At the age of 13, Charla Davis made a bold claim: "I want to do great things for God."

"What makes you think you can do anything for the God of the universe?" her father asked.

"You can start by making your bed," her mother said.

Now this ordinary woman with faith in an extraordinary God is simply known as Hermana Charla or Mama Charla to countless people living south of the border. Some even refer to her as the Mother Teresa of Mexico.

The small children's home she founded in the 1960s has since evolved into a multifaceted mission touching the lives of orphaned, abandoned, impoverished, and disadvantaged individuals on the Baja Peninsula, the mainland of Mexico, and into the remote mountain regions of Oaxaca.

It all started with the unexpected adoption of a Zapotec baby.