Something's Fishy with Pastor Antonio

 Our theme this week has been FISH. The VBS stories have included Jesus asking fisherman to "follow him," and telling the fisherman to "cast their nets on the other side.

Even Pastor Antonio got into the "Fish Spirit."

Wednesday Morning Projects

 It's already Wednesday morning and we have lots of projects underway.

Our "laundry group" left right after breakfast with a lot more laundry to get washed and folded. The never-ending laundry is overwhelming and it is nice to help them get caught up.

 We are packing bags of rice and beans that we will distribute on Thursday night to the people from the Colonias.

This year, Mama Lupita does not want our group to actually travel to the Colonias - instead, she is distributing "tickets" to the families in the Colonias to come to the Church (located next to the Volu) to a service on Thursday. Pastor Antonio will give a message and then we are serving food, as well as distributing care kits, solar lights, rice and beans and the quilts we brought.

There is a lot of preparation necessary to get ready for Thursday.

 A huge work crew (18 in the van) left to work at the Volu today. Work includes tiling the showers and work on the bathrooms. In addition, a crew will be working on cleaning the kitchen and living areas for the older boys.

 Stuart and Jake worked on getting all the solar light out on a roof top so they can charge before we distribute them on Thursday night.

Daily Life at Casa Hogar

 The days are really full at Casa Hogar. This year, we're serving breakfast at 7:15 a.m. as a lot of the children leave at 7:30 a.m. for school. That means, the breakfast prep and clean-up crew is up by 6:30 a.m. Lewis is up early working in the kitchen.













A lot of time is spent cleaning, scrubbing, cleaning and more scrubbing. Many of us walk around with rubber gloves in our pockets - you never know when you will need them. Here is Kris "going in" on a stubborn pot.

 Of course, the most important thing we do is love the children. Here is Carolyn cuddling with Adrian.




















The dish room is a place where some real bonding occurs as the whole process of cleaning up and washing dishes for 150 people takes 2-3 hours. Here are Doug and Steve working hard.

We're trying to keep you updated on our adventures - the internet connection is touch and go, so it requires patience and persistence.


Finally, we do take breaks once and a while - a favorite is a trip to the corner store for a coke or joya!

Grilled Chicken for Dinner

 Last night we had grilled chicken for dinner - one of our favorites. Daniel, Doug, and Ken (not pictured) started the coals at 3 p.m. in order to cook the chicken that was served at 7 p.m. We served with pasta, pineapple (the kids love it!) and raw vegetables with ranch dressing.

We had a big crew at dinner last night including some special guests - Israel and Josue, two former Casa Hogar kids. Israel and Josue are twins who were here when we first started coming - they are both out working. Israel is studying engineering and Josue is married and has a little girl. They had heard the All Saints group was at Casa Hogar so came by to see their friend "Barbara."

Last night at our nightly meeting, Kristine talked about "impact" - who has impacted us and how we can impact others. It is clear that our group impacted these two young men in that they made a special point to come by to greet us and then stayed for dinner!

Our Food Ministry - Spaghetti!!

 A big part of what we do at Casa Hogar is cook for the kids and staff each day. Without all the modern conveniences, each meal takes approximately 4-5 hours from start to completed clean-up. Each servant team is assigned a prep or clean-up once a day. Here is Betsy's servant team preparing Spaghetti dinner - one of the kids' absolute favorites!

 Love that Spaghetti!!!

 Shirley and Catherine sporting the "Mission 2011 fashion statement." (We call it the reverse spa - everyday you look worse!)

The Fan is In!!!

Daniel and Joel put the finishing touches on the new ceiling fan for the dish room. What a difference a little air makes!

Tuesday morning

Tuesday morning we have had a lot of different groups go off. Kristine led a group to the laundry mat where they will work to help the orphanage get "caught up" on laundry. They did 36 loads of laundry!!!

A work crew went over to the Volu to work on cleaning up the grounds and preparing an area where they will be moving some bunk beds over. Yesterday, Joe Larson helped a group disassemble the bunk beds at Casa Hogar - they will then work on putting them up at the Volu.

Finally, the bathroom renovation crew is hard at work preparing the shower stalls for tiling.

Meanwhile, back at Casa Hogar, Penny and the Children's Ministry team led the group in song. We sang in Spanish and English.

Just like fish blow bubbles, the children each got a "bubble blower" prepared by Penny and team members.

The kids LOVED THE BUBBLES!

Pastor Antonio Arrives!

Pastor Antonio arrived on Tuesday morning and was greeted by his friend Antonio. Young Antonio was so anxious to see his friend Pastor Antonio again!

Children's Ministry - it's all about fish!

 Penny directing a bell choir-teaching them Cristo me Ama (Jesus Loves me)

Ringing bells is AWESOME!

  Jesus said "Come follow me", Matthew 4:18

Fish on rags? Don't they belong in the water?  

Miss Kittie and Penny enjoying Mexico and meeting the kids. 

The kids love to sing.

 Neysa , Aaron, Elle, and me (Everett), doing a play with puppets

 The kids are very interested in the play.

It's a sing-a-long song.



Guest Post by: Everett (ET)

Solar Light Blocks

We brought 250 solar lights that we will distribute to people who live in the Colonias - neighborhoods that don't have any running water or electricity. The solar light bases were all painted back at All Saints and now we are having people add artwork. The verse we are using is Matthew 4:18 where Jesus said, "Follow Me." Because we are going with a "fish theme" this week, we are adding fish to the blocks along with the verse. Here are Maria and Paloma, two excellent artists, using their painting skills to make some beautiful solar light bases.

The Volu - Older Boys Dorm

 One of our projects this year is to renovate the bathroom at the Volu - the dorm for the older boys (13 years plus). It is located about 3 miles away from Casa Hogar next to the Tilapia Farm and the Church. About 15 boys live there.

We brought a small group over to do an assessment and make plans for what we could do to improve the conditions.

 Joe, Bernie, Daniel and John took measurements.

Joel was quick to point out that the electrical work was definitely not up to code!!

Our good friend, Juan, pointed out some of the problems with the showers. The shower heads were fixed and actually sprayed the water out beyond the shower so the floors were always wet.

 The plans are to tile the showers, get new shower heads that are adjustable and to add "curbs" to prevent the water from running all over the floor.

 While the guys were doing the project assessment, the women unloaded the cups, bowls and plates we brought over for the Volu.

Then they worked on picking up trash on the site.