Canada, too!


Mexican Independence Day was celebrated in Canada too!  Brian, who is originally from Canada, and his wife Bety, who is from Mexico, worked for many years at Pan de Vida and 3 years ago returned to Canada and started Children of Hope.  Last year, Myriam, Bety's sister, moved to Canada as a Missionary to serve in the Organization.  Also, Lisa and Rick, Brian's sister and brother-in-law and Vern, Brian's Mom, are missionaries in the office and help oversee the finances and many logistics that are involved in running the organization. So there are many people who have to work together to build the bridge between the 2 countries as ministry from both ends happen for the same goal....to help others come to know Jesus Christ as Saviour.
Since the ministries that Children of Hope support are in Mexico and they have many Mexican missionaries within Canada, it was only fitting to give the Canadians a Fiesta.  They decided to make it an outreach to others. There were 27 people that attended the event and everyone enjoyed the games, food and fellowship.  There were many that were involved with the detail oriented task of hand making many piñatas and also preparing all the Mexican cuisine of sopes, quesadillas, tacos, pozole and salsas.  They also encouraged everyone to dress festively.  I also see there was some pranking going on within the realm of things as you will see in the photos...there is a lot of Coca Cola and no sight of Pepsi.
Independence Day movement started Sept 16, 1810 and as mentioned before, Mexicans love to celebrate all occasions with this being one of the favorite ones.  Last year there were many counters placed around Mexico, mostly in the bigger cities, to start the countdown for 2010 Independence Day. We are glad to see those in Canada get the experience of Mexican fiestas, food and fellowship!! 

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Independence Day


It is Independence Day in Mexico and of course there was a party.  Traditionally the fiesta is the eve of Independence Day much like our celebration of the New Year.  Mexican's love to celebrate and will do so for any occasion.  It is especially exciting for the kids since life at Pan de Vida is routine and they do not get to leave the facility much at all.  So anytime there is an opportunity to have a party with games and special food, everyone has the energy for it.

This year the Levi Youth group challenged everyone to a food and costume competition.  I even had a food table.  Since I am not an expert on cooking Mexican style, I decided to have a "Chicharrone Buffet."  Karen and Silvia were my team mates and we got all the things to dress up our area and prepare the popular treat.  The plate itself is a square piece of fried pig skin, then we topped it with shredded cabbage, pickled pig skin, pico de gallo (onion, tomatoes, jalepeños) and then more salsa.  We had so many requests, we had to break the "plate" into halves and quarters to accommodate.  Of course we did not win, since it wasn't really a prepared dish but we had fun just the same.  La Tia Elena won for the spiciest of chili and another church member won with the best flavour of chili with shrimp dish.  In addition to this we had traditional pozole soup along with other flavours of chicken rices and cactus.

There were lots of games prepared by the youth group that kept everyone entertained for the evening.  There was ring toss, bingo, a food guessing game where the options were weird combination of  ingredients thus making a person question whether they really wanted to sample or not.  One booth was called "The squash" and it was a competition to fill a bottle with water by using a sponge.  Then there were foosball challenges and a game where they used a fishing pole with a ring on the end to try to stand a bottle upright. It was wonderful to see the anticipation of the kids faces as they waited in line to play the games and even greater to hear the roar of laughter as everyone enjoyed the time.

We were also blessed to have many of the new members of the church come and join in the food/dress competition and especially the fellowship.  The main reason we do what we do is to teach others about Jesus Christ, so for them to feel welcome and a part of what happens here is very encouraging.  It is exciting to see others receive the same joy that comes from having a personal relationship with Christ and getting to know each other as brothers and sisters and make events like this one a true family reunion. 

 

       
 

School Starts + Boys Move


The 1st week of school has passed and everyone is starting to settle into their new postions and routine.  The week before school, the 20 youngest boys moved back to Pan de Vida while the oldest are in a rental house in Los Angeles.  The community is so close that the kids can walk to school and back.  We still pray for a nearby property so more permanent housing can be built and all the boys can be together in one facility.
We have also been blessed to have every teaching position filled this year for the school.  In addition to the international and national volunteer teachers,  many of the older girls that have graduated high school are teaching as well.  They teach mornings and continue their studies in the ILMES college program in the afternoon.

In addition to the regular studies, several of the kids are getting an opportunity for vocational school.  We have about 5 kids taking cosmetology and learning to cut and style hair with  5 others in a cooking course.  They are very excited about the opportunity.  Sabino, one of the older boys, is in the cooking class and loves it.  Pan de Vida has been able to offer continuing education for those wanting to be teachers, but not much outside of that with the limited amount of teachers.  It is a big step in growth as these new opportunities become available to them.  We know God has a great plan for thier lives and it brings us joy to see them get to do studies that really interest them.

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Washing


A youth team of Airdrie Alliance Church in Alberta recently came to Pan de Vida through Samaritan's Purse Canada.  Anytime we have youth, there is a lot of energy but this group brought more than that and left a mark on each heart here.  In preparation, the team had many obstacles thrown their way in where they would be serving.  In the end, it worked out for them to come here and God showed us how He had it all planned from the beginning.

We had 2 teams prior to them and the way the work projects and skills of team members fell into place could have only been orchestrated by God himself.  Team Airdrie was able to do all of the sealing, priming and painting of Justo and Elia's apartment and the new storage room to the kitchen.  They also blessed a volunteer by freshly painting her apartment before she moved in. 

The biggest part of their ministry happened with the kids.  They played hours of soccer, basketball and card games in their free time from the work site.  Despite the difference in language, there was not a communication gap.  Some of our kids exercised their English while the team made every effort to learn practical phrases in Spanish.  Just the exercise in doing this was meaningful time with the kids.  I was constantly approached by the kids of Pan de Vida asking if the team could play.  They couldn't get enough of the fellowship.  The older boys came every spare moment to play basketball.  I was blessed to see the kids experience such joy.

The team time was also meaningful.  Daily devotions were focused on the parable of the Good Samaritan and I think we each experienced the scripture in a new and revealing way.  To say they dug deep into the Word would be an understatement. 

The last couple of days of the trip, we went to Mexico City to visit with a Church Planting Ministry called La Conexión (The Connection) from their home church.  The team was able to visit The Vicitica, which is a huge community of indigenous Roman Catholic Churches.  Many felt the real presence of a dark spirit and were surprised at the depth of worship to Virgins and Saints and the minimizing of Jesus.  It challenged each and everyone of us to search ourselves and any idols we may worship.  They don't have to be false Gods like the Catholic here worship, but can be anything from our own comfort, to modern day technology and gadgets. 

The evening ended with a debriefing unlike any we had ever experienced.  The Samaritan Purse leader gave us an opportunity to do some spiritual footwashing to any or all members that "Wowed" us.  Each person was impacted by another in a certain way and it was very inspiring.  It really opens a person's heart to be more aware of how a person touches another.  Even those who went through times of sickness were able to pray for the rest of the team and encourage them in that.  It was also a time of healing for many that may have been offended by some of the discipline or rules that had been implemented or by the tension that can build when you have 20 people living in very close quarters. 
All I can say is that the whole team Wowed us as host and we are forever grateful to their ministry and fellowship that brought revival to us in our service here. 

Luke 10:25-28  On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus.  "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"  "What is written in the Law?" he replied.  "How do you read it?" He answered; "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"  "You have answered correctly," Jesus replied.  "Do this and you will live."

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