Here are the pics! Thank you, Jesus!

Brisa




Elvida sharing her testimony




Friends!!!




LIFT ZERO blessings! I love this stuff...and we received a lot in donations.




Alan sure looks like his mama!




Awwwwe...Alan!




Angel




Alan and his tio Gary




One tough Chica!




Spanish lessons!




Micah...can you read the note that Ana wrote? Micah is _ _ _ _. I didn't say it!




Roger...another pic. Another direct deposit por favor!




Jorge




The girls wanted hot showers...so they found tio Gary to help them out! We had a lot of wind...which pretty much blew out all the pilot lights in the propane water heaters. Ours too!




Que????




Someone took the time to straighten Jackie's hair and give her earrings! What a chica!!!




A way too cute Irwing!




Chewy and me...and our not too good photo skills!




Javier waited many hours for this bible...and he is thrilled to get it at last! I don't think he can read it...but it is precious to him.




Checking the Ameriano trash for treasures.




Rog...ching...ching!!!




Tia Christi was sharing some lines from the book she is reading. Captivated!




Jim, Neal, Pete and Dawn...our Michiana Team!



Pedro....




One dirty van!




Pastor Saulo and a group of ladies from his church came to clean at Lily for the afternoon on Saturday. One of the ladies received a food donation from the October group that visited Lily. She said she still has some food left for her children! Praise the Lord!




Pastor Saulo and Julian




Ramon and Mireya




Goodbyes!








Enjoying a game...Marta and Chewy




Two hitch hikers! They followed our truck up to the girls dorm. They were exhausted so we gave them a ride back to the main campus!




Hotcakes! Yum!




One last prayer time together!




Dawn-o and her kids!




Sergio, Hosea Angel and Jovan




Marcela and Sergio




Irwing, Felipe and Hosea Angel




Ezekiel, Juan and Israel




A happy Julian...chow time!!!!




The 'boys' table




Leslie, & Tias Lidia and Christi




Dawn and Adriana enjoying a hug






Hosea Angel and Oscar




Fabiola and Alan




2 new brothers. Their grandparents and little sister came by today to visit.




Supper




Alondra




Beatrice and 'Jaime'




Adriana and 'Nico'




Just for Jim!




Hosea Edwardo




Marta is reading Crazy Love! I am thrilled to see everyone reading such great books!




Pete and his fans!




Jackie and her tio!






Sergio has a real interest in auto mechanics...and Gary said he has great potential. Sherards...take note!!!




A happy Sergio with his new baseball glove! Thanks, 'Nico'!!!




Luis, Dawn and Arturo




Mechanic apprentices...






Mireya and Cacho!




Special Education classroom at Lily.




Cactus for supper! It's great!




A special boy...Sergio




Sombrero burgers for lunch. Life doesn't get much better than this! Micah and Vito...take note! You gotta try them!



OK...why didn't I pray about this in the first place? I couldn't upload the pics on my own internet and then I went to the internet cafe today...and it was closed. I was feeling very frustrated and I was afraid of being stoned to death when I arrived home. (Fred and Roger show no mercy when it comes to pics!) God helped me figure out the reason... I was beginning the post with pics that were from another camera and the settings were wrong to upload. Anyway, God just made it clear...and here are MY pics which are uploading easily. ENJOY! Thank you, Jesus, for making this clear to me. I am technically challenged to say the least...in more ways than one!

Last night we had a great time with the older girls. We had Belem as our interpreter and she did an excellent job. We told the girls they could ask us any question about us that they wanted. At first the questions were silly...and then the Holy Spirit began to work and the questions were about our lives as Christians and what a Christian marriage looked like. The more pointed the questions were towards Christ, the more Satan fought with blatant interruptions. I have never really experienced such an obvious war taking place. In fact, I have goose bumps (the kids down here call it 'chicken skin') just remembering the evening. By the time we were done, Belem had to leave quickly and one girl wanted to surrender her life to Christ. I told her that we'd get together and talk in the morning when I had someone to interpret. As Gary and I walked up to our room, I felt so heavy and my heart was racing. Something was wrong and I had to ask the Holy Spirit to direct me to the problem. Shortly after that I realized I was being prompted to talk to this girl NOW...not later. I tried to argue with the Lord's leading and tell Him that my Spanish wasn't good enough (I realize how dumb it was...now...to tell God I can't do something since He loves weakness) and I just said, "OK!" I brought this girl to our parlor and began to speak. She began to share with me her need and tears flowed heavily. I was crying out to God because I only caught a portion of what she was telling me and I felt totally helpless. It was then that the Lord began to give me various scriptures. We had a Spanish Bible and I began to show her many verses in the Bible and God's Word penetrated her heart and ministered to her. To tell you the truth, some of those scriptures I haven't really thought of in months. It was totally a God thing. Then I asked her if she was ready to pray and ask God to come into her life. She agreed. I prayed first in English...and she began to weep again. Then I asked her to talk to God and tell Him what she needs. It was precious. She asked God to forgive her sins and that she wanted a new life in Him. In fact, she prayed for quite a while until the peace of God came. It was so awesome to witness. When we were finished, that heaviness lifted from my shoulders and I knew God accomplished what He wanted to at that moment. It is a night I won't forget for quite awhile.

Today we went to church! Praise the Lord...we had a bus to take us AND a very handsome driver; I might add. Brenda and Nohema did a great job to get everyone up and ready for the trip. The Lord gave us safety and we are thankful. Today I finally figured out why everyone wants on my lap for the bus ride. I've got the most comfortable lap on the entire bus! It's like the Cadillac seat. Plenty of cushion and padding. I had two beside me and two on my lap...and I soaked in every minute. How precious it is to hold these angels as they fall asleep. Little Israel sat by me and sang sweet little songs to himself on the way home and it was the most precious time. God, You are so awesome. Thank you for blessing me so!

Yesterday we had blizzard conditions. The only difference from a Michigan blizzard and a Chihuahua blizzard is in Michigan it's snow and cold. Here it is dust and warmth. But, you can hardly see with both of them. The bad thing is that the warmer temperature is waking up the bugs...and probably other creepy creatures. At least the children are warm! (Gotta keep on reminding myself!)

We watched the older girls as they 'auditioned' for the pro soccer training program yesterday. 5 of our girls were accepted into the program and we will wait to see if arrangements can be made to get them to Chihuahua each Saturday for practice. It is a real honor to make it to this program. I am so proud of them. GO LILY!!!

Today I can't get over the fact that God is blessing us so richly by allowing us to spend time at Lily. Gary and I have enjoyed the sound of giggles and laughter while playing with the children. The Lily version of UNO is a whole other story. I'll try to include a video of one of their games in the future. Roger...that Lorena is quite the card shark! Oh my goodness!!!

I've been trying to get the pics taken of all the children to update my records and post in our new wallboards. I also have many other 'projects' that I am hoping to accomplish...as Dawn knows. But, I've been asking the Lord what He would want me to do each day and there is much contentment and joy by leaving my 'To Do List' in my room and following His lead. Sorta sounds like I'm becoming a bit Mexican. Rosa has told me several times that I'm a Mexican trapped in a white lady's body. =) I think it is meant as a compliment. Maybe I should ask...

Hotdogs...or 'weenies' as some call them down here, are a popular item this week at Lily. Apparently we received many in donations. We've had them in tomato sauce, on 'pizza', in our eggs, in our beans and this evening in our potatoes. Tonight my Maalox Plus is trying to keep them from swimming upstream. I've reached my weenie limit for today.

Today was visitation day. Three sibling groups were elated by visits. Two groups had moms and the third group had grandparents visit. The rest of the children just watched. I know that I sound like a broken record, but it amazes me how the children still seem to watch for their parents to come...even the ones who haven't seen their family in years. I know it's their dream to be wanted and loved and they keep holding on to that dream. Sundays are hard...but they hold out hope. Jesus, please make their dreams come true by giving them parents who want them...either their biological parents or through adoption. Every kid deserves a mommy and a daddy.