Thoughts from Beth Guckenberger: pureNRG, a music group from Word Entertainment was our guest this past month in Monterrey. They partnered with the James Fund and Payless Shoes in a marketing co-venture that resulted in thousands of donated shoes for orphans around the world. Hundreds of those were sent to Mexico with b2b and we… Read more
Every Saturday morning, Meme, a partner of the ministry, hosts a soup kitchen for nearly fifty people at Rio I, many of whom are young children. The families from the community arrive around 12:30 and together we worship and praise the Lord for all He is doing. Most of the songs we sing without instruments but recently… Read more
In the past month, we’ve celebrated birthdays for three boys that live with us through the Back2Back Hope Program. Birthday celebrations have been a sweet way to celebrate each boy individually by fixing food he wants and/or doing something that is just about him. Being a part of a loving family is part of our… Read more
Recently, the US and Mexico staff gathered at our Mexico campus in Monterrey for our annual strategic planning retreat. During the daytime sessions, we brainstormed how we might continue to grow and improve as an organization, while staying true to our mission to provide “care for today, hope for tomorrow” to orphans. We also visited… Read more
Many of you know our car was broken into on a recent trip back home for a furlough this summer. As we were retrieving a police report, I found myself caught in a sea of people at the Shelby County Jail. We were checked, had to walk through three metal detectors, and even had a temporary photo… Read more
This past summer, God blessed me with the opportunity to increase my Spanish by studying in an intensive program in central Mexico. This is a picture of one of the many stands in and around San Miguel de Allende where I studied. Often women and children will sit on the curb and sell dolls similar… Read more
Two years ago we moved into a new home, The Joseph House. This is one of the Hope Program homes on the Back2Back Mexico campus. There is a big walnut tree in the garden outside our house. It was in very bad shape – dry and unhealthy. There were construction materials like cement, gravel, and… Read more
Last week, I was talking with my neighbor, Norma, who lives near us in Monterrey, Mexico. She told me of the story of a teenage boy who stopped at her home to ask her where “the Americans” live. Wanting to protect the privacy of the Back2Back American staff living nearby, she continued talking with him,… Read more
Through the role of my wife and I as house parents to teens in Back2Back’s Hope Program, God is teaching us to see through His eyes and to understand how to accept those who are unacceptable to society. He is teaching us that his mercy and love is able to transform. We have experienced God’s… Read more
John, our children, and I were invited by the Chairman of the Kisayhip Village that we work with to experience and witness one of the farming/wedding traditions that they practice. We picked up the kids right after school and went to go “be a part” of traditional Africa. Upon arriving, we learned more…. when a… Read more