It was the summer of 2017, God had been speaking to us about serving in Romania for almost two years. The process of purchasing our 85,000+ square foot building was a miraculous adventure with the Lord; our first day in the new facility was in the spring of 2018. 

While we were purchasing the building and remodeling part of the first floor, our team still wanted to serve the kids we’d come to Romania for. They were the “why” behind it all. With that, we decided to rent a small house in the middle of one of the most impoverished Roma [Gypsy] villages in the area. It had dirt floors, a small wood stove for heat and one semi functioning window. Despite the conditions and the challenge of navigating a completely different culture, our team put into practice the many parenting tools we have gathered over the past 32 years. We knew how to care for at-risk children and began with the basics.

One of the first things we realized was that the communities we wanted to serve in Romania, mostly Roma villages, spoke a language of violence.  In their nation, they were considered outcasts. Throughout the early history of Romania, the Roma people were enslaved; it wasn’t until 1856 that they were freed. The affects of hundreds of years of oppression are still very much present in their day to day lives; leaving them marginalized and under-resourced. This left the family structure shattered and undefined. Within the villages, violence was used in place of words. Education was a privilege that paled in comparison to the need to survive. These were the children we were saying yes to. 

In that little house, we began falling in love with the Roma children. Most of them were not enrolled in school and spent their day with us. We played with and fed them. The language barrier being ever present. The parenting tools we’d accumulated over the past 32 years came into practice but were not easily embraced by these children who were most often left to care for themselves. The consistency we brought, in that little house, began to build their trust for us.

Today those same children, with quite a few more added to the group, are completely unrecognizable. In the moment it isn’t always easy to believe that your consistency and perseverance are making a difference; but looking back you can see the mountains of change behind you.

Each day we see enormous growth compared to our “little house” days. Just last month we hosted our very first kindergarten graduation. It isn’t easy to describe how massive of a moment that was for us.

The kids were incredibly excited and proud of themselves; but not only that, their parents attended. That alone speaks volumes to the hard work of our team. These are the parents from those heavily oppressed villages who are raised to believe that violence works better than words and that education wasn’t attainable or needed. They were beaming. It was such a big step towards gaining more trust with the parents and in turn, towards our dream to restore not only children but their entire family. This is why we do what we do. 

It was 2004, Carmen was five years old, when she, her six other siblings and mother were living underneath a gazebo in a public park in Tijuana Mexico. At just five years old, she was dreaming of becoming a math teacher. Twelve years later, Carmen has just graduated from our three year School of Missions and has begun working in the on-site jr high and high school; teaching children who have similar stories to hers. She has plans to attend university part time, while continuing to work at The Mission. Her younger siblings are still living at and growing up in our orphanage; each of them thriving. 

Back in 2004, to avoid the domestic violence and abuse at home, their biological mother and all of the kids found themselves trying to survive while living in a public park.  Their mother was unable to keep a steady job and Carmen says it was up to her to care for, feed and protect her siblings. Over the next few years, Carmen and her siblings were in and out of social services holding centers. Carmen says that her siblings are her strength and inspiration to keep going. In 2008, through some of The Mission’s staff members, Carmen and her siblings came to our local church. They began attending regularly and built a relationship with our team. Shortly after that, they moved on campus and into our orphanage. Carmen says she specifically remembers who from The Mission team, welcomed her that day. That was the beginning of her process of redefining family. 

All seven of the siblings were born prematurely. Carmen remembers the day her younger brother, Edwin was born. It was so quick that a policemen ended up catching him; their biological mother was working, selling newspapers on the sidewalk, when it happened. He had health complications that affected his feet and legs and was unable to walk until having a surgery at five years old. Even still, walking was a difficult task and running was impossible. One day, some of The Mission staff prayed for Edwin’s feet and legs; we watched God heal him before our eyes! Edwin ran around campus and to this day is a living, breathing testimony of the Lord’s faithfulness. 

We are incredibly grateful to Carmen for letting us become her family and trusting us to love and care for her and her siblings. Throughout her life she has had very clear visions and dreams from God, that have guided her to the confidence she exudes today. It was, and still is, truly an honor to have each of them in The Mission family.

For quite a few months now, the world has been experiencing an unprecedented season of quarantine. Our prayers are with all of those affected by COVID-19. The Mission, in both Mexico and Romania, have been following the respective governments' guidelines in order to keep our communities, kids and staff safe. Because of this, we have not hosted a mission trip since February. You can read more about how that has affected the ministry here.

For the first time in 32 years, we did not have any of you join us for a summer trip! We have sincerely missed your partnership and the momentum that each of you bring to our work in the nations. In this time, we have been intentionally focusing on areas like infrastructure, administration and of course, continuing to care for all of our incredible kids. Keep an eye out for a new way you can partner with us and advocate for our kids, from afar!

Currently, both Romania and Mexico are still closed to non essential travel. Until that is lifted, we will not be hosting any missions trips. With that being said, we are accepting bookings for 2021 and would love to help you with that. If you would like to start planning your next trip with us, please don't hesitate to reach out to our team at groups@themissioninc.org.

We are praying that you and your family are safe and healthy.

_______________
The Mission Team

Delia is 12 years old and has been part of our 12-hour care program in Romania since 2018. On one of the very first scouting trips our team took to Romania, they met Delia in one of the Roma [Gypsy] villages outside of town. As the team walked through the village, asking God what He wanted to do in Romania, Delia followed. She was very hungry for affection and attention; Delia never left their side that day in 2016. 

The village where Delia lives with her parents and older siblings is called Sapte Noiembrie; it is extremely impoverished.  As soon as we opened up the 12-hour care program, after the scouting trip in 2016, Delia joined The Mission family. Even before we officially opened, she would often come to the facility just to see what was happening. Now, she is with us every weekday and even joins us for church, on her own, where she volunteers in the children’s church classes. That is where we have seen her come alive! Delia has a true gift for teaching and is brilliant with younger children. We are honored that God coordinated that day in 2016, just to make sure that Delia got to be part of The Mission family in Romania and experience His love through us. Together, we are dreaming with Delia for her future and cannot wait for the day that we get to see her graduate university and become the teacher that she is dreaming of being. Partner with us by sponsoring Delia or a child like her, today.

In Mexico, our incredible education team orchestrated a pop-up graduation for our 90 students that were graduating from preschool, elementary, jr high and high school! It was our biggest graduating class yet! Although we couldn’t host a graduation on-site, we are so thankful to have been able to love them in this way. Five of our high school graduates, three of whom grew up in our orphan-care program, have even decided to continue on and join our School of Missions! They will be starting classes this September; we are immensely proud and cannot wait to see how God moves through each of their lives.

CARING FOR OUR COMMUNITIES

At The Mission campuses in both Romania and Mexico, we have over 450 children enrolled in K-12th grade and our family care programs. Our family care program, at the Mexico campus, was opened in 1991. The elementary, jr high and high school opened later in the following years. That journey began after seeing a massive need in the communities surrounding our campus in Tijuana, Mexico; childcare was expensive and out of reach for most families. Along with that, most families needed two incomes which meant that both parents were working. After looking into it, The Mission team found that many teenagers dropped out of school to stay home and take care of younger siblings.

As of 2018, we are honored to be not only serving families in Mexico but also in Romania. We do this through providing a safe place for kids while their parents are working! Due to COVID-19, we have been unable to gather children enrolled in 12- hour care programs, on campus, in either Mexico or Romania. Since March, our team has been making sure all of those children are still being cared for through regular social work visits. During those visits we determine how to love and serve their families during this time of quarantine. For the families with two working parents, who are unable to cease working, The Mission team has provided in-home childcare.

Normally, those kids would be with us from 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM. While with us they would get two meals, education and take part in our after school program. Because of that, we have been delivering food to families each week. Since then, several families have shared with us testimonies of God’s provision during this time. A couple of families who said they did not necessarily need the food donation, were giving it away to others in their neighborhood. They shared that ever since then, they have seen God’s faithful hand of provision increase even more in their lives. Please continue to pray with us for the abolishment of the virus and the safety of our kids and team. Thank you for partnering with us!

I was 17 years old when I moved to Tijuana, Mexico to serve The Mission. For the first several months I didn’t have a specific role; I did whatever needed to be done. That included anything from picking up garbage to cleaning outhouses. Eventually I became the primary care-giver of 22 girls in the orphanage. I cared for them five days a week, for 24 hours a day. Since I was ten years old, I had dreamt of having an orphanage that would love kids unto their complete healing. When I finally had the opportunity to take a step towards that dream, I felt unequipped. I decided to dig in; my “yes” to those girls and to my dream was strong. I learned that in the midst of feeling unequipped, God will equip you with all that you need. It was a challenging season but it is only because of my continual “yes” to those 22 girls, that I am where I am today.

Looking back, I can see that it wasn’t just one “yes” to taking care of them. Each time one of them woke me in the middle of the night or threw a fit, I got to say “yes” all over again. One day, when I felt particularly overwhelmed, I heard God say that consistency is what I could bring to The Mission and to my girls. Consistency in my “yes” to serving Him and my “yes” to caring for them.

When you say “yes” to partnering with God, it isn’t a one and done sort of thing; He requires all of you. All of your life, time, finances, dreams, relationships...the list goes on. Every time you are confronted with a challenge, you are also confronted with an opportunity to surrender to Him once again as you say “yes” to leaning on His strength and not your own. The fruits of that season were not only the skills I acquired but the lives that were transformed around me. Because of my “yes” and consistency, I have Sheyla. She and her two sisters [three to six years old] arrived in 1995. They were brought by their biological mother because she did not have the means to care for them.

[Sheyla, her husband and son]

When they arrived, the girls’ hair was so unkept that they had dreadlocks full of lice and feces, along with open sores on their scalp from untreated ringworm. They were incredibly malnourished and ready for family. I specifically remember getting to give them their first bath. As I washed the caked-on-dirt off of their bodies, cut their hair, picked out lice, gave them clean clothes and care bears; I knew that they were mine. This was what my strong “yes” and consistency could bring. I was their house mom for one year and then eventually began overseeing the entire orphanage program. In 2008, I began leading The Mission as a whole, alongside my husband. Sheyla and her siblings were with us for many years; well into their teenage years.

Each of them were flower girls in my wedding. Now, 25 years later, Sheyla’s step daughter is in the high school and I get to snuggle her baby boy at church; we are still in relationship.

The consistent “yes” that I gave to those girls 25 years ago, not only transformed me but transformed them as well. I got to love them when their biological mother couldn’t. When Sheyla came to enroll her step daughter in the school, she proudly walked around our campus telling her, “This is where I grew up.” That is something we are extremely proud of. Our team has created a home and family for children, not an institution that they are ashamed of. What a beautiful experience it was to see the girl I first met in 1995, when she had dreadlocks full of lice, now married with three beautiful children. Not only that, but she was proud to call The Mission home and us her family. That is what my consistent “yes” was for. At times, it can feel that what you are doing isn’t “significant” but if you stay the course you will get to see the fruit of your labor and the manifestation of your dream. You get to see your Sheyla, 25 years later.

Genea Horner
Senior Leader of The Mission

Genea has been serving The Mission full-time since she was 17 years old. She is now co-leading the ministry with her husband, Jimmy. To see more stories like Sheyla’s, follow Genea and The Mission on social media @geneamarie and @themissionorg.

We wanted to reach out to you personally, in response to COVID-19 and The Mission. Our entire team is praying for a quick abolishment of the virus and the safety of those most at risk. As we are sure you have been experiencing, these are unprecedented times. First of all, thank you for your incredible faithfulness in choosing to partner with us; whether that be through donations, child sponsorship or joining us for missions trips. It all makes a difference. As you can imagine we, along with countless other organizations, are being deeply impacted by the preventative measures being requested by governments. When a global crisis like this presents itself, “missions” doesn’t end although missions trips generally do. Because of that, unfortunately, one of our main sources of income ends as a result. Multiple trips, along with the Jesus Culture Missions trip scheduled later this month, have been cancelled or postponed in the past few weeks. These are incredibly difficult conversations to navigate. It is a balance that can only be lead by the Holy Spirit, as we lean on God and say no to fear; all while using common sense to keep one another safe and honoring what our governments are asking of us. Because of multiple trip cancelations that have happened in the past few weeks, we at The Mission are faced with over $150,000 in immediate lost revenue. Our hope in sending you this letter, is to be fully transparent with the repercussions that this will have on The Mission. As you probably know, the prices visiting missions teams pay goes a lot further than just the meals, ministry and work project supplies they would be participating in. A large percentage of that income is how we cover the cost of the many programs we have that feed, educate and care for children, daily. Currently, The Mission cares for 595 children on a daily basis through orphan-care, education programs, feeding programs and more. That being said, we are asking you to join with us in prayer for an end to COVID-19 as well as for supernatural provision of that $150,000 and even more as we prepare for further trip cancelations.  If you feel lead to partner with us in the midst of this, we would be extremely grateful. You can do that by making a donation to help offset the unintended effects of so many recent cancelations. You may do so by following the directions below.

Over the past 32 years, we have experienced many times of need as a ministry; God has never failed to provide and meet us there. We know this will be no different and are eagerly awaiting to see what provision looks like this time. God bless you as you navigate this season in faithfulness and thank you again for all that you do; we are extremely grateful for your partnership in both prayer and finance. As a team, we are declaring the supernatural abolishment of the virus and can’t help but feel that this month especially, as we celebrate His resurrection, is the perfect time to see that.

Loving Him, 

Genea & Jimmy Horner
Senior Leaders of The Mission

*The financial amounts are being updated live.

Since 1987, The Mission has been passionately fighting for the lost, broken and forgotten ones. We have dedicated our entire lives to rescue, love and restore children; to introduce them to the extravagant love of Jesus and welcome them into our family.

In the past 32 years, over 5,000 children have been impacted. It has been an incredible journey of faith. We have seen God miraculously heal, provide and comfort. He is in the here and now.

Although the need is great, we are more hopeful than ever before. God is on the move and it is truly an honor to partner with Him.

Following the call of God has led to many different places. The Mission is now proudly serving three nations and providing much more than orphan-care. Although it is an integral part of the solution to the immediate problem, we are creating programs and facilities that teach what it means to have a healthy family of their own. We are taking care of the orphaned, all while relentlessly fighting to see entire families restored, prospering and healthy.

As this past year comes to a close, we can’t help but reflect on the goodness of God and the generosity you all have shown. Thanks to you, 2019 was our most impactful year yet! More children were rescued, loved and restored than ever before. Your prayer, financial gifts, child sponsorships and missions trips have made all it possible. Some incredible things happened last year and we want to share them with you! Below are just a few of the amazing things that God did. Learn more about the impact that you helped create by reading our annual report.