What happened??

This is a picture of the pool that I was baptized in last summer.  Lee’s theory is that God washed all my sin away and that is why the pool is so dirty.  Ha… ha…Lee….

It was sort of a joke all week (well, at least for Lee it was funny). 

In all reality, we were told that they stopped messing with this pool in an effort to cut costs.  B2B has had 1/3 of their teams cancel this year.  Please pray for their ministry.  Jesus own the cattle on a thousand hills and we know He will provide.  Please pray for Mexico.

Psalm 50:10 “for every animal of the forest is mine and every cattle on a thousand hills.”

~Heather

Te doy Gloria

A few great pictures…

 

 

Planetario Alfa

Today we took the kids from Casa Hogar Betesda to Planetario Alfa (a HUGE science center).  It was a wild time!  The teens that are here with us brought kids from another children’s home.  There were 5 buses of children!  The science center is 5 stories high and it has an Imax theater.  There is also a planetarium and an outdoor play area.  Everyone wore the same t-shirts.  So, if you can imagine about 100 children and about 100 adults running around this place.  Insanity…. but the kids were having a blast!

On the ride back, our bus broke down on the side of the freeway.  Thankfully, we had plenty of water and Tete had a tortilla in her fanny pack. 

“Unbelievable….” says Tete.

~Heather

Te Doy Gloria, A Ti Jesus!!

 

40 years ago a small chapel was built on the hill by Casa Hogar Douglas .  Over the years it fell into disrepair and the people began to pray that God would restore it.  A couple at B2B started to pray for it, too.  Praise God that He provided the funds to renovate the chapel.  Tonight we went to the dedication ceremony.  We sang praise songs and held hands to pray for the church.  Scripture was read and the children from the Casa Hogar danced.  We truly felt the presence of God there.  The children in the Casa Hogar would not have an opportunity to go to church without this chapel near their property.  I kept thinking about what a special place this will be for them.  A shelter on the hill where they will learn about and worship their Heavenly Papa. 

Con una corona de espinas, te hiciste rey por siempre.

With a crown of thorns, you became King, forever and ever….

~Heather

Casa Hogar Douglas

Today we spent the day at Casa Hogar Douglas. We played with the kids, put up a chain link fence, and the men dug 3 deep holes for beams. They are eventually going to make a covered area using the beams.

Here are a few pictures of our day.

Psalm 9:9-10

“The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble, and those who know Your name will put their trust in You; for You, Lord have not forsaken those who seek you.”

~Heather

Baby In A Bucket??

Today we went to Cadereyta to work on the church there. Cadereyta is what they call a squatter’s village that was along a river and the government moved them to an area outside of town. It’s an area with houses built of cinder blocks and dirt roads. There is no plumbing or running water. They fill jugs from cisterns. They have only recently been provided electricity.

Many of the children who arrive at children’s homes come from these areas. B2B is helping a pastor and his family with the ministry to these people. Their hope is that through support and encouragement, these families will stay in tact and the cycle of children being abandoned will be broken.

We spent the day working and playing with the kids. Then we had an outreach where we served the kids oranges and cookies.

The baby in the bucket lives in the house next to the church. His parents are so proud of him. He was just hanging out in a bucket of water trying to keep cool. They do not have much by worldly standards but they are an intact family filled with love and joy.

Here are a few pictures of our team working…

Rhonda Ruth and Kendall (Emily is the intern on the ladder)

Marcus

Diana

(Hey Carlos, Diana has a future in construction!)

~Heather

Fiesta! Dos parties in uno day!

Every year a soccer coach from an Ohio school comes down here with teens from the school he teaches at. They host a week long soccer camp at each of the children’s homes. We are here this year with them and they included our team in the party. There are 87 teens on their team. They had a fiesta tonight to kick off the camp and bused all the children from the children’s homes. It is such a neat thing they do for the kids. It’s a really big deal. They give each kid their own soccer ball and two t-shirts. And they teach them how to play soccer. One of the nights there will be a big soccer game between the children’s homes.

They put everyone on campus in matching t-shirts, put up a big tent, cooked up some arrachera (skirt steak), got a band, and served about 500 people dinner.

They kicked off the party with an ice cream eating contest. There were 2 kids from each children’s home. They were blind folded and one child had to feed the other child a bowl of ice cream. The first one to finish won.

Some of the teens that live in the children’s homes got up and gave a testimony. They were trying to encourage the kids to trust in the Lord for their future. And the kids from Imperio De Amor got up and sang. There were kids running around everywhere and you know they were feeling something special tonight.

Isaiah 58:10

“and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.”

~Heather

Feliz Cumpleanos!

We went to Imperio De Amor to have a birthday party for the kids who had birthdays in January-July. Each child was called down individually to receive their gift and then we chanted for them to open it.

We filled up the small chapel with balloons….

We filled a giant pinata with candy…

We filled some tummies with cake and a little frosting….

And I pray that we filled some hearts with the love of Jesus Christ.

~Heather

Shelter: (Psalm 91)

When the official trip blogger becomes the official van driver all of her creative juices quit flowing due to sheer exhaustion. Please give me grace and bear with me. This may be a really boring post. We arrived last night and I was too beat to let everyone know we were safe. Sorry about that.

We are here and we are safe. Praise God!

Today we walked to church at Casa Hogar Douglas (one of the children’s homes near the campus). It was fantastic! The band was rocking and the people were on fire for the Lord.

After lunch we headed to Casa Hogar Imperio De Amor. We split into two teams. The guys painted this thick, white, paint-stuff (I’m sure it has a technical name but I don’t know what it is) on the roof. And the ladies cleaned, played with kids, and built concrete molds.

I have a few pictures of the day…

The first one is Leah playing Legos with 3 boys. When I walked in and saw this I couldn’t help but think that this same scene plays out in her home with her own 3 boys.

The second picture is Andrew Dixon. He is the intern down here that attends HCBC NW. He is so unbelievably sunburned! I told him to make a tough face since he says it doesn’t hurt.

And the final picture is of some of us at a little store. We were waiting out a small rain shower, drinking some Cokes, eating some Salsa Limon Doritos. Yum, yum!

The theme that B2B has us focusing on this summer is “Shelter”. What does it mean? Where do we find it? How have we been called to provide shelter to others (Matthew 25:31-46)?

I know that us waiting out a rain shower under a metal roof while eating snacks isn’t the kind of shelter that is described in Psalm 91. But I think the body of Christ can be a shelter for us. It sure feels “safe” when you are with people who have the same heart for the orphan child. The same heart for serving Jesus and the same goal of living a life that glorifies Him.

Goodnight. I better get some sleep. The roads we are driving have recently been paved and they have not painted the lanes lines on yet. It’s pretty wild!

~Heather

We made it across

There was a small issue with our immigration stamp being 2008 but other than that it was smooth sailing. We arrived at back 2 back around 6:00 PM.

- Lee

And they're off!

Left this morning at 7:30ish on our journey to Monterrey. Packing the luggage in was easy after packing in all the donations. I just can’t thank everyone enough for all their support. Had a little trouble with the walkie talkies. Note to self don’t wait until midnight before you go to check if the walkie talkies are working. You would think after getting a degree in programming VCRs (wow does anyone still do that) it wouldn’t be a problem. The “are we there yet papa smurfs” haven’t started yet (dating myself again).

I’m not getting my email but I’m assuming that we are continuing through 2 Cor. I read 2 Cor 8:1-15 this morning it was all about generosity which was very fitting considering that the whole front of our house was filled up with donation last night.

2 Cor 8:7 “But just as you excel in everything – in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us – see also that you excel in the grace of giving.”

- Lee

Christmas in June??

The last 2 days have been spent sorting and organizing the flood of donations.  It feels like Christmas each time I open the front door!  I can't count the amount of anonymous bags that have been left!  Kendall (our 10 year old daughter) stood at the top of the stairs gazing at the mountain in our front hall just grinning from ear-to-ear.  She is so excited!  Today my kids helped me fill up ziplocks with small toys and candy for us to pass out.  And Kendall has colored a box that we will fill with soda and candy for Tim and Kathy (house parents at one of the Hope houses).  Ruth dropped off a HUGE bag of homemade Playdough yesterday.  I know she put some love in there!  This is so fun!
We had a small hiccup in that when Lee went to get pick up the van, he realized his license was expired.  So, I threw the kids in the mini-van and drove like the wind to Pflugerville to meet him at the rental place before they closed.  And I am now the official driver!  Yee-haw, ya'll!  There better be some prayers for this trip!

~Heather

This is our front hall before John, Rhonda, Blake, and Shane showed up to help us load it all in a van.  Shane just got home from BYBC boot camp TODAY and he is headed out with us tomorrow.  He is losing his voice so, pray that he gets it back.  We are counting on him to translate!