Donor Appreciation Party

October means fog, beautiful flowers, and lots of spiders in San Marcos.  And it also means Donor Appreciation Day for the Children´s Home.  This year the kids were so excited to prepare dances, songs, and a little gift to share with the people who would come to their event.  We are so greatful for all the generous people who donate money, clothing, food, books, and so much more and for the teachers, doctors, government workers, etc. who give of themselves day after day for the good of the children.  We invited more than 100 people from San Marcos and the surrounding area to an event in their honor, and had a great turn-out of about 60 people.  Below are some photos to show what the children presented.

                       We started with a country-style line dance called "The Hoedown Throwdown". 

Then after members of the board of directors spoke, Katia, Lane and Gaby held dollies and danced to a beautiful worship song, "La Niña de Tus Ojos".

  Chepe made the crowd cheer with his rendition of the very popular song, "De Colores".  He looked so cute like a clown.

Emily, Miguel, and Lane danced a pop-rock style dance to music by Tobymac.  Lots of people commented on how cool the dance was and how much they liked the music.  The kids made up the dance by themselves.

William then spoke about  how necessary it is to have people gathered around the Home supporting it in one way or another.  He likened it to the planting of a seed, and how that seed has needs to make it grow healthy and produce good fruit.  Each person who helps in some way is contributing to the needs of the children in nourishing them, educating them, caring for their health needs, clothing them, paying attention to them, etc.  As the saying goes, "it takes a village to raise a child."

As a final number Juanito sang "Había un Sapo" which is a song about a toad that had a friend named Jesus.  William, Miguel, and Emily played guitar to accompany him.  He was very nervous but did a great job.

The kids had made a gift to give each attendee that went along with the message William gave.  They wrote Gracias on egg shells, dyed them, glued a bottle cap to the bottom, filled them with potting soil, and then planted cilantro seeds in them.  We explained  that since they had planted seeds in the children´s lives, the kids wanted to plant a seed for them too.  Everyone loved their gifts and even asked if they could take home more! 

After the event we shared cake and coffee with the guests.  People stayed for a long time chatting and playing with the kids.  We know that this event will have lasting effects, both on the lives of the attendees as well as in the lives of the children, who really gave it their all to show their gratitude to special people.

Good-bye Julio & Elizabeth

This month we said good-bye to Julio and Elizabeth, who had been in the Home for 3 years.  Over the past 2 months it has become clear that Julio has some very deep emotional and psychological problems that need special treatment. He has manifested these problems in different ways over the years, but now has become a risk to the safety and well-being of the other children in the home to the extent that the decision was made to move him to another Children´s Home where he will be receiving the kind of special treatment he needs, which is not available in San Marcos.  We, as a ministry, are committed to work with children who have many problems, but in the extremity of this case both the safety of the other children and Julio´s own needs were taken into consideration.  He was moved along with his sister Elizabeth so as not to separate them. This is a permanent move, and we pray for them that God will “finish the work He has started in them” and will keep His hand of protection on them.


Please continue to pray for him and for Elizabeth. We know that a very good Biblical foundation was laid in both of their lives and many spiritual battles won and we trust that they will recall everything they have learned here and allow God to continue to work in them.

Summer Time and the Living is easy...

This summer we had so much time to work together, play together, and learn together. After a busy school year we were all ready for sleeping in in the mornings and focusing on things other then text books.  To highlight different summer activities in this post I will start with morning activities and then move throughout the day.

Mornings started with breakfast, dressing, and chores.  Each child had to take care of their own bed and area around their bed and put away their clothes as they do every day, and then they would also do whatever household chore was assigned to them for the week. 

After chores we would start Bible time.  Our theme for the summer was "What is God doing through His people around the World?" We learned the names of each continent, about the cultures found on those continents, and about missionaries who were serving in each continent.  The kids made collages representing each continent, watched powerpoint presentations about different cultures, and learned Bible verses having to do with missions.  The kids loved learning about the variety of mission work that people can be involved in, from church-planting to medical to Bible translation.  They even received emails from some missionaries asking them to pray for a specific pressing need. 

We decided to put into practice what we were learning and do a project together to help out Messiah Needy Children´s Orphanage in Africa.  Emily, Lane, and I taught them to knit with two needles and with a knitting board and they made beautiful washcloths/potholders out of yarn.  The younger kids helped cut  circles out of cloth which I then sowed together to made cloth washcloths.  Juan is pictured here making his potholder.   

The end result was beautiful.  The kids felt so pleased that they were able to help other kids who come from similar backgrounds but who´s living conditions are much poorer than theirs.  They understood the truth that anyone can help another person no matter where you live or what your situation is.  At the end of the study they unanimously wanted to continue helping out others around the world, so we started a fund for a doctor in Honduras who needs medical equipment and they are putting pesos in it every week from their allowances with the goal of sending her a good amount of funds at Christmas time.

 Of course summer would not be summer without lots of play time, so after Bible time the kids were free to play outside or in and would spend a few hours playing soccer, doing puzzles, playing board games, skating, etc.  For one week they also attended our church´s Vacation Bible School (photo above) which they loved.  We also read books and I loved how they would sit and listen intently and beg for "just one more chapter".

   After play time followed lunch, rest time, afternoon chores, snack time and then more play time.  Some days we would go to the park, others we would play board games together, still others would be free outdoor play.  The Olympics on tv was a great catalyst for new game ideas and the kids would race everywhere they went and try out different sports that they hadn´t thought of before. 

Evenings were spent watching movies, having dinner, showering, and enjoying the coolness that rainy season brings.  A very memorable summer for everyone.

Water Park Fun!

 In June we were able to get 2 for 1 tickets to take the kids to a near-by water park called "El Guamuchil".  The weather was perfect, overcast but hot and the water cool and refreshing.

 Adults and kids alike jumped right in and played for hours, sometimes sliding, sometimes swimming, always laughing.

 Juan and Miguel

 Two other families went with us to help with the kids, much to the kid´s delight.  Even little Katia and Gaby swam and went down the water slides with no fear at all of the water! 

Elizabeth and Lane

Potluck picnic lunch

Everyone had a fun day and went home tired but content and all the way home we heard "that was so great, we need to do that again soon", and "I liked this best or that best".  Right when we got home it started to storm!  Wonderful memories! 

Happy Birthday Miguel and Katia!

 Miguel and Katia both celebrate their birthdays in June so we had a joint party. 

Miguel turned 14 and Katia 5.

 Even "Tia" Katie got in on the action!  (Wasn´t able to break the piñata, though.)

 Present time!  Katia loved her umbrella, clothes, and coloring books.

 Miguel was also very happy with his gifts of clothes, badmitton set, and activity books.

 Gaby just wanted the candy.  She made herself a pinole mustache!

 "Estas son las mañanitas..." cake and jello and the happy birthday song

 Then Miguel rushed inside to watch Mexico play soccer.  GOOOOOOOL!

 It started to rain, which made Katia very happy because she got to use her umbrella! 

Katia and Miguel both felt very special on their day and a fun time was had by all.