Sara Gomez & family: Tijuana
Sara is a native of Mexico, and is the full-time church liaison for the City of Refuge Orphanage, which was founded and is directed by her mom, Martha Lopez. Sara works with churches all over North America, helping to connect them with City of Refuge financially and facilitating short-term mission trips. That’s her job. She also founded and directs two different battered women’s shelters in Tijuana.
The orphanage website says “Our vision is to serve God through serving the needy children of Mexico - children who come to us from broken homes or from no home at all, who have learned to make a life for themselves on the streets. … we are able to provide a loving family environment for children who have seen and experienced abuse, neglect and extreme poverty. Our family currently consists of 93 children and 13 “parents,” staff members who work together to meet not only the physical needs of the children, but their emotional and spiritual needs as well.”
The two battered women’s shelters provide emergency shelter for women, and their children, who are fleeing abuse at the hands of husbands or boyfriends. These particular shelters go way beyond short-term shelter to provide long-term physical, emotional, and spiritual care, and skills for life-recovery.