From Ashes to Orchards: How Loss Became the Seed of PM Orchards

pmorchardsbolivia
Nov 11
3 min read

Updated: Nov 19

How Miguel and Tara Tello turned tragedy into a ministry of healing and new beginnings in Bolivia.

When grief comes without warning, it changes everything.For us, that night changed not only our family but the course of our ministry forever.

A Legacy of Love in Action

Penny and Mike Tello, Miguel’s parents, were extraordinary humans whose lives embodied Christ’s love in action. They drove extra miles to make sure children could get to church. They welcomed cousins into their home during hard times. They opened their table to migrant families every Thanksgiving and Christmas, turning strangers into family.

Their service didn’t end at the doorstep. They visited shut-ins, worked in soup kitchens, and lived with humility, never seeking the spotlight.

“They didn’t just open their home, they opened their hearts to anyone who needed family.”

Tragically, both Penny and Mike lost their lives in a house fire caused by an electrical fault in the middle of the night. Even in their passing, their legacy of compassion continues to burn brightly through the lives they touched.

Grieving and Holding On

In the wake of the fire, grief came in waves, sudden, overwhelming, and impossible to predict. There were days when the loss felt too heavy to name. At the time, Tara and I were already serving as missionaries in the jungles of Bolivia, walking with young people who carried deep trauma, abuse, abandonment, addiction, and battles that couldn’t be solved with temporary aid.

Through it all, Tara held me with a quiet strength that still humbles me to this day. She was grieving too. She had lost her in-laws, her friends, yet she never let go of me. She became a safe place for my tears, a shoulder to cry on, someone who would walk down memory lane with me and wasn’t afraid of silence. When I broke, she stayed. When I questioned everything, she anchored me. She grieved with me, not around me, just patiently with me.

A Seed Planted in the Stillness

We stepped back from our responsibilities in the jungle to process the loss.And in that pause, that calm, broken space, God planted the seed of PM Orchards.

We had already been wrestling with a question:What happens to our students when they age out? Who walks with them into adulthood?

Out of that question, and out of our grief, came the vision of a place of healing, dignity, and future.We chose to name it after my parents, not as a memorial, but as a continuation of their extraordinary lives.

The Legacy That Still Grows

As time passed, small signs of hope began to appear. Laughter returned in private moments. Stories started being told again around the table. Slowly, we realized that love does not burn away.

Out of that pain came a renewed purpose, to continue the work Penny and Mike had modeled: to serve others with humility and warmth.

The compassion, hospitality, and selfless love they lived by now shape everything we do at PM Orchards.This ministry was founded to carry forward their heritage, to build a safe place where young people can heal, grow, and thrive.

What That Legacy Looks Like Today

Today, their legacy looks like discipleship around real dinner tables.It looks like walking students through panic attacks, not just homework.It looks like teaching life skills like cooking, leadership, and stewardship, because healing isn’t only emotional, it’s practical.

PM Orchards is not simply being built for the next generation.It’s being built with them.

Their hands will one day plant the trees and tend the gardens when we have the land. Their stories will shape the work we do, and how this ministry continues to answer God’s call to restore hearts and minds.

Because the orchard is not a dream we are chasing, but a call we are answering, a place where grief is not the end of the story, but the soil from which sacred restoration will grow.