A Wonderful Group From Wichita, Kansas!

We had a great group from Wichita, Kansas here this past week and had enough people to do two work projects!  There were 4 big families, praise God!  The Rohr's who have 6 children, The Alvarez's who have 7 Children, and the Habashy's who have 6 children.  We were also blessed to have a priest, Father Jerry, as well.  The singles that came were: Britto, Ken, Rashel, and Janice  To top it all off the Keihl's(6 kids) came back for the week to see the Alvarez's and to help out with the group.  It was soo good to see them!

One of the work projects was an room for a family that is being kicked out of their house.  Apparently the house they are living in now is on a piece of land that belongs to the local government. The government wants to use it so they are pushing the family out.  She had a piece of land already with one cinder block room on it, but it isn't enough room for them.  We are adding on another room out of adobe.  

 In preparation for the group I had the guys dig the footings and pour them. 

The group was big help in getting many of the Adobe laid.

Adobe is pretty easy to cut to size if needed!

A couple people had the opportunity to mix adobe mud with straw using their feet the old fashioned way!

In one day we were able to get about half done!

The other project we did was a new roof and concrete floor for a family.  They were living with 6 people in one room.  That included the kitchen and all.  They had started building walls at some point but lacked the funds to finish.

 First we installed the tablitas on to top of the rafters for the roof deck. 

The tablitas are actually just pallet wood that has been disassembled.  All the nails had to be cleaned from about 100 boards.  

Later we put plastic and dirt on top with a thin layer of concrete.

After the tablitas were nailed down, we mixed concrete for the floor.  The recipe was 17 wheelbarrows of gravel and sand, 6 bags of cement, a lot of water, and even more backache! 

The entry into the room was too narrow for a wheel barrow, so it had to be brought in with buckets. 

Gonzalo would screed it off. 

And I smoothed it out.

I want to say thank you to the group for coming!  It is a big help having you here.  If anyone else wants to come to Mexico for a week and be a part of this amazing work go ahead and sign up!  You won't regret it and God will reward you immensely!  

Bonus photo:  when we visited the Ejidos we were able to see how they make these brushes from a certain cactus.  They have this machine that strips all the vegetation away and leaves the fibrous core which is perfect material for the brushes they make.  Most of the ejidos make these as a form of extra income.

Our First Official Teachings! (In Spanish!)

Andrea and I had a great time this week giving our first official teachings,in Spanish, in the Ejidos! I gave a teaching on why God created us and Andrea spoke on trusting in God and His providence.

Father Paulo, the local pastor, has asked us to try and walk through the catechism this year with the people in the ranchos he has assigned to us.

Andrea visiting with Lupita and her family prior to my teaching in Mogote

We sing a couple songs before starting the teaching.

Eliza loves to help hold the signs.

Hows this for a "can we keep him" face!

Everyone like my drawing of a chicken (gallina)

Lupita, Megan, and Lu

As a treat we were able to support the people here by purchasing some lena (mesquite wood) for barbecuing.

We discovered they have some miniature horses as well.

  

God Blessed us with a beautiful sunset that night!

Andrea's teaching was a couple nights later in the Ejidos called Santa Ines and Cuchilla de Indio.

Eliza always manages to find a dog friend!

This baby is three months old, so of course Andrea was going to hold Him!

It was so rewarding teaching these who are so hungry for the faith.  Please continue to pray for us as we continue to teach and share the faith.  Pray in particular for the men of these Ejidos.  If you notice in the pictures they don't come to any church type services.  

God Bless you all!

P.S.  Bonus Photo:  The ceiling fan hung in our room...I am learning the ways of the Mexican!

Another Roof and Shower Tile!

It was an eventful last week here at the Casa de Missiones!

We were able to replace another roof for a family who has many medical needs.  The Mother of the house has had a leg removed and her son has some trouble with is foot as well.  They had a roof that was in pretty bad shape....It was never really finished to be stated more accurately.  There was some plastic on the top with a little dirt thrown down, but water came in everywhere!

 Gonzalo and I looking at the project.

 This man lives here and runs a small snack shop out of his house.

 Seems as though they keep a lamb for a pet.

Installing Morillos

  

The day after finishing that roof we were able to go across the street and install some tile for a woman named Lourdes Martinez.  The shower that was put in only had tile about a foot up the wall.  Since the wall was adobe the water was damaging the wall and seeping through to the other side.  

 

Last week I was also able to help Sergio Ruiz with some epilepsy medication.  It is really expensive down here although epilepsy seems to be pretty common.  He is 24 years old and has already been married 9 years!  He has 3 children.

Thank you again for all your prayers and support!  It doesn't go unnoticed down here!  We are still needing some extra funds to keep the guys building through out the year.  Please pray about supporting this worthy cause!

God Bless!