#ConradQ&A - Post #2

This is the second part in our #ConradQ&A series. (Read the first part is here)

We wanted to ask our partners, sponsors and followers on Facebook and Twitter what they wanted to know about us and what they wanted us to blog about.

We got a great response, and here are more answers to your questions.

ONCE AGAIN, It is a bit long, I apologize, but these are important questions and have important answers of which every word was needed.


Question (Series) #2 - From: Chris Peters

How is God growing and stretching your family and you personally? 

Where do you stand financially? 

Are you getting enough support?

Answers:

#1 - How is God growing and stretching your family and you personally? 

The last 13 months have been an adventure to say the least, although in some respects, we knew what we were in for. But the unforeseen things that happened throughout this past year in the midst of transitioning our lives was what were most challenging.

If all we had to deal with this past year (or two) was learning how to depend on God through financial support from others, moving away from family and our country, starting a new career, adapting to a life of full time ministry and the spiritual attacks and oppression that come with it, and learning how to deal with a toddler, it would have been a stretching year in which God taught us many things.

And he did teach us many things through these circumstances and we were stretched greatly and grew a lot, both as individual people and as a married couple.

But it was the unforeseen this year, that happened in the midst of all of these things that God really pushed us to the edge with.

In August, we had a miscarriage.

I know many people have experienced this and know well the pain and anger that accompany it. Accusations and questions, anger and sadness. It still is hard to deal with even today, with Anna 15 weeks pregnant with our third child.

This sadness of death and loss was magnified greatly just 2 months later when Anna's father, Carlos, passed away at the age of 56 in late October.

There are few things in this world that bring us face to face with God more so than death. And as Pastor Jim Keller shared at Carlos' funeral, "death can make you better or it can make you bitter."

When we were faced with two losses in those two months, combined with everything else we were facing at the time, we had a choice to make. It wasn't as easy as you think it should be for a missionary either. There were angry accusations and claims of misplaced trust and everything you would expect out of a child who thinks their Father is not taking care of them the way they think they should. Many nights spent crying and asking "Why God?"

I can't tell you that God answered with a resounding word, or gave us a great vision, or moved in a physically manifested way. But I can tell you that He was there. I can tell you that even in the midst of the anger and the hate, and the pain, the peace that passes understanding was constant. And just because we felt him there, does not mean that the pain was any less poignant or acute, it just means, that through it all, there was love and hope that only a Father who knows our innermost being can provide if we are open to it.

Better or bitter.

We all have that choice in every circumstance. We choose to allow Christ to make us better, and that only happens through, trials, pain, and allowing him to remove those things which we think we need rather than depending on him completely.

So as we look into this new year, with fresh eyes, and a renewed sense of purpose and belonging, we are so excited to see how God will stretch us and use us this year as well, knowing that in all things, he works for our good, because we love Him so dearly. (Romans 8:28)

#2 & #3 Where do you stand financially? Are you getting enough support?

I lumped these two together, as the answers are so closely related.

We were blessed greatly last year in the way every committed partner of ours faithfully gave either what they committed to or graciously went over! This kind of faithfulness, according to non-profit statistics is nearly unheard of and we know that it is because of the wonderful people with full hearts for what God is doing through us here that He blessed us and our supporters in this way.

THANK YOU!

That being said, we are looking at a new year of ministry and as with everything in this world, costs rise. We had a wonderful December of 2012 and had many large donations come in that we are so thankful for.

However, we are still about $800/month short of where we need to be fully funded without having to depend on large year end donations to keep us afloat.

We want to thank each of you who partner with us already and just express how much you truly are a part of our ministry and thank you for your faithfulness for sowing seeds in the Kingdom through us and these kids here in Cancún. We are humbled by your generosity.

If you are blessed in any way by our updates or are interested in what we are doing, I do want to ask that you would prayerfully consider joining our support team with a monthly partnership.

We would love to Skype with anyone who would be interested in this, or if you are a current supporter and would like to increase your donation, that would be super helpful as well.

I thought coming into this position that asking people to invest in our ministry would be the hardest part. I was wrong. 

Honestly, yes, it is difficult to have to ask for people to support us, but when you are in the center of God's will and working at what he has called you to do along with every other Christian, it becomes an honor to allow people an opportunity to invest that which does not belong to them into the work that God has called us all to as His children.

For more information, you can email us at aconrad@back2back.org or to update your giving or ACH donations you can contact Karen Holliday in the home office at kholliday@back2back.org.

You can also donate online and put "Conrad" in the memo line at http://donations.back2back.org

Thank you again for your investment in bringing care for today and hope for tomorrow for the orphan and widow in Cancún.

Hope for Tomorrow

This month the Conrad family celebrated their first year serving as missionaries as part of the Back2Back team. This year has been challenging, from leaving family in the states to coming to a new place to start our lives, to asking ourselves what was the next step to seeing God's purpose being fulfilled, to meeting the kids from our first children's home to seeing what they could become.

Before we came to Cancun and became officially part of Back2Back I could tell you some of what Back2Back stands for but now I can describe it. I have seen it and it has impacted my life. Back2Back's purpose statement is "Care for Today, Hope for Tomorrow." Since we moved to Cancun I have had the privilege to help achieve the "Care for Today" part, but a week ago I had the opportunity to be part and experience the "Hope for Tomorrow."

Seven students from the Hope Program in Monterrey, MX came as a group to serve along side of us!

For those that don't know much about what the Hope Program is, let me tell you a little about it. In most children's homes in Mexico the kids are only allowed to stay there until they turn 16, after that they are supposed to take care of themselves. Most of them end up in very bad situations like prostitution and jail and the generational chain of poverty never ends. Back2Back started this program to prevent this from happening. We give them the opportunity to live in a family like environment and facilitate their further education, from high school all the way to college. By doing this, the kids have a better chance to become what God had in mind.

When I heard that this group was coming, I could't wait to see what was going to happen. I wanted to see the kid's reactions to finding out that this group was full of young adults that grew up in their same situation.

When I met them for the first time and I heard them talk about their expectations for this trip I was filled with hope, hope to know that the kid's that we serve here in Cancun could have bright futures like these students.

I couldn't wait for them to go to San Jose Children's Home and see them interact with the kids. It was a great day, the kids loved the students and the students loved on the kids. They didn't want to leave even though we had been there for 9 hours doing some hard labor and it was their fifth day of doing hard work. During the debriefing one of the Hope students said that when he was saying bye to Jorge (the only boy at the home), Jorge asked him if he had grown up in a children's home and the student said yes. Jorge just looked at him and smiled, they understood each other and Jorge was able to see Hope.

The last day that they were here I was able to ask the students about their experience with Back2Back while they were in the children's homes to make our work in CH San Jose more effective and the one thing that prevailed through their answers was relationships. The one thing that they needed the most was someone to care for them and I am glad to say that thanks to the vision that God has implanted in the hearts of our founders, directors, and Back2Back staff, these kids are growing up with "Care for Today, and Hope for Tomorrow"

The REAL Meaning of Christmas

We got to have the kids from San Jose over to our house yesterday for Christmas.

10 kids.

14 hours.

All the fix-ins.

Shopping.

Gifts.

The Christmas Story.

It was exhausting and so much fun!

I just want to share a little part of the day that I thought was the most meaningful. Anna had an idea to help the kids learn about the true meaning of Christmas, and that was to take the kids shopping to buy something for another, less fortunate child here in Cancún.

I know most people would say that we may be crazy. Taking kids from an orphanage in a poor part of Mexico to buy gifts for a less fortunate kid...

But the truth is, it is not about the need or what the kids have at San Jose. It's about the teaching them about the meaning of Christmas and at the same time showing them that they are not some poor child to be pitied.

The month of December has been difficult for Anna and I as we watch a steady stream of people file through San Jose bringing toys and junk food and more stuff than the kids need. I know that they mean well and are trying to help, but the truth is, they are not helping these kids in the long run. We are thankful for the sisters running the home who know when to separate things out to be sold to fund the real needs of the home and are always gracious with those bringing the donations.

It is a tough place to be in for them as they also understand that all of this stuff is to much for the kids, but at the same time they survive on donations and do not want to offend any of the givers.

So after watching what has been happening all month long, we wanted to change the kids mindset from that of "poor kid at the Casa Hogar, what did you bring me?" to "you are a blessed child in so many ways with more toys than you need."

So we took the kids shopping at Walmart and they each bought a toy or clothes, whatever they wanted, for another child their same age for Pastor Victor's children and the other kids we serve in Tres Reyes.

Then they each wrapped the gifts and wrote a note on them for the kids that they will go to. And in January, we are going to take all of the kids out to Tres Reyes with their gifts to deliver them in person and experience the joy of giving!

Here is a link to our who day where you can view all of the pictures and the video here:

http://media.agconrad.com/Back2BackCancun/San-Jose/CHSJ-Christmas-2012

Or you can click play for just the video of our day here:

#ConradQ&A2012 - Post #1

This is the first part in our #ConradQ&A series.

We wanted to ask our partners, sponsors and followers on Facebook and Twitter what they wanted to know about us and what they wanted us to blog about.

WARNING: Bear with me on this as it is quite long and detailed.

We got a great response, and here are some answers to your questions.



Question (Series) #1 - From: Ty Morelock

What have you done? 

What are you doing? 

What are the goals for the future? 

How can we help reach those goals?

Answers:

What have you done?

Our first year here has been a whirlwind, but we have spent the majority of our time doing the following: moving, finding a place to live, learning the language, adapting to a new culture (this is still happening daily), leading short term groups, and we took over Casa Hogar San Jose as captains and began orchestrating all work done at the home as well as overseeing each area of the child development model  in each child to make sure that they are receiving holistic orphan care. This is the short list, the long list involves many more hats and many more projects and planning sessions.

On top of these things, we have also launched an entirely new web site with specifics about the Cancun site and how to get involved here as well as keep up with us and what we are doing with our ministry partners.

I have also been taking photos and videos that are being used by staff worldwide for marketing and fundraising including the Fall 2012 Back2Back Magazine cover image as well as many of the photos for the articles inside.

What are you doing?

As we continue to move forward as an organization, our focus is shifting increasingly toward holistic orphan care and what that means down to an individual basis for each child that we serve.

What I mean by this, is that along with continuing in what we are doing with the the physical properties of the children's homes, continuing to invite others to serve alongside of us through short term groups, pioneering a Hope program based on foster families rather than residential group based living, and pioneering a program for orphan and trafficking prevention through family assistance, we are continuing to generate new processes and ideas toward fulfilling holistic care in all of the five areas of each and every child's life that we serve.

For Anna and I, this means a continual evaluation process and paperwork for each child at San Jose and planning out tutoring, therapy, one on one time, and activities that will continue to build into the areas where the child needs the most attention.


What are the goals for the future? 

The overarching goal of everything we do at Back2Back is:

"the sustainability of the orphan child, each child becoming prayerfully dependent on Jesus, and independent in his or her community"

Underneath this overarching goal, we have developed our Child Development Model (CDM) that covers five distinct areas of a child's whole being: Spiritual, Physical, Educational, Emotional and Social.

Everything we do as a ministry and as a staff is filtered through these five areas. Every dollar spent, every activity planned, every project worked on is either approved or cancelled based on these five areas. If we can see no value in one of these areas in something that we are doing, then it is placed on hold or cancelled and the resources (both staff time and donor monies) are reallocated toward programs and activities that are meeting the needs of the children in these areas.

So within this, we have many goals for the future. I cannot speak for the organization as a whole or even for the Cancun site as a whole, so I will speak only of Anna and I's goals for this next year with San Jose.

#1 - Get the Head caretaker's and their superior in Mexico City to Monterrey in April for the Latin American Summit on the Orphan that is being jointly hosted by Back2Back and the Christian Alliance for the Orphan. We desperately want the nuns to be educated on the dangers of institutionalized care for children as we continue to try to move towards family based care.

#2 - A second story for San Jose. This is the sisters' greatest need right now as all of the sisters and the 11 kids at the home share two bedrooms and two bathrooms. We need a significant donation to move this forward, but want the sisters to attend the Summit in April first as we want them to consider using this additional space to create separate family apartments where one sister would live with 2-4 kids creating a more family like environment.

#3 - Psychological evaluations for each child, and those that need therapy or medications receive it as well as continued mental health care

#4 - Develop relationship with the DIF (Department of Family Services) in the county in which San Jose is in in order to better understand the needs of the surrounding area where the children's parents live and to begin to look at options for assisting the parents in order to reunite the families (where it is appropriate and safe).

#5 - Get the HOPE program for Cancun off the ground and fully funded as we have one child graduating this year and another next year and need to be prepared for them, should they choose to further their education.

#6 - Continue and expand our tutor program to continue to help the kids catch up and/or excel at school. We have already begun to see great results with a few kids even making the honor roll for the first time ever!


How can we help reach those goals?

This is such a great question and as someone who fundraises daily, is one of my favorite questions to hear.

There are always so many areas to to help, wether that is leading a group to come down to serve alongside of us, or just mailing a check in. Here are a few areas that you could donate towards to help us achieve these goals:

#1 - Staff Support. The only way that we are able to be here working daily for these kids is through the support of individuals just like you who have a heart for the orphan and partner with us by donating so that we can be here full time working towards achieving these goals. This is a very important aspect of us being able to reach these goals, because the less time we have to spend fundraising for ourselves, the more we are able to work towards achieving sustainability and success in these kids lives.

#2 - Donations towards our ministry partner workers being able to attend the summit. Back2Back's role is one of support for the locals doing the work, and the more educated they are in what we are doing and trying to achieve in each child's life, the easier it is to work together and see progress.

#3 - A second story for San Jose. We are in need of roughly $30,000 USD to upgrade the existing building as well as add on the second story of living space for San Jose. Obviously, not many people are able to write a check this large, but every little bit helps toward this project and you could always lead a fundraiser in your community or at your church to help even if you can't give a dime.

#4 - HOPE Program funding for Cancun. We have one student already in the program, David, as well as one entering this year and one more that we are hoping to accelerate as she is the top student in her entire school. This is a great need for us to be able to achieve this goal in the coming year.



Question (Series) From: Shannon Runnels

What does the day-in, day-out routine look like for you? Do you get weekends "off" or do you work seven days a week?

Answers:

What does the day-in, day-out routine look like for you? Do you get weekends "off" or do you work seven days a week?

I have often remarked: "there are no weekdays or weekends in this job, only group days and non-group days"

During the spring and summer months, this is very much the case as most of the time, I honestly don't even know what day of the week it is. I can only tell you which site we are going to and what projects and activities are planned for the day. During these 5-7 months, we are "on" or working whenever there are groups here. A typical group day begins by leaving the house at 7:30am and getting home between 8:00 and 11:00pm.  We do try to schedule to get a day off every now and then, especially in the summer when we have 7 weeks of continuos groups.

The other 5-7 months of the year, we average about 1-2 groups per month and the schedule is a bit more relaxed. We have much more time to spend at the children's home by ourselves. Anna and I go to San Jose at least two to three times per week when we do not have groups here. This is also when we do the majority of our staff trainings, strategic planning, project planning, long term CDM mapping and evaluations as well as fundraising, traveling for support development and some date nights with the wife here and there ;)

It is a schedule that is very far from "traditional". It goes from feast to famine as far as time goes and you have to be able to manage stress and your time very well as well as flip a switch to go into overdrive when things get crazy (which seems to happen to often).



So those are the first two series of questions. Hope they were helpful and informative for you and I will have the next set of questions and answers up soon!

The Inadequacy of Words

There are so many situations and times in life, where our words fall miserably short of what we want to express.

A simple "thank you", on this special day, is certainly one of those times for us.

We want to say thank you to you, but at the same time we want to show you how much you mean to us and how much we value you and the words "thank you" just don't come close to saying it.

So on this day of gratitude, we just want you all to know, that we are mindful every day of the prayers you pray for us, the sacrifices you make to support us financially and that we are overjoyed in our thankfulness for you and the impact you have chosen to make in this world and specifically in the heart of the orphan child in Cancún through partnering with us in our ministry.

We are blessed to be able to spend this holiday with family and pray that you are experiencing the blessings of our Father in HEaven and are as grateful as we are for the many gifts he has placed in all of our lives.

THANK YOU!