8/10/2019 Bader Don Viola 1977 Mexico
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T E N Y E A R S A N D C D U N T I N G :
T H E S T O R Y O F N I N D S D E M E X I C O
By Donald H. Bader
Serving Nines de Mexico are ( le ft to r ight ) Merlyn and Wanda
Beeman,Vi a nd D on Bader, an d Vicki a nd J ac k Yarnell.
It all began severalyears ago when a young j .man from Union,
Missouri, 1 r^U lstill in highschool, made a \ Jl ^ ^ Itrip to the
KiamichiMoun jP, Atains Men s Meeting in ps ou th ea ste rn O kla
hom a.While at this meeting heme t a group of young me nfrom Mexico
Duringthe ^th ree d ay meet ing a verystrong f riendship
devel-oped. After returningh o m e th e e n th u si a sm a n de x c
i t e m e n t o f t h e M e x i c a nb oy s a nd their love fo r th
eL o r d c on ti n ue d t o m a k ean impression on the mind
Serving Ninos de Mexico are ( le ftof this young Missouri Vi a nd D
on Bader, an d Vicki an d J;boy. Also th e n ee d o f th ecountry o
f Mexico to h ea r m or e about Go d an d th e c hu r ch , t h
epoverty of t he c o un t ry, an d t he hopelessness of t he chi ld
ren ofthe country continued to concern him. Finally, while still in
highschool, his decis ion was made to go, an d he dedicated himself
totaking th e gospel to Mexico. His folks were persuaded that
whathe wanted to do was r ight , Spani sh l es sons were started,
and hese t about convincing his f iancee that this was what they
shoulddo . N in os de M ex ic o was born-still only in his mind,
but it ha dbegun.
Who are we talking about? Th e y ou ng m an was Merlyn Bee-man.
He and that fiancee (who is now his wife Wanda) are th edirectors
of Ninos de Mexico, a home fo r o rp ha ne d a nd aband o n e d M e
x ic a n c h i ld r e n . I t is l o c a t e d in S a n Vi c e n t
e Chicoloa-
pan, a village about 20 miles f rom downtown Mexico City. Th
ehome has completed its t en th y ea r and is providing care and
lovefor 92 chi ldren in its overal l program.
Le t me tell yo u a l i tt le more about its growth. After
completing a t hr ee month internship in Mexico City under the
influenceof Dean Cary, the Beemans returned to the Uni ted Sta tes
to complete the task of raising their livinglink s up po rt . T he
n t he y, alongwith their two adopted sons Ter ry David and Greg,
returned toMexico City in January of 1967 to bring into reality th
e idea thatha d been bo m several years before.
Th e home began in rented quarters in Mexico City. Th e Bee-mans
knew this would no t be the permanent location of th ehome bu t
felt it wise no t to invest in bu ildings at f irst . Therewere
customs to be adjusted to , l an gu ag e to be learned, and pr oper
contact s to be made. After all these obstacles ha d been me tan d
dealt with, th e building program wa s begun.
While still in the rented quarters in Mexico City, chi ldren
began to be received into th e home. Merlyn stated that he knew
hecould no t raise children as he felt t he y s ho u ld be raised
in sucha large metropolitan area, so a s ea rc h was begun for
property in arural area. In th e latter part of 1967 property was
located in SanVicen te Chico loapan . Arrangements were made to
purchase theproperty an d in February of 1968 th e move was m ad e
f ro m M exico City. Th e family at that time numbered 25
children.
T he new property di d not have much in t he w ay of
buildings.In fact, there was o nl y o ne small three bedroom h ou
se p lu s asmall on e room house. As Merlyn stated, We ha d wall to
wallchildren In f ac t, f ro m t he very ear ly days of Ninos de
Mex icountil today we have a lways ha d wall to wall children.
An overa ll plan for th e building program was made an d co
nstruction began. Through t he y ear s it has been frustrating a
ttimes, because th e need is so great an d we have no t been able
to
I 1 r completely meet thatj I I need. But we made thej|i i. ^ I
decision to never launchM |1 into a big building pro-
gram without sufficientfunds available s o t h a t w ew o u l d
n o t h a v e t o b u r d e nth e peo ple in th e S ta te swith a
large indebtedness.
J I . Now, afterten years wet se e Ninos de Mexico con-
1^^^ tinuing to grow Unitth e original home, alarge building
consisting of
I 12 bedrooms, two apart-\ ments one filled with
boys a t th e p re se nt t im eright) Mer lyn and Wanda Beeman,
because of the lack ofYarnell. space), a large dining room
and k i tchen area, a nurseryarea with 16 children in it, and a
family r oo m, plus a c om ple tef arm program consisting of
cattle, hogs, rabbits, an d chickens. AtU ni t I we have 71 c hi ld
ren : 47 boys and 24 girls.
In June, 1975, a second unit was opened in Huexotla, a
villageabout te n miles f rom Un it I. Jack an d Vicki Yarnell of
Dallas,Tex as , a cc ep te d t he i nv it at io n to com e an d b
ec om e p ar en ts toMexican ch ild ren . Unit II is a smaller
program, as all future pr ograms will be. At Unit II, we have a
building consisting of sixbedrooms, a d in ing a nd k it ch en a re
a, a family room, plus a guesth ou se . T he re are 13 boys an d
eight girls in th is home.
Looking forward to t he fu tu re of Ninos de Mexico, we hope
tohave a ne w home, U n it I II , p e rh a ps ye t this y ear . T
he n as soon asmoney is av ail ab le we hope to o pe n m or e
homes-perhaps as
many as SO-circling th e Mexico C it y area to c ar e fo r over
1000c h i l d r e n .
Why orphanage work? Why spend so mu ch money? (And itdoes take a
lo t of money.) Is orphanage work in a foreign countr y good use of
th e missionary dollar? Perhaps th e b es t w ay toanswer th is is
to give yo u an example of what is happening an dwill continue to
happen w it h t he ch il dr en of Ninos de Mexico.Our example is a
young m an n am ed L au ro J os e S ar mi en to . Tenyears ago
Lauro was a young ma n w ho h ad little t im e f or G od orth e
church, but he was a young person in need physically. Laurob e c a
m e o n e o f t h e f i r s t chi ldren a t N in os d e M ex ic o.
H e w a sbrought into the home, fed, clothed, and sent to sc hool .
Alsod ur in g t hi s t im e he was told about th e love of Jesus.
Lauro became a v ery active Ch ri st ian in th e program of t he
church. Hewas able to complete his public school training an d
decided to bec o m e a s c h o o l t e a c h e r. H e is n o w m a
r r i e d a n d t h e h ea d o f aChristian home an d is witnessing
to hi s ow n people. B ut m or eimportant , this young man, wh o te
n years a go w as n o t ve ry ac tivein th e church, no w preaches
to his ow n p eo pl e e ac h w ee k as hese rves t h e n e w c h u
rc h in H u e x o t l a w h e r e U n i t I I o f N i n o s d
eMexico is located. Lauro is a missionary to Mexico, on e wh odoes
not require th e support of American dollars.
If yo u would like a firsthand report of this f as t mov ing
missionary program, please con tac t Ron Cowan, Route 1, Bo x
310V,Washington, MO 63090. He will make arrangements fo r us tocome
by fo r a multi-media presentation of t he w or k. Also fo rprinted
information on adoption programs o r o th er informationc o n t a c
t M r. C o w a n
D on B ad er an d hi s wife Vi ar e A s s o c ia t e D i r e c
to r s of Ninos de Mexico .
Pages 1 and 2 are being paid for by Ninos de Mexico.
