We are doing well. November and December were really busy! There were lots of groups who came down to bring donations, make meals, give presents, do crafts, etc. during the Christmas season. Then there was the task of selecting and wrapping Christmas presents for 130 kids! We spent a lot of time helping with this! There was a Nutcracker (some of the orphanage girls danced in this), a Christmas Posada (each dorm did a short song or dance, and our kids joined in with the dorms), special meals, and of course, Christmas morning presents. It was all good stuff, but January has been much slower and we are enjoying it. We have more time to actually see each other 🙂 and spend time with the orphanage kids. Here are some pictures from life lately!
Making cookies with some of the orphanage girls. Good for rainy days! Both these girls had never made cookies before in their lives! 🙂
Sometimes it is our turn to take this little boy from the orphanage to horse therapy!
Last weekend, there was a quincenera for on of the girls at the orphanage! Quite an experience! She was happy!
Our view as we walk into church. We have been attending a local church that is bi-lingual. We really like it. And my dad visited us once, and my mom has been here twice. She loves the babies in the nursery, as well as joining in with all our life here. Really good to have her visit.
The “fancy” restaurant in town… breakfast is $5 a person! And you can watch the dolphins jump in the ocean while you eat!
The new staff house which is being built… that we will move into once it is done! Kind of fun to watch it go up. Hopefully it will be done in the next 3 months?
The inside of the house.
I was hoping to help regularly at the free clinic in town, but the orphanage keeps me pretty busy, so I don’t think that will happen. But this is one case I am working on. This little girl lost her hand in an accident last fall, and I am working on arranging for her to get a prosthetic hand. Things are going well… we are praying she can make the trip the US in March or April for it! Here she is with her mom. Such a bright, cheerful girl!
In Mexico, the government raised prices on lots of stuff at the beginning of the year (gas, electric, water, beans, etc.) People are very upset and there have been protests off and on since then. We had to drive through a big one at the border last week. The protestors were very nice and waved us through.
No one is really sure if the protests will just blow over, or if there will be a full out revolution. There has also been a lot more rain that usual, which is good to help end the drought, but when people live on dirt roads and in shacks, flooding is a big issue. Another thing going on near us is that there are thousands of Haitian refugees living at the Mexico-US border. Some of the staff from the orphanage went to visit a church where 400 people are living… we are hoping to be able to send mission trip groups and resources there. Also, we hope that spring break and summer groups can help any families that need new houses/repairs after the flooding and mudslides. There is definitely need around us… we are thankful to be a part of a ministry which has a lot of resources and can help others in our community.
Josiah took this picture at the orphanage… I love it. We pray for peace and justice and God’s kingdom to come in both the US and Mexico… and we pray that we can keep on “doing small things with great love” (Mother Theresa) each day here.
