Here is an updated picture of our Pan de Vida family here in Querétaro, México. There are a few volunteers missing and of course all of you in various parts of the world that support the ministry whom we consider family as well.
When I look at the picture I am reminded that we still have a lot of kids!! I wish we could have zoomed in more so you could see all the sweet faces to identify them but it was almost impossible with such a large group. But here we are, joint heirs in Jesus as we travel this sod!
The Levi Youth Group celebrated their series on "True Worship" with Worship Night. They started the evening with a game where they were in teams and worship words were announced and the 1st team to sing a song with the word in it won. Everyone was making suggestions and showed how many worship songs they really know. This stirred the excitement to hear more and the leaders then did an hour long video of songs and asked them to all focus on the things God has done.
The leaders were concerned that maybe they would just sit and listen but to their surprise, all the youth stood in praise and worshiped with their mind, body and soul. Some lifted arms in praise, while others sang and danced. All of it was their natural response in worship to Jesus. They had so much fun they didn't want the evening to end even telling the leaders it was "way cool".
We praise the Lord that we and the kids can worship Him in song!!
The kids got a break from school the week of Cinco de May (May 5th) to celebrate the Mexican Victory over the French at the Battle of Puebla. What better way for Mexicans to celebrate than with authentic Mexican tacos of hand made corn tortillas, chorizo, pastor, bistec, onions, cilantro and a variety of salsas to top it off.
Since the kids here don't get the opportunity to go out and experience the environment of the local street foods, which is so much a part of the culture, a local family that sells tacos, brought their stand to Pan de Vida. The kids were so excited and savored every bite. Unbelievable some, even girls, were eating up to 20 and more. Take into consideration the torillas are about as big around as a baseball, but it is still a lot of tacos in one setting. This is just an example of how much they enjoyed it. Even the little ones made facial expressions of complete enjoyment over them.
We are thankful God provided the kids such joy in a simple thing like a taco!
The Levi Youth Group, as part of their evangelism ministry, had previously served in the nearby community of Los Angeles doing outreaches. Last week the town representative asked the Levi to be a part of a combined event on May 5th that they were having for Children's Day(April 30) ad Mother's Day(May 10 in Mexico).
Since the event didn't have much of a budget but needed to offer free services to the families of the town, the Pan de Vida Church pitched in to rent 3 inflatable jumping balloons. This accommodated the small, medium and large size groups of children. The Levi also made up snack bags of sliced jicama, jello cups and some candies. Everyone wore name tags to identify themselves as part of Pan de Vida (Bread of Life) to prompt interest from others on who they were and an opportunity to share about their faith. The day was very successful with over 350 people coming for the activities.
The Youth Group also stayed after everything was over to help with the clean up. The representative was very grateful for the service The Levi provided. We are so thankful God allowed them an opportunity to celebrate Mothers and Children and serve others to show His love in a very practical way.
I know I am surprising you all with a few updates in one day but things are coming in spurts as usual. Friday was "Dia del Niño" aka Day of the Child. In Mexico, all holidays and events are celebrated with such enthusiasm and today was no different.
Since the kids had school on Friday, the formal celebration was post poned until Saturday. On Friday, a couple, Minerva and Javier, who now volunteer daily at Pan de Vida in the kitchen and with donations, treated everyone to homemade paletas (popsicles). Each classroom had their own celebration for the day. The youngest attempting face painting while the older ones played sports.
On Saturday, a local business, Siemens, came and treated the kids to hotdog with the works, skits and audience participation activities. The kids were very excited as they had things planned that focused on each age category. After the soccer, basketball, arts and craft programs, the kids gathered in the auditorium for the schedule of events and to receive gifts. Everyone received much need toiletries and the younger ones got toys.
It was so great to see the kids so excited and cared for as the Day of the Child was celebrated!
This is a brief update on the progress of some of the projects. Ira and Paco have worked very hard and in extreme heat to get the septic system in and functioning before rainy season hits. Just the brief rains we had in Jan and Feb washed out the previous one and filled the filters with mud. Each team contributed to getting another area prepped and temporary system installed. Ira and Paco have built a new holding tank and got it all hooked up and the filtered water is being put on the newly sodded football field. A pump house and tops need to be built and the area around it needs to be groomed some but at least now we have a place for everything to go.
The football field is starting to produce lots of green grass. The last bits of sod arrived in the night after the delivery truck had been broke down in the intense heat all day. Ira, Justo and the boys enjoyed the time of working until after midnight to get the sod unrolled. The directors ordered pizza and it was a welcome change to have the coolness of the night to work compared to the scolding sun. Ira has been rotating the sprinklers mornings and evenings with the help of Yaya. He had never seen a sprinkler and is just amazed at how he turns a knob and water comes out and rotates. When he gets out of school, he goes to look for Ira so he can help.
In addition to these projects, the boys now have an official laundry area. Now that I do the laundry for the boys, I learned quickly the benefits of having a husband who is a Jack of all trades. There was a small room originally built for washers but lack of water pressure, it was easier to fill the machines with hoses which meant they needed to be outside to give room to reach around back. The Waterloo/Seaforth team bought new washers for the boys and girls and we were then faced with the need for hook ups. Ira rerouted water lines and installed some proper copper piping to connect the machines so they can work the way intended. Now we have the new and old ones all functioning and lots of clothes are getting washed daily.
Ira also received a much needed gift from the Waterloo/Seaforth team of some tools for the workshop. It has been a real blessing to see everyone working together to improve these areas of ministry.
