Will there be Pan de Vida II? In the last couple of months, there has been some discussion between the directors of Pan de Vida and DIF (Mexican Social Services) about them possibly taking over a second property. This is a tremendous compliment to Pan de Vida!! The DIF has seen the fruit of the work and have come asking us for help to resolve the predicament they are in with the property and 17 children that were living there. Of all of the organizations and contacts, they have chosen Pan de Vida, a Christian organization, to come to their assistance.
The property is about 20 minutes from the existing Orphanage. The directors had to leave for whatever reason, which left 17 children aged 12-18 yrs old without supervision. In the initial discussion, it seemed that things would move rapidly. The property is an old, VERY old (250 yr) hacienda that needs tons of maintenance. The idea was that the boys and the on-site directors of the boys here at Pan de Vida would move to the new location. This would then make the current Pan de Vida a girls home and the old hacienda a boys home.
Of course, the directors wanted to go over some logistics, the biggest concern being the lease of the property. DIF agreed to free lease but the amount of time needed to be established. Everyone here is family and they didn't want to move the boys and do a lot of work to improve the property and next year DIF come in with different ideas. The minimum that we want to have is 10 yrs but in the logistics of it all, it turns out that DIF cannot legally do this lease agreement until some details with other government gets worked out.
In the meantime, over March break, we moved the girls over to our existing property, while Richard and Ximena, who volunteer here went to the hacienda to stay with the boys. They transported them daily to Pan de Vida so they could get meals and start learning the rules of the facilities. There still wasn't any resolution to the lease agreement and with school starting, it turned out that the boys eventually moved to the existing property. This has brought our total to 140 children which makes for very crowded living conditions amongst the children.
God has been faithful in His provisions and when I am reminded of the testimony on how far He has brought this current facility, I know it is all possible. The place has wonderful potential for future agriculture. It is old but very beautiful with an old chapel on the premises.
We definitely need more volunteers with hearts willing to grow through the process. Ira has been out to inspect the property for initial maintenance, the biggest being plumbing. Just recently, we learned some structural things will need to inspected as well for safety. The boys were climbing on one and the structure came crumbling down.
Please keep everyone in your prayers as all the logistics get worked out. Some of the kids here now are biological brothers and sisters and they have a fear of being separated. However, they would be together daily as the plan is for the boys to be transported during the week to Pan de Vida for school and lunch and on weekends, they would be here Sunday for Church. Change can be scary for everyone, so again please pray as we all seek God's direction. Also pray for these 17 children who are now here and being introduced to Jesus Christ as Saviour. They came the week of the Passover so we hope that God has brought down some walls they have with all of the changes that are taking place.
Here are a few pictures and as things develop, we will keep you posted.
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