Merry Christmas! 

We want to thank you for all you love and support as we serve here in Sonora. We trust that this season bring love, joy, and peace as you spend time with your families reflecting on the birth of Jesus.

Have a very Merry Christmas and blessings to you in 2014.

Con Mucho Amor - Brian, Clarissa, Cole, Mason, Leah, Cristian, Abram, & baby Evan

My Party

Clarissa threw me a "Jets" Birthday Party!

 Watching the Game, eating appetizers 

 We didn't do so good...

 Although the Jets bombed out, here is the star of the day! Thanks babe for a great afternoon:)

Me and the kiddo's 

What a way to destroy an amazing Birthday cake. Thanks Jen Scap for making my Birthday even better.

I am truly thankful for my family and friends. There is nothing in life that is better. They keep me going. I am so excited with what my next year will bring. As our family continues to grow I thank God for blessing me so much. I'm living the dream, nothing is greater than relationships. I'm so glad I figured that out. 

A huge thanks to my greatest blessing Clarissa. It takes a very special girl to sacrifice they way she does. She is always behind the scenes making everything happen. I couldn't make everything happpen without her. 

Love you Clarissa.:)

The Ancla de Amor Ranch. Could it be???

Many things have been happening over the last couple of months. I have been busy forming my board of directors as well as establishing our association for Ancla de amor. We have done a fair amount of traveling, as well as hosting guests.  Aside from these things I have been busy looking at various land opportunities. While I was back in Canada this summer I presented to you the possibility of buying 44 acres that are right on the exterior of Guaymas. Unfortunately that option did not work out. Initially I was really discouraged about that but God always has a plan. Right? Well, I am excited to share with you for the first time the new possibility God has shown us. It is located in the country about 20 minutes from Guaymas and it is quite established. 

 There are 2 homes that are already not he property. One is a 3 bedroom home with 3 bathrooms. The 2nd home is currently designed for the hired man and his family. It needs some work but definitely has potential for housing staff and children to help us get the ball rolling.

 Here is another picture of the main house from another angle.

 This is an open workshop with cement floors and even a nice pit.

 This tractor is used to help maintain the property. I have seen it in operation and it seems to work.

 An outdoor palapa that is in need of some TLC but has potential to be a great place to gather and hang out as a family or with our guests and teams from north of the border.

 This tree is beside the palapa. To the left you can see the outdoor BBQ.

 Another shot of the shop and storage room.

 One of the many shade trees on the property.

On this property we have 1500 citrus trees. Here is a picture of just a few of them. All the oranges and grapefruits are picked and shipped to Hermosillo and Guaelajara. It is a great opportunity to move in the direction of self sufficiency. 

 More Orange Trees

 This is a picture of the road way leading to the carrel.

 Here is an old shelter for cattle. Currently there are goats and horses on the property

 Another shelter 

 Orange trees. All the orange trees are set up with irrigation. Water lines are run to each tree with a nozzle with a spinner on it. Turn the pump on and its ready to go. 

 A small playground

 Here is a small courtyard between the two houses

 An outdoor kitchen

Here, Brian Heppner and one of our board directors are talking with the owner of the property personally. 

As you can see there is so much potential here. I would estimate that about 60% of the approximate 50 acres is currently being used. The entire property is already fenced in and there is water faucets located to reach all 50 acres with 4" lines. There is still plenty of space to expand programs, build facilities and raise kids. There is also a well that we are entitled to. We are so excited at what the Lord is doing here. My plan is to move forward with negotiations in January of 2014. Please pray that the negotiations go well and that we can make a deal. Currently we do not have all the money needed to make this purchase but we are totally confident that God will work out all the details. We are short about 70 000.00. In addition to the purchase there is legal fees and a 5% fee for the transfer of ownership. 

I want to personally thank all of you that have helped out and supported us in the Acre Challenge. If you are reading this and did not have an opportunity to participate and would like to please contact me and I can communicate how that can happen. This summer God responded in huge ways to the acre challenge. We found sponsorship for all the 44 acres that we needed to raise for the first property. Please keep in mind that the first property was totally bare. By purchasing this developed property we have everything that you can see in the pictures for no that much more money. It is a turn key opportunity. We can move in and function as we are right now in our rental house not to mention the income that the oranges will provide. I would love to encourage you to consider sponsoring an acre or tell a friend about it. Email me at bckrahn@gmail.com if your interested in financially supporting this ministry and would like more details. We can provide tax receipts for both our Canadian and American supporters

Far more importantly I ask you to pray for us and Ancla de Amor. Pray, Pray, Pray! Please! We know that God will handle all the details and we know prayer is far more important that the financial stuff. God tells us that he will meet all our needs with His riches. So please pray that God would touch the hearts of those that He has selected to be a part of this and they they would be obedient to His prompting.

Blessings to all of you this Christmas season. Trusting that you all have a Merry Christmas!

Brian

Our trip to Queretaro

This fall Clarissa and I had the opportunity to join the Children of Hope team for a conference that was being held in San Luis. At the same time we took the time to visit 3 of the orphanages that Children of Hope are working with. We had a great time meeting the Team from Children of Hope but also connecting deeper with Agustin and Lupita. Agustin has been essential in helping me get this project up and running and is also a director of Ministerio Ancla de Amor. For those of you that come down to visit in the future I know that you will absolute adore this young family. 

 Agustin and Lupita are our first staff here are Ancla de Amor. I have had the opportunity to work with Agustin in the past and can tell you that he is an awesome man of God. He loves his family and he loves to serve the Lord. It was great to bring Agustin and Lupita along on the trip to Queretaro so that they could see visually what we want to accomplish back home in Guaymas.

 Clarissa and I are standing outside on the road leading to Pan de Vida. It was great to travel with Clarissa and spend some time alone planning the future but also just chill in together without the kids.:)

 Brian and Betty Heppner along with the missionaries and staff of Children of hope. (Brian is back row center and Betty is the 2nd lady from the right) This photo was taken in the plaza in the city of San Luis.

 Here is just one of many of the Catholic Churches in the city. We loved walking the streets and seeing the history in San Luis. We walked these streets every day for three days and there never seemed to be a shortage of things to see. 

 We, along with Agustin and Lupita decided to go gallivanting in the city of Queretaro so we hired numerous taxis to drive us around and show us some of the many sights. Behind us is the water aqueduct that runs through part of Queretaro.

 This is a shot of the grounds at Pan de Vida. 

 This is the private school and Pan de Vida.

 This is a picture of the kitchen at Dulce Refugio. This is the second orphanage that we had the opportunity to visit. 

 Her is a picture of on of the 2 dorms standing at Dulce Refugio. They can accommodate 50 children each. The have 2 of these buildings, one for the boys and one for the girls.

 Here we are visiting the third orphanage, Esperanza para Te. This is a family run facility that keeps things on a bit of a smaller scale but provides great love and care for the kids in a family environment. They offer many different things for the kids to be a part of. As you can see the fish pond, the barn in the background and the many fruit trees and gardens that need to be cared for. 

Here is a picture of two boys that faithfully care for their cow Macarena. Each morning at 5:30 these boys are out milking her so that they have milk for breakfast. Pepe, the boy in red loves his cow. As he milks the other boy holds her tail. It was touching to see the small note Pepe wrote on the wall inside Macarena's stall. " Macarena, see you tomorrow, I love you! Pepe"

Over all this trip was a great success in our minds. The four of us were exposed to 3 different orphanages with similar visions. We were exposed to great people and resources that are backing us and willing to offer advice as we continue in this process. We are so grateful for Children of Hope and that they are willing to work with us in building Ministerio Ancla de Amor. We are so excited to purchase our property and hit the ground running.

Thanks to all of you that continue to love and support us faithfully. We think of you all often and are so grateful that you are all a part of our journey. It is an absolute privilege to be here serving the children of Guaymas. 

Merry Christmas to all!!!

Love Brian and Clarissa

Ministerio Ancla de Amor

Hi Everyone

It is long over due, its time to sit down and share some of the new and exciting things that are happening down here in Mexico. We are so thankful for the progress so far. Some days it feels like we are always waiting but as we look back over the last two months we can see how God is moving things right along. All in His timing right!

First things first. We have a name! "Ministerio Ancla De Amor" which means Anchor of Love Ministries. We chose this name for numerous reasons. Obviously with our location right on the west coast we thought it would be great to somehow incorporate that into our name. We started thinking of ideas and it came to us that Christ is our Anchor in the time of storm. We want our home to be a safe house, a place of anchorage for all children that are in the middle of life's storm. A place that the can find comfort, security, and peace demonstrated by love. We are so excited to announce that God provided us with a name and a vision for what He wants to take place here in Guaymas.

Also, some more HUGE news! We have Our board of directors in place. God has put together an amazing group of people to bring this vision to life. It is an absolute privilege for me to work along side these folks and already I can see why God chose these people to be a part of this Ministry.

From Left to Right: Agustin, Jesus, Gabriella & Miguel and myself.

Thanks to all of you that have been remembering us in your prayers. We can sure feel them. lease pray that God would give us patience as we continue to wait for all the legalities to come together. Some days it feels like we are not getting anywhere and others it feels like we will never keep up with Gods pace. So, just pray for patience as God finishes with legal side of things.

Many blessings to all of you.:)

Brian