Building and Blending God's Family

Randall Grimmius was shaken when one of his employees, Juan Cisneros, was accidentally run over by a tractor and killed on a Sunday morning in May 2006.

As owner of Grimmius Cattle Company in Hanford, Calif., Grimmius worked hard to run a safe operation, seeking always to care for the welfare of the people who worked for him.

The accident shook him to the core; Juan Cisneros began working for him in 1999. But, as painful as this tragedy was, it ended up evoking a crucial change in the life of Grimmius and his wife, Beth, and their children: Katherine, Jessica, Nicole, and Rebecca.

Although Randall and Beth, who are members of Visalia CRC, had been connecting with at-risk children and their families before the accident, it was after Juan Cisneros died that they got even more involved in this ministry.

Here’s what happened.

God Spoke

Beth Grimmius says she knew, following Juan’s death, that the Lord wanted them to do all that the could to smooth the way forward for Cisneros’s wife and three children.

The mother, Antonia, was grief-stricken and struggling, and it became clear she was not able to provide very well at that time for her children.

“Juan’s wife allowed us to step in and be there for the children, taking an active role in their lives, as well as for her,” said Grimmius.

Over the past 10 years, many children, including the Cisneros children, have come into the lives of Randall and Beth have lived for periods of time with them. In some cases they have taken on guardianship for the children.

The couple has essentially created a large family of people living under one roof, and coming and going and regularly facing life’s challenges together. The home is always busy as the children, many now grow, stop in to talk and share what is going on for them.

“When you look at these children who have so many needs, you can’t [just stand by and] do nothing,” said Beth Grimmius. “You do what you can. You need to reach out and fight for those who can’t fight for themselves.”

Beth Grimmius knows this because she experienced abuse as a child and has found that caring for their biological children and their guardian children has matured her in her relationship with God.

“Our story is bigger than what is happening here. God is inspiring many to take an active role in coming alongside at-risk children,” she said.

“I think this is a story about how God is using us to work in families. It is also a story of obedience in doing what God would have us do -- love the broken people whom Christ came to die for.”

Roman Finds His Way

Roman Cisneros was only nine years old when his father died. He had been raised a Catholic but wanted no part of the church as he grew older and angrier over the loss of his dad and difficulties at school.

As his two sisters -- Lizette, who is 18 today, and Maria, now 25 -- connected with the Grimmius household, Roman stayed with his mom, started hanging out on the streets of Visalia, and joined a Hispanic gang.

About three years ago, while he was in juvenile detention after being arrested for committing a crime, Roman got scared. It seemed Satan had a hold on his life and he was going to hell. So he picked up a Bible to find out about hell. Reading the book cover to cover, something amazing happened.

“I found out who Jesus really was, and I wanted to give my life to him,” Roman recalled. “I wanted to change, but I didn’t know who to talk to.”

When he got out of juvenile [detention], he talked to Randall and Beth about his experience behind bars. They were delighted to hear about it.

“That same day,” said Beth, “he got so excited and committed himself to Christ and quit the drug and the gang life.

Randall offered Roman a safe environment to live in and invited him to church, and he started going with them. Randall also bought him a computer and talked to him about Scripture.

But the transition into this new home setting was tough and took some time: there were rules to follow, so many people to deal with, important values that he needed to learn about and work to accept.

“Like others who lived here before, he experienced a major culture shock,” said Beth.

Still, this house was bulging at the seams with goodwill. God was alive, with all of his wise ways and committed love, in this home, and Roman felt this take hold.

“I grew a lot. I got close to Jesus, and in the end I could be myself there. I could get my feelings out,” said Roman.

Still, there was the lure of the gang life, so one day Roman left -- “which was so hard,” he said, “because it made Randall cry. . . . I was out there for two weeks before I threw in the towel and came back.”

Randall got a tutor for Roman and helped him graduate from high school in 2016. Roman then took a job as a ranch hand at the Grimmius Cattle Co. While Roman still struggles, he now knows where there is solid ground.

“Beth and Randall are the only people I know who will help you get to know Jesus,” said Cisneros. “They are the ones who help you to change who you were and to break all of those chains holding you back.”

Roman’s sister, Maria, said the Grimmius family gave her the strength and courage to move to Mexico to attend college a few years ago with intention return to this country and obtaining legal status.

“Randall and Beth have been like real parents to me. They are what healthy parents look like,” said Maria. “And they taught me so much about God, who loves us so much that when we are struggling, he is hurting too.”

Lizette, her young sister, lived there as well but, like Roman, struggled.

“There were times when we were very worried about her,” said Beth. “But we worked with her, and God worked with her, and she settled down.

“Today, she is going to college near Los Angeles at Biola University with my daughter, Jessica.”

Makings of a Ministry

Even as a child, Randall Grimmius said, he had a strong sense of God’s working in his life and letting him know what he needed to do.

As he grew into an adult, he said, it was clear that he was to be a loving husband and father, to work as a rancher in the cattle business, and serve as a mentor and role model for the children whose lives he has been able to enter.

“We’ve invested a lot in all the children,” said Randall. “We’re fortunate to have what we have. We’ve been able to send them to Christian schools and even college. But, in the end, we realize everything we have is God’s.

“All along, we have needed to be patient to see what God is doing,” he said.

From Fighting to Faith

Erica Martinez, now 28, came from a broken home. Both of her parents battled a drug addiction.

“When I was 12, I started to smoke weed. By the time I was 14, I was using meth,” said Erica. “I dropped out of school and was in and out of juvenile detention. They put me in a group home, and I ran away.”

On the streets, she got into fights and made money any way she could. Meanwhile, she had a series of boyfriends, many of them violent, and got pregnant. She had a daughter Sarah, and son, Daniel.

More than four years ago, she met Beth Grimmius at a local ministry home that is supported by area churches, including Visalia CRC.

Beth invited her for coffee, and they went for a drive all around the area, up and down hills and past cattle ranches and almond orchards, talking for hours.

“When we talked, I cried -- and I had never let anyone into that place in my heart where I hurt so bad and didn’t have any hope,” said Erica.

About six month later, she gave her life to the Lord in Beth’s home and began her life of recovery that day. Eventually, Beth invited Erika to live for a time with her and Randall, and she accepted.

After opening herself to Christ, a sense of God sifted through her hurt and anger and reluctance to reach out to others, said Erica. She started to turn things around in her life. She did what she needed to do in order for her driver’s license to be returned. She finished high school, and started a job at Grimmius Cattle Co. She also got her children back.

“Amid all the turmoil, I made the Lord the center. I know now, even in times of wandering and struggling, that I can come home and trust because God has brought me out of all of the complete chaos I was living in,” she said.

“A Lot of Redemption”

Katherine Grimmius, now 20 and in college, remembers when Erika moved in and was coming off the drugs. But even in her discomfort, Erika could joke, and they talked.

“We talked about any- and everything,” she said.

While having had her parents open their home these past seven years to so many young people has been hard because it took away from the time she and her sisters got to spend with their parents, it has also held a profound blessing, said Katherine.

They have seen God’s grace at work in their home in so many ways and on so many occasions. It is a grace that is real and true, she said, and would otherwise be missing if her parents hadn’t opened themselves -- and their children -- to it.

“I love what my family has done,” said Katherine. “This is who God called us to be. I feel like I have my foot in two worlds” -- the safe, predictable world provided by her parents and the harsher, more turbulent world in which her guardian brothers and sisters have lived.

“I certainly now have much more empathy when it comes to how other people live and what they have to cope with. It’s been really rewarding to be here. We see a lot of redemption happening in our home.”

Inspiring Others

Nearly every Sunday, the Grimmius family arrives at Visalia CRC a few minutes late for the late-morning service. Since the rest of the church is pretty full, they slide into the first couple of rows, front and center.

“This instantly changes the atmosphere,” said Pastor Joel Renkema.

“It becomes a little more rambunctious and ‘alive.’ We reflect the body of Christ more completely once they join us, and that is kind of ‘subversive’ -- playing out in worship in ways that I'm not sure most of those attending are aware of.”
 
Over the years, as Randall and Beth have built relationships with at-risk families, he and Randall have chatted.

In the course of one of their conversations, “Randall once mentioned me that money itself cannot solve the problems,” said the pastor. “We have also talked about the complexities of disciplining children that are not you own…. Randall and Beth will tell you this journey has not been made without mistakes.”

Throughout, though, the pastor said, “their goal has never been to remove children from their parents or to make the children into images of Dutch CRC kids.”

In fact, despite the fact that often the kids stay with them at their own home, what has impressed him is how Randall and Beth have poured themselves into the lives of the parents of these at-risk children.

“They have learned throughout the years that ministry ‘to’ and ‘for’ cannot compete with ministry ‘with,’” said Renkema.

“In this they are paragon models of incarnational ministry for the church. On average, perhaps 20 people a Sunday are in church just because of their relationship with the Grimmius family.”

Because of what Beth and Randall have done, there are now several families in the church who are getting involved with Bethany Christian Services and its Safe Families Program that temporarily places children in Christian homes as their parents attempt to stabilize life.

“I'm not sure that would happen if the Grimmiuses weren't members of our church,” he said. “I regularly give thanks to God for making the Grimmius family a part of VCRC.”