Joint Heirs With Jesus

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.

I don't even know where to begin on this entry.  I have been away for nearly 2 weeks to Aguascalientes with a Samaritan's Purse Youth Team.  Not only did we do eye clinics, but a lot of work projects were done around the construction site for the new home for Dulce Refugio.  In the evenings, fellowship and activities happened with each other and the children of Casa Hogar.  Please check out Jeremy's blog for updates on the progress there at www.xanga.com/childrenofhope 

I was also blessed to see some familiar faces from home.  Carolyn Thurber was volunteering at Dulce Refugio for a month while Amanda Hatfield and Courtney Nickerson are in Mexico teaching English through another organization.  Just the thought of how God provided us opportunity to gather together for a mini reunion in Mexico still amazes me.  I was blessed by it for sure.  I also had the opportunity to attend a Christian Concert by the Spanish singer Marcos Witt. It turned out fantastic because they had all the words on power point screens so I was able to worship along with the others.  I just love the Spanish language.  When you sing praises to God, even when you don't know the language, the feeling through the spirit remains the same.

While I was in Aguascalientes, Aron was busy with a team here at Pan de Vida. They finished work being done at the entrance and made amazing progress on the drains that have been dug.  The school roof has been poured and now the work will shift to the inside. Right  now the girls are cleaning the classrooms in preparation for next week.

While in Aguascalientes, we had the occasional rain in the evenings but it poured here in Queretaro.  The road is a mess and vehicles are continuously getting stuck.  The last week before school starts and the children have been attending Christian Camp.  The girls went the first part of the week and the boys the last.

I am headed to Aguascalientes tomorrow to lead an eye clinic for a Samaritan's Purse youth team.  They will be doing construction at the work site and we will have eye clinics in various communities.  Currently at Pan de Vida, we have 3 new volunteers from Texas.  They will be here until Sat and then head back to get ready for University.  Also, Richard will be arriving for the school year to teach. he is also from Texas and taught here last year.  We also have a new teacher arriving next week and her name is Ana.  I only met her briefly as she dropped off her belongings.  She will return while I am away.

The rain has stopped for a while, so Aron and the Texas team, along with Gustavo, one of the boys here, cleared away some of the mud and mixed some cement to pave along the hump at the entrance.  The previous hump was pretty steep and most vehicles bottomed out on it, so Aron is trying to make it more of a gradual slant.  Also more clean up of debris has taken place.  I don't know how many of you saw my facebook pictures but during the clean up, a rats nest was found.  It was Momma rat and her 18 babies.  The boys clobbered her and in the process killed some of the babies and then added the gang to the burn barrel that Aron has continuously burning here.  Of course I squealed like a girl and it a sick way it was a bonding moment for Aron and the guys.  The all cheered around the barrel over the achievement.  Us girls get enjoyment over a lunch and fellowship and guys over a burn barrel,  Thank you Lord for making me a girl!!

As Aron has worked on some of the vehicles, he has saved the used oil.  He was told they use it to paint the pigs so the flies won't bother them and they can sleep better.  Well, last night a couple of the boys came to Aron for the oil.  They took a few used pop bottles and punched 3-4 holes in the cap, then filled them with oil and entered the pig pen to squirt them down.  Of course Aron had to join in.  He even got me to take photos of the event.  See what I mean, sickos!

One of the girls, Diana, is leaving for Canada tomorrow.  She will be going to Waterloo, Ontario to take English.  She is currently a supervisor of one of the girls dorms and helps in leadership of laundry and kitchen.  I am going to miss her.  She was our original teacher of Spanish but had to stop in preparation to leave and now Ginger has been helping us in the language.

As a going away event, Diana and the girls made a mud pit on the outer edges of the property.  They had a blast with various games and just getting muddy.  Also the kids will be attending a Christian camp the last week of the month.  I can hardly believe it is almost time for school to start back.

The blocks on the school roof are now in place and the rebar is all being tied down.  The concrete is reserved to be poured on Friday.  God has answered our prayer and a donation has come in to finish the school and also we are getting a new water truck.  the one we currently have is 30 years old and breaks down often.

Wow, here we are a week later.  In one way it seems that time has sizzled by and in another, it seems like it has been forever since my last entry because so much has happened between now and then.  As I sit here and type, I can hear the worship group practice their songs.  In sounds so beautiful as it echoes across the grounds here.

It makes me think how much I love the Spanish language and am so excited to be learning it.  I am very aware that God did NOT gift me with singing or music and it really makes me appreciate those who have the gift.  I have also learned that in English, no matter what the song is, without the gift, it is just awful and I can butcher a song without question.  Even in congregational singing, I would get bizarre looks.  My theme song is the one with the lyrics that go "I Love you Lord, and I lift my voice, to worship you, Oh my soul rejoice.  Rise up my King to what you hear, may it be a sweet, sweet sound, in your ear."  On the mission trip last year it was even commented that my voice was only sweet to our Saviour...wow...I am so glad He thinks it is because I get no appreciation here for it!!  However, in learning Spanish, I realize that my singing is much better because the language itself is just so absolutely beautiful plus when they sing, they sing with emotion and enthusiasm that shake the auditorium.  Just thinking of it makes me want to twirl.  Oh and I am a horrible dancer too.  Well, enough rambling there.

We had 2 interns from Orphanos leave last week and now we have 3 volunteers from Texas here for 2 weeks.  It is great to have them here.  Not only do they speak English but they bring new energy to the house.

The construction here at Pan de Vida is currently on the school.  Last year a new wing was added on and now the second floor is in progress.  Melchor and his son, Juan, are 2 native Mexicans that work the construction on a regular basis.  This week, the blocks for the second story roof were delivered and they needed help to get the trucks unloaded.  A few of us pitched in to help with the task.  There were 1000 blocks and they all had to be put on the second level.  That is a lot of lifting as you can well imagine. Now they have to be placed overhead to fill in the roof area.  Also, when the blocks come out of the molds, there is excess on the edges that need to be chipped off so that the blocks will fit evenly together.  The men did the lifting overhead while Ginger and I helped with the chipping.  A lot of time goes into getting the forms in place to support the blocks in preparation to have the cement truck come in and make the final pour to hold it all together. We are hoping to have it finished and the roof poured by the end of this week.  And of course I have some photos to share with you!

It has been a busy few days.  Since we have arrived in Mexico, it has rained almost every night.  We did have a span of about 2 weeks that it didn`t.  I think I have shared before how the least amount of rain just turns the dirt road to the orphanage into a gummy, clay like mud. The drive in is more like that of the mud rallies.  A slip, slide and constant turn of the steering wheel.

This past Friday night, it poured all night long.  Your first thought is that you are thankful to have a dry place to sleep and then you are glad you are home and not attempting to drive on the road.  The next morning we noticed a lot of mud in the parking lot and courtyard areas.  We knew it had rained a lot by the amount of dirt in those areas because it had been cleaned up and it usually takes several rains for it to accumulate.

Later in the morning, one of the interns needed to use the computer.  Upon entering the room, she discovered the flooding that occurred.  At first glance, we thought it was of the one room because it was the closest to the parking lot, only to then realize it was of all the classroom.  Immediately we started letting others know and everyone came together to help in the clean up.  It is very inspiring to see everyone drop what they are doing to come and help.

Some of the rooms still had standing water in them and in the others the water had already receded leaving just the dirt behind.  The clean up involved taking EVERYTHING out of the rooms, throwing water onto the floors and washing with brooms and then rinsing, drying them and returning the contents.  There were a total of 7 rooms and 2 bathrooms to do.  In the meantime, a local mission team had showed up to do work around the orphanage. They come for a day about every 3 months.  It is amazing how God provides just when you need it.

The team was able to do some of the digging in the drainage ditches and some landfill into the mud pits along the road.  They also chopped down the weeds around the play area, painted and shifted some debris.  In their plans, they had rented a huge jumping balloon for the children and provided lunch.  All of this together made great teamwork.  It took a day that could have been discouraging to face and turned into one of fellowship.  As we cleaned some of the girls sang worship songs in Spanish.

We were able to get the clean up to a point that Sunday School could be held in the classes.  We still need to clean the bodega(storage room) of the school.  It will be a task within itself because of the many boxes, papers, books and other items.  Also while the team was here, it gave us the help needed to get to the root of the drainage problem but now the work begins to resolve the issue to prevent future problems.

Yesterday and today, Aron is organizing dig outs along the entrance which seems to be where the water is entering.  There used to be a hump at the entrance made of concrete to defer the water.  It would be the same as a large speed bump.  However, it caused some vehicles to bottom out on it due to the size.  Later there was some dirt added to level it off but it now allows the water to flow over it.  They dug some of the dirt out to expose the bump again but will eventually need to add some concrete to make it wider to avoid the problem with cars driving over.  It is all a process and will take some time and also some money.  So we will do what we can, as we can.