Tia Christina and some of the girls she is in charge of...and it looks like Armondo sneaked in for the pic too!
Praying for a christian husband for her!
Happy Birthday Beto!!!!
Marisol...she was looking at your album...Milli!
Jazmine!
Adilene studying her Bibles...English and Spanish
Ruby and Adriana!
Belem, Silvia, Felipe,Daniel and Javier enjoying a game of UNO!
Armondo!!!
Jared loves plumbing...especially Mexico plumbing!
Marta and her picture book under her arm. She has been clinging to it and is determined!
TC Westside...you provided food for the teen boys fiesta tonight. Sandwiches, a variety of munchies and pop! They are SO excited! Thanks.
Papa giving guitar lessons to the smaller boys.
Javier is back to stay! Praise the Lord!
Chewy, Javier and Jovan
Juan
Temp around 100 and Karelly is wearing a hat. Too cute!
This is a view from inside the local hardware store. The watermelon caught my eye! The chunk of wood is very dry and is sold to start quick fires.
This automotive shop is air-conditioned as long as there is a breeze outside...
Guitar Practice for the elementary school graduation next Tuesday evening.
Hey Beth...some of your money went to four hungry guitar players! Thanks!!!
Marta receiving wise counsel from Mama
Loving on Alondra...she soaks it all up! Mary...I told her that you think she is beautiful. I wish you could see her smile as she hugged me tightly. Thanks for pouring your heart into hers. She has desperately needed someone to think she is pretty!
Vicki and Johana...looking like twins!
Chewy and his coffee!
Maggie is such a sweet girl! Love her!!!
Chewy and Ever at prayer time
Antonio in his PJ's!
This is an art!
Puzzles...how fun! They still have all the pieces...remarkable!!!
Ramon and Luis
Luis and Oliver...brothers!
Luis working on a craft project
Betty stacking bowls in the kitchen and missing the Peterson boys!
Oh-Oh no purified water...for awhile. Jared finally replaced the faucet! THANK YOU, JARED!!! Have I said that he is a great kid??? Oh my word...I believe that Mama and Papa might try to kidnap this guy! What a great sport and helper! Tomorrow we are taking some kids to Feliz Pollo...because it's close to American food. :)
Daniel, Sergio, Leslie and Marta
Armondo...toothless and in his PJ's. Way too cute!
My sweet Vicki. She cleaned the Americanas room after they left. I paid her for her hard work and gave her some goodies! She is still thrilled with it today! Love this girl!!!
Last night...or should I say this morning when I first landed in bed...I suddenly saw lights flashing. Several police cars were parked several hundred yards away from the girl's dorm with their lights on. I don't know what that was all about, but eventually they all drove away. Made for a short night of sleep, for sure.
Devotions this morning were very good and I appreciated the way the older teens seemed to accept challenges to deepen their live with God. There has been a tremendous change in Isael. He left for awhile...and begged to come back. Now he lives as a big brother with the young boys and is doing a great joy. I asked him today if it has been difficult growing up without a dad. He said before he came to Lily it was but now he has a great dad...Papa. For those of you who know Isael...you would realize the change in his heart. Javier is now back for good too. He left looking for parental love and has returned with a new appreciation for Lily and the love of Mama and Papa. I am praying that tomorrow I will have a chance tomorrow to talk with him about surrendering his life to Jesus.
When the FBC team left there were many tears...not only from the Americanos but the kids as well. They do miss the team...but especially Ramon. Their big brother was back to visit and now he has left again. They miss him and they also wish they could be adopted as well. Witnessing this about breaks my heart. It's been a day of sadness here...and they have been quiet. Having Javier come back for good today was just what everyone needed.
I am praying that our team arrives home safely! When you pour your heart out to the children and staff...it is very draining. I am sure that only the drivers will be awake for the long trip home.
I sometimes sit back down here as I watch the children and imagine how they would be in an adopted family. What changes there would be for them!!! Instead of playing UNO on the floor...it would be in a family rec room or at the kitchen table. Instead of crawling into bed each night by themselves, they would have been kissed, prayed over and had many hugs. Today I reminded Papa it was Beto's birthday. Things get so busy for everyone that unless someone checks the calendar...they are missed. I can fully understand how it could happen down here...never intentionally. SO...please help me pray for Christian Moms and Dad who will answer God's call to be a father to the fatherless. Maybe there are abandoned children dreaming of a forever home right now who will be blowing out birthday candles with their new families this time next year. Maybe they'll be yours. I'm praying...and so are the children!
5 comments:
I'd be lying if I said that I didn't worry that Ramon may want to stay there. What a relief to hear his sweet voice when he called me on the phone to say, "Hi Mom. We are on our way home."
And now it is 1:00 a.m. and they are only an hour from being back home. Thank you dear Lord for taking the group there safely, allowing them to get so much accomplished, and bringing them back home to those of us waiting so patiently to wrap our arms around them.
Linda, This is slightly off topic, but after hearing Dave tell about learning to look the other way regarding bugs and food, I thought I'd share this. Jenny says that in China when they pray "Bless this food", it literally means "clean (i.e. sanctify) this food." Dave thought "clean this food" would be a good prayer in Mexico as well. LOL
You can tell the folks down there that Dave delivered all the hugs to Marcos and Beto, with a name for each one, for example, "this hug is from Belem, this one is from..." The letters and tshirts have been delivered and poured over too. Thank you for all you did to facilitate this trip. Gracias Dios tambien.
Linda, words can not express what our whole team experienced while we we down there. THANK YOU for you tireless effort, THANK YOU for granting us this life changing experience.
We had a great trip home, arriving at 1:40 AM exaclty 36 hours after we left.
We are praying for the appointment tommorrow at DIF, trusting fully in our Savior.
Ryan and Stacy
Linda,
I will beg our Father to move mountains tomorrow at DIF. I already asked Him this morning to stir hearts to move in the courts, even on Sunday morning. :)
My God has a plan and He is able.
Love you, Linda,
Lee
just now catching up on the blog at this late hour after a busy few days. how moving to see the pics of ramon spending time with all of his buddies. his life is so different now and i praise God for it! (but i also can't help but think of the longing that so many of the lily kids have for an adoptive family.) i'll be praying hard tomorrow!! if you think of it, tell marcela thank you so much for the sweet note (delivered from the moodys)...and that i'll be developing the pictures she took on my disposable camera soon. :) or not...might be too much to translate! thanks for keeping us in the know, linda!
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