Studies show four-year-old children daily ask between 300 and 400 questions; mothers, a daily average of 100 questions, and everyone else between 20- 30 questions. Humans are born with innate curiosity. 

In the Gospels, Jesus asks hundreds of questions. 

• so we’ll think (Why are you so afraid? Mttw. 8:26), 
• to drive home a point (Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? Luke 6:46)
• to galvanize others 
• to expose duplicity 
• to bestow dignity on those listening (Who touched my clothes? Mark 5:30)
• to initiate conversation
• to lead people to a deeper understanding of God, the world, others, and themselves (What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them waders away, will he not leave the 99 on the hills and go to look for the one that wandere4 d off? Mttw 18:12).

When Ramon Balderrama and his wife, Irasema Renteria, moved from Mazatlán, Mexico to start a new Back2Back site in Culiacán last year, they had more questions than answers.

“Our work days are built largely around ideation,” shared Ramon and Irasema. “We are learning which needs are the greatest, how we can support work already being done here, and where we can bring training and experience to benefit vulnerable populations.”

Culiacán is the capital of Sinaloa and in 2020, its population was over a million people. It has both perks and areas in need of improvement with one consistent concern being child labor. 

“Children beg on street corners or are picking vegetables in the fields, and many aren’t ever in school,” shared Ramon. Some Culiacán families are migrants from indigenous communities, where they have experienced a lack of education. Families pull children from school, so they can contribute to the needs of the household. Ramon and Irasema asked themselves – How can we help parents value education?  “Many of the families didn’t choose to leave their homes, they had to.  We want to establish connections that allow families to have options and access. We want to raise awareness and education here,” they shared. 

Ramon and Irasema still have more questions than answers, as they pioneer a new site and cast a vision to best serve vulnerable families. Please join Back2Back in prayer as God opens doors of care that instill a generational hope in Culiacán families.