Joint Heirs With Jesus

Daily Vacation Bible School with the theme "The Armour of God",  has been moved to the 1st week in August as opposed to the last week.  The kids and leaders have worked very hard in getting all the props and crafts finished.  I was amazed at how much was being done and the creativity of the art.  Paco and Kike (Key-Kay) came across many empty cooking oil tins that a company gladly donated.  They are connecting and painting them to be the towers of the castle as decorations for the event.  We pray much fruit will come from their labor.  Not only from those who have worked hard to have this Bible School but also for those who will be attending from outside of Pan de Vida.

Yesterday the rest of the boys moved to the hacienda.  I know everyone is glad to have them all together once again as a family unit.  Please continue to pray as logistics are still being worked out and transportation is still an issue for the large number of kids.  Also, it is about a 20 minute drive, so we continue to pray for safety in the travel between facilities.

The progress still continues with the building of apartments above the kitchen and getting the auditorium stuccoed.  Today there is actually a group of 18 here doing some clean up as Ira prepares for the projects that teams will be doing in August.  One is from Island  Gospel Tabernacle, which is from our home area.  It will be great to see people from our area and we know they will be blessed by the ministry here as much as we will all be blessed by their presence. 

After graduation, the kids were sponsored to a vacation.  It was the 1st the kids have had in about 7-9 years and for some of the newer kids, it was the 1st ever as a family.  We are very happy for them to get an opportunity to go somewhere and just have fun and see different parts of their culture.  Since it was done through the school, we weren't eligible to go but I will get some photos from another volunteer for you to see the joy of their trip.

While the kids were gone, I used the time to go to Aguascalientes. Carolyn from my hometown arrived to serve for a month.  It was refreshing to fellowship with the volunteers of Dulce Refugio and also as a spiritual retreat before the heavy preparation for the 3 teams in August begins.  It is like most events, most of the work can't be done until last minute before the team arrives. However, while I was there, I did spend some time at the construction site helping here and there.  Also, Erin, Carolyn and I did some flood relief work at Erin's and Skip's house when the rain literally poured in like a raging river.

Ira stayed at Pan de Vida to continue his maintenance work which is constant.  However, with the kids away, he was able to catch up on some things.  Brittany, who has been volunteering at Pan de Vida for the summer was also able to go to Aguascalientes and see the ministry there.

As always, when you are gone, it seems like so much happens so fast.  The construction of the apartments above the kitchen is progressing.  Melchor and Juan have left the ministry of Pan de Vida, so you will see some new faces.  Their names are Ferntino and Miguel.  They are working on the balcony of the apartments.  I have some pictures to post of all the things that have been happening in the last couple of weeks.