Warmest Wishes to All of you this Blessed Season

For to us a Child is born, to us a Son is given,
And the government will be on His shoulders and His name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)

Warmest Wishes to all of you this Blessed Season!

As we are in the midst of the holidays we love to stop often to remember who is the reason for the season. It is so easy to get so busy that we just get tired and cranky and lose the joy that is meant to be felt this time of year. This year has been fabulous and we are so grateful to God for His love and grace. It was busy but so very good.

In January, Amy’s sister Sue was able to come and visit for the first time. We were VERY excited and it was a very special time for us all. She made curtains for the house and it really is so much more a home that way - especially since they were made with so much love. We laughed a lot that week.

After she left, Brian came to live with us for 6 months. He was sent here for mentoring and we got to watch God change him. He is now home with his mom and sisters.

In May/June we traveled north. It was amazing to see how big our family in Christ is! We have brothers and sisters all over the world! We really enjoyed spending time with all of you. It was quite a whirlwind tour as we traveled through 17 states in the US and 5 in Mexico and stayed in 6 of them during 6 weeks. Whew!

When we returned it was time for the summer rush. We welcomed Jennifer and Jordan Burch (from Indiana) who stayed with us this summer to help with the reading and math classes. They really did a great job as we hosted 30 children for private tutoring. God allowed us to begin a youth group this summer for ages 12 and up which they led till September. They also helped with the team that came and started building a bathroom for Juan and Ofelia which is now usable! Thank you!

Our summer team came from Olivet Gospel Church, The Bronx, New York. They were a terrific group and worked very hard. They hosted Vacation Bible School and a medical clinic and also helped with some construction. Many children came to VBS and the people that came to the clinic were treated medically as well as spiritually as the nurses took time to pray with them all. Thank you!

In September we welcomed Elizabeth Bayly (from Ohio). She stayed 10 weeks and helped with Kids Club, prepared the study for the youth group and helped watch the children who came with their parents to adult study twice a week. She was also a great help to Amy around the house, with home schooling and with Laura. She made quite an impact on the girls from youth group. Thank you!

In September Laura came. She initially came to the house to learn to read and write as she had never been to school. She started staying over for the night sometimes and then her mother dropped her off one day and did not come to pick her up or visit her. One month later, on December 1st, DIF (Child and family services) came and said that she has to stay here until further notice. She also has 3 other siblings who are still living at home with their mom and her boyfriend. Please pray that they are safe. Chuy has the job of checking on them and seeing that they are being fed and bathed, and not sleeping on the dirt floor. We pray the adults will want to change. If not, due to the fact that we work with Eirene, a not for profit with legal papers to care for children, they may come to our house to live too.

In October, The Hennessy family came to live here for a while. They have started English classes for people in town on Monday and Thursday. Rob is helping Chuy with whatever he can and Kelly is taking care of their 2 children, Janie (2) and Bobby (1). She is helping with the youth group and helps with Laura, too. Thank you!

In October Amy was blessed to go north for ten days to attend two conferences and visit with her family and friends. Seeing them twice in one year was a real treat. In December we made a very quick trip to the border to pick up some boxes we had there. Thanks to those of you who sent them! It was great to be able to attend Services while there.

Arlene (14) is a freshman this year and home schooling. Her favorite subjects are History, Reading and Creative Writing. She loves to make jewelry and do crafts. She is such a big help with the ministry. She got braces this year and is so grown up.

TJ (12…almost 13) is in eighth grade. He loves Biology and History. He plays the guitar and is doing very well. He would spend all his time playing if he could and has a real ear for music. He leads the singing in Kids Club and adult study. He still likes video games when we have time (not very often).

Rebeca (11) has grown about a foot this past month. She is in 6th grade and likes science and reading. She likes to make jewelry, baking and playing with Grace. She is very good at drawing and loves art. We hope to find someone to teach her a bit more as Amy is not talented that way.

Grace (10) is in 5th grade this year. Her favorite subjects are spelling, science and English. She started ballet in the city this year and is getting very coordinated (also not her mother’s talent ) She loves to play with Becky and Laura, dance, play outdoors and cook.

Laura (7) should be in second grade but we have her in first. She has just learned to read and count to fifteen. Her handwriting is really coming along. She is happy and now unafraid. We are so glad to have her here. She did not know how to play but is learning quickly!

Chuy is doing very well. Soooooooo busy. It is great that he has a couple of men to help him out now. He is trying to spend more time studying so he can be prepared for teaching. Please pray that he can have this time.

Amy is good. She loves to be with her children and husband and watch them grow in the Lord. They are such a joy. She also enjoys time reading and listening to music.


The ministry schedule is: Tuesday night Adult Bible study, Wednesday, Youth group, Thursday donation pick up and distribution and Friday Kids Club and Adult Study. It seems we are about ready to start a Sunday worship service as our adults are very excited about learning about the Lord and want more. We are still in the process of getting all the papers in order for an official orphanage. The lawyers were ok with some kids staying in our home for now but we need to get this finished! Pray that it will go smoothly.

May the Lord Bless you and Keep you this year and always. May you have the Peace that surpasses all understanding and joy beyond compare!

Love,
Chuy, Amy, Arlene, TJ, Rebeca, Grace and Laura

Youth Outreach Project Funnies

On Sunday when we took the youth to do the outreach project they saw a few things they had never seen before. Things that we take for granted or have lived with for a very long time. The first one was when we stopped at Burger King to get an ice cream cone. They all washed their hands. You know those automatic hand dryers? One of the boys didn’t know what it was. He only saw a picture of a pair of hands and some arrows pointing up. So, he stuck his hands up the hand dryer and was shocked, electrically. The second thing was a soda fountain. They were amazed that it had so many different varieties of pop and all you had to do was push a button and whatever kind of pop you wanted would come out. These are only a few of the things that were new to them.

Youth Outreach Project

This past Sunday we took the youth group from Camichines on their first outreach project. We went to a very lost area of the city of Guadalajara. They helped pass out food and clothing to the people who came. We were very impressed and are very proud of these kids. Before the outreach they collected bags and bags of clothes and coats to pass out there. While we were there, they did a very good job at passing out clothes, talking to the people and playing with the kids who came. The purpose of this project was to teach them to serve and to show them the consequences of drugs and alcohol. The kids were very affected by this project.

Laura Update

Laura is well right now. She is growing like a weed, finally. Her teeth are starting to improve. This week she lost a tooth and was super excited. On December 1st the government office of child welfare came to our house. They talked with us for a little bit then went to see Laura’s family’s house. They were appalled at what they found. The children were sleeping on the dirt floor with filthy blankets and had no food. The children were also filthy. The people of Mexico keep their children very clean even if they have little money. So, this is not normal. Laura now has to stay with us because we are working with Eirene A.C. and they have all the papers to help the needy of Mexico. Praise God! It was evident in the way all this happened that He was in control. Lots of tense moments but it all turned out way better than we could have imagined. The government also dropped off food (dry goods) so we can provide meals for the other 3 children 3 times a day. We are looking for a neutral place to do this as for the moment, they make Laura nervous and we do not want all of the family here. They gave us strict orders that the food is only for the children and that nobody can take Laura away for now. The government gave the mom a list with which she needs to comply or she will lose the children. This list includes bathing the children, a house with floors (not dirt) finding them a bed and sending them to be fed every day, for now. Please pray for these children and that the mom has a change of heart and wants to work and keep the children as we know from the comments overheard that she really thinks this is a joke. She is very manipulative and thinks there will not be a problem. Well, the DIF office made Chuy their eyes and ears here due to our association with Eirene. She has no idea….

Kids Club

Kids Club is pretty much the same. It has diminished in number because it is a very busy month here. The kids are out helping their parents harvest the corn fields, the virgin’s birthday is on the 12th (this holiday is celebrated for many days and makes us very sad), some of their families come down from the states and there are many parties.

Current Construction Project

Let the rock breaking begin! Honestly, the men look like prison inmates while doing this job. The giant rocks we have in our yard are being broken into smaller pieces that we will use to build walls for a multi-purpose room. This room will be used for Kids Club activities, Adult Bible Study, Youth Group and someday, Worship Services. The adult study has grown and the families all come with children, so, now it is difficult to keep the children entertained and study with the adults in the same place. Praise God for such 'problems'. When the new room is done, the adults will be there (in the back corner of our yard) and the children in the house where they will have room to play and at this time of the year stay warm. The temperatre is in the 40s after the sun goes down and it is definately cold/flu season. Those of you who have seen TJ's room know that it is not very big and the 15 children that come with their parents to study are really very squished in there! Please pray that God will protect the men during this project (and all projects). Also, pray that the new room which is dedicated to Him to be used for His service will be a place many come to know the Lord.

Bathroom Project

Juan, Ofelia and their children Belen (9), Victor (8) and Yuridia (2 months) now have a bathroom attached to their house that is working! The project was started when Jennifer and Jordan Burch were here this past summer. Their father Tony and brother Rusty came and helped to put up the walls. Little by little Juan, Chuy and Rob have been finishing it up. It now has a roof, tile floor and a toilet that can, for now, be flushed with buckets of water. We hope to be able to buy a container to hold water and a water heater eventually. They can shower in there for now but still have to heat up the water. They are so thrilled with this enormous blessing. They worked hard through the whole project and had huge smiles on their faces when they told us that they are now using their bathroom.

PATIO

Our patio is finished!!! It holds lots and lots of children. We are now able to play games, sing and listen to the lesson for the day for Kids Club outside. We only do craft and pass out snack in the house. Thank you to all who helped with this project! As you can see by this picture, Becky got to help!!

Laura Update

Laura has been at our house for almost 3 weeks staight now. Her little brother, Luis, came to Kids Club today. He didn't even recognize his own sister. He wanted to say hi to her and couldn't tell which girl out of the group was his sister. She is very excited about learning new things and has improved on her reading skills. She seems happy although sometimes she will walk around with an odd look on her face as if she is thinking. Please continue praying for her and please pray that her mom will let her stay with us, at least for now...

Dentist

Some of you were here and met Dra. Magda (the dentist who works for non-profit, Eirene in Santa Ana). We will now be blessed to have her working in our little town every Saturday. There is no dentist here and many need dental work. It will be great for them to not have to go to another town for treatment. This is a picture that we took this summer while she was here.

New Favorite Game at Club

This is our new favorite game for Kids Club. The rest of the team has to dress up 1 team member one piece of clothing at a time. It is a blast!!

Youth group in Bugambilias (Guadalajara)

This fall, we agreed to teach the youth at our church in the city. We lead Sunday School at 11:00 and then 1 to 2 times a month we meet with them on Sunday night to hang out and play games and hear a bit of the Word. They would love to meet more often but some of the parents do not agree at the moment. They are very different from the youth in our town. It is great that we can grow while teaching them. It is a very good experience for us.

Laura

Just a quick update. Laura showed up for school on Tuesday. She has been here ever since. Her parents haven't come to pick her up yet. She did not do her homework at home so she did it here instead. This means we gave her a shower, put her in clean clothes, did her hair, and brushed her teeth. Tomorrow she goes to the dentist. This is a picture of her that we took today. p.s. her parents don't come to Bible study anymore. Please pray for them.

Youth Group

Today we had youth group with Elizabeth teaching the girls for the last time. She did a great job teaching and we will really miss her. The girls said they want to go with her when she goes home. They had a lot of fun at the end as she took videos of them talking to her and listening to music and some even danced (kinda).

Laura

Laura needs lots of prayer because that is about all anyone can do right now as she is not with us. She was staying with us in our house for a while. She was at our house for three weeks straight without going home. She got very confused because her family started ignoring her and her two youngest siblings didn't recognize her anymore. So, she wanted to go home. She hasn't really been at our house much since. She used to come with her parents when they came to Bible study but since they don't always come, we don't see her very often. Today she came over to do some school work. When she went home we told her to return on Tuesday. Her homework was to come clean with her hair brushed. We will see what happens. O.k., this is a pic of her the first day she came to our house.

Youth Group

Youth group (Jovenes) meets every Wednesday evening. It is attended by teens aged 12 through 17. We play volleyball weekly, and every once in a while we play other games. The Bible study is when we split up and the boys and girls each have their own study. We hope to do crafts with them too. This week we had 14 teens at the house. It is lots of fun!

Adult Bible Study

Adult Bible Study is going very well. We now have some new families that come and two of them are very, very excited!!! We also have a new youngest member. Ofelia had her baby! It's a girl. She is now 1 month old and very adorable. Her name is Yuridia Susana. We now study two days a week, Tuesday and Friday as one day a week was not sufficient. It's great to see that some of the members have really grown spiritually!

Kids Club

Kids Club is going very well. They really enjoy Elizabeth, as do we. They are also enjoying the many crafts they get to do. Now instead of averaging 20 to 25 a week we 40 to 50. We play games (by the way, if anyone has any ideas we would appreciate it), sing songs, make crafts, eat, and best of all, we learn about Jesus and his unconditional love for us all. Kids Club was every Friday at 5:oo p.m. but starting next week we will begin at 4:00 as it gets dark sooner because of the time change.