Teams


Pan de Vida has yet again been blessed by the service and ministry of a team from Woods Harbour,Shag Harbour, Bear Point and Cape Island area of Nova Scotia.  While we love all teams, this one was special to me and Ira on a personal level. The team consisted of people united through 5 churches from our hometown in Canada.  In addition to being partners in missions, they have been a part of our life and journey in Christ before we came to Pan de Vida.  So not only did they bring  hearts of hard work and service to the Orphanage, their presence has encouraged and refreshed us on many levels.


Upon arrival, the team prepared food hampers of beans, rice, lentils, sugar and salt for an outreach to the indigenous Otomi tribe in Amealco.  While we were there, they did the breakfast program, sorted expired prescriptions in the pharmacy, applied lime to the trees for protection against insects and passed out donated items of hats, scarves, mittens, lotions, shampoos and toys.  As always the children did a presentation to testify to the work God is doing at the Otomi House.


Then on Sunday, the team attended and ministered at the English service of Rosa de Saron Fellowship.  The youth did a presentation of worship through songs and Barbara gave the message.  Afterward, the team came back to Pan de Vida for the Spanish service.  We then went to another church for the afternoon for a soccer game between Horizonte Calvary Chapel and Pan de Vida.  The girls were short players so team member Candice was a good sport and played along despite not understanding a word the coach said winky.
Monday morning the team dove right into the work.  The roof above the kitchen and volunteer apartments was in need of repair before rainy season arrives.  They had the tedious task of peeling all the flawed coating and then repairing it with the rubber like paint and mesh fabric.  In addition to that, they poured concrete along the bottom of the new fencing, continued the painting of the retaining walls, cleaned the furniture and organized a bodega in the visitor's dorm.  They also poured a footing and prepared an area behind the boys dorm to improve the laundry area.  An electrician on the team spent most of the week installing security lighting around the premises and repairing other electrical issues.  


The team ministered to us all with special parties.  On Wednesday night the team treated the kids to tacos.  Even though tacos are a traditional food of Mexico, the kids don't get them often so they really enjoyed and took advantage of the occasion.  Some of the older boys confessed to having up to 20.  Thursday night after church, they held a casual night of fellowship for the volunteers with pizza and a gift of appreciation for those who serve at the orphanage.  It was a blessed time for the volunteers to come together and enjoy each other and get to know the team better.  The evening rounded up with a meaningful time of praise, worship and prayer.


As always, we are thankful for them to take vacation time to come and work so hard on their March Break.  Many even had the flu and still persevered in the hot temperatures without complaining.  Pan de Vida has definitely been blessed and God has been glorified by their servant hearts.


Matthew 5:16  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your father which is in heaven.

Winkler/Morden Team


Now we say Hasta Luego to our Winkler/Morden, Manitoba team.  As always Pan de Vida was blessed by their hard work, fellowship and care that they brought to everyone.  As they worked in the hot sun all day, it touched us deeply to know they would take their vacation time to come and contribute so much to improve the facilities. Also the kids kept thanking them for coming to spend time with them and as one kid shared, "Thank you for loving us when you don't really know us that well."


Some on the team are child sponsors and got to visit with their child while others built new relationships. One of the team members drove his motorcycle down and gave the kids rides.  He said it warmed his heart to hear them squeal with enthusiasm as he took them around. Then there were times of line dancing, lessons in baton twirling, crafts and coloring. The team also went to the Casa Otomi for an outreach.


In addition to the love they shared through hugs, meals, prayer, playing, a pizza party and conversation, the team accomplished a great amount of work....hard work.  They installed 2 fence sections behind the visitors dorm to allow for more storage behind the workshop.  Ira is thrilled to now have space he can put rakes, shovels, wheelbarrows etc.  They also poured footings, prepped and finished an area beside the girls dorm with paving blocks.  They built a retaining wall, made some cabinets for the boys bathroom, painted the kitchen storage room, applied a treatment to the trees to keep the ants from eating them and groomed the walls along the flower beds with fresh paint.  The really achieved so much in the 2 short weeks they were here but the biggest impact is the way they touched the lives of the children and volunteers at Pan de Vida.  We love the way God has made us all family.

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