Scott and Martina Day – The Emmanuel Orphanage

Positive Force Ambassadors
Martina Day / Scott Day

Martina Vallejo grew up in west Texas as the youngest of nine children.  While her parents had little material wealth to offer their large family working in the vast cotton fields they did provide a loving Christian home.  Scott Day grew up in a Christian home in western Kansas and came to know the Lord personally at the age of 12.  When he was 14, he and his family spent six weeks of their summer vacation living in a hut and working as short-term missionaries in Burundi, Africa.  That life changing experience solidified the desire in Scott to be involved in missions in some tangible way.  In 2000 Scott and Martina married and in 2004 they accompanied a team of high school students and leaders from The Church at Rancho Bernardo to an orphanage in Tijuana, Mexico as interpreters.  After spending several uninterrupted days in the shoes of these wonderful but unfortunate boys, they knew God was calling them into action.  Since then Martina has led an effort to provide love, food, clothing and backpacks while Scott used his network in the banking and mortgage industries to obtain financial support for the boys, girls and administrators of the Emmanuel Orphanage. Scott and Martina joined Always Positive as Ambassadors in 2005 and currently reside in Valley Center, CA with three terrific children. Click Here to donate to the Emmanuel Orphanage.

Emmanuel Orphanage is a private institution dedicated to helping the needy children of Tijuana, and Baja, California.  Founded in 1988, the orphanage houses over 250 abandoned or orphaned children and teens at five different locations around Tijuana.

• La Gloria, Boys, Ages 5 – 8
• El Rubi, Boys, Ages 8 – 13
• Teen Home, Boys, Ages 14 – 17
• Universitarios, Boys attending college
• Girls’ Home

Who We Are

We were founded by Eduardo and Ana Mendez in 1988.  What started as a small home with about twenty children has grown to become five buildings that house children and teens.  Most of them come from the streets, from families that are incapable of caring for them, or from households where cruelty and abuse are a frightening reality.  These young people are placed here through DIF (the government social work agency in Mexico), the juvenile courts, and other government agencies.  We work closely with the various government social work agencies, as well as with teachers, doctors, and qualified counselors.

The Need

There are over 3000 children living in the streets of Tijuana.  A large percentage of them are girls.  Their world is one unknown to most of society.  In the infamous red-light zone, children as young as ten are drawn into crime and prostitution.  Some are introduced to the drug trade by the tender age of six.  They are alone, with no family to turn to.  They are trapped in a life of shame and hardship because they have never known anything else.  The consequences are tragic: drug addiction, disease, physical or mental handicaps, delinquency, and unwanted pregnancies.  Growing up where wrong is called right, and where darkness is daylong, these little ones are society’s outcasts.

The Challenge

Unless someone cares, unless someone reaches out to them, these little ones and the generation after them will be trapped in a life of poverty, shame, and hopelessness.  The call is urgent – our children are our future.

Our Vision

At the Emmanuel Orphanage, we want to give these precious children the warmth and love of a home, the opportunity of an education, the challenge of attending college, and the hope of achieving their dreams.  Our goal is not only to meet physical needs, but also to share with them the eternal hope that only God can give.  Time is short.  Our desire is to rescue these little ones from the living death they have known on the streets, and show them the abundant life that Jesus has to offer.

“Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me:  for of such is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 19:14 KJV).

Come Visit Us!

Orfanatorio Emmanuel La Gloria (Boys Ages 5-8)
Mision del Descanso #39
Col. La Gloria, Tijuana B.C.

Orfanatorio Emmanuel El Rubi (Boys Ages 8-13)
Obsidiana #5209
Fracc. El Rubi, Tijuana B.C.

Orfantorio Emmanuel Teen Home (Boys Ages 14-17)
Marmol #5232
Fracc. El Rubi, Tijuana B.C.

Orfantorio Emmanuel Universitarios (Boys Attending College)
Xihualtzin #7807
Col. Emperadores, Tijuana B.C.

Orfantorio Emmanuel Girl’s Home
Calle Mimich s/n
Colonia Emperadores, Tijuana B.C.

For more information on the Emmanuel Orphanage, please click here for our information page.