Joint Heirs With Jesus

Since arriving at Pan de Vida, Ira and I have received new names.  While we were in Dulce Refugio, the children thought that Bobbi was a boys name and always called Ira by the name Bobbi.  The pronounciation of Ira is ¨Ear-a¨which means wrath/anger so speaking with the director, we all concluded that new names would be great.

When I was here on a previous trip, for fun I wanted a Spanish name and everyone in the clinics called me Claudia which is pronounced Cloudia.  When we were in the 1st church service here, we were asked to introduce ourselves and when I stood up, I just blurted Claudia.  Ira was trying to say "Ear-a" and after the service Dario said it came to him that he should be Áron which in English is Aaron.  So we are now Claudia (Cloudia) and Áron.  It is fun and goes with the other changes in our lives.

There are a few volunteers here in the house with us so we are enjoying that.  It gives us some English speaking interaction as we seek to learn the language.  I am posting a picture of us and will update more later.  I have random access to the internet so will try to update as I can.

God has brought us safely to Pan de Vida.  After a few days in Tennessee to visit with family and friends, we continued the drive and arrived Thursday afternoon.  Ira drove the whole way and I have to let everyone know that he fits right into the crazy rules of the road.  It will also be fair to say that I am a poor passenger...ask Ira.


When we got to Mexico we went to Aguascalientes to visit Dulce Refugio Orphanage.  It is the ¨sister¨orphanage to Pan de Vida through Children of Hope. It was great to see all the volunteers and the work that is being done.  It rained the 2 days we were there but they continued to work at the site despite it.  They needed  to get the cement poured into the forms so they could dry.  There is so much work to be done and the kids desperately need the home so please pray that teams and volunteers will continue to come and help also donations will come in for the materials needed.  I am going to post a few pictures of the home they currently live in to give you an idea of the conditions.  In one picture you will see the boys playing in the water.  this is in the hallway of the existing home.  The rain came in and they made the best of it.  Also provides second service in getting the floors clean.

Ira and I have been visiting our family in Tennessee. We feel very refreshed and energized and will be leaving Sat morning June 16th for the travel to Mexico.  We expect to cross the border Monday morning.  Once we get the vehicle permits and paperwork finalized, we will then drive to Aguascalientes to Dulce Refugio.  Children of Hope has 2 orphanages, Dulce Refugio and Pan de Vida.  Even though Ira and I will be living at Pan de Vida, we are interested in what happens at Dulce Refugio.  It will be a great opportunity for us to meet everyone and get reaquainted with others and see the progress that is being made.  Our internet access with be limited during travel and getting settled.  Please bookmark the web-site and links to stay updated whith what God is doing through Children of Hope.  We pray you will open your hearts and partner with us in this ministry whether it is to support a missionary, a child or work project.  the children are blessed and God is glorified in it all.


www.childrenofhope.info  the official site for Children of Hope


www.xanga.com/childrenofhope  Jeremy's blog to building projects and other ministries done


Please read and be blessed!  in His Service, Ira and Bobbi  Maxwell   until next time~~

We had reservations on the ferry "The Cat" out of Yarmouth Nova Scotia to Portland Maine for 4:00pm Friday June 1st.  We needed to be there early for check in.  Since we would be traveling with a trailer in tow, we wanted to leave early enough to get used to the drive.  As we went to load our last minute belongings into the trailer and hook it up to the truck, we realized that the right rear blinker was no longer working properly.  We hooked up and went to a local garage to get it fixed.  It turned out to be a bad connection but was easily fixed.  With this taken care of, we started on our trip to Yarmouth.  As soon as we got on the highway, we could tell this was going to be a challenge but kept telling ourselves that we would just have to take our time and not rush the travel.


We no longer got on the stretch of highway after the ramp on Hwy 103 and had a blow out on one of the trailer tires.  We had 2 spare tires for travel but using one in the beginning concerned us.  A good samaritan stopped to help with the change of the tire.  As he and Ira evaluated the tire, it appeared that it blew because of a faulty stem.  This gave us some comfort and we decided to continue to Yarmouth and make a stop at Canadian Tire to get the spare replaced.  In the meantime we had made some calls for prayer.  It turned out that Steve and Leona were going to Pubnico and found us as we were still in the midst of getting the tire changed.  They were going to follow us to the exit to watch from the rear as we proceeded.  We didn't go 3-4 miles and another tire blew out on the trailer.  Immediately we knew we couldn't continue with the trailer in tow.  There was just too much weight aboard.  We just didn't know what the solution would be and with a scheduled ferry to catch, we started reaching out for help.


Ira and Steve Goreham started discussing options.  We knew that the trailer was too heavy, and with no more spares, we had to get the weight off so we could get the trailer towed back to Steve's house.  I then started calling friends to come with trucks to help us unload our stuff.  Then we had to call and reschedule our departure on The Cat ferry for another day since we were obviously not going to make it on time.  We were very undecisive about this, because at this point we weren't sure what we were going to do and especially how long it would take.  Upon calling, we just went with the next day, June 2nd at 4:00pm.  We also asked Steve Hopper to check around Yarmouth for a cap for our truck.  We were so blessed to have friends drop what they were doing to come to our rescue. As this was happening, a friend who was on her way to the valley to visit family, stopped and had fresh baked bread with her and left us a loaf in case we got hungry.  She saw that we would be there for a while.


Once everyone got there, we all started discussing a solution.  We really needed suggestions at this point.  In a roadside meeting, Steve Goreham graciously volunteered to let us use the cap of his truck to put on ours so we could put our essentials on the back for travel.  The rest of the items we would unload onto the individual pick ups that had arrived and then take the trailer to Steve Goreham's house and then load the items back onto it and allow it be a temporary storage unit for us. Some women have offered to go get the items and have a yard sale for us while we are away and then when Ira comes back in October for our son's wedding, he will look after the rest of the details.  Needless to say, it was very interesting to have 4 pick up trucks lined up along Hwy 103 and me standing at the back of the trailer making last minute decisions about what now would stay to be sold or go with us.


I will side track the story a bit here to update some of you on what we had on the trailer.  Origianally we had considered getting a cap for the truck and taking just the basics but we had stumbled across a flat bed trailer at a price comparable to that of a cap. We then discussed the potential of building a box on it to carry our personal items and then use it as a mobile workshop for outreach once in Mexico.  In the meantime, my Mom sold her house in Blanche and we decided we could then take some of her personal items and drop them off to her when we came to Tennessee on our lay over of travel.  So now we had our basics with a vision that we would soon have an apartment and have what we needed if that happened, along with Ira's tools and my Mom's things. It all added up to be too much!


Now back to where I left off.  We were on the Hwy with Ira and I  making decisions on what would stay to be sold and what would go with us.  It all hapened very fast but we got the trucks from Yarmouth loaded with what we were taking to Mexico and we got Dennard's truck and trailer loaded with the rest to lighten the trailer.  Now with that done, we drove the trailer back to Steve Goreham's house.  We then got the cap put on the truck and loaded the things to stay back onto the trailer for temporary storage.  We then headed to Yarmouth with the cap on and got the truck loaded.  Whew...hope I haven't confused you.


One thing we hadn't considered was that we don't have a home any longer so we now needed a place to stay overnight.  Art and Diane Rose invited us to stay at their home.  This allowed us to make our departure on The Cat and continue on our journey.  In the midst of all this, there was never a frustrated feeling.  We can only sum it up by saying that we had peace in it all...actually relief is a good word to describe it as well.  The time we spent on the side of the road allowed a time of fellowship and laughter.  The scripture that God spoke to us through was this:  Matthew 6:25 "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink;or about your body, what you will wear.  Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?


Once we got on the Cat and we reflected on what happened, we found it to be a blessing in disguise.  When we first responded to the call to pan de vida, we longed for simplicity.  We still clung to the human habit of convenience and tried to be practical.  This is another reminder to us that we have a lot to learn and we continue on looking forward to what god is going to teach us next!


I apologize for the length of the update and as I write it, I can see how much God was with us in it all to only have delayed us 24 hours.  We are now in Tennessee visiting family.  We plan to leave here around June 17th and then stop in Aguascalientes at Dulce Refugio so Ira can meet everyone and see the progress of the Orphanage.  After a couple of days visit, we will then leave for Pan de Vida.  We will keep you posted.  Please continue to pray for us, we can feel them!!