A special message from one of our sponsored children in Oaxaca, Mexico:
Receive an affectionate greeting all of you. I would like to tell you a little bit about my life in Trigo y Miel Program.
My name is Berenice Santiago Lugo. I have 5 siblings. Audre, Uriel, Joselyn, Dulce and Samuel, and my parents, Silvia Lugo Altamirano and Felipe Santiago Rodríguez, we are 8 members in my family.
In 2011 I had the immense blessing of being part of this beautiful family “Trigo y Miel”. I was 12 years old, at that time I was in the last year of primary school. I joined the program because of the need that many of us have. Lack of resources to have a good diet. As the months, even years passed, I began to know Pastors Victor and Lety. They are real, pure, noble, pleasant, loving, holy and above all I got to know my savior, I met CHRIST. My life had radical changes. Every day that passed I had more and more blessings, one of them was to be the first family to get a house through this Program.
With the passing of the years, I found myself on the last semester of high school. My family and I were very stressed to know how difficult it would be to continue my education. We trusted God once again.
Upon graduating High School, my Family and I faced the problem that so many young students face. How to continue with my education? Through Trigo y Miel Program and Forward Edge International and thanks to divine intervention I received a scholarship through my Sponsors.
It was a few weeks away from the Universities starting classes and I was not sure of having a tuition, but they surprised us by informing us that one of my sponsors would pay 100% of my university studies. My family and I were very happy! I went to the UGMEX University (University of the Gulf of Mexico) at Oaxaca campus. This is how I started my university studies and in July of this year 2021 I graduated.
After 10 years of being in Trigo y Miel Program, today I finish my career and I have a degree in Tourism Business Administration and also, thru the years, I became a believer in Christ and now I know that God is using me to do something new. To serve Him in the church and to bless others, just as I was blessed.
I am infinitely grateful to all the people that God used to bless me and my family and, I pray that there will be more people like them. For the moment I am supporting my Pastors in the Church and in “Trigo and Miel” Program and next school year I will actively participate in “Siloé School“.
THANK YOU
Today, with much love, affection, and love, I want to thank all the beautiful people who were behind all these moments that I have lived. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to be who I am today. Thank you very much Joseph for being the head of this incredible organization. Thank you to my sponsors] for believing in me and blessing me in all ways. For caring about my physical, mental, and spiritual well-being, and above all thanks to my Pastor Víctor Manuel Velasco Bautista and María Leticia Mazas for being part of this adventure. Thank you for being and continuing to be my spiritual guide and thank you for never leaving me alone and being there for me all the time.
Thanks to each of those who made possible one of my biggest dreams, a University career. But I am blessed for the best gift that anyone could have ever given me. He will always be in mind for and that gift was to know God and my savior Jesus Christ.
These words are sincere with all my heart and love. This is my testimony. I thank God for having me be in Trigo y Miel and for being sponsored by Forward Edge International.
I thank you for time. I send you a huge hug.
Sincerely,
Berenice Santiago Lugo
In his book, “Empowering Children”, former Forward Edge board member, Dr. Ravi Jayakaran, shares the importance of involving children in the process of their own development. When a community invests its resources in its children, it invests in its own future. Just as Forward Edge values all children and believes
The decision to join a mission team It all started with two sisters who chose to go on a mission trip to Nicaragua. Val spontaneously joined her sister Donna at a trip team meeting, and decided during the meeting that she too wanted to serve with the team. A Humbling Experience During
Berenice was used to seeing the same narrative play out around her growing up: a life marked by poverty, wealth inequality, and barriers to education. Most families in her area in Oaxaca, Mexico have traditionally come from smaller villages in search of a better life and are facing severe unemployment
I just returned from a mission trip to our children’s program in El Cobre, Cuba and spent several days with not only my sponsored child but some of yours as well! What a joy to see them face to face, hug them, and to share some quality time. TyAnn Hunt,
13 yrs. old
Entered the Program: February 2025
Jonathan lives with his adopted parents, sister, Jhade, and brother, Caleb (both also in the program) in a one-room adobe house with a tin roof, and concrete and dirt floors. The family shares a bedroom, except for Jonathan, who has his own, separate from the house. They cook with wood and get water from a hose on their property. The bathroom facilities are outdoors.
Jonathan is his adopted father, Santiago’s, nephew. Jonathan’s biological father abandoned the family when he was 5 years old. His mother remarried but his stepfather is abusive and Jonathan kept showing up at his uncle’s door crying and afraid to go home. Jonathan’s uncle and aunt took the matter to the village officials and they agreed to allow the family to adopt him.
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