La Casa Grande Fifatan is a Christian home for children who have nowhere else to live.
The children at La Casa Grande are raised in a Christian family setting, which provides for their needs and offers hope for the future through a stable environment, education and job training. Every summer, La Casa Grande organizes a camp that welcomes over 100 local children and teaches them about God’s love through stories, activities and supportive relationships. Club meetings are held for the children every other week. The children’s normal daily routine includes working in the fields or selling at the market and, if they are lucky, school. The club enriches their lives and invites them to relationship with God.
La Case Grande is the fruit of a teaching visit to the Institut Biblique du Benin by leaders from the Burgos Mennonite Church, Burgos, Spain in 1997. They were captivated by the opportunity for collaboration with the local team and churches in ministry with abandoned children. La Casa Grande began in 2000 as a partnership between the Burgos Mennonite Church and Mennonite Board of Missions, a predecessor agency of Mennonite Mission Network. North American interns have served with La Casa Grande sharing in the community life. Paco and Annette Castillo and Paulin and Esther Bossou have provided onsite leadership to La Casa Grande. The vision for future ministry is expansive, including construction of a village where the children will rediscover their sense of family, and of the world.
