Joint Heirs With Jesus

This weekend, Pan de Vida hosted another celebration, a Quinceañera for Elizabeth and Violeta who both turned 15 this spring.  The ceremony embraces religious traditions, the virtues of family and social responsibility. The custom is a celebration of the young girl (la Quinceañera), and a recognition of her journey from childhood to maturity. The celebration highlights God, family, friends, music, food, and dance.

Different cultures and faiths observe the ceremony in different ways.  Since we are a Christian community, the service here was a time of worship.  The girls are dressed in beautiful gowns much like the prom dresses worn by graduates.  During the service, they are then presented with gifts from friends and family, referred to as padrinos, to commemorate the celebration.  The girls are first presented with a Bible as a resource to keep the word of God in her life.  Then a a prayer pillow is given for them to use when they speak to God.  Also a ring is given, which traditionally represents the never ending circle, the symbol of eternal life.  Finally a photo album.

At the beginning of the service, the girls are escorted down the isle to a special song they have selected.  As they come, they do an elegant dance entering the platform to which the service is held.  Once the service is complete, they exit as they entered and the celebration with family and friends begin.  There is a huge meal, cake and lots of fellowship. With over 100 children and visiting family and friends, there were about 200 people.  

Ira and I sat a table with the middle age girls.  We had so much fun with them with the presence of the spirit bringing giggles and laughter.  There was so much energy in the place.  We were also blessed with the fellowship of our brothers and sisters in Missions from Children of Hope and Orphanos coming for the weekend to share in the celebration.

The Quinceañera is much like that of a Baptism, demonstrating an outward expression of an internal commitment. One of the girls, Elizabeth,  is the daughter of missionaries here and has legitimate family, but Violeta doesn't.  It was so touching for her to be so gracious and thankful to feel so special.  It was truly a family celebration, the family of God.

Last week (Wed-Sat)the teachers from Pan de Vida attended a conference in Villahermosa, Tobasco.  The lectures involved training that combines Christianity with education.  The growth of the school and it`s programs is very important here at Pan de Vida.  All of the teachers are in continuing education classes each afternoon as well to improve on special education, logic and other topics.

On Sunday, the CEOs from Sika, which is a major business here in Queretaro, came to do a formal presentation of a donation they have given to help finish some projects on-going here at Pan de Vida.  One of them is a new water truck.  Thank you God!!  When His people pray, He responds!!  Since the teachers were away on the official Mexican Independence Day, we celebrated on Sunday night.  It was a busy day but exciting nonetheless.

One of the things God is teaching me here is the difference in cultures.  I recently read a book about hot-climate vs. cold-climate cultures.  Since I grew up in Tennessee and lived in Texas then Canada, I am a little of both.  Basically the south is more relationship oriented and the north is task oriented.  This Sunday was an example of that.

At 6:00, Justo came and asked Aron to build a putting green for a game for the evening and also install some lighting for the open auditorium area.  Of course, our cold-climate personality kicked in and wondered why they didn't mention earlier so it could have been done. Why wait until the last minute?  Then as I went around, in the kitchen food was just beginning and decorations made.  Again, why wait so late?  This will take forever, why didn't they start sooner?  Then 8:00 came and still the preparations were going on.  Then God spoke to me.  This is the hot-climate culture.  Part of the celebration IS doing all these tasks together...relationship....team building.  Then as I looked around I wasn't in question, I was in awe.  Everyone was working, not just a few.  About 9:00 the work was finished and the games began.  The kids had a blast lining up to be blindfolded, go behind a blanket to see a monster and on the reveal they saw their reflection in a mirror. There was so much energy in this place.  So next time, if you dare, plan an event and when everyone shows up, let the decorating begin.  It eliminates a few people being exhausted doing all the work and provides wonderful fellowship working together.

TA DAH! you guessed it PHOTOS.

Since transporting large groups of children can be challenging, the children don't get to go in groups to many places.  Most of the off site excursions are when a few join supervisors for errands or appointments.  The ball team gets to go for practice and games.  The last week before school, the kids attended a Christian Camp.  The activities provided team building exercises.  They definitely had a great time while there and participated in life giving activities!

The church here at Pan de Vida just recently celebrated it's 13 year Anniversary. It started with about 15 kids and a few adults in the home.  Now attendance is about 130-150.  There are about 115 kids and the rest are volunteers and others from the local community who attend.  We currently have the church services in the dining hall and are quickly out growing it.  A few of the girls here are taking music lessons and we now have a worship band.  A set of drums was donated and Jessie plays them.  The first time they were used was for the anniversary service.  The walls are up on the auditorium and now we are waiting for funding to put the roof on then finish the stucco and inside. There are so many details in building for sure.  It is great to see how God is using Pan de Vida to serve others.  A few families from surrounding communities not only come to church but also send their kids here to school so they can get a Christian education.

One of the girls here comes because of her Grandmother.  She was sent home with a reading assignment and needed to do an essay.  The reading was from one of the books of the Bible.  Her mother, who is not a Christian, was helping her with the assignment and is now reading the Bible with her. The mother questioned the material at first but is now open to learning.  It is great to see how God can use His word to teach.

Everyone here is getting settled back into a routine now that school has started.  I think after the first week everyone will be exhausted until adjustment sets in.  The kitchen gets going around 5:30 so the kids can eat breakfast at around 6:15 and then bedrooms are organized before school.  Then at 8:00 classes begin.  Each Monday starts out with the ceremonies to the flag.  Being the first Monday everyone was scrambling with last minute details so I didn't want to interrupt with my presence by taking pictures.  However, they do it each Monday and I will post some photos in the near future.

It is so sweet each morning to hear the chatter of voices and the patter of feet as everyone heads to classes.  The school is also blessed to have several kids from the community attending.  The school teachers are all Christian and volunteer their services.  Richard is here from Texas through Orphanos.  He plans to teach for 2 years.  He said it is a blessing to be able to teach children and also be free to use the Bible as a tool.

Today Eileen had her chemistry class in the visitor dorm kitchen for an experiment.  It is exciting to see kids learn something new and become passionate about wanting to learn more.

Guess what?!? I have pictures for you.  Some are of the kids dong their homework, of the chemistry class and one is random of the boys laundry.  I also couldn't resist to include one of 3 of the younger boys.  It will show some of the injuries of camp where boys will be boys.