When we get groups to come and visit our home one of the questions they always ask is what does an average day at DOFO look like? So here is my attempt…
The day starts at 5:00 am as all the kids are waking up and getting dressed in the school uniforms. Everyday we send out 100 kids to 9 different schools from Tijuana to Ensenada. The kids also have different chores they have to do before school everyday. Around 6 our middle school kids start eating breakfast in the dining hall. They are the first group of kids to leave for school. At 6:30 all of the other kids meet in the kitchen for breakfast, which is usually eggs and beans. After breakfast kids will start coming to my door to hang out before they need to leave for school. When 7:30 rolls around we all meet in the homework room to send off the next group of kids. During this time we pray for the kids and say a Bible memory verse. Rubi (she coordinates all school activity) will give the kids any last minutes instruction before the kids all the kids get on the bus. The only thing that remains the same is at 8 when all of the American staff meet for coffee. We talk about the day and anything needs to be addressed. A little before nine all of the toddlers will enter the kitchen with their school uniform and give everyone a hug. Then they board the bus for kinder.
During the next couple of hours multiple things can be going on which includes running errands in California, buying supplies for the orphanage in Ensenada, helping groups with their service projects, going to other orphanages in the area, and communicating with groups coming down. At noon we start picking up the kids at school first its the kinder and at 12:30 we pick up the kids in primary. As soon as the kids come home we all have lunch together (our cooks prepare close to 400 meals a day). After lunch we need to pick up the kids in middle school as well as drop off the kids in high school. The older kids go to school in the afternoon because the school in Mexico are really under staffed.
After I get back I head to the school room to help the kids with homework and different projects. This usually takes most of the afternoon. In between the homework time I find time to hang out with the kids on the patio this includes playing football, reading with kids, sitting and talking with kids, or just about anything they want to do. At 5 we have dinner together and then we head out to the football field to play. Around 7pm most of the kids head inside to shower and head to bed. At 8pm it is time to pick up the kids from high school. Usually the day is done by 9pm and everyone is in bed. If and when we have a group on site I am lucky to be in bed by 12. It is pretty easy to pull a 16 hr day here.
This is just a snapshot of what goes on at DOFO in one day. When it is all said and done it is really easy to see that God has his hand on this place. Please continue to pray for us and all our kids here. Pray for Cristian this month as he has a test to see if he can move up to the next grade! If you guys would like to support me in my volunteer position and the work down here let me know and I can get you more information!!!
———–
Note from Brent:
Michael is a former student of mine from Missouri. He is a graduate of Southwest Baptist University. The orphanage website is dofo.org. You can read about Michael’s first missions experience in the next issue of Group Magazine…