala's system of protection? What should be a gradual transition into adulthood often becomes a sudden and difficult step into independence when a young person turns 18. At that age, they are legally considered adults and are generally required to leave the group home or orphanage where they have been living, since they can no longer reside in a home designed for minors. In most cases, they

Did you know that we have a Wish List? Do you know why? Maybe you have heard something about it but are not exactly sure what the purpose is, why are we doing this and why are we so excited about it?? 1) What are we doing? We are trying to collect items to have ready and available for the girls upon their arrival. For those of you that have been able to visit the Casa de Gracia site or have been involved in this process with us for a while, you have heard us talk about certai

It’s a really good question. Unfortunately, it does not have a quick or simple answer. But it is a very important discussion to have in order to understand the need we are working to meet with Casa de Gracia. The first answer is that while the United States and other countries have moved to a foster care system as the primary system of protection, Guatemala has not. While precise numbers are very hard to come by, there are still well over 150 orphanages around the country, ho

This context we work in can be pretty heavy most days. The reality of the young people that we are creating this program and constructing these buildings for is pretty brutal to be honest. Their stories are hard to hear. Their wounds are deep. The generational cycles of abuse and neglect that continue damaging hearts and minds need to be broken. It’s heavy and heartbreaking work many days. It is also beautiful and necessary. It is the Gospel in action, the hope and healing th

After many weeks of planning and on-site preparation, we opened our doors to welcome special guests to our very first open house at Casa de Gracia! Our goals for this event were very specific - to showcase our 'work in progress' campus and to invite our visitors to pray about partnering with us in a variety of ways. Our team worked tirelessly on all kinds of details and logistics, all the way to making coffee for 50 people over an open fire since we still do not have electric

One of the things that blesses us and encourages us so much is having those who have come to visit and see what God is doing here RETURN! And bring new friends! We are also truly encouraged by first time guests that come and see with new eyes and hearts. And our Casa de Gracia family grows!! Thank you Bethel Church of Northwest Indiana and Tree Ministries for your recent visits! Thank you for coming and listening! Thank you for praying for the girls and that will live here.

At our Casa de Gracia site, we have made so much progress in all the construction and infrastructure work but there is still an overwhelming amount of work to be done. Especially in the area of making it beautiful again with strategically placed plants, trees and flowers! During the very first week of 2026, friend and ministry partner, Annie Thurber, brought a team from her sending church, South Tulsa Baptist Church. They spent the entire day on site with us and our Casa de G

Our Casa de Gracia team enjoyed our 2nd annual All-Day Retreat to kick off our new year together! It was a day full of planning, praying, and preparing our hearts and minds for the year ahead of us. And we needed it, it's gonna be a huge year! We spent time talking about books we want to read together on Godly wisdom and Gospel based leadership principles and other ways to keep our hearts and minds focused on our Lord and His plan as the year progresses and life gets crazier

With much joy we want to share a few special moments from our 2025 year-end Board Meeting for Los de Atrás Vienen Conmigo (LDAVC) board of directors. It was a beautiful time of gathering together and celebrating alongside our Casa de Gracia Team! We talked about and rejoiced over all that God has done this year at the Casa de Gracia site and with the development of our LDAVC program that the young people on site will be a part of! For a bit of clarification, the physical site

It’s crazy to see how much progress has happened since March of this year, 2025! And now we are realizing how fast these next 6 months will fly past us and suddenly it will be June and time for the Smith Family to move into the lower home and get everything ready to begin receiving girls in the months that follow. So while we have all been working hard as a team to get the program ready, make needed connections within the systems of protection around the country, equip oursel

A new partnership has been established and we are so excited to share all about it with you! Village Collective Roasters has chosen Casa de Gracia to be the recipient of 100% of their profits. Not only is this an amazing blessing but also, this coffee is DELICIOUS!! And we are pretty picky about coffee here cause we can be 😉 So it’s truly a win-win in every sense! The creators of this coffee roasterery in Guatemala are missional minded and Gospel focused. They created this b

We have a saying that others have used to encourage us and we continue to use to when we need a shot of encouragement or maybe just a dose of reality. “When God invites you to coffee, He plans to pay” In other words, this idea, this dream, is not ours. It was and still is God’s. He is the one who invited us into it. He is the One with the plan. The plan for each young person He will bring to be part of the program. The plan for each staff member , mentor and volunteer. The p

One of the biggest and most unexpected blessings we received this year at Casa de Gracia has been those who visited and helped us plant and tear out in order to bring beauty! These groups came from various places but with the same heart…to serve those of us currently serving at Casa de Gracia as well as those who will be served here in the future! We have beautiful conversations about the importance of cultivating and maintaining the natural beauty around us. We know it will

The Redeemed Steel Trade School construction is on schedule and looking great! Our Casa de Gracia on-site crew has been hard at work preparing all of the infrastructure that includes massive amounts of rebar and concrete deep underground for the strength needed to withstand all the seismic activity we have here. They are also building the block walls and the concrete posts that the metal structure will sit on. This very large structure of metal beams and panels is being const

This team is hard at work every week in every possible way. We love seeing and showing others the construction progress at the Casa de Gracia site. But what goes on behind the scenes each and every day is also worth mentioning! Honestly, it is an impressive amount of work with trainings, design meetings, program development and so on! For Example; We are intentionally equipping ourselves in areas of trauma based care, mentoring and discipling. In 2025 our team completed the B

The Transition Homes are looking more beautiful every week! Construction is moving along right on schedule and we are loving watching this dream come to life more everyday ! We thought you might enjoy seeing an update on the progress that has happened over the last few months…all of this just since last March! And since a picture is worth a thousand words, here you go! This one building you see here is actually two separate 4 bedroom homes, one on top of the other. They are

Recently, during our weekly team meetings we have been working through this question. We realized that putting this to pen and paper, so to speak, will not only be a good exercise for us in this current stage we are in but will also serve as guide rails for us each month and year going forward. So here is a what we came up with! Spiritual Disciplship • Share the Gospel clearly and frequently. • Teach that their identity is in Christ • Actively demonstrate how to be a follower

We are beyond excited to announce that the well drilling crew has found water…LOTS OF WATER! This crew preserved through all kinds of obstacles and setbacks. The process took about twice as long as expected and was more expensive due to the challenges but in the end, so worth it all! At almost 200 meters deep they hit AN ABUNDANT SUPPLY OF WONDERFUL CLEAN WATER! Obviously this is such a critical step to opening our doors to those we are anxious to serve here. This also means

Recently, our staff successfully completed the Competent Caregiver in Trauma (CCT) course, delivered by Iniciativas de Alcance, a comprehensive training that spanned over several months and represented a valuable opportunity for both personal and professional growth. This process was marked by profound learning about the impact of trauma in the lives of very vulnerable groups, providing us with compassion-focused companionship strategies and practical tools to respond effect