Before we created an organization called Selma’s Story, there was, of course, Selma’s story. It’s a true story that changed us, and the one that constantly inspires us. We hope it inspires you as well.

Who is "Selma"?

The story of Selma isn’t just the story of Selma; but it is a love story involving many people. It all started in an orphanage near Tijuana, Mexico.

On the day Rebecca went to the orphanage, the children had chicken pox. Although most of them were over the worst of it and feeling fine, they were still sick and had pink calamine smeared all over their faces and shoulders. The children were anxious to get out and play in the fresh air and see some new faces, so when Rebecca came with her church group, the kids were ready for fun–a little kickball, hair-braiding, and jumping rope.

Rebecca had come down to this orphanage, which was about an hour south of Tijuana, after spending a few days with the older kids and teenagers who lived at the orphanage’s other “campus” in Tijuana. There, she had heard a lot about a baby, Selma, who had come to stay.

Even though Rebecca had heard about Selma well before she met her, the information regarding the baby’s background was unclear. The staff did know that Selma’s mother was an American; that the child had been hurt; that the mother was in rehab. The rest of the story, however, remained vague. Rebecca heard different things: that the Tijuana police had arrested the father and brought the mother to the women’s shelter; that the baby had been found in the garbage, tossed away; that she had been sold for drugs; or that she had been abused or sold to abusers. All of this turned out to be wrong, but at the time, both this story and this child, seemed to be calling to Rebecca unlike any other heartrending story she had heard.

Before she even went there, Rebecca had thought that visiting the orphanage would make her want to bring all these children home to join her and her two daughters. She had been to the orphanage a couple of times now, but that hadn’t happened. The kids were wonderful, beautiful even. They played basketball in the courtyard, complained about rules, and even picked up after dinner. It was a small group, and they were well cared for. Some children still had parents that were living but were unable to care for their children, mostly due to drugs. Mothers sometimes came and visited, and the orphanage was diligent about taking care of the kids. It was obvious that the orphanage staff really love the children making sure everyone went to school, all the way through high school and sometimes even beyond.

Rebecca didn’t feel what she thought she would feel because of what she had seen at the orphanage. Mostly, she felt like her role was to help the orphanage do its job really well. There was already a hard-working staff and a place for the children to sleep. The orphanage did, however, need money and some volunteer help, so Rebecca was determined to help them with both of those.

But Selma, though, was different. Perhaps it was because she was just so small, and because, when Rebecca finally did see her, so shy. Maybe it was because Rebecca knew that the mother could, and probably would, come get her baby at any time, meaning that Selma might return to a violent and hopeless situation. Maybe it was because Rebecca had been abused as a child herself. When Rebecca heard about Selma’s vulnerability, she was terrified for the baby and the situation demanded things of Rebecca that no other experience had before. Selma was only 12 months old at that first visit. Rebecca held her for a long, long time. She wanted to keep the baby close, save her from trouble.

But that’s not the nature of a mission trip.

You come and you go.

Rebecca came and went, but she kept in touch with the orphanage. She called and wrote to check on Selma. Was she walking yet? Was she growing? Any sign of the mother or father?

When Rebecca went back to the orphanage for another visit, about eight months later, she discovered that Selma was gone. Selma’s mother had come back to get her and had taken her baby home to the slums near the dump in Tijuana. They were reportedly living back with the boyfriend, Selma’s father.

Rebecca spent a couple days at the orphanage pitching in. She worked at the women’s shelter, fixed up a house, and tried to be useful, but she couldn’t stop thinking about the baby that she had once held in her arms. One evening, Rebecca (with great encouragement from her sister, Sheryl) decided to ask the group’s driver, a man who was also concerned about Selma, if he was willing to go try and find her.

He was, and so they did. They went to the crowded, barely navigable Tijuana slum to find the child. Perhaps it was foolish of them to think that they could find a single baby among such a large crowd of people. Miraculously, the second person they spoke to in their search knew exactly who Selma was and she drew a map for them in the sandy street.

The driver followed the map and it led them straight to Selma’s door. It felt–and still feels-like a miracle to everyone involved.

While the rest of the group stayed in the van, Rebecca, the driver, and Sheryl approached the plywood and chicken-wire house they had been directed to. Dust was everywhere. It was outside the house, in the air; it was on the floor in the house; it was on everything.

They had a plan, if one could call it that. They were going to save Selma, from the abusive father, and from a very rickety future with her addicted mother, by offering her mother money. They would then take the baby away to the orphanage.

Selma’s mother, Lynn, answered the door. She was tentative, nervous. Rebecca and her sister asked about the child’s condition. Selma, she said, was there, but was sick and sleeping. Suddenly, the boyfriend was there at the door, asking what was going on. Sheryl waved him off, assuring him that it was nothing.

The baby, she was the reason they were there – to save the baby from her mother, in a way. Rebecca’s sister, however, saw the bigger picture first.

Lynn was scared.

Could we come back when the boyfriend wasn’t there?

Yes, but when?

Could we meet somewhere?

Yes, but where?

Did she want to leave with us now and go to the women’s shelter??

“Yes, but I have no shoes,” she said.

Rebecca and her sister said that they could get a pair of shoes for Lynn. Carrying Selma, they all ran to the van.

"I had been praying for someone to come," Lynn told them.

They all headed back to the orphanage. There they got Selma and Lynn situated for the night. They gave the mother and daughter clothes and blankets, and a new friend even gave Lynn the shoes off her own feet. They also bought medicine, diapers, and bottles and milk for Selma.

They listened to Lynn, noticing that, despite her addiction and all else, Lynn had been doing the best she could for Selma, and that the child was actually plump though Lynn herself was thin. They saw her remarkable courage – to leave her relationship and then to keep working towards a better life for herself and for Selma.

That night, while Selma slept, the adults made a plan.

They would give Lynn some money and would take her to the border crossing in the morning. There, she would take a taxi to the airport and buy a plane ticket back to Maryland where her mother lived. Selma would stay at the orphanage for a few days until the church group crossed back over the border. Although Selma was as much a U.S. Citizen as her mother, she didn’t have the proper immigration papers to cross the border legally. They were so determined to rescue Selma that they would even sneak her across the border if necessary.

Rebecca and her group were apprehensive, yet marveled at Lynn’s courage as they dropped her off the next morning. They brought her as close to the border as possible, but it was still an unfamiliar half-mile walk for Lynn. There were a million things that could have gone wrong, but Lynn got herself safely to her mom’s, and ultimately to the help she needed.

However, in Tijuana, a lot of things were not going according to plan. The group couldn’t get Selma across like they thought they could, and a lot of people from Rebecca’s church thought they had done something reckless, if not dangerous. Rebecca felt unsure, and irritated, but she held on to a glimmer of hope by focusing on what she had to be thankful for.

Selma was safe. Lynn also was safe, and very slowly putting herself back together.

There wasn’t an easy ending to this story – quite the opposite actually. It took several months and a lot of hard work by many people to get Selma back in her mother’s arms. It took an immigration lawyer, a trip to the U.S. Consulate in Mexico, a couple days searching for a birth certificate at the Tijuana General Hospital, and an unfathomable amount of patience and hope, not to mention love.

Today, Selma and her mother are now living in the U.S. Lynn, who also happens to be named Selma, is working on her GED. Little Selma is about to start preschool.

Without the care of others, Selma's, and Lynn's, story could have ended very differently. We hope youll be inspired and challenged to change the endings of lots of stories around you. Just one way to do that is to get involved with some of the stories on Selmas Story. Find the story that moves you, give, and tell your friends. Click here to get started today.

Selma's, and Lynn's, story also became Rebecca's, and Sheryl's, story and it became the story of the many other people who helped. All of them were changed. And you will be too when your story intertwines with someone who needs you.