Today we’d like to introduce you to Richard Roseland
Hi Richard, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I grew up in Texas and had planned on living there the rest of my life. Whenever the possibility for a missions trip to Russia to work as a camp counselor at an orphanage camp came along when I was 16, I jumped at the possibility to be able to travel and see new places. It was fun to be able to experience life in Kostroma, Russia and to learn how to love on children who did not speak my language. There was such joy, even in the midst of such difficult circumstances like growing up without family. As soon as I arrived back in the US, I pushed it to the back of my mind to continue pursuing my dream of becoming an accountant.
My freshman year of college, I started living on my own, and I was able to make my own decisions. Within the first week, I made the decision that I wanted to follow Jesus and that started a domino effect. Suddenly, the memories of my time in Kostroma came racing back and I knew that I wanted to be involved in loving on children growing up without their family. Through some advice, I switched my major to elementary education and was looking at working at an orphanage in Romania. The summer before my student teaching, I decided to spend 3 months at an orphanage in Queretaro, Mexico to be able to experience what life could potentially be like.
Orphanage life was not easy by any means, but I loved it! I woke up before the sun came up to drink hot tea and eat a piece of stale bread, I helped with construction projects around the orphanage, and slowly started learning Spanish with the help of the littlest boys always making fun of me. There was another volunteer, Sarah, at the same orphanage, and she was volunteering through an organization called Orphanos, based out of Memphis, TN. Whenever Sarah’s supervisor through Orphanos came to visit, she suggested that I drive to Memphis and see if Orphanos would be a good fit for me. That was 18 years ago!
I did drive to Memphis and joined on with Orphanos to work at the same orphanage in Mexico where I had been. In preparation for that role, I went to a language school in south Texas, where I met my beautiful wife, Ximena. We spent a few years at that orphanage, working as an ESL teacher and dorm mom. When our commitment was up, we both wanted to continue to serve in some capacity and came back to the US for the birth of our first son, Santiago. We started looking at a few different countries, and stumbled across a ministry in Ecuador that was changing the way education for orphans and vulnerable children was happening. At the same time, one of the boys from the orphanage in Mexico, Gustavo, asked if he could move with us to Ecuador, as he had just turned 18 and was kicked out of the orphanage.
We moved to Ecuador with a 9 month old baby and an 18 year old teenager, not knowing at the time that we were doing something called “fostering.” We spent the next 7 years working in the mountains of Quito and the jungle of Misahualli. I continued to work at a ministry through Orphanos that provided an extremely high education for vulnerable children from low-income households. During our time in Ecuador, we took in an additional 4 foster kids (Erick and Mayumi from the coast, and Nico and Inti from the Amazon jungle) and Ximena gave birth to our daughter, Leilani. After each one of them was reunified with their families, we started to look at what might be next.
Orphanos had been asking us for a few years if we would consider making the move to Memphis to help start a Member Care program for the international leaders of children’s ministries and orphanages. We agreed and made the move to Memphis. I served in that role for the first 5 years, traveling around the world to encourage and build up people serving orphans and vulnerable children in some of the hardest places of the world. But I still had a desire to foster again! Ximena agreed that we could, as long as I was not traveling for 6 weeks at a time outside of the US. We made the decision during the COVID shutdowns to dream and see what that might look like.
In 2022, I started a new role as a Foster Community Missionary to Memphis through Orphanos. We also became certified foster parents and were able to accept many new placements, including two teen girls and a 2 year-old who stayed with us for almost 3 years. At the same time, our jungle boys, Inti and Nico, moved back home to attend the University of Memphis, so our family grew into a family of 9!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
One of the biggest struggles happened in 2022. Just as life was rushing forward with 8 kids in our home and serving the foster community in Memphis was picking up like crazy, I received the call from the doctor that no one wants to receive: cancer. This set off the domino effect of surgery, healing, waiting, doctor’s calls, news that it had spread, and the need for four rounds of chemotherapy in 2023. For the next four months, I would spend around 8 hours a day for a week at a time on the 3rd floor of the West Cancer Center. The rest days in between would build up my body just enough to begin another week-long session with chemotherapy pumped into my body.
By the fourth round, I was so incredibly down and life felt hopeless. This was all while Ximena continued to care for our home and our 7 kids. That was the hardest part: dealing with physical pain and suffering, while also dealing with the emotional and mental weight of fostering teens and toddlers who are processing the trauma that they have been through. We were so blessed by our community here in Memphis, who did their best to provide meals and make life a bit easier, but it was still incredibly hard! I have now been cancer free since May 2023!
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a faith-based missionary through Orphanos, meaning that there are churches and individuals who help cover our salary so we can work for free. I am able to “lend” myself out to organizations who are doing incredible work here in Memphis, working on family preservation, fostering, family reunification, adoption, and more. There are a lot of tasks that get put on the back burner when there is not the time or energy to dedicate to it, so I am able to come in and help with whatever is needed. I am known for being willing to do anything that is needed to be done, from putting together beds for a grandma who just received custody of her grandkids to grant writing to help provide funding for local organizations to bargain hunting for clothing for foster kids when they are first removed. It is so beautiful to be a local missionary here in Memphis and be able to collaborate with so many different organizations and individuals.
I am so proud of the people here in Memphis who show up and continue to dedicate their lives to loving on the orphaned and vulnerable children of our city. I love the collaboration that can happen when people are willing to set aside their agendas and just serve. I think my level of patience and ability to see the good in the people I work alongside has allowed for friendships and partnerships to form on a whole new level.
Who else deserves credit in your story?
My wife, Ximena, is my biggest cheerleader and best friend. When we first were interested in each other, she thought I was crazy to think about working at an orphanage or living in Mexico. But since then, we have lived a beautiful life in multiple countries and raised so many kids from different backgrounds. She learned how to eat spicy food in Mexico and overcame so many challenges along the way. She is the one who constantly supports my dreams and allows me to do more than I ever thought possible!
The leaders of a few of the ministries that I partner with in Memphis have been so encouraging and helpful! Anna Barber with Threads of Hope jumped on the possibility to be in partnership when I was just starting out. Claire Pennel with The Orchard Church was willing to launch our Foster and Adoption Ministry and put us both outside of our comfort zones at times. Laura Greenwell and Katie Dunlap were starting MIFAM (Memphis Interfaith Foster and Adoption Ministries) and welcomed me with open arms to be able to collaborate. Virginia Roberts and Ava Conley with Isaiah 117 House have allowed me to serve them and dream about changing the way foster care begins. And Wayne Sneed and Orphanos have been there as my supporting organization for every step of the 18-year journey!
And finally, God has been there to walk alongside me during the extreme highs and devastating lows that come with foster care, cancer, and life in general! He has been so sweet and caring to put incredible people in my way and continue to direct my path to know him in deeper ways.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://orphanos.org/partners/richard-ximena-roseland/
- Other: https://roselands.wixsite.com/missions
