Perhaps the most important truth I have come to realize over the course of working with the Casa Vallado children’s home for going on 9 years now is that these amazing children are not in need of rescuing as much as in redirecting. I have to admit, though, that I first arrived in San Luis Potosi in 2007 with a Superman complex thinking we were going to roll up into Casa Vallado to save the day. We would give them all they needed to get by and help the Vallado “moms” take care of the children. But, as we invested relationally into these children, “moms” and the Directors of Vallado trip after trip after trip I quickly came to realize these children, and the entire organization of Vallado, were much more resilient and self-sustaining than I had ever thought.

What I originally assumed to be helpless children in need of rescuing, I soon came to know as brilliantly creative and determined young men and women. Girls like Clarita who had an amazing gift at sewing and designing clothes. Boys like Edgar who’s tinkering around could develop into the capability to build and repair just abut anything that broke around the Vallado homes. The problem wasn’t the lack of ability or the lack of drive. The problem was the lack of belief and the lack of vision. Because of their situations these children had lost the ability to dream big and envision what life could be rather than what life currently was. Their lives had drifted into a ditch of limitation. Could they amount to more than their parents who had abandoned them did? Could they overcome the stigma the Mexican culture had placed on them as being a lost cause? Maybe. But they didn’t really know how to go about doing it. What they were in need of wasn’t rescue. What they needed was a redirecting of their gaze. They needed someone to remove the blockage of vision and hope in their minds and hearts.

You see, there is a vast difference between relief and development. If someone a person does not possess the ability to do for themselves what needs to be done then relief is the answer. If someone has the ability to do for themselves, but lacks the knowledge or resources to do what needs to be done, then development is the answer. If you step in with a mindset that a person needs relief, needs saving, when what they really need is development then an unintentional co-dependency can develop and in the long run you cripple the person in need from ever achieving their full, God-given, potential and the opportunity to experience the joy of cultivating and achieving their own sustainability. On the other hand, if you dismiss a person’s critical need for relief with a mindset that more education or hard work will “fix” their problem, then you are going to rob that person of their ability to survive at worst, and experience the loving and unmerited grace of God at best.  If we are going to provide the most helpful charity then it must be filtered through the context of the person, or people, in need.

When we first engaged the Casa Vallado children and moms, there were certainly some relief efforts needed; food, rent, education resources. However, once the initial relief was provided, it was evident that what was needed was for us to move into more of a developmental role. We, The Vallado Project, would provide the resources so that these women and children could learn, grow, and develop into the amazing young men and women God had created them to be; carpenters, designers, teachers, electricians, pastors, anything their little hearts can dream of becoming.

And that is what the heart of The Vallado Project is. We are not simply trying to rescue children or give a hand out to those who cannot help themselves. We are trying to grab these kids by the hands and create the opportunities and environments needed for them to overcome the obstacles life has placed in their path so they can achieve that vision and hope that may have grown quiet in their souls, but is beginning to reawaken and shout, “I am more than a charity case,” from the depths of their hearts.