The Casa Sonrisa Story

G.M. Kemper (right) pictured with Brother Pedro Rivas (left) had a dream of planting a children's home in Mexico and bringing the love of Christ these children and others through this effort. Exploration of the legal and financial aspects of operating children's homes in Mexico was begun in early 1990. Several information gathering trips were made to children's homes in Mexico. Early helpers on information trips to Mexico included Edgar Judy, Ted Parks and George Roggendorff. Dr. Pedro H. Rivas (Mexico), Stan Stout, and Lic. Saul Palacios (Mexico) were very helpful with cultural and legal advice. Through the help of brother Pedro Rivas we were able to organize legally in Mexico as a nonprofit civil association with bylaws that guide us in getting children as young as possible and nurturing them into young adulthood.

During the early phase several congregations were approached unsuccessfully about overseeing the work. Failing in this effort, we organized under the laws of the state of Texas as a nonprofit corporation (Casa Sonrisa, Inc.). The financial and moral support of the Wimberley Church of Christ was invaluable during the 1990-1995 period.

The first meeting of a board of trustees was on May 3, 1992. Those present were Bill Brietschopf (Bertram), Ken Furr (Wimberley), Camm Lary, Jr. (Burnet), G.M.Kemper (Wimberley), Ted Parks (Round Rock), and Herschel Singleton (Travis Peak).

The official opening of Casa Sonrisa was on January 26, 1993. It was first decided to set it up in Piedras Negras, a border town across from Eagle Pass, Tx. It was opened and ready to care for needy children for five months with extremely poor results. At that time it was agreed to move to Torreón where Pedro Rivas could try to gain the trust and confidence of public officials, both local and state. Torreon is the largest city of the state of Coahuila located in the southwestern region of Coahuila, 368 miles south of the U.S. border at Laredo, Texas, situation at the point where the states of Coahuila, Chihuahua, Zacatecas and Durango, join. These three cities are located in a region known as "La Laguna"; the other two cities, across the Nazas river, are Gomez-Palacio and Lerdo both in the state of Durango. Torreon is the largest city of the Laguna region with an estimated population of over a million people, in a metropolitan area of approximately twice that size. The state of Coahuila is the third largest state in Mexico. It is located to the north of the country and shares 318 miles of border with the state of Texas in the United States. It's adjacent to the east with the state of Nuevo Leon, to the south with the states of San Luis Potosí, Zacatecas and Durango, and to the west with Durango and Chihuahua. It has excellent highway connections with the country's major cities and with the United States. It also has access to several international airports., A major irrigation infrastructure has been a boom for agriculture and livestock activities and the La Luguna area is known for its agricultural production of cotton, milk, pecans, fruit and vegetables. The northern part of the state has a long-standing mining tradition. In addition, the arrival of major automobile plants in the state capital and assembly plants in several cities, industry has diversified considerably. Torreon is best known today for the number of garment and automotive assembly plants located there. Over 156 million pieces of clothing and over 100 million yards of denim are manufactured in the La Laguna" region each year. Major U.S. business located in Torreon include Sara Lee, Delphi, John Deere, Caterpillar, ATT, and Johnson Controls.

Land Distance from Torreon to Miles Laredo, TX 368 Eagle Pass, TX 359 Del Rio, TX 413 El Paso, TX 500 Austin, TX 467 McAllen,TX 365 Monterrey, NL 225 Guadalajara, Jal 487 Saltillo, Coah. 170 Mexico, City 626

By March 1996 Casa Sonrisa was home to eleven children from the area in and around Torreon. Casa presently operates three cottages in residential neighborhoods in Torreon. Each cottage houses a Casa family consisting of house parents and 10 to 15 children. Criteria for selecting house parents include: Members of the church at least five years; 35 to 60 years of age; and at least a ninth grade education. Casa children, both girls and boys ranging in ages from 2 to 17 come to us from homes where parents are unable or unwilling to properly care for them. Additionally, due to the large number of children in each house, house parents are assisted by 1 to 2 aids. Today Casa operates 3 cottages, two which are owned by Casa and one that is leased, and is home to about 50 children and three sets of house parents.

Activities at Casa are those that you would normally expect from any Christian family, children begin attending school at the age of 6 and participate in normal children activities: home work, play, and bible study.

Casa is overseen in Torreon by Dr. Pedro H. Rivas Figueroa. Brother Rivas is President of Universidad de la Laguna (UAL) in Torreon. The Universidad Autónoma de la Laguna, its Civil Association and its basic organization, were born on December 4, 1988, with the support of 2252 students, 210 teachers, 83 staff members, parents, and the community members in the Laguna. On the same date the Board of Directors was formed and Pedro H. Rivas Figueroa was named president. Brother Rivas continues the work begun by his father. In 1939 the late Brother Pedro Rivas a graduate of David Lipscomb College, began preaching in Mexico. Coahuila Mexico. He Berta Figeroa who was the daughter of a Methodist preacher. Around 1939 Brother Rivas established a congregation in Torreon, Coahuila Mexico. He established the first formal school of preaching in the Americas. The school of preaching was established 1952 in Torreon, The first graduates of this school of preaching were Brothers Moises Perez now living in Lubbock,Texas, Cenaido Sanchez of Dallas, Texas, and Ernesto Reyes of Gomez Palacio, Durango, Mexico. The Iglesias de Cristo now have a history of about 67 years in the Americas. To this day both the school of preaching and the congregation that Brother Rivas started continue in existence.

Brother Rivas' excellent reputation in the community has resulted in much local support of Casa, including a government grant of $25,000 to assist with the purchase of Cottage #3, the donation of $10,000 from a local telecommunications company for a computer lab for the children, local Rotary gifts of furniture and appliances, donated clothes and minibuses, and weekly donations of 30 gallons of milk by LALA milk company.

Since the beginning, the driving force behind the Casa Sonrisa efforts from the U.S. has been G. Maurice Kemper (pictured here) who serves as the executive director of the operations committee which handles the "nuts and bolts" activities of fund raising, publicity, operating policies, etcetera. Casa and the operations committee are overseen by the elders of the Westside Church of Christ in Round Rock Texas who serve as Casa Sonrisa Inc.'s trustees. Critical work has been done by Hayes Grubb who, among other duties, acknowledges by mail all contributions to Casa Sonrisa. Vital work is the financial area has been done by Barry Chambers, Mark Hager, Bob Dunagan, Camm Lary, and Ken Furr.

Casa now receives support from more than 20 congregations and 100s of individuals.

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