Newlywed Life as Volunteers in Mexico: Growing in Faith, Love, and Service at St. Innocent Orphanage

My wife, Evangeline and I have lived in Mexico for a year now, serving as volunteers at St. Innocent Orphanage and Project Mexico. Living on the ranch as newlyweds has been a humbling experience, from navigating our new life together in such an involved community to learning to reset our priorities to put Christ and our marriage first. What a journey full of joy, leaps of faith, struggle, and trusting blindly it has been. And glory be to God, the journey continues!

Seeing our marriage and each other grow through our work is the most incredible experience. Evangeline has had challenging experiences in her work with the infants and toddlers at Casa Cuna San Felipe and has become a more grateful, patient, and loving person. I continue to learn and grow in my everyday interactions with the niños and thank God for this opportunity to give back to the place that has given me so much.

Growing up as an orphan, it can be difficult to grasp what a healthy and loving relationship between a husband and wife looks like. Our hope for our marriage is to be an example for the boys and those around us. As Evangeline continues in her work with the babies and I continue in mine with the boys, together we strive to minister to this community that is doing God’s work by opening our home to all who need it, praying for our marriage to be a blessing to those around us, and asking God to use this time in our lives to teach us the meaning of sacrificial love.

It is truly beautiful to pursue the challenge of carrying out God’s will alongside each other in our first months of marriage and to struggle with choosing to trust God again and again. We are so incredibly thankful to this ministry for bringing us together, giving us this special chapter of our lives, and helping us draw closer to our faith through striving to serve as Christ served. 

In Christ,

Alejandro and Evangeline Zendejas

Alejandro Zendejas is a former resident of St. Innocent Orphanage and has since graduated from Hellenic College in Brookline, MA. Alejandro and Evangeline have dedicated their first years of marriage to this ministry.

Learning to Laugh

God came to challenge us to keep growing no matter what our age. (Matt. 5:48) As we celebrate Pascha/Easter, we learn what it really means to follow Jesus. We realize that He suffered for us and through His resurrection our lives can be filled with life and hope. We are called to follow with hope. Here in Tijuana, we are surrounded by plenty of tragedy for this reason the Mexican government asked us to open “Casa Cuna San Felipe,” Casa Cuna is Spanish for Infant Orphanage.

In October of last year we received our first infant, little Felipe. We loved him. We held him. We fed him. He learned how to smile and laugh for the first time and was adopted by a loving Mexican family in January of this year. These infants and toddlers, who were abandoned, learn to do their Orthodox cross, kiss icons and sing to Jesus. Laughter emanates from the Casa Cuna. These joyous little ones know that Jesus loves them because now they have a home.

Currently, we care for 27 boys, one infant and four toddlers. St. Paul encourages us to live a life of purpose, patience, perseverance, and faith. (2 Tim. 3:10-15) As missionaries of the Good News we strive to live the Gospel by upholding the life of Christ through compassion and love. This endeavor is easier said than done when you have an infant crying, two toddlers fighting and three teenagers making fun of you.

The Orthodox team here in Tijuana is not perfect but it is our goal to learn from the lessons of the ministry so to grow closer to Jesus. The Church community of St. Innocent Orphanage allows us to be filled with the Holy Spirit. We also have access to the Sacramental Life. In tears we confess our sins. With hope we lift up our voices to praise God. And in gratefulness, we receive Holy Communion, the Eucharist, the flesh and blood of God. We are becoming one with Jesus through caring for His little ones.

• Repurposed a dormitory to house five female long-term missionaries

• Installed two new icons in the Orphanage Chapel

• Purchased land to build a new church outside of the Orphanage for the people of Tijuana

• Remodeled the intern dorm so we could begin caring for six infants

• Completed 60% of the infant orphanage which will house up to 15 children from newborns to toddlers

Like the mustard tree, Project Mexico has become a place where children can find refuge, where young adults can discover God’s purpose for them, and where Mexican families can receive help in order to rise out of homelessness. Jesus Christ was sent by His Father and hung on the tree for us. That tree is the cross and is the vehicle that brings life. Now, at the St. Innocent Orphanage & Project Mexico, the tree is growing and we all are becoming more like Jesus. Therefore, let us celebrate Pascha/Easter, rise to the occasion and learn to always put our hope in God.