Speaking from the Heart: A Family Mission Trip to Casa Hogar Orphanage
What difference can a young family make on a short, 2-day mission trip when they don’t even speak the same language?
My wife and I have been on several mission trips together—but we’ve never gone with our kids. Often mission trips require a lot of traveling, and the activities aren’t geared towards young children. But when we heard about a family-friendly trip to serve at the Casa Hogar Elim orphanage in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico over Labor Day weekend, we decided to take our kids along…and what a wonderful experience it was for all of us!
Playing and Serving at Casa Hogar
We joined a team of 12 adults with 2 kids and worked with Anita Maddox, a Chase Oaks partner missionary who runs the orphanage. The 80+ kids at Casa Hogar have been placed there for various reasons. Many of them struggle to understand why they are in the situation they're in. Going into the trip, my goal was simply to bring joy into their lives for the two days we would spend together.
My kids (Lily, age 8 and Tai, age 9) were a little more nervous because they didn’t know what to expect. They also realized they don’t speak the same language as the other kids. But language turned out not to be an issue. We spent a lot of time playing games like pickleball, tag, and coin toss together. The kids at Casa Hogar didn’t care whether we spoke Spanish or not, as long as we were willing to engage with them.
On Saturday, the first day at the orphanage, I interacted with the kids just by being there and letting them know I wanted to play a game through hand motions or facial expressions. When that didn’t work, I used Google Translate, and if that failed, I asked a team member to help translate.
My daughter Lily taught the kids how to make bracelets. She is a natural leader and jumped right in to make connections quickly. My son Tai brought a few of his toys from home and enjoyed playing with some of the boys. It took him a little longer to feel comfortable interacting with the kids, but he still found ways to connect. He even shared his toys with the kids at the end of the day.
Most of the activities took place at the orphanage, which meant anytime my kids needed a break, they could go up to our room in the team members’ private section of the orphanage.
Also on Saturday, some of our team members who have medical training (including my wife) gave health exams to all the kids and a few adults. While that was happening, another team member painted fingernails. I took photos (which I later printed and gave to the kids as keepsakes), and other team members played with the kids or just spent time talking with them. We also took turns serving the staff by cooking some meals and cleaning up afterward. It was a good example of how each of us have different strengths and abilities to bring to the team.
Small Acts, Big Impact
At that time, I couldn't help but ask myself, "What kind of impact am I making?" As the weekend progressed, I got my answer. Two moments stood out to me. The first came when Anita asked me if I would spend time swimming with one of the boys. I did, and he swam with the biggest smile on his face. I thought it was just because he was having so much fun!
Later, Anita told me that he was so happy because he rarely got to interact with a male adult. That touched me deeply because I, too, was once an orphan and could relate to that feeling. Even though the adults on our team were of all ages, I was the only male adult. The boys at Casa Hogar could really use positive and caring male role models, so we definitely need more guys to go on these trips!
The second moment came toward the end of the second (and last) night, when Anita asked me to give my testimony. I shared with the kids about growing up as an orphan and how I overcame the pain of abandonment. As I spoke, all I saw were blank stares. Afterward, my teammate Nora, who was translating, told me she hadn’t expected to have to hold back tears, and she could see how moved the kids were by my story.
Anita later shared that one of the older boys had said he felt my testimony spoke directly to him. He asked her how he was supposed to get over his own pain of abandonment. Anita told him that my story had already given him the answer: through the love of Jesus Christ. That touched me deeply again.
During this short trip, God reminded me that he is more interested in our availability than our ability. I went into the weekend not knowing how I would make an impact. But God showed me a small glimpse of what can happen when we have the attitude that it isn't about us, but about serving and loving others.
He has placed it on my heart to go back again, and my wife and I hope to bring our entire family again next year.
Interested in learning more about Casa Hogar Elim or other Chase Oaks mission trips? Find more info here.