The blessings of God!

Most of the team has now returned home. Those who attended tha Pastor's Conference are returning today (Sunday). Please keep them in your prayers today.

I'm sure all the team is contemplating what we have experienced with joy, tears and thanksgiving. On Friday some of us took all three families out to breakfast while the other decorated and furnished the homes. Then, starting with the CCAC house we brought each family to their house, prayed for them and presented the keys. All our hard work payed off as the families were so happy with their new homes. We were all misty eyed when the Nunez daughter saw her own room and burst into tears.

God has truly blessed each of us. I will never again feel the least dissatisfaction with the home God has given me. I mean, let's be real - flushing toilets and indoor plumbing- what a rich luxury!!!

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His love endures forever!

Build Day 4, VBS Day 2

At the build sites beds and kitchen counters were built and the electrical was installed. It was so cute to see the reaction of Aileen, the Nunez family's 9 year old daughter, when she saw the porch light installed at her house. She was so excited to see how pretty it was. What a blessing to see the joy on her face!

At VBS we had about 110 kids, 138 including moms. The gospel was presented and reinforced in each session. Then we served lunch to all our guests - serving 300 hotdogs! We pray that the message of christ's love, both taught and demonstrated, will impact many lives for years to come. We were also blessed, thanks to the generosity of a church member, to give out 100 Spanish language Jesus storybook bibles! Praise God!

Sorry no photos with this post. We will try to post some later this evening. Blessings!

Build Day 3, VBS Day 1

By the grace of God our houses are almost complete and everyone has remained safe. All of our houses now have roofs, windows, doors, and trim. We have built and installed the interior walls and have begun interior details such as building beds and kitchen counters. All of this work will be completed tomorrow.

Today we also had our first day of VBS. Half of our team took a break from house building in order to help in one of many areas for our VBS. Driver's picked up kids from pre-determined locations and brought them to the Heart compound where we had a full schedule of games, music, bible story, crafts, and more. Our lesson focused on the story of Samuel when he first heard God's voice. We taught the kids that just like Samuel they need to learn to listen for God as he directs their lives. It was so fun to see the Nunez kids, Aylene and Santiago, at our VBS after getting to know them while building their house.

Tomorrow we finish up the interior of our houses and have our second day of VBS. Pray for us as we expect even more children! Our lesson will be the gospel and we are praying for receptive hearts.

Girl power! Painting boards for the eaves

Raising the roof - literally

Building interior walls and roof

Building the roof

Building the roof - Jordan!!!

Dinner Tuesday night - Beef Tamales

VBS - Singing

VBS - babies dancing

Photos of Work Day 1

Thank you so much for your prayers for our safe travels. God really came through. The traffic was light and our trip uneventful. Even the border crossing went well with just a brief delay when they sent our cargo van through the -xray sensors and they detected some extremely dense boxes – those containing the Spanish language Jesus Storybook Bibles that we will give to the VBS kids. But once they saw what they contained we were sent on through without any more trouble.We met at Crossway Church bright and early this morning where we were sent off and prayed for by many Crossway members and prayer partners. We were in our vans and on our way by 6:30 am.

On the way down we stopped at McDonald's for breakfast and lunch after crossing the border at Ensenada Costco. The ride down was smooth and easy with a minimal of traffic. We made it across the border with only a slight delay as they inspected the cargo van, after their scans detected some very dense boxes - those containing the Spanish Jesus Storybook Bibles that we will give to the VBS kids later in the week. 

We have arrived in Mexico!

We met at Crossway Church bright and early this morning where we were sent off and prayed for by many Crossway members and prayer partners. We were in our vans and on our way by 6:30 am.

Thank you so much for your prayers for our safe travels. God really came through. The traffic was light and our trip uneventful. Even the border crossing went well with just a brief delay when they sent our cargo van through the -xray sensors and they detected some extremely dense boxes – those containing the Spanish language Jesus Storybook Bibles that we will give to the VBS kids. But once they saw what they contained we were sent on through without any more trouble.

We stopped for breakfast at a McDonald’s near San Diego and for lunch at the Ensenada Costco. We arrived in Vincente Guerrero at the Heart compound at 5:30 pm and went into the town for a delicious taco dinner. Those of us who came for the first time were pleasantly surprised to find the Heart compound to be a comfortable and inviting place.

Thank you all for your prayers!