Aleph Baja Updates

It’s been six months since we landed in La Misión! The wild but mostly mundane journey of language learning and cultural adjustment continues through its highs and lows. Early summer days are long; the south swells have been good; the Pacific Ocean is still cold. Relationships are slowly deepening into friendships. 

In May an exciting opportunity came our way to team up with Christian Surfers Rosarito in running a handful of surf programs for a group of young people from Casa Hogar Ciudad de Refugio, children’s home. UNICEF estimates there are more than 1.9 million abandoned children in Mexico (4% – 5% of all Mexican children) and that in Northern Baja’s area of Mexico alone there are over 7,000-10,000 children living on the streets or in dangerous situations.

The picture these statistics paint can feel overwhelming, but it helps us understand the critical work of homes like Ciudad de Refugio in providing a safe place for children who are caught in this reality. So when the door opened for us to come alongside and be a part of creating a joy-filled surf experience for these young people, we were STOKED! 

Here are some photos from those surf days. (Sadly we are not allowed to share photos where faces are recognizable due to privacy protection laws for foster youth, so you’ll just have to imagine the smiling faces.)

Another June highlight was helping with a CS surf event in Ensenada for youth with disabilities in partnership with Autism Smiles (Sonrisas del Autismo).

It’s been great being out in the water with the kids and getting to know the other partners. We have learned a lot already just from these experiences! This summer we are looking to continue these partnerships and also start up weekly rock climbing programs for small groups of youth locally in our community.

In the midst of these exciting new things we are trying to stay focused on the work of learning Spanish, adjusting to life in Baja, and finding balance with our ongoing volunteer work at Siloé Clinic. We’ve extended our commitment to Siloé through the end of this year as the Mayer Family remains in San Diego for Brendan to continue receiving treatment (see previous post). Please continue to pray for Brendan.

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Finally, as always, we want to express HEAPS of appreciation and gratitude to everyone who has supported us financially in this season. A shout out as well to Mesa Rim climbing gym in San Diego for donating some more gear!

We are still just a little over halfway toward our consistent monthly support goal, so please consider becoming a regular monthly supporter. 

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Life in La Misión