“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.” Matthew 7:24-25 The Lord’s hand has been evident throughout Casa de Gracia’s entire history. His provision always arrives exactly on time. He is bringing talented and dedicated people to walk alongside us in this journ

"But whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life!" John 4:14 We had an exciting day at the Casa de Gracia work site! As work has been wrapping up on Phase 2- The Front Facade, we are looking to start Phase 3- Excavation & Infrastructure! A huge and crucial part of this is WATER 💦 We felt so blessed to have this crew come and use their skills to seek water for a potenti

We want to take this opportunity to say from the depths of our hearts THANK YOU to everyone who has been part of the process up to this point ! Every dollar donated by every person has added up to get us to where we are today. Byron our architect, Ana Isabel our logo designer, our prayer and advisory team, our board of directors, legal advisors... God has surrounded us with His people and He is building this house through each of them! All we can say about all of this is WOW!

What is the greatest, most important thing we can ever teach a child or young person? To find their identity in Christ. For the Casa de Gracia Team, this is at the heart of everything we do. Yes, we will provide a safe and loving home for them. Yes, we will teach life skills. Yes, we will educate. Yes, we will offer job and trade training. (And we are beyond excited to be able to do to all of this!) But God continues to remind us day after day that everything flows from knowi

And it looks incredible! This installation is one of the final touches before the completion of Phase 2: The Front Facade! This logo represents Casa de Gracia so well and to see it up on the front entrance is such a tangible reminder that God is at work and moving MIGHTILY to make what was once a dream become a reality. For those of you who are new here, did you know what our logo means to us? • The window represents seeing from inside the transition home into the future, giv

We'd love to share with you about a very special day for our Casa de Gracia Team / Los de Atrás Vienen Conmigo Board of Directors. On December 1st, 2023 we had our 1st Board Meeting plus team event! It was a wonderfully full day of: fellowship & meals together signing of our legal document (more below) Biblical leadership teaching from our special guest, Pastor John Hull (more below) a visit to the Casa de Gracia site...the first time for some of our board members! 

This drone image captured by our Edwin has really impacted our hearts! Seeing what God has already done encourages us to know that He will complete this work He has begun. Hebrews 12:1-3 reminds us that we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. May He find us faithful to finish the course He’s set before us without distraction or deterrence!

Did you know that more than 40 families and individuals have shown great love to young people by donating to help create this place, this Transition Home & Program?? As Phase Two wraps up and we start looking forward to Phase Three, we just want to take a minute today to celebrate and thank each of you for being here…You know who you are and so do we 😉 And best of all, so does our God and Father who calls us all to this! THANK YOU for choosing to take an active part in mak

When we talk about the current phase of construction, the front facade, maybe you’ve wondered, "What exactly does that mean, why is that its own phase, what’s the big deal??" Many have also asked, “How soon are you hoping to have everything up and running?” Well, we wanted to take a few minutes to explain a little better and fill in a few more details that will hopefully answer these questions. First of all, the pace of the construction process is dictated by and hinging up

Check out this incredible logo!! We absolutely love it and we would like to share a little about how it came to be and the heart behind it. Some of the most beautiful gifts that God blesses us with are relationships...relationships that encourage us! Those that come alongside and walk with us as we seek to walk in obedience to God’s plans and purposes for us. Those that love us enough to understand when God puts a dream or burden in our hearts and encourage us along in the pr

Every time we are at the Casa de Gracia property site to check on construction progress or to pray, these cactus always speak to our hearts in a special way. A way that leads us to pray for each young person that will live here in the transition home and will be part of the transition program. Let me explain by telling a little bit about these cactus.  They are tough!  They have survived a lot.  They have clearly been here on this property a very long time.  But take a good

There are lots of good reasons to learn another language. But one that we realize more and more lately is when we come across a word or expression in one language that does not necessarily translate the same or even exist in another language. You find yourself learning to be able to express or communicate things in ways you couldn’t before or maybe more accurately than you could before. This is really exciting. Of course, this often leads us to a lot of Spanglish in our hom

Just look at that wall!! It is truly a big and beautiful sight to behold! Our hearts are rejoicing to see this phase of the project coming to fruition! It honestly feels like watching a dream being built before our eyes!! Change of Plans… As many of you know, the plan was to use the months of March, April & May to get excavation done as well as begin putting in some of the big drainage pipes and as much other critical infrastructure as we could before the rains arrived. Well,

The other day I was doing some basic household chores. I came across something that didn’t get done right and I found myself in the mental battle of "just ignore it or leave it 'til later when I feel like I have time to deal with it, even though it is going to cause problems every day until I fix it" OR "take the time now to re-do it so that it’s working properly and not causing unnecessary ongoing problems." So I took the time to do it…the right way…so that in this small thi

Our founders Rich and Cherry Smith explain a little about the why behind Casa de Gracia and update you on where they're at: almost done with Phase 1: Outer Wall and looking forward to Phase 2: Infrastructure (excavation, power, plumbing, etc.). Casa de Gracia urgently needs your help to fund this phase so we can get it done before rainy season begins in June. With so many kids on the street every day, we are filled with a sense of urgency to complete Phase 2 as soon as poss

Phase 1 - The Wall - is only days from being done!! We are definitely celebrating this step. It may not seem like much but it is actually a big deal for us! Why? First, because without this security perimeter wall in place, nothing else can happen. Second, this is not a small job nor an easy job! It’s a large piece of land, and not only is most of the terrain is very sloped and steep, it's located on the side of a large (dormant!) volcano, which means it is full of