Reading Books and Playing Games

Many days when we go to the youth home, I bring some Spanish kids books with me. The kids love looking at them and reading them. Today, Chucho was reading one of the books and I noticed he was holding the book very close to his eyes in order to read it. I told Jim about it and he took his glasses off and let Chucho use them. He got a big smile on his face and held the book further back. I later asked another staff member about it and she said that Chucho had glasses but another child got hold of them and they got broken. So he hasn't had them for a while. We hope he is able to get some glasses again soon so it is easier for him to read.

This picture doesn't show him looking as close as he was at the first book. In this book, he was looking at pictures and not words like the other book. The book he was reading at first he held just about two inches from his face.

This is the book he was looking at when I first noticed the way he was reading it.

The look on his face was priceless.

Here are two of the other kids reading books.



The last few days I haven't gotten any pictures of Jonathan on here because he was sick but today he was feeling better and had gone more than 24 hours without a fever so we all went into the home today. Here are a couple of pictures that have Jonathan in them.




Tonight was another awesome worship service. It got started a bit late though because when the group that is here arrived, one of the ladies hurt her foot when she was stepping out of the van. It is possible that she broke it so while the rest of the group was in the service, several of the ladies went with her to the hospital to get it x-rayed and see what the doctor says. Please keep her and the group in your prayers as this is hard on the group when something like this happens.

We are now at the end of another very good day. Tomorrow, Erin begins her Spanish tutoring. Please keep that in your prayers also that Juan, the tutor, will be able to teach her well and that Erin would learn quickly.

Thank you for all your prayers. We can feel their effects.

Making Masks and Other Things

Today the team that is here from Michigan made masks with the kids. They could choose from butterflies (las mariposas) or frogs (las ranas). The kids had fun with it.
Kevin made a frog. He seemed to enjoy the project. He then let me take a picture with the mask on his face.

Here's Erin coloring her frog.
Dan & Susan, if you are reading this, the next two pictures are for you. I get better pictures of Angelica because she has made friends with Erin. Maribel is not around me as much.

The girls are not wanting their pictures taken as much so I took Maribel's from a distance. As you can see, she is using her MP3 player that you sent down.
Angelica and Maribel are the two girls that Dan & Susan sponsor. The children at EV are financially taken care of by people sponsoring them with $25.00 per month. We try to have four or five sponsors per child. When you sponsor a child, that child will write to you about four times per year. You can also write to them or send e-mails to them. We sponsored three children for the five years we were involved with EV prior to moving here. You can also visit your sponsored child as we did every year we came down with a team. Almost every team member who comes here on a mission trip falls in love with a child and ends up sponsoring them. It is such a neat thing to be able to see your child in person.

Jonathan was still sick today although he seems to be much better. He did not run a fever at all today so we are hopeful that tomorrow he will be able to go to EV in the afternoon. Although we may go in the morning because I found out today that one of the women is cutting hair. I think I am going to get my hair trimmed. Yea! I would really like my bangs out of my eyes.

We had a great worship time with the group tonight. The staff women also prayed over the group. The whole time was an awesome time. We are so blessed by them being here and I know that they have been blessed also. I love the times of worship here.

I drove for the first time at night tonight. I needed an hour out by myself so I called one of the other women and she and I went to the mall. I bought fabric for our bedroom curtains and then picked up a few things at the grocery store. It was nice to have a little time away.

Well, it is getting late and it is time to call it a night. I will try to post more tomorrow.

Pictures From Today

Here are some pictures from our time at the home today. There are no pictures of Jonathan because he was at home. He was still sick today. We sure hope he feels better tomorrow and does not have a fever at all. I am sure he is getting tired of being housebound. Please continue to keep him in your prayers and also that the rest of us will remain healthy.

The group that is down here right now brought down frisbees. Erin had a blast playing with the group and the other kids with them.

Here are some of the kids playing soccer. Can you tell which is an American?
Here's Erin again waiting for someone to throw her the frisbee.
This is Lalo. He is such a sweet boy with such a great personality. I enjoy playing with him.
Malu is a girl we sponsored for five years. She has grown up so much in those years. She was only three when we started.
This is Molly with her daughter Kaziah and also with Lalo. I've enjoyed getting to know her and developing a friendship with her. Our kids enjoy playing with their kids also.

Time for a Change

Today is Sunday and it has not been a normal Sunday for me. Jonathan and I stayed home from church this morning because he is sick. We did good making it a month before anyone got sick. So, I decided to make some changes to our blog. I figured it had been a long time since I updated it's look. Hope you like the changes.

We have a new group here at Esperanza Viva. It is a group of 12 women from Michigan. They have had quite the ordeal getting here. They were due to arrive on Friday night but changes in their flight that they were unaware of caused them to arrive at the guest house at 2:30 this morning. I was amazed when Jim said they were at church this morning. We look forward to working with them and seeing how this all works from the other side. We have led four teams here and been on that side. Now we are on the staff side.

The kids at the home are very good at soccer and kicking a soccer ball around. It is amazing some of the tricks they can do. So, Erin started practicing at home. Who knows, maybe she'll be able to do as good as some of the kids at the youth home soon. Here are some pictures of her.



Nacho is really growing. He has filled out nicely.



I will try to get more pictures on this week. I will bring my camera to the home to take pictures of all the kids. When groups are here, the kids all come over to do crafts. We look forward to this and so do the kids. The missionary kids are allowed to participate in the craft times also. Erin will really like that.

Other than that, things are going pretty good. I will be glad when Jonathan is better and we can get back to a normal life. Please keep us in your prayers, that the rest of us would stay healthy and that Jonathan would be well soon.

What Do You Take for Granted?

In the United States, there are a lot of comforts that we take for granted. When you go to use your telephone, you expect to pick up the phone and hear a dial tone, right? When you go to your computer, you expect to be able to sign on to the Internet, right? When you fill your washing machine with water, you expect it to happen in a certain time frame - usually pretty quickly, right? Well, these are three things that I certainly took for granted while in the US. In the last week or two, we have gone hours without Internet or telephone. It has actually been most of the day on some of those days. As for the washing machine? There are times when the water trickles in the fill it up. One night it took over three hours to do one wash load. Don't get me wrong, I am very thankful for a washing machine and the fact that I don't have to do my laundry on a wash board. It is rather funny though when you have to fill buckets of water to fill the washing machine. We have most of the modern conveniences that we had in the states, they just work a little differently. I am also very grateful for having any Internet at all. Many missionaries go out to places where there is no Internet or phone service so when we don't have it for a few days, it is just an inconvenience.

I am learning to be content in all circumstances. God brought us here with a calling and a purpose. We are happy here and you know, even with those minor inconveniences, we wouldn't trade it because we know we are in the center of His will for our lives. The main thing to remember is that God is good. No matter what circumstances we find our selves in, He is faithful.

1 Timothy 6:8 "But is we have food and clothing, we will be content with that."