Erin Began Spanish Tutoring with Sandra Today

Last week, one of the Interns asked if she could begin tutoring Erin in Spanish and in return, Erin would help here with her English. So today she began the time with Sandra and will be meeting with her on Tuesdays and Fridays. Erin said she really enjoyed her time with Sandra and learned a lot.

These two pictures are especially for our dear friends Dan and Susan. This first one is Angelica who very seldom lets me take her picture but her friend talked her into it. (I can't remember her friend's name.)
Maribel, on the other hand, will almost always let me take her picture. The team that is here brought nail polish and so Maribel is getting her nails painted by one of the girls. Can you tell that Angelica and Maribel are sisters?
That's all for today.

Concert with The Hope Project

Tonight we had a concert with a group called The Hope Project. Two of the members of the team are part of this band and they got together with Fernando and our worship team to do a concert tonight. It was a great time of worship. Here is a short video of one of the songs that shows how some of our worship is here. I am also posting a couple of pictures.




Also today, we went downtown and went to one of the big cathedrals there. Here are few pictures from that also.

Ice Cream for Everyone

Yesterday, Kate's dad came to the home and brought vanilla ice cream with Hershey's chocolate syrup for everyone in the home. They started with the people who were in the eating area. One of the littler boys was sitting next to me and kept asking me something that I wasn't understanding. Jim finally figured out that he was wondering if I was finished eating because if I was, he would finish my ice cream for me. So, I gave him the ice cream I had left on my plate. A few minutes later, one of the other boys saw the ice cream heading for their dorm and this same boy got up and went running. He ended up getting doubles because I gave him mine. It was a great treat for everyone.



This is the one who got doubles. We can't remember his name but with his headband on, Jim was calling him "Rambo."

I thought this was a great picture of Jim and Jose.

Pictures and Other Things

Today, Jonathan woke up with a temp of 97.7. He went the whole day with no fever! He still stayed home today because we wanted him to be on the antibiotics for 24 hours before bringing him into the home. Tomorrow, as long as everything goes well, he will go to Esperanza Viva with us in the afternoon. I am sure his friend Kevin will be excited to see him as will many of the other kids.

This evening, Hector, one of the staff that teaches Jonathan's Sunday school came over to share with him. When Hector was 14, he ran away from home with some friends and went the the United States. From there, his friends went other ways, so he was there by himself, alone with no one. He didn't return to Mexico until he was 28 when he came to attend the La Viña School of Ministry. He said it was just as hard returning to Mexico because he was used to the culture in the US. He had lost much of his Spanish to Spanglish and so he was made fun of here and he was sick a lot when he came back. He wanted to go back to the states but he knew that this is where God wanted him, the same as it is where God wants Jonathan. He talked about last Sunday's class and he had asked how many of the kids had a personal relationship with God as their Lord and Savior and only half of them raised their hands. He told Jonathan how the kids watch him and watch how he pays attention in class and they can see that he has a personal relationship with Christ and that the enemy is scared of Jonathan and wants to bring him down. He also said that the same is true of himself and so when he gets sick, he has to be really sick for him not to go on doing what God has called him to. I think it was a very encouraging time for Jonathan. And Hector is right, the enemy is scared of Jonathan because he knows that Jonathan is very sincere about his relationship with the Lord. So, please don't stop praying for him. God has a work for him and for Erin here and they both need your prayers.

Here are some pictures of Erin today helping Evelyn with the activities.

It was so cute seeing Erin counting with Evelyn in Spanish. They were counting how many bottles of bubbles Evelyn had. Uno, dos, tres, cuatro...


Last Sunday we took a drive out to the land of the future Living Hope Communtiy to see the progress. The short term mission groups that have come down recently have been putting in sidewalks. Here are some pictures of the progress being made.

The sidewalks that the teams have been pouring.

This will be a corner post for one of the walls.
This will be an entrance with a security booth where the white chalk lines are.


I think that's all for now. Blessings to everyone!

Update on Life

Today has been a very good day. We have a short term mission team coming in late tonight and I was able to do the grocery shopping for them this morning. I had someone ask where the money came from for the food for the teams. Good question... Each team that comes down pays a room and board fee and some of that that is used to buy their groceries. I make up the menu for the week and then do the grocery shopping for them. For the first night, I also make ham and cheese tortas (sandwiches) on wheat rolls. Erin has been helping me with this and it is a great ministry for the two of us to do together. It is good to see the kids taking part in ministries.

This afternoon, Erin and I went into the home and had lunch with Jim. It was the first time we have been able to do that in over a week since both kids were sick all last week. The little boys were excited that I brought my books in. They really enjoy that.

Jonathan was feeling a little better this morning which is good. It is the first day in nine days that he has woken up in the morning without at least a low grade temperature. He still was not back to normal and we brought him to the doctor this afternoon. Dr. Elias said that Jonathan had an infection and told us that he also had some alergies. We asked what he was alergic to and he said "beetles." We didn't think we heard right so we asked again and he said it again. Then we asked what it was in Spanish and he said it again. We then found out that the word started with a "v" which sounds like a "b" in Spanish. We finally understood what he was saying - "virus." The pronunciation sounded like beetles. So, he was not allergic to beetles but there are many viruses here in Puebla and that is what he was trying to tell us. It was really rather comical. Dr. Elias was pretty funny at the end. He said his English wasn't very good but that his Spanish was great. Hmmmm... I wonder why? So, we left the office with one medicine that the doctor gave us and had to fill two more medicines at the pharmacy. Hopefully in a couple of days, Jonathan will be back to his normal self.

On the way home, we were stopped at a traffic light and the cutest little boy came up to our car asking if we wanted to buy chiklets (gum). We don't normally drive with out windows down but this particular time we had them down. Jim told him no, that we didn't want any and he looked at the kids in the back seat and started saying that they would like some. Erin then handed us a new package of Ritz crackers she had bought and told us to give it to him. We did and he just lit up and the biggest smile you can imagine formed on his face. He hugged them and then went to put them in his bag. We see kids all the time selling things on the streets but this little boy was all by himself. We believe he was around ten years old or less. We don't buy things from them because it encourages them to be out there more and it is dangerous for them. I don't think they often get things from the people they are trying to sell to. What a blessing it was for us to see Erin have such compassion and such a giving spirit.

God is so good! We look forward to all He is going to do this week with the team here from Wisconsin. Thank you for all your prayers during these past couple of weeks. We certainly have felt them and they have gotten us through some difficult times.