Tues

Well, of course we are a little behind in our posting.  Because this is a group of lots of "old people", after we are done with debriefing and worship, we all fall into bed!  Like I have been in bed by or before 9 three nights!

On Tuesday, we went to Del Norte.  Oh, oh, oh, the little ones who were there!  Well, of course, we started by working.  We worked as hard and fast as we could so we could get to the babies!!!!!

Tina did some plumbing and some paint clean up.  Mark, Scott, and Timothy worked on digging footers.  Carly, Ryan, Bridgette, Lauren, and I worked on bookcases.  Clarence M. Clifton was doing some wiring. 

 

The little girl I am holding absolutely won the heart of Clarence M Clifton!  As we were leaving, he would put her down and she would come running back to him with those little arms up!  Finally, I had to put her down and shoo him out!

Monday

     We are ready to start another day in sunny Monterrey where the weather is always beautiful (today it's definitely raining).  Yesterday was a whole day of sun and fun and sweat at La Cadereyta and it was fantabulous.  The projects included some wall sealing, concrete work, and electrical wiring at the church that we worshiped at the night before. 
  The kids there were sooooooooo loving and wanted to help with all our projects.  The also started many a tickle fight.  Silly boys.  Lauren read them "where the wild things are" in Spanish and they listened with excitement.  The kids also played hair dresser and braided some of our hair and strung it with beads.  It was precious.  What a loving and giving bunch of kids!
  And for dinner drum roll please.............. Tacos Fede.  For a lot of us it was our first time and our Mexican eating experiences will never be the same.  Pure deliciousness. 

More pictures from sunday

Sunday

 

The sun is shining brightly on the mountains of Monterrey.  One prayer has been answered: I found information aboutAdy Leslie, who now resides at Manantiel.  Her mother is a cook there.  I was unaware that any relatives were in the picture.  I want to begin now pursuing the possibilities of her entering the Hope Program.  She is so smart and talented.

We began our bible study this morning, centering around the theme of Shelter.  Today's scripture started with the first two chapters of Job. After everything was taken away, literally by destruction, Job declares, "The Lord gave and the Lordhas taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised." Wow! How does one remain in that state of faithfulness? What an example to us!

An interesting point that was made in today's study was that our shelter is not what God provides. Instead, God Himself IS ourshelter. But, God does ask us to provide "shelter" in physical ways.  In Matthew 25, Jesus tells the parable of the sheep and the goats and the importance of meeting the needs of "the least of these."

We spent most of the day at ERJ, working and playing with the children. Timothy has been an amazing blessing to my soul! He's ready to move down here, ready to bring kids home, ready to do whatever! He absolutely fell in love with a little girl today named Odalis. She was so sweet and just kept reaching up for his hand and dragging him everywhere!

I spoke to Martha today about Veronica, Tatiana, and Patty.  Veronica had been offered a scholarship to attend high schoolbut decided not to go.  How frustrating it is that someone would decide to NOT take the opportunity to really change the direction of her life.  Tatiana and Patty wish to attend church more than they are able as their mother doesn't always initiate them going.

We then attended a concert at Cataretta. Worship was incredible, as it always is down here. In debriefing tonight, someone used the word "pure"; a wonderful picture of coming before the throne of God.

Saturday

The day finally came and here we are in Monterrey! 

Today the kids from Imperio De Amor came to campus and we had a cookout with them.  The picture of Tina and Mark with the girls tells the whole story.

Mandy, we all made sure to pay special attention to Jose!  He definitely remembers you....I asked him!  Unfortunately, my lead photographer did not understand exactly who I wanted him to make sure to get pictures of!  Next time, I will be more specific.

It is such a blessing to be here!  We will try to blog everyday, but all the pictures won't be on facebook until we return home.  We'll try to get a select few online until then.

Today has been a long day.  Most of us have been up since 3 or 3:30 am so we are headed to bed early!

Please pray for us every day as we seek to be the hands and feet of Jesus.  Specifically tonight I request prayer that each of us will put 100% of our hearts on the line and be "broken and spilled out" for the love of Jesus.  It can be tempting to hold just a little bit back to take the edge of the pain of leaving.  I hope each of our hearts break on Friday because so much of us is being left here in Monterrey!