Juan and Susan Fasino de Garcia
Juan and Susan serve medically fragile and disabled children in northern Baja, California, Mexico. Their home is in Maneadero (just south of Ensenada). They share their home with three foster children placed in their care by the authorities under protective custody.
Susan is a registered physical therapist, initially from New Jersey, serving in Mexico for the past 22 years. Her husband Juan was born in Tijuana. They have seven biological children and five grandchildren.
Together with her husband, they pick up the children at their homes and drive them to the Ranch. They range from 4 months to 16 years old. They come with many different diagnoses from cerebral palsy, down’s syndrome, spina bifida, congenital syndromes, post meningitis, encephalopathy, autism, developmental delays, speech delays, etc. There, they provide physical therapy, occupational therapy, basic education, life skills, and now horse therapy as well. In addition, they provide hippotherapy to disabled children and equine-assisted psychological therapy for the children suffering from the damaging effects of childhood trauma (physical, sexual and emotional abuse, neglect, abandonment, attachment disorders, post-traumatic stress, and domestic violence.) They have a mobile wheelchair clinic and provide wheelchairs, walkers, and other adaptive equipment to the children who need them. At the Ranch, they offer consultations to connect the kids with the help they need from medical visits, medications, dental care, diagnostic testing, as well as partner with other ministries to help provide homes, food, water, and transportation to specialists. As funds allow, the ministry pays for the consultations and special tests and includes helping the families pay for passports, visas, and travel expenses when they travel to the United States for care. They adopt the whole family to bring help, hope, and the love of Jesus while they struggle to meet the needs of their sick and disabled children.
The Lord continues to grow the ministry,” Under the shelter of His wings.” They were able to purchase land of their own and have recently opened His wings Ranch. It is a place where the children come during the day and receive multidisciplinary therapies, basic education, life skills, and horse therapy. The parents now have a place for their children to come and achieve their God-given potential. This also allows them to work, get some rest, provide better care for their kids. The goal is always to keep the family happy, healthy, and together while their faith in Jesus grows. The children come to know the tangible love of the hands and feet of Jesus, and the parents start to believe that their prayers have reached a loving and faithful God. They now know that God sees their struggles and is faithful to help them in their journey with their special children.
The vision is now to continue and expand His Wings Ranch by building a wheelchair-accessible playground and offering an adaptive sports program. The family home still needs to be built, so they no longer have to rent the trailer where they currently live. They are praying to be able to expand the staff of professionals, therapists, and teachers and offer Mexican University students internship opportunities so they can be trained in caring for the children of the next generation. They are also planning to begin parent training seminars and start parent support groups, always centering on keeping families healthy, happy, and growing in their faith in Jesus Christ.
Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me, and the life I live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loves me and gave Himself up for me. “