Estado 29 . . . a brief history and GSR involvement since 1995
MEXICO Estado 29
From - FriendsoftheOrphanages.org website (A little background. Next a discussion of GSRs most recent trip to the Orphanage.)
......The Begining
Orphanage Estado 29 was founded by Mexican minister Jose Acosta Zamora in August 1957 with five children who were orphans from the town of San Luis Rio Colorado in Sonora. Estado 29 was the first orphanage of San Antonio de de las Minas, Ensenada, BC. Pastor Acosta was deeply influenced by the presence of so many children living on the street of many Mexican cities. He started preaching about their condition and the Christian obligation that we have to help orphans: in the town of San Antonio, Mrs. Manuela Camacho was touched by this and she donated the land to start a home for these children. Mrs. Camacho did not have family or children, thus these five orphans became her family and she also began serving the Lord at Estado 29.
For many years the orphanage consisted of three mud rooms (Russian style) a few old beds, a dinner table and a wooden stove for cooking. Many years later, in 1975, electricity was connected and a LPG tank was added to supply gas for cooking. Every little improvement to the facilities has been done very slowly by private donations or individuals. In 1977 Mrs. Camacho passed away and left the land to the orphanage.
In 1983, pastor Acosta and his family founded a private, non-profit organization to work as an orphanage known as Estado 29. In 1987, Pastor Acosta became very ill and thus he gave the direction of the orphanage to his daughter Debora and the church to his son Samuel who also is a pastor. The economical situation of the orphanage was extremely critical: there was no money to pay the bills nor to buy food. The orphanage didn't have kitchen, dining room, laundry room, bathroom, etc. and there were about 30 children to take care of.
Not knowing about tomorrow, they trusted in the Lord and slowly the needs were answered. South Coast Community Church started visiting the orphanage in 1984 but it was not until 1985 when they started to get more involved with the welfare of the children. The annual Christmas shoe drive was initiated some small construction projects were tackled. And starting in 1990 a group of individuals from SCCC made the commitment to support this needy orphanage with supplies, improvement of living conditions, financial help to the workers during medical emergencies, as well as schooling needs. Thus Friends of the Orphanages was founded....
Next week’s bulletin will include a discussion (and some pictures) from GSRs last trip to Estado 29 a few weeks ago.