Going Back to Open Arms Mexico

Last year, I had the privilege of traveling to Mexico with New Life Church in Alamo to serve alongside Open Arms Childcare Ministries. I knew the trip would be meaningful, but I don't think I fully understood the work Open Arms was doing—or the people behind it—until I experienced it for myself.

I met some of the most incredible people while I was there. The staff at Open Arms are some of the most selfless people I've ever met. They have dedicated their lives to these children, their families, and their communities. You can see how much they genuinely love the kids and how invested they are in their lives and their futures.

I don't speak Spanish, and many of them didn't speak English, but somehow it didn't matter as much as I thought it would. We worked alongside each other, laughed together, and prayed together. We connected almost immediately, even when we couldn't understand every word the other person was saying.

What also really stayed with me were the families we met in Camalú. These were people who had never met us before, yet they welcomed us into their homes without hesitation. They introduced us to their families, shared their lives with us, and were so incredibly warm and generous to a group of people who were complete strangers to them.

It was humbling.

I came home with such a different understanding of what Open Arms does and why this ministry matters.

This October 1–5, I'll be returning to Mexico with New Life Church to serve with Open Arms again.

This time, Ameen and I have set a goal of raising $20,000 for Open Arms Mexico, and we're personally matching every donation made to this fundraiser.

If we reach our $20,000 goal, together we can give $40,000 to Open Arms.

To understand why this means so much to me, I think it's important to know how Open Arms started.

Why Open Arms Exists

Open Arms was founded by Heidi and Daniel Elizarraraz.

Daniel's connection to this work is personal. At just seven years old, he was placed in an orphanage in Mexico. He knows firsthand what it's like for a child to grow up separated from their family.

In 2003, Heidi traveled to Mexico on a mission trip and met Daniel at the orphanage where he had grown up.

As they spent more time working with children and families, they started seeing something that changed the way they thought about orphan care.

Many of these children weren't separated from their parents because they weren't loved or wanted.

Their parents were struggling to survive.

They needed to work to put food on the table, but they didn't have anyone to safely care for their children while they worked. Some parents were left with choices that are hard for most of us to even imagine—leaving their children home alone, bringing them into unsafe working environments, or placing them in an orphanage because they had no other option.

Heidi and Daniel started thinking about what it would look like to help these families before they ever reached that point.

Instead of only caring for children after they had been separated from their parents, what if they could help keep those families together in the first place?

That's where Open Arms began.

The Story of Two Little Girls

There is one story behind Open Arms that really stayed with me.

In 2004, a couple named Daniel and Elizabeth were living in Los Pinos, a farming community in Baja California. They had two young daughters, and both parents needed to work to support their family.

They had no childcare for their daughters.

One day, they went to work and left their daughters locked inside their home because they didn't have another safe place for them to go.

While they were gone, their house caught fire, and both of their daughters passed.

At the time, Heidi and Daniel were working at an orphanage in Tijuana when they heard what had happened. They didn't know this family personally, but they never forgot their story.

Open Arms has shared that what happened to those two little girls was one of the reasons Heidi and Daniel wanted to start Open Arms.

It showed them just how badly families needed another option.

A year later, in 2005, Open Arms Childcare Ministries was founded—a place where parents could leave their children safely while they worked, without having to choose between providing for their family and keeping their children safe.

But the part of this story that gets me the most happened years later.

Somehow, Their Stories Came Back Together

After losing their daughters, Daniel and Elizabeth wanted to find a way to help other families so another parent wouldn't have to experience what they had.

Meanwhile, Heidi and Daniel continued building Open Arms.

For years, they were serving families through a ministry that had been partly inspired by the story of two little girls and parents they had never even met.

Then, more than a decade later, in 2018 Daniel and Elizabeth found Open Arms and connected with Heidi and Daniel.

All those years earlier, Heidi and Daniel had heard the story of a family they didn't know. That family's loss became one of the reasons they felt called to create Open Arms. And more than a decade later, the parents from that very story somehow found their way to them.

They had no idea their lives had already been connected.

Then, in 2019, Daniel and Elizabeth gifted a property in Los Pinos to help establish another Open Arms childcare campus.

The same parents who had lost their daughters because they didn't have somewhere safe to leave them while they worked were now helping create that safe place for other families.

In the same community where they had lost their girls.

That's the part that is hard for me to look at as simply a coincidence.

They couldn't have known in 2004 where any of this would lead. Heidi and Daniel couldn't have known that the story they heard would become part of the reason they started Open Arms. And none of them could have known that more than a decade later, God would bring their lives together.

Nothing could ever make what happened to those little girls okay or take away the loss their parents experienced. But seeing how God brought these families together years later and how something good grew from so much pain is incredibly powerful.

It really feels like one of those moments where you can look back and see that God was connecting pieces long before anyone involved could see the full picture.

And now, because their stories crossed, other parents in Los Pinos have something Daniel and Elizabeth didn't have:

a safe place for their children while they work.

What Open Arms Does

Open Arms is so much more than somewhere for children to spend the day.

They provide free childcare to more than 165 children, but they also support the entire family.

The children are cared for, fed, educated, and surrounded by people who genuinely know and love them. Open Arms also provides psychological support, works with parents, helps families through difficult situations, provides educational opportunities, and continues supporting kids as they grow.

Their faith is also at the center of everything they do.

And I got to see that firsthand.

I watched the staff love these children. I watched them pray with people. I saw how involved they are in the lives of the families they serve.

This isn't just a program to them.

These are their families.

And Open Arms does all of this without government funding. They rely on people, churches, businesses, and donors who believe in what they're doing and want to help them continue doing it.

Why We're Raising $20,000

After being there last year, Open Arms isn't just an organization I've read about.

I've been there.

I've spent time with the children.

I've watched the staff care for them.

I've prayed alongside people when we didn't even speak the same language.

I've sat with families in Camalú who welcomed us into their homes even though they had never met us before.

I've seen the people who have chosen to dedicate their lives to this ministry.

That's why going back this year means so much to me.

But this year, I want to bring more than just my time.

Ameen and I have set a goal of raising $20,000 for Open Arms, and we're matching every donation made to this fundraiser.

There is no donation that's too small, and there is absolutely no pressure to give a certain amount. If you're able to donate, we're incredibly grateful. If you can't donate but can share this fundraiser, that matters too.

I know the faces behind this ministry. I've met the people who will put it to work. I've seen the children they're caring for and the families they're trying to help.

And this October, I get to go back.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and for supporting something that has become incredibly important to me.