Video Project: children’s home in Tijuana, Mexico

Recently, I was asked to join the team from the Coastline Church in Carlsbad on their monthly trip to an orphanage they support in Tijuana, Mexico. This group of volunteers call themselves the Mexico Dream Team for Ninos De Fe — which is the name of the children’s home. It means Children of Faith.

I joined this group to photograph and video their mission work at this children’s home.

As we pulled up to the home, Marsh, the organizer for the group said “don’t go in empty handed,” so I grabbed some items the Coastline group had brought for the house and walked through the front gate. I was immediately surrounded by 30 well-dressed, well-mannered sweet souls who all had their hand out to shake mine and welcome me to their home.

The first thing on the agenda — check out the new games and toys that we brought. Legos. A huge pile of Legos was an immediate hit with all of the kids. Who doesn’t like Legos, right!?

After the games were tested and approved, the kids cleaned up because it was time for lunch. I’ve never seen a group of kids clean up so fast!

One of the younger boys had the honor of saying the blessing before the meal. His confidence and passion for the prayer was inspiring. A little 5 year old voice speaking Spanish boomed out over the crowd and even though I didn’t understand a word he was saying I knew exactly what he meant.

“They’re little prayer warriors,” Marsh explained to me later. “Our goal is to provide a home that is God-filled, loving, and a safe haven for these children who have been abandoned or abused throughout their early years”

In addition to the monthly trips, the Coastline team also support the children as they build life skills required to be prosperous adults. The team funds higher education and vocation skills. The kids all know what they want to be when they grow up — some of their future career choices include policemen, truck drivers, soccer players and pastors.

This trip was so impactful for me. I am still thinking about all of the beautiful faces that I met. And Marsh puts it perfectly when he says…

“when you go to Tijuana to see this kids, we think that we’re going to be blessing them, but the reality is that we are blessed by being there”

To learn more about how you can get involved, go to http://www.coastlinechurch.org/#/ministries/mexico-childrens-home