Over a million children in Mexico live without a family.
A million children who aren't sure where they'll sleep, don't know what it's like
to crawl into their mother's lap, have never played soccer with their father.
Even at a young age, many of them have been scarred by murder, drug abuse, violence, AIDS
and poverty.
It can be a dark world for them, but right there in the darkness, there's hope.
Men and women who follow God's call to care for these children in need.
You'll see that light of hope in a place like Matamoros' children's home, led by
Dr. Saul Camacho and his wife, Maria.
Saul knows the struggles these children face in a very personal way.
That's because he too grew up as an orphan.
Raised by his great-grandmother until she passed away in the 1960s, Saul thought his
big dreams of becoming a doctor would never come to pass.
Other relatives took him in, but they had no way to provide the type of education he
hoped for.
In desperation, Saul reached out to a local pastor for help, and the man led him to Casa
Hogar, the Matamoros' children's home.
It was there that God began leading Saul on a journey that was far greater than he imagined,
a journey that would reveal his true purpose.
That journey began with an unexpected meeting.
For me to be here, for the first person that I met when I came into the children's home,
it was this girl who was at the kitchen at the time, and I had traveled several days
to come up here, and of course I didn't have any money, I didn't have anything, so I hadn't
eaten for two, three days, and then she turns around and asks me if I was hungry, probably
she saw me.
She offered me something to eat, and I asked her her name, and she said, well, Maria.
So she became my best friend when I moved here.
Outside of the home, Saul and orphans like him had very few opportunities, but those
who came to the home could sleep safely, get consistent meals, enjoy a solid education,
and most importantly, hear about and see in action the love of Jesus.
In Saul's case, donors who were already supporting the home met with the eager Saul and chose
to invest in his college education.
The dreams of an orphan were becoming a reality.
Graduated as a medical doctor when I was 20 years old.
I had several job offers because the people that I got to know, the hospitals that I went
to do some work, you know, they knew me and they offered me positions.
I was helping people, that was my desire, that was my intention, that was the reason
for me to be a physician, and on the side I was making money.
And when the position of director of that hospital came available to me, I was really
happy and excited because I thought, everything that I had planned, it's coming in place.
At first, Saul thought he was seeing all his plans come to pass.
This was what he'd hoped for.
So he said yes to the offer, but the very next day, something happened that shook his
confidence in the plans he'd made.
The chairman of the board for the Madam Orris Children's Home came by his office asking
for help to manage the home.
The home where Saul grew up.
But I was thinking, you know, well, yesterday I was offered this position, which I know
what it will give me as far as financially and success and prestige and all that.
And now you're coming to offer me that position at the Children's Home.
I mean, who knows the Children's Home and how much can you afford to pay me?
So I immediately responded, no, I'm not interested in that.
After saying no to the offer, Saul and Maria prepared for the path they thought made the
most sense, Saul's training for the lucrative hospital position.
The training would take place in Mexico City over a span of six months, but Saul never
made it to the training.
An earthquake hit Mexico City, the worst that they have had in the last 100 years.
The medical center where the training was supposed to take place, it was collapsed.
That morning, because it happened really early in the morning, I'm in the hospital.
I'm looking the monitors and the news and all these and that.
And I'm thinking I could be very well one of those victims there.
Why am I not there?
When I started asking, you know, what's going on, God, what are you telling me?
Saul had been fighting with doubts for weeks and the earthquake only added to his battle.
Was he making the right decision?
What did God want him to do?
After one particular sleepless night, Saul heard God's call unmistakably.
He was to go to the Children's Home and invest his life there.
He didn't understand it.
He wasn't sure how it would work, but he trusted God.
The next morning, Saul resigned from the hospital where he worked.
So I got to the hospital and I tell the people, you know, hey, effective tomorrow, I'm resigning.
I'm gone.
And of course, they were like, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, what's going on?
And I said, well, I'm leaving.
And they said, well, how more money do you want?
What else do you want?
I said, no, no, it's not about money, it's not about anything.
In fact, I said I'm going to a place that I don't even know if they're going to pay
me or not.
But I'm going with the conviction that God is calling me there.
And so we've been here for 30 years now and I can say that that has been the best decision
that I've made in my life as far as serving God.
When Saul and Maria arrived, their challenges were only beginning.
There were only a few churches supporting the home.
That meant very little income to take care of 20 children and three buildings.
The couple cast the vision of Casa Hogar being a Christian home, a place that pointed the
kids toward Jesus.
Not all the staff members embraced this idea and some left.
Saul took on many of their responsibilities himself to keep costs down.
Throughout the years, the couple has faced many similar struggles, struggles they never
expected.
God has taken care of them every step of the way, so much so that God has completely transformed
how they view success.
The one thing to me that really touches my heart and
makes me cry of happiness is to see a life changed.
That's one thing.
The other thing is to see the lives of many girls that come here with their lives shattered
for the abuse that they have received before they came to the home.
To see an eight-year-old girl suffered all the abuse that you can even imagine or not
even imagine and work with her every day and see her life.
And then when they opened, she opens her heart to Jesus and see that life change and you
see that young girl smiling, laughing and living a normal life, that's success to me.
To see that life, to see that change and when that girl comes to us and tells us, I forgive
them, I forgive them, that's success.
And that success that we see and enjoy and excite us to see what God is doing because
it's God who is doing it.
Not me, not my wife, not the home, it's God of the kids that you see here.
You will see Him and you will see Him playing, laughing and all that and you will never think
that something that horrible happened to any one of them because you will not see another
life.
They're happy.
They're informed.
They live in a different life and just because Jesus has changed their lives.
Throughout his time as the director of the home, Saul has seen 35 kids who have grown
up to become full-time ministers.
They've left to share the gospel in central and south Mexico.
Three of them have stayed in Matamoros and have built their own churches and are investing
in their communities.
30 years ago, Saul answered God's call.
He left a safe job to devote himself to loving these children.
In that time, the home has grown from three buildings with 25 children to 28 buildings
with over 250 children.
I want this place to be the beacon that shines the light of Jesus Christ.
Not only to Matamoros, to Mexico, but to the world.
I'm not sure if I'm going to see it in my lifetime, but I want Mexico to be transformed.
And I want this place to be the one transforming the whole country of Mexico.
But our lives won't be the same as far as the joy and the happiness of serving God and
serving others.
We won't be as happy as we are knowing I'm doing what God called me to do.
That's something that no money, no anything can give you the joy and the excitement of
knowing, hey, I'm in the place where God wants me to be.
