Restoration is the action of returning something to a former owner, place, or condition. When Back2Back started its work in Cancun, Mexico, the goal was to care for vulnerable populations by coming alongside families to keep them together. Focusing on orphan prevention since 2010, Back2Back staff have faithfully worked alongside mothers, fathers, and children, restoring their ideas of family, and equipping each member with access, education, training, and community.
There are three social workers, Kenny Gomez, Rosario Hernandez Cuellar, and Zule Diaz, who are dedicated to resourcing families with the resources they need. “We are a united team,” they shared, “on the same page, and sharing the same goals.” Every day they make contact with the parents, supporting them as they attend classes, appointments, and school meetings.
“We help the families when they have legal or educational issues that arise. We don’t handle it for them but remind them they are capable and assist them in accomplishing their goals.”
The social workers lead parenting classes each month. Currently, one group is reading Lies That Women Believe and The Truth That Sets Them Free and participating in a book-based curriculum. Other classes focus on nutrition and cleanliness, physical education, emotional intelligence, and health. Every class, check-in, and visit bring the families one step closer to strengthening family units and keeping them unified.
“We get the privilege of helping families find restoration, and in turn, God works on our restoration as well.” Kenny is a single woman with no children of her own and when she first was called to this work, she felt ill-equipped. “There is so much I don’t know about parenting and what it takes to keep a family together, but God shows up through me,” she shares. “It’s not us doing the work with the families, it’s God through us.” Zule agrees, “I’ve learned to fully rely on God, I cannot do the changing, it’s God doing that, and I must be dependent on Him. It’s something I want the families to understand as well.”
Three women who rejoice, learn, stumble, and grieve every day, learning to trust God as they serve with tenacity and tenderness, one conversation, home visit, doctor visit, and check-in at a time. And through their service, vulnerable families learn they are children of the God who never stopped reaching for them.