A New Season

Oftentimes we want to understand it all and see all of the little details.  At least, that's the way I am.  I believe that over these past 2 months God has really been confirming and showing me what He has planned for me here in Mexico.  I feel like I can sort of see the big picture- working to unite orphanages and churches to put these kids in orphanages into families-whether it be through adoption or a permanent foster care.  God’s plan for these kids is not an orphanage.  The Bible talks about orphan care, but it never mentions orphanages.  It talks about families and the church taking in orphans into their homes.  God’s original plan for these children was for them to be in a family.  So why not go back to that original plan and put these kids in families.  Work with the legal system to make adoption and foster care more feasible.  Connect with the orphanage and train families within the church that desire to adopt.  Work with the orphanage to connect with government agencies to facilitate the legal process in adoption.  Legalize a system that resembles foster care to put kids in families that legally cannot be adopted. Yes, right now orphanages are necessary, but I know of so many families that want to adopt, but because of difficult laws, it is almost impossible.  So why not work with the legal system to empower these families to invite an orphan into their family.

These kids need a family.

This is what God has put on my heart.  And honestly it has been so encouraging to see that He has put the same desire on the hearts of those around me.  This past Friday an orphanage in Chapala held a conference for various pastors, church members and orphanage directors.  They invited me to share about what we feel God is leading us to do in orphan care and the importance of placing these kids in families.  I was prepared to share a few verses but while listening to another speaker, God brought to my mind the verse in Deuteronomy 7:6-8

“For you are a people holy to the Lord your God.  The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.  It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.”   

Instead of going with my original plan, I decided to share this verse and how God has a plan for these orphans and He has chosen them as His treasured possession, not because they were the greatest people or the most important.  But He sets his love on them and chooses them.  He takes them into His family.  He rescues them and redeems them, because He loves them as His sons and daughters.  After speaking, an older woman approached me and shared her story about how she grew up as an orphan and how she is finally starting to understand how much God loves her and how she is part of the family of God.  She said God really spoke to her through those verses in Deuteronomy in how much He loves her.  It was so encouraging to see how all of us at the conference were in sync with the fact that Mexico doesn’t need more orphanages, but rather families in which to place these children. 

Conference

At the conference an orphanage director (from Orphanage Josiah & Bethany) shared about what this orphanage has been doing.  I actually met him 3 years ago, but they have changed their orphanage model drastically over these 3 years.  They currently have various little houses on the orphanage campus and in each house a husband and wife with 1 child (or 2-3 if they are biological siblings).  They have had this ‘foster-care’ setting for the past 2 years in which the child is in an actual family and they have seen dramatic changes and transformations in the children.  Kids who have wet the bed for 10 years, no longer wet the bed.  Kids who were failing in school, succeeding.  Kids who were full of anger and rage, for the first time feel loved, chosen and accepted. 

This is essentially the model we would like to see expanded to other orphanages.  They are currently in the process of passing a law to enable foster care where these families living on campus could live in their actual homes with their  'adopted’ child.  It was such a blessing to be able to talk with this director to hear of his experiences and how God has been giving him the ability to work with the government to facilitate adoptions and foster care. 

In 2 weeks we are having a meeting with various orphanage directors who are interested in this model to dialogue about how to implement it legally and how to transition into this model.  Please pray for this upcoming meeting.

God seems to be putting all of the key people together to make this happen here in Guadalajara.  I am working with an orphanage in Chapala that wants to base their orphanage off of this model (Josiah & Bethany).  The director from Josiah & Bethany is completely open and willing to guide, teach, equip and work together with us.  The team I am working with at Kids in Victory is completely supportive and excited about this opportunity to work towards putting these kids in families.  My church and other churches at the meeting in Chapala want to get involved.  We have invitations from an organization (back2back) to train with them and learn from them on how to better serve orphanages.  God is putting it all together.  I’m not sure what it is all going to look like.  I don’t have all of the little details, but I am convinced that God is at work.  My plan has always been to open an orphanage.  But I truly believe God’s plan for these kids is not another orphanage, but a family.  A real family.

Volunteers at the orphanage in Chapala where I am serving.

Birthday Pizza with Brayan and Rodrigo (Rodrigo took the picture, as you can see it is upside down)

I’m trusting God’s word.  “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.” Psalm 32:8

Rain season has started here in Guadalajara.  Something new.  God is starting something new in orphan care here in Mexico.  

I am waiting.  Waiting on God.  I pray that this song would reflect my attitude everyday. 

Lord, today You know what I need to do,
but You can do more in my waiting,
than in my doing I can do.
I won't run anymore, I'm waiting on You.

Edgar helping Coby with his flash-cards

Jorge with a classmate dancing at a school event

We were able to get 4 new kids enrolled in school without birth certificates, report cards, etc.  Praise God!

On the way to get their shots...

Driving the kids to get their immunization shots

Chavita, 12 years old, was scared out of his mind to get his shots.  He screamed, cried and hit and kicked the nurses while they and one of the older boys tried to hold him down.  When the nurses gave up, I went over to talk to him.  I asked him if he knew why he had to get a shot.  He didn't know why.  So I explained to him that the shot was to protect him from getting sick in the future.  Yes the shot was going to hurt a little bit, but it was better than getting really sick for 1 week in the future.  We prayed a few minutes that God would give him peace and strength to have the shot.  Then we went back into the room and he grabbed my hand as I hugged him and the nurses were able to give him his 2 shots.  Sometimes we just need somebody to explain things to us, pray for us and hold our hand.  Good thing we have God to do just that.

Hanging around waiting to get their shots...

Thank you for your prayers, support, love and encouragement.  I could not be here without you!

Join me in praying for...

-This upcoming meeting with orphanage directors. (June 12th)

-Changes in the law to facilitate adoptions and foster care.

-Families within the churches that want to adopt.

-That God would give me direction as to what He wants my role to be in this adoption/foster care project.

-For the kids and that they would not lose hope.  That they would believe Deuteronomy 7:6-8

Jump!

CONFERENCE IN MONTERREY

God promises: to defend their cause. Psalm 82:3

Earlier this month I had the opportunity to attend a conference for leaders working in orphanages and with orphans in Monterrey, MX (The Summit-hosted by Christian Alliance for Orphans and Back2Back Ministries).  Back2Back truly blessed us while we were there.  They took care of our every need, served us and blessed us.  Honestly it was weird having somebody serve us, I guess we're not used to it since we are used to serving constantly in orphanages.  But God knew what we needed.  While at Back2Back we were able to talk with orphanage directors and other people who serve orphans all over Mexico.  It was a great opportunity to dialogue, encourage, be encouraged, share experiences and learn from others.

With Rob Mitchell (author of Castaway Kid-his story of growing up in an orphanage

A few months ago the team of women I work with had the dream to restructure, train and serve various orphanages here in Guadalajara.  The majority of orphanage directors and staff are people who grew up in a similar situation as the kids they care for (on the streets, orphanage, poverty, etc) and they have a huge heart for serving and loving orphans, so they start an orphanage.  However they usually do not have the training or knowledge on how to run an orphanage and they are often too burned out to seek training or help.  We desire to help train the orphanage directors and staff in administrative areas, creating programs, etc..  We want to create programs and resources to train orphanages in 5 basic areas of orphan care: education (corazónes educados) physical (cuerpos restaurados), spiritual (almas redimidas), emotional (mentes transformadas) and social (vidas unidas).  We dreamed of this project a few months ago, however we never really took action; I think we kind of saw the project as impossible- after all who is going to listen to a group of women who have never run their own orphanage?.

However during our time in Monterrey, we saw that Back2Back is basically implementing the same program that we had dreamed about.  They serve, train and equip numerous orphanages.  They focus on the same 5 basic areas in orphan care.  They focus on creating a more family-based care within the orphanage with an emphasis on adoption.  Basically everything our team wants to do here in Guadalajara is what Back2Back is doing in Monterrey.  It was such an encouragement to see that there are other people serving the Lord with the same vision here in Mexico.  We are currently pursuing numerous opportunitites to train and learn from Back2Back to put into action the progam here in Guadalajara with our team! 

With Rocio and Adriana (two awesome women dedicated to serving orphans in Chihuahua)

While in Monterrey I was invited to go on a canyon trip with the invited speakers and Back2Back staff.  We rappelled down 100ft and 75ft waterfalls and cliffs.  We jumped off cliffs 50 ft tall.  It was an all day trip (4am-8pm).  Honestly I was scared stiff on the first jump (which was only about 10 ft).  But little by little each jump got easier.  I had to trust the guide when he told me when and where to jump.  Before jumping off the highest cliff (50ft) my friend/teammate Maroly shared with me a cool analogy.  Our work in Guadalajara is a leap of faith.  We don't know what is waiting for us down the road.  It is going to be scary.  We need to let go of the canyon and jump.  Trusting God.  And God is with us every step of the way and He catches us if we fall.  He just asks us to trust Him, believe what He tells us in His Word, let go of our fears and JUMP.  

So we did just that.  We took a leap of faith.  Returning to Guadalajara, Maroly and I had a meeting with the rest of our team (Tania, Mariana, Mara) to share with them what we had learned in Monterrey and about how we felt God was confirming the project we had wanted to start.  For the first time in the past few months we have really seen the team unite with a vivid passion to start this new project.  Each person has an unstoppable initiative to research and put together the different projects we plan on implementing at the Kids in Victory orphanage.  We are starting off with the education area and will be expanding from there as we receive more training/resources and find more volunteers.

This past week we had a meeting with the orphanage director about what we feel God is calling us to do at Kids in Victory.  He welcomed the project with open arms and repeatedly said it was a huge blessing.  We're excited to see how God is really pulling this team together and giving us a vision for what He has in store for the orphanages of Guadalajara.

With the directors of the orphanage in Chapala

Also, 2 directors from an orphanage in Chapala attended the conference with me.  It was a great opportunity to get to know them better and learn from them.  God really worked in their hearts in Monterrey and they also returned with a very similar plan.  They have opened their doors to the team and I to go in and help them implement various programs and activities.

One thing that really stuck out to all of us was a program called 'Casa Viva' in Costa Rica.  They shared with us a paradigm shift in orphanages, adoptions, foster care, etc.  Here in Mexico when a child is orphaned or taken out of their family because of abuse, etc.,  the first step is to place him/her in an orphanage.  In all reality an orphanage is not able to provide a family which is what is best for the child.  Casa Viva is working to make the orphanage the last option.  They focus on placing the child in their biological family (if safe), extended family, adoption or foster care before an orphanage.  They work in partnership with churches, the community and the government to train, educate and prepare churches and families for adoption/foster care and work as a bridge with a team of professionals in between the government and the family.

In the future we would all love to see a program similar to Casa Viva in Mexico and specifically here in Guadalajara.  We would love to partner with churches and other organizations in the city to find families wanting to adopt children.  It was such an amazing experience to see how God is putting the same desires on the hearts of the people that went to the conference from Guadalajara and Chapala.  He is at work, uniting the people of Mexico to seek out, rescue and love the orphaned child.

JOIN US IN PRAYING...
-There are a million needs here.  It is hard for me to say no, but I know that I cannot spread myself thin.  Pray that I would say 'no' to certain things to better focus my attention and time on what God has called me to do.  The theme of Back2Back is that there are 163,000,000 orphans in the world.  That number can be overwhelming.  But instead of focusing on that big number, we should just strive to "make the difference in one".  God went out of his way to seek out and rescue the one sheep.  Pray that we would do the same here with these orphans.

Can I steal Miguel? He is too cute!

-Pray for opportunities to train and learn from Back2Back.

-The orphanage in Chapala is starting a private Christian Charter School on site at the orphanage.  They have invited me to join their charter school founding board to help research, investigate and start up the school.  Pray for wisdom, guidance and direction for me on making a decision about participating on the founding board.  If I decide to participate this would allow me to stay local here in Guadalajara to continue with the project at Kids in Victory and to research/network throughout the week to meet up once a week in Chapala with the board of directors.

-Pray for legislation on adoptions in Mexico and that new laws would be passed to make adoptions easier.

Brayan helping Coby trace his name

Story time

Chavita reading

Jorge + Brayan working on their summaries

In El Humedo we had a special visit from "Spider Man" :)

El Humedo- working together as a team after the class

Ketchup on Pizza... why not?

Celebrating Rodrigo & Brayan's B-Days @Pizza!

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will counsel you with my eye upon you.
Psalm 32:8 

Flexibility

God has been teaching me a lot lately about letting go.  Letting go and realizing that I am not in control.  This past month has been a whirlwind and has flown by.  I've had a lot of learning moments and opportunities.  Living in a foreign country is absolutely amazing and I wouldn't trade it for a thing, but it is not always as glorious as it may sound.


PAPERWORK IN MEXICO...
About 2 weeks ago I went to the downtown offices to renew my health insurance here in Mexico.  After traveling 1 hour to the office on the bus, waiting in line for a number for 30 minutes and waiting another 2 hours until my number is called to talk to an associate, I am told that I need to go to another office to get a few tests done before I can renew my insurance.  So I jump on a bus and travel another hour.  Ask 5 different people where to get the tests done.  They send me from office to office; nobody has the answers.  Finally I decide to go upstairs to talk to the director.  After talking with the director I am able to set up appointments with the appropriate people.  That day I left the house at 6am and got home at 5pm.  Just to do one thing-renew my health insurance.  Welcome to a normal day in Mexico!  Paperwork takes about 5 times longer here than it does back in the US.  I'm a perfectionist.  I like to do things well and efficiently.  God is definitely refining me and teaching me to simply let go of the things I cannot control.

SICK
Later that same week I got really sick.  Tortas Ahogadas didn't agree with my stomach :(
I spent 3 full days in bed.  I literally slept the entire day and night for 3 days straight.  I was completely useless and couldn't do anything.  I wanted so badly to go to the orphanage or El Humedo or to complete the things on my 'to-do-list'.  For me it was a frustrating few days being sick, because I wasn't being 'productive'.  But God kept reminding me that I can do nothing apart from Him and that it doesn't depend on me.

Later that weekend when I was finally starting to feel better some friends came over and made pancakes.  They also brought over a guitar and we were able to sing worship songs and praise God.  It was what I needed.  So reassuring to know that God knows exactly what I need even when I don't.

Singing worship with friends

7/11
That weekend I wasn't feeling 100%, but I really felt like God was telling me to go to El Humedo that Saturday.  My friends from church normally pick me up at the 7/11 near my house on to way to El Humedo.  So I got there at the normal time, but later got a call that they would be a little late.  Now in the US 'a little late' is normally 5-10 minutes, but in Mexico you never know how long; it could be 15 minutes to 1 hour.  So I wait and about 45 minutes later my friends arrive.  I'm not going to lie, even though I've lived in Mexico for 3 years now I still have that 'gringo' side that appreciates timeliness.  But God had a different plan for those 45 minutes.  I went into the 7/11 to buy a coffee for my friend and a little street boy, Alonso, followed me in asking me for change.  I told him that I could buy him something for lunch and he agreed.  After perusing the 7/11 for a few minutes he decided on a burrito, a coke and a candy.  A well-rounded nutritional meal for a 6 year old haha

We went outside and sat down on the curb and started talking.  Not 2 minutes into the conversation and his friend Christian comes over and joins us.  Alonso shares his lunch with Christian and we talk about their families, how they clean windshields to make money during the day, how they want to go to school, how Christian used to live in an orphanage, etc..  I shared with them about how I work in orphanages and how my dream one day is to start my own.  They were pretty surprised and asked why?  I was able to share with them how much God loves them and how He has also given me a great love for kids like them  My friends pulled up to the 7/11 and I said goodbye the the boys and we drove off.  Christian and Alonso returned to the streets to wash windshields.  As we pulled away Alonso jumped up and down waving goodbye with a huge smile on his face.  I'll never forget him jumping around like a crazy kid at the 7/11.  Seeing Alonso's joy in being able to have lunch and talk for 45 minutes really reminded me why I'm here in Mexico- to serve and love these kids as God has loved us.

Our team in El Humedo

EL HUMEDO

Some of the girls

That same afternoon we arrive at El Humedo and realize that we don't have the keys to get into the house.  So we had no way to get inside where we had all of the materials and projects.  And of course this day we are short 5 teachers and have twice the amount of kids as normal.  We don't have any of materials, arts + crafts, etc. to give the class.  There is a huge dust storm outside with dirt flying all over the place.  Despite the irony of the name of this little town "El Humedo" (Humid), this town is nothing but dirt and dust.  God is good though.  Amidst all of the craziness, He makes it all work perfectly.  It may not have been the class we had planned on giving, but it turned out to be one of the best.  The kids payed attention and had a great time.  Each kid ran home to bring crayons, colored pencils and paper to do the craft we had planned.  It was really exciting to see the kids come together and unite in working together in sharing their materials.  These kids literally have nothing.  They barely make it by eating rice and beans and yet they were willing to share their prized school supplies with the other kids.  

The younger boys + girls in El Humedo

The older girls (10+ years) in El Humedo

CONFERENCE:
Next week I have the opportunity to attend a conference put on by Christian Alliance for Orphans and Back2Back Ministries in Monterrey, MX.  Speakers are coming from both the US and Mexico and will be discussing the following subjects:

• global orphan crisis
• fatherless generation
• child development in orphans
• beyond the walls of institutions
• children's homes in mexico
• the spectrum of orphan care
• helping without hurting
• panels of social workers + gov't officials on orphanages, adoption, etc.

I am more than thrilled for this opportunity to learn and network with other orphanages in Mexico.  I am also excited for this trip because two of the directors from an orphanage in Chapala will be attending the conference with me.

ORPHANAGE IN CHAPALA

As I mentioned a couple of months I have been in contact with the directors of an amazing orphanage in Chapala.  I visited them again this past Monday to talk with the directors and observe.  Thank you all for your prayers for direction and discernment about possibly moving to Chapala to work with them.  Every time I meet with them it is a constant confirmation that He is calling me to serve there; so many little details coming together that truly surprise all of us.  They have shared with me various needs that they have and what they are looking for and it is honestly scary how God has given me the various abilities and skills to fill their needs.  They have the same vision of being a gospel centered orphanage focused on holistic care.  Starting this week I am going to be traveling to Chapala every Friday to start working more with the directors and to start implementing a new program with the volunteers to train them on how to work with orphans.  This will be a great opportunity to start working with them on a more regular basis and to get to know the kids better.  My plan as of now is to continue pulling out slowly of my various activities here in Guadalajara; as I look for others to continue the work at Kids in Victory orphanage and in El Humedo, I plan on moving to Chapala to work with this new orphanage sometime in the near future.

PRAYER REQUESTS:

~Please join me in praying that God would provide more people to serve at Kids in Victory orphanage.  Praise God that He has brought this group of women (in the picture below) to focus on the kids' education at Kids in Victory.

Exhausted after a 7 hour meeting planning and organizing with these amazing women committed to the education project at Kids in Victory orphanage

~Pray that He would provide more people to serve in El Humedo.

~Pray for this transition as I slowly start to get more involved in the children's home in Chapala.

~Pray that God would open my mind at the conference and that He would provide networking opportunities.

~Pray for a project at our church this week.  Joni and Friends has come to our church and is giving away wheelchairs, walkers, etc to children and adults who live in poverty from all over the state of Jalisco.  This week I am translating for the different therapists and orthopedic surgeons who have come from the US to head up this project.

Maicol

'Calolo' came back to the orphanage after 2 years!

 

Coby fishing

El Humedo- building the city of Jericho after reading the story of Joshua

El Humedo- Carol drew all of the kids + names on the whiteboard

A Father's Search

Wednesday morning.   A man knocked on the front door of the orphanage.  He introduced himself very politely and professionally and went into the office to talk to the director and his wife.  He has been going from orphanage to orphanage in the whole state of Jalisco for the past few years looking for his son, Maicol.  The last time he saw Maicol was when he was 3 years old and since his mom didn't give Maicol his dad's last name, it has been a long process in tracking him down with the governmental agencies.

Today was the day.  The day that the father's search would end.  He had found his son.  After years of searching, he had finally found what was taken from him.

Maicol and his two younger brothers (from different fathers) have been in orphanages for most of their lives because the government deemed their mother as unfit/unable to care for them.

Maicol with his homemade bow + arrow

When Maicol was introduced to his father, his demeanor changed drastically.  His face glowed.  They are 2 peas in a pod.  The same smile, teeth, facial expressions, posture, even to the way they tilt their heads to the side when they talk.  They talked and caught up in the office for an hour or so.  And when he came out of that office, Maicol was a different boy.

I cannot even begin to fathom what that moment must have been like for Maicol.  All of his life in an orphanage with his younger brothers.  His family torn apart.  Never expecting to be reunited with his mom, much less his dad who he had only met once.

But his dad was looking for him.  Searching.  Going from orphanage to orphanage looking for his lost son.  I will never forget what Maicol's dad told him:  "You are my son.  I accept you fully as my son.  Now it is your choice if you want to accept me as your father."

Years without hearing from his family.  Never knowing his father.  Never expecting this moment.  And now Maicol is told that he is loved and accepted by his father whom he has never known.  What a beautiful example of the gospel.

God seeking out each and every one of His children.  And we open the door to see our loving father open his arms to us and embrace us as his beloved child.

Maicol and his youngest brother, Miguel

Maicol's dad has started the legal process to take Maicol out of the orphanage.  Like any kid Maicol desires to be with his father, but Maicol is not like most kids.  Maicol truly looks out for and loves his younger brothers.  Maicol told me that he wants to go with his dad, but cannot because he does not want to leave his younger brothers at the orphanage (since they have different fathers).  They have been his only family for his whole life.  They have always been by his side.  They are family.  And he cannot leave them.  Maicol has the opportunity of a lifetime-to leave the orphanage, have a normal family and a normal life with amazing opportunities.  But he is willing to lay it all aside to be with his family-Jorge, Miguelito and the other kids at the orphanage.


As I left the orphanage that day Maicol and another boy accompanied me to the bus stop.  Talking with Maicol was so encouraging.  His heart truly reflects the heart of God.  He is willing to lay down his life, his dreams and these amazing opportunities to serve and love his brothers.  I was brought to tears, hearing him talk about how good and faithful God is.  Maicol recognizes God's goodness to him.

On the bus ride home I broke down in tears.  Maicol's face.  I cannot even explain or express what I saw in Maicol's face.  Amazement.  Surprise.  Joy.  Sadness.  Confusion.  Shock.  But what I saw is a young boy who for the first time in his life understood that he has a Father who is loving and faithful.

This is why I am here in Mexico.  My dream is to see more kids like Maicol understand how much God loves them and to see them transformed and restored.

Sadly, most orphans are never going to experience what Maicol has experienced.  Their biological parents are not looking for them.

I want to mobilize people to seek these kids out.  To love them as their own.  I want to see Maicol's face and heart in all of these children.  My dream is to see these children experience God's love and faithfulness like Maicol has.  I desire to see restoration and healing in these kids lives.

God has brought some amazing opportunities in my path.  He surprises me each day with the people He brings into my life.  People who desire to start orphanage, but don't know how.  People who want to start food-kitchens for orphans and impoverished children, but know how.  Families that desire to adopt children.  Women who desire to love and serve orphans, but don't know where.  My church here desires to open an orphanage/food kitchen in a small town (El Húmedo) we are working in, but doesn't know how to start/operate it.  A group of women that serves together in implementing an education program at Kids in Victory orphanage, but with a larger dream of implementing a similar program in all orphanages in the state of Jalisco.

I don't know why God is putting all of these people and opportunities in my path.  Our dream is start our own orphanage.  I have had the opportunity to train and learn from many orphanages here in Mexico.  And now I have the opportunity to train and serve at an amazingly organized and well-established orphanage in Chapala.  

I don't know why God has given me so many opportunities to train and learn.  But the other day I was talking with a lady from church about all of the opportunities and how I was unsure and yet excited for what God has in store.  And she said something that really stuck with me.  

She said, "Your dream is to start an orphanage.  And that is amazing.  But maybe God is preparing you to train and prepare other people to start orphanages.  Instead of just starting your own orphanage, maybe God has also sent you here to raise up and train leaders to start orphanages, to seek out families in the church to adopt children, to train and connect people to orphanages and food-kitchens to serve at, etc.".  

I don't know what God has next, but the beauty of it all is that His plan is grander and greater than any of my plans.

I am honestly in complete awe of what God is doing.  Ever since the beginning of 2013, God has brought us so many people and opportunities.  He is moving.  And I want to be like Maicol, in awe of how good and loving God is and also willing to lay down my life and my dreams for Him.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THIS MONTH:

El Húmedo

El Húmedo

El Húmedo

El Húmedo

 

El Húmedo

El Húmedo

Rodrigo + Coby are best buds

Jonathan-the jokester of the orphanage

Goofing around with the kids!

These boys bring me so much joy!

Brayan and Miguel in "jail"

@ the movies with Jorge + Carlos for their birthdays!

Coby is learning how to write his name!

Education classes with our group of volunteers!

Please join us in praying for the kids at the orphanage, Kids in Victory.
Pray for our meeting with the directors of Kids in Victory Orphanage to explain to them through a formal presentation the education project we are desire to implement at the orphanage.
Pray for the mission in El Húmedo and the church's desire to start a soup kitchen.
Pray for Maicol and his dad.
Pray that God would continue giving us wisdom, discernment and direction as to our next steps. 

Also, if you get the chance check out this interesting article about 6 Ways You Can Support Missionaries.