Tijuana

“When I was a boy and saw scary things in the news, my mother would say, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’” Mister Fred Rogers

This month we wanted to share with you a recent letter (thanking you) that we received from a young man we met years ago and have continued to stay in touch with, helping him along the way, as he has recently found himself incarcerated as an undocumented immigrant. There is more to his story of being brought to the US as an infant only to be deported as a young man after making some poor choices. And although he sometimes continues poor choices he has consistently tried to help others because you, our VOB helpers, have modeled to him what it means to serve. Read his un-edited letter below.

Dear VOB Supporters My name’s Juan (not his real name). I wanna start by saying thank you for helping VOB ministry, your support has helped a lot of people from babies to adults. Putting smiles in people’s faces and hope In their hearts.everything you have done has reached thousands of homes, shelters, rehabilitation homes, streets, churches, nursery homes, and even to people standing outside hospitals! I’m sure people appreciate it so much because I would see them joyful faces in appreciation. I lived in Tijuana BC MX, that’s where I met Brother Wayne, you see I was going through some struggles in life at 20 yrs old I’m 32 now. I got invited to a food give away at this place called La Postal, in Tijuana where I bump into an American, Wayne, I was glad to see an American face, along with other Christian helpers. There was people that lived in the street and people with homes, all excited to get help and food for our stomachs. Lots of food was distribute, medicine, adult diapers, and baby diapers all in good shape to financial aid. Thanks to your help and support many families and kids had food in their tables, you see not everyone in Mexico can afford a good meal. Not everyone has the desire in their hearts to help others like you do, i pray to God so He can bless you and rewards you for what you have done and keep doing.

Wayne and Carol have been a blessing for us all, the work he does for God with your help has inspired lots of people! Into doing what he does and helping around, from sweeping to distribution. I myself is a witness that food and variety of items are given to places and people FREE OF CHARGE. Always with a sincere smile! After meeting Wayne, and witnessing what he did, inside of me grew a passion for helping and doing what he does, you see not everyone wants to work for free or give something with out getting something in return. Not everyone has the heart and time to do so. Plus seeing an American guy doing it is a bonus, having a family back at home and coming to another country to serve others not knowing if they gonna come back, man that’s love.

I got involved with VOB Ministry In Tijuana, I just loved what they do, I started helping the ministry distributing things you supporters provided, we delivered tons of food to places In need, I even got to go on mission trips to east of Tecate BC, all the way to southern BC, where houses are made of cardboard, used plywood, dirt roads, places abandon by the Mexican government, that’s when you showed up and changes peoples hearts, I wanna thank you for that.

Later there was this time I was at a rehab, and next thing you know Wayne shows up with helpers, hauling in lots of food for us at the rehab, there we housed 120 males, I was one of them, in La Esperanza rehab, in Valle Bonito TJ. We would go to places to provide our services like to warehouses and they’ll give us veggies and stuff to take back to the rehab, but during that week almost nobody had anything for us to take back to the rehab. Honestly we were eating leftover veggies which we appreciated, but then that same week VOB Ministry surprised us outta nowhere with meat, bread, fruits, sweet cakes, candy bars you name it, we were honesty surprised and caught off guard, that’s when you see Gods hand! Touching peoples hearts and guiding them where the need is! I lived many experiences with Wayne and the ministry, I learned to help others without asking something in return. I learned to share and to love. To care for others whether they were nicely dressed or not. You see when Gods in our hearts, He teaches us to love unconditionally, to care for others and to help no matter what, to give everything you got. We appreciate what you supporters provide, all the financial aids for all the events VOB made, all the food that was cooked, toys for kids, gasoline for cars to move supplies around, I don’t know if I should mention this but lots of times brother Wayne help financially elder people that were living alone, I would watch him, you see I pay close attention to every detail. He even helps me while I’m incarcerated, you do know I’m here right?

I wanna thank you for that and much more. I could write page after page. God shall reward you and keep you safe and well. He guards and repays those who help the needy. I hope I can do it all over again. Thank you again may God bless and keep safe! Sincerely with Love and Respect, – JP

If you have followed us long enough you would know that asking for financial support consistently has not been our go to. We have always been so blessed by faithful supporters like many of you. But we also feel that it is important to be as honest as we can about the sudden change in our finances. This past year, we experienced more than 30K decrease in our VOB Budget. Some of the withdrawn support has been due to supporting organizations who had significant decreases themselves. And some was due to our move from CA to NC. We have hoped to make it clear that we have stayed committed to our work in Mexico as we, monthly, financially support our teams and fund scholarships there.
In an effort to be completely transparent, the purchase of our home was not made from VOB support. However, a small, monthly salary, allotted by our board of directors, is provided toward our personal living expenses. This personal support/salary allows our full time attention to the worship and compassion vision of VOB Ministries. At this time, we have suspended our salaries to ensure the Mexico work is sustained with funds.
As hard as it is to ask are you: able to join our monthly support; increase your monthly support; invite others to give a one time gift or come alongside monthly? Every little bit will help us build our budget back up. And every little bit helps us keep helping others like “JP”!

Happy Thanksgiving – we give thanks for you. Love Wayne & Carol

Happy New Year friends! And wow what a busy first 2 weeks it has been already. I (Wayne), just returned from a west coast visit. I officiated Gabriel’s wedding to his lovely bride, Roxanne. Gabriel, you will recall, assisted me for several years with the compassion arm of VOB, serving Mexico. He came across our path as a young man of 19, somewhat newly saved and dedicated to serving the Lord. Now, fast forward, he has a couple of semesters remaining, before earning his Mechanical Engineering degree from Berkeley University, in Northern California. Gabriel, much like a son to Carol and I, we were more than honored to officiate their union in Christ. It was a wonderful ceremony, and is always a blessing to witness. One of my favorite things (an advantage as the minister standing with the groom), is seeing the grooms face, as he first lays eyes on his bride. You can’t help but imagine how much greater Christ, our Groom, delights over His bride, the church.

After a few days of pre-wedding preparations, and the wedding itself, I took the train down the coast of California, to the border, for some time planned to spend with our team in Tijuana, Mexico. If you are following the terrible devastation of wild fires in the Los Angeles area, you would know that I just missed such peril, traveling through the Southern California area. The train route goes right through Malibu and Palisades. After living in San Diego for so many years, we experienced a couple of wildfires brought on by the dry Santa Ana season threats but nothing as severe.

After spending some time with my partner collecting and sorting donated food (a familiar pastime and one that Greg continues to do like the Energizer bunny), I couldn’t wait to cross the border again. I do love the land and people of Mexico!! I got to visit most of the families (not all pictured) we continue to support, including spending a significant amount of time with Pedro, whom we continue to mentor in his ministry. He has a heart to reach his peers and encourage them to make Jesus the center of their lives. We love his heart of compassion and his heart for worship. It is really important for us to keep a lifeline connection to the ones we support each month – our Tijuana missionaries. I am always inspired by their dedication to the Lord no matter their hardships and living circumstances. Thanks to your support, we are able to help shoulder the burden a bit.

The US Mexico border wall has been a topic again in recent days. We thought you would be curious to see it from a Tijuana Colonia (neighborhood) perspective.

If you have been giving to this ministry, we just mailed out tax deductible receipts. If you have not received yours by the end of the month please contact us and we are happy to send you a pdf copy.

We cannot convey how grateful we are for your support. As explained last month, we have had a significant drop in our monthly support. We understand that for some, it may not be clear enough, after our move, that we are still very much continuing our work in Tijuana. Our stepping away from all the physical aspect only signifies our original goal (18 years prior) to raise up locals, and help them help their own communities. A mission accomplished. But a mission that we need your support to carry on seamlessly.

Be sure and check in with Carol on when and how to join her for weekly online worship and prayer times with our fellow worship friends on Global Tabernacle of David!