COLINA DE LUZ

Hello! My name is Jim Drake of Colina de Luz, Reaching The Hungry’s mission partner in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. My wife, Suzi, and I founded Colina de Luz in 1987 along with Dr. Abel Mellado from San Pablo Church in Playas de Tijuana. Our goal was to come to Mexico as missionaries representing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We had heard there was an orphanage that was in dire need of help, so we chose to visit – and it WAS in dire need! God spoke to my heart that someday this orphanage would become a lighthouse on a hill, so by faith, we named it Colina de Luz (Hill of Light). Over the years Colina has become much more of a Christian Home for Children than an orphanage. It has been an honor to be able to care for God’s precious children, especially the ones the devil has bruised.

 

The Lord has sent Colina a hardworking, talented, and Christ-centered leadership team. Most of them have been with us for decades and they are the nucleus and the heart of this home. They have servant-hearts, and I believe their role at Colina is much more than a job ~ they are answering their personal life call from God. Pictured above with me is our Director, Maria Robledo, an experienced and wise leader who loves her Lord and is beloved by the children and staff alike.

​

Our main goal has always been to introduce the children entrusted to our care to Jesus Christ and then help them grow in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. We always have 50-60 children from birth to university-age living at Colina and nearly all of our children come from backgrounds of abuse, neglect, and abandonment. They have been hurt in many ways, but we show them that we love them unconditionally with patience, compassion, and when needed, sternness with a generous portion of God’s loving grace. We care for them when they are hurt by giving them what they need to heal.​ Partnering with the Lord, we strive to provide each child with an opportunity to grow spiritually, cognitively, and physically: 

​

Spiritual Development:

• Morning devotions are held Monday–Friday for the staff, volunteers, and older children when they aren’t in school and nightly devotions take place in each dorm room.

• Before every meal we spend about five minutes doing different memorization exercises in both Spanish and English, reciting such things as the ABCs forward and backward, the books of the Bible, the states and capitals of Mexico and the United States, and a good number of complete chapters of the Bible, concentrating on the verses that describe how people are lost and how they can be saved.

• The older children have youth group meetings on Wednesday nights and often lead Bible studies with the younger children. They also love to attend youth conferences and camps whenever possible.

• Worship services for everyone take place on Thursdays and Sundays.

• We do many outreaches at the local public elementary school, in churches, and in the hills surrounding Colina where poverty is the greatest. The children gain practical experience learning to evangelize and reach out to those in need.

• Our children love to perform Christian dramas, share their testimonies, and sing praise music. We are proud of them because they are not afraid to stand up for Jesus and they do it from their hearts!

• Living in a “big” family, our children learn the importance of teamwork, helping one another, and putting others before self.

​

Cognitive Development:

• We put a strong emphasis on maintaining high grades at school and give our students a great deal of one-on-one help with qualified teachers in our study hall. Our staff is determined to see every child succeed. We often receive unsolicited feedback from our children’s teachers telling us the Colina children are thoughtful, hardworking students!

• Children of all different ages sometimes come to us having never attended school. Our staff assesses & tutors these children and prepares them to enter the school system at their age-appropriate grade.

• Our children are gifted in so many unique ways. We offer many extra-curricular opportunities to explore art, outdoor play, organized sports, and music. 

• All of our children learn a sense of responsibility by contributing to the operations of our home. They have age-appropriate jobs such as helping wash dishes, clean the dining room, and sweep the grounds, all of which teach them both the value of and the way to keep a tidy home. 

​

Physical Development:

• Our gifted kitchen staff provides three healthy meals each day.

• One of our former children is now a medical doctor who is on call with Colina 24/7 and provides weekly medical checkups as needed.

• One of the children who has lived with us since infancy, is studying to be a dentist and provides the children with regular dental checkups and cleans everyone’s teeth twice a year.

• We have an enormous playground & climbing gym, trampoline, volleyball court, basketball court, soccer field, weight room, and swimming pool. Living with so many children, there is always an opportunity to engage in a pickup game, practice a favorite sport, or ride bikes.

• Most of our kids are avid soccer players. About 75% of our children (all of the niños, niñas, and muchachos) comprise four different teams that compete in the local leagues. They have earned a reputation for being hard to beat and our teams often place first or second in the playoffs! Everyone at Colina loves to cheer on our teams at their games, bringing us all closer together as a family of encouragement.

​

We firmly embrace our call to Proverbs 22:6: "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." We have had the privilege of serving over 700 children, many of whom walk with Jesus and some who work in ministries inside and outside of Colina. Five of our former children are now adults on staff and they are also part of our leadership team. Many of those children who grew up at Colina are now entrepreneurs or university graduates with careers in medicine, education, law, mechanical and computer engineering, psychology, and dentistry. We thank God that these children who came from difficult, often abusive beginnings have grown into accomplished adults with thriving families of their own.

​​​

From the very beginning, and every day since, our journey with Colina de Luz has been a walk of faith. In all the years we’ve been serving here, God has never failed to provide for the needs of our children, even during our leanest times. This has only strengthened our resolve to rely fully on Him. We are so grateful God led us to become a Reaching The Hungry partner and we pray that all we do together will help our children live fully into their unique God-given calling and most importantly, bring much glory to our Lord Jesus Christ!