St. Joseph natives seek community support for Guatemalan orphanage

Apr. 27—A couple from St. Joseph traveled to Guatemala to support an orphanage. Now, they're hoping their hometown will lend a helping hand toward their mission.

Cole and Sarah McCauley both grew up in St. Joseph and have been helping to run a Christian orphanage in Guatemala for several years. The couple is seeking supporters to help meet the growing financial needs of their mission work of caring for and serving the children of the orphanage named "Casa de mi Padre," which translates to "My Father's House."

Their ministry of Child Rescue provides refuge and shelter for children in need coming from shattered homes, abuse, neglect, abandonment or who are orphaned through death.

"All the children are brought to us through a government entity and from the time that they're entrusted to us, our goal is to love them like they're our own children," Cole McCauley said. "We want to educate them, make sure that they can get a good education, go to college if they like, get some kind of trade and then just teach them regular life skills and how to respect people and care for others."

Along with these life skills, Sarah McCauley teaches special lessons in areas such as music education and English.

"We want to do special training, like cooking classes, extra English classes," Sarah McCauley said. "I'm a music teacher and we're doing violin and piano lessons for the kids, too."

The ministry has been renting one large building for many years, but the vision for the future on their new property is to house the children in groups of eight children per home with house parents living in each to provide more of a normal family environment.

"It gives people a chance to connect with...these kids that have lost everything," Sarah McCauley said. "The Bible says, 'Pure religion is to visit the fatherless and the widows in their affliction,' and so it's a good way to live that out."

With the goal of expanding the property, in addition to their regular budget needs, the McCauleys are now trying to raise funds to construct the two family-sized homes on the property, but they can't do it alone.

"The word of God teaches us to love our neighbors as ourselves," Cole McCauley said. "That's not just talking about my wife, my closest neighbor. It's talking about the people across the street, across the state and across the world. So, just to be able to love them, to be able to care for others, to show them that they do mean something to somebody, and especially, being from America, being from the wealthiest place in the world, we have a great opportunity to help and show the love of Christ to those around the world."

The couple will be hosting events for people to show their support at the East Hills Library on May 1, Panda Express on May 7 and St. Paul United Methodist Church on May 12 before returning to Guatemala to finish the work they started.

To learn more about Child Rescue's mission or support the cause, visit the organization's website at https://savingkids.net/.