Everything here in Jerez just keeps rolling along. Mary and Nathan will be heading to their new mission field in Oaxaca shortly, Jesús and Phyllis Ibarra have made it in to work here at the Children’s Home with us, and Jacob has returned to the states to learn to be an EMT and phlebotomist.

We are contemplating merging with another church here in Jerez. We had been talking about moving our location back into Jerez, and it is apparent that God is leading in this direction. Pastor Ruben is a great man of God and his church is mainly made up of men. Our church has lots of kids and youth (naturally) and ladies. Our teens have been participating in the youth meetings at Brother Ruben’s church for the past year. He will be the pastor, and I will be there to help in whatever he needs. I will still get to preach/teach a good bit, and it will take some of the burden off my shoulders, what with the Home and everything. Please keep this in your prayers.

A couple of weeks ago I went with Nathan to check out the city where they will be working, and to look for a house to rent. We had a very successful trip, met a lot of people, and found the house that they will be living in. We are sad to see them go (and rob us of our grandkids!), but it is good to see them following God. It was plain to see God’s calling and leading during that trip.

We have an interview with a 12 y/o girl on Monday from Durango. She is currently in the state run home there. According to some of our kids who lived with her there, she has a few issues that we will need to deal with if she stays with us. Please keep us in your prayers. We have seen time and time again kids coming here with different issues, and God is very capable of changing them if they will let Him.

Speaking of new kids, the school has informed us that we need three new kids for the elementary school by next Wednesday, or we will lose a teacher. There are only two teachers for 1st through 6th grades now, and if we lose one, it will be very difficult. Please pray that we either get the necessary kids, or that the school system will work with us. For many schools it can work with one teacher, but lots of our kids are way behind when they get here. For example, we have 12, 11, 9 and 8 year-olds that have just learned to read in the last few months. It makes it tough on the teacher.

Thanks to all for all of the prayer and financial support. You are a vital part of this ministry.

The Benedicts
Co-Laborers in Christ,
Mexico Division

“Unto US a Child is born, unto US a SON is given!!! What great words!

We just wanted to tell everybody Merry Christmas and thank everyone who has given towards Christmas, as well as the normal needs this year for us personally and for the Children’s Home. At this point, the bills are all paid!

Christmas will be another fun time with the twelve new kids who have never experienced Christmas at the Children’s Home before. We have the tree up, lights on the outside of the house, made Christmas cookies, hung the stockings and have been watching Christmas movies for almost a month now. The kids keep asking to look at Christmas pictures from the past. The excitement is almost palpable. Amber sat down with the kids this past week and talked about the true meaning of Christmas. They talked about how giving gifts reminds us of the greatest Gift of all. That Jesus came, to dwell among us, to die for us and as Fernanda said, “He didn’t just die, He rose again so that we can have victory over sin!” It’s so wonderful to realize that He just didn’t dwell among the people 2000 years ago, but that He still dwells in us and with us today! He’s the gift that keeps on giving!

We are planning on celebrating Christmas Day with two other churches in the area. We’re going to have special music, some preaching, a big feast and games. We will be inviting Rogelio (the little boy who was run over) and his family, as well as many others to the fiesta. Please pray that God will work in their hearts to not only accept the invitation to the fiesta, but that they’ll also accept the Gift that He is offering them. We will also be taking up a love offering for a national pastor and his family. They have really been struggling financially. They don’t know anything about it and it will be a fun surprise to take to them.

We’d like to share a facebook post about a wonderful early Christmas blessing for us. One of the most amazing stories of God’s love and His providence in the lives of the children we receive.
——————————–
Gaby, at 2 yrs. old and her two-month-old baby sister were taken by the state and placed in a children’s home for infants. Through the years Gaby had been adopted on two separate occasions but returned to live in the state run home. We received 14-year-old Gaby last April. In the last several months she has given her heart and life to Jesus Christ and become such a wonderful part of our family.

We knew that Gaby had a little sister who had also been adopted but by a different family. We encouraged Gaby to continue to pray for her little sister that God would place someone in her life to share with her the amazing love of Christ and that she also might one day accept Christ as her Savior. Last month we received a phone call from the same home that Gaby came from about a 12-year-old girl named Johana. We asked Gaby and the others from that home if they knew a girl named Johana. And Gaby said yes, her sister’s name is Johana but she had been adopted. I then asked her what the age of her sister was, but she didn’t know because it had been so long since she had seen her.

I began to pray for this little girl “Johana”. Gaby was sure that it couldn’t be her sister because she really didn’t think her sister was that old, but more importantly her sister had been adopted. Last week the DIF called again about this girl and made plans to bring her here today. When she came in, we realized in fact that this is Gaby’s little sister! She had been adopted twice but removed from the homes because of abuse. Can it be possible that God has entrusted us with this little one also so that she might come to know Him??? God is so amazing! After four adoptions, two little sisters have been reunited in a home and it is God’s good pleasure to give us the opportunity to share His love with them!!! We are so incredibly blessed!
———————————
If you haven’t already and would like to connect with us on Facebook we are Amber-Stephen Benedict, or you can look up the Children’s Home page “Casa Betania Fuente de Vida”.

Since Johana arrived last Friday, Gaby has been witnessing to her almost non-stop. She truly desires the salvation of her sister. You may remember that it was at Gaby and Fernanda’s quince that two young men accepted Christ. It’s amazing to see how God works in and through, not only His children, but the Government, parents, and all facets of His creation. The same day that we received Johana, we also received seven-year-old Juan. He comes from a family who has substance abuse problems. He seems to have really made a connection with Mary, which is very nice. Please pray for these kids!

Please pray for Mary also, as she was diagnosed Tuesday with Typhoid. She’s been feeling run down and then last week caught a touch of the flu which didn’t seem to go away. After quite a few visits to the doctor, she is now on antibiotics and she’s beginning to feel better this morning.

Once again, Merry Christmas to all, and may Christmas day find you all in your church and, like the shepherds that first Christmas, worshiping the One whose birth we are celebrating, giving Him the present of your presence, praise, and adoration that He deserves. “Unto US a Child is born, unto US a Son is given!!!!!” It’s time to celebrate!

The Benedicts
Co-Laborers in Christ,
Mexico Division

Hello Everybody,

In this time of Thanksgiving, we have so much to be thankful for. God continues to provide and protect. He gives us favor with people that can help us. He’s made a way for us to stay in contact with you, our faithful prayer warriors.

After being without our van for a month, due to the accident Jon was in, we were able to get it back last Friday. Rogelio (the 7-year-old boy who was hit) is doing amazingly well. We saw him a couple of times last week and he was running around, tying his shoe laces, and just being a normal little boy. Thanks for all of your prayers for that whole situation.

God gave us the van back the day before we had a double quinceañera. Gabi and Fernanda had their big 15th birthday party on Saturday. It was really wonderful! Yesterday, Mary went on a school outing with the middle school to a rancho about 15 minutes outside of Jerez. There is a church there and some of those kids go to the Friday night youth meeting and had thus been invited to the party. Quite a few people came up to Mary and asked if she was from the children’s home that had put on the fiesta on Saturday. After finding out it was us, they told her how everyone was saying how beautiful it was and were extremely gracious to her. Shortly before Mary left, another lady came to talk to her. She told her that she is the only Christian in her family. She had been inviting her son to go to church with her, but he refused her over and over again. Two of his friends came to the party and, after the message, they made the decision to accept Jesus. They went back and told her son, and now he has agreed to go to church with her too. She was so happy to have a chance to tell Mary what had happened. Praise the Lord!

[Show as slideshow]

DIF stopped by yesterday and asked if we could take a couple of 9 year-old twin brothers. They should be here next week if all the paperwork goes well. They are from Tlachachila, a little place about 3-4 hours from here. Tlachachila is very familiar to us as we used to have Bible studies there once a week a few years ago with our missionary friends, Jim and Laura Collins. We just heard a couple of months ago that they now have a church there.

In the “Not-Quite-So-Wonderful-News” department, our microwave at the Children’s Home died this week. Actually it was from our house, as the one we’d had before had broken also. Along with that we’ve had a few things stolen from the home, a digital camera, an MP3 player and a memory stick that had all of the children’s home finances on it. We’ll be working hard to make sure the windows are more secure so there will be no more break-ins. Also, Alma, our 18-year-old, decided that it was time for her to start her adult life elsewhere. She gave us a nice letter telling us that she loved us, and to say thanks, but that it was time for her to go. Please be praying for her. Please pray for a lady from our church, Lola, and her family as they are really going through some extremely tough times too.

Nathan and Mary and the boys, along with Jon, will be heading stateside next week, so please pray for them. Jacob decided to go back to the states and take advantage of the holiday season to find a job and earn some extra money… he’s planning on being back here and start an English school at the first of the year… please pray for him also.

We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. And, thanks again for all of the prayer and financial support. Everytime that things seem bleak, God always comes through, many times using a note or a gift from you to meet a need, emotional or financial, and we are truly grateful to and for all of you.

The Benedict
Co-Laborers in Christ,
Mexico Division

Hello Everyone,

We have been passing through waters, rivers, and fire. It’s not fun. About two months ago we found out that Amber’s mom had a very aggressive cancer and they had to operate quickly to remove it. She’s going through chemotherapy now and it hurts that we can’t be there. During the same time, one of the girls from the home got news that her 22-year-old brother was missing. Her mom was calling and putting pressure on her to come back to live with the family but it is extremely dangerous there, especially for her. We made plans to go to the United States to visit Alison and her family. While we were there Alison had to have surgery to remove cells that were in the process of turning into cancer. Also, while we were at Alison’s house, we got news that the girl from the Children’s Home’s brother was found murdered in a ditch. Later that week, she ran away. She came back the next day, but has been really struggling emotionally and spiritually. On our way back to Mexico, our daughter, Mary, was bringing our Jeep to the border and it broke down in a pretty dangerous area. We were worshipping in two Hispanic churches that Sunday and, in between services, we got the call that she was stranded. Steve had to present the work and preach while knowing she had no help. After the service, Brother Gabriel was able to get in contact with a Pastor in the area that went and rescued her and put her and baby Jack on a bus to the border. It took us an extra day and $500 to get back, but we made it.

That brings us to this week. On Sunday, Jon, our 16 year-old, was driving the people home from church and a little 7-year-old boy ran out in front of him. The van knocked him down and the tires rolled across his legs. Jon was taken to jail, the van was impounded (as is standard procedure here), and the little boy was rushed to the hospital. The initial report from the hospital was that the little boy was in very grave condition, and they had to stabilize him to send him to the state capital hospital. By the time they released Jon from the jail and were done with him, it was 3 a.m.

During this time, at the children’s home, our youngest boy was extremely angry because we hadn’t been there and was causing all kinds of problems at school. We have spent the week running between the children’s home, the school, the District Attorney’s office, and the hospital in Zacatecas. Add to this that Steve’s dad went in for knee surgery and has had a few complications – they gave him three times his normal pain meds and other meds. Then tonight we found out that the family of the girl whose brother was murdered had come up with a plan to basically kidnap her. She told us all about it, but that means tomorrow Steve has to make another trip to the District Attorney’s Office and the Dept. of Familty Services (DIF) to make a report of the plan. We called her mother and told her that we knew what was going on, and let her know that she could be held on kidnapping charges if they went through with it.

Is there anybody who would like to trade places for a week or two?

Now there is good news that goes along with all of this. We’re finding out that Steve’s anti-stress pills are working out okay. No, just kidding. Amber’s mom is doing well and being taken care of. The girl from the home has told us that she wants to stay with us. The boy that was run over has a fractured skull, but is going to be okay. (No other broken bones, a miracle) His family is just as concerned about Jon’s emotional well-being as they are with their son’s physical well-being. Jonathon has been exonerated from any guilt in the accident. We still have to pay the medical bills and extra expenses not covered by insurance. The results from Alison’s surgery came back that they got all the bad tissue. The Jeep is running fine and, through that, we met a new pastor. Steve’s dad is doing much better today.

Now for prayer requests. Please pray for Jonathon, he is hurt emotionally and working through the healing process. Please pray for us, as hard as all of the other things put together, the hardest thing we’ve had to deal with is living through emotional pain of our youngest son. Please pray for Rojelio the little boy who was hit, and his 10-year-old sister, who watched the whole thing and has a lot of guilt to deal with too. Please remember Lidia, and the rest of the kids of the children’s home, the people from our church here, and the rest of our family as this has really exacted an emotional and a spiritual toll on all of us. Pray for Amber’s mom and Steve’s dad, as well as Alison and her family. Baby Sam (Mary and Nathan’s son) is off of his seizure meds and seems to be doing well except that he’s been running a really high fever yesterday and today, about a third of the kids in the home have this same illness too. We know that everything works together for our good( please pray that we never, ever forget that!), but it still has been very, very hard to deal with all of these things emotionally. Please pray for all of the added expenses from the accident. And more than everything else, please pray that God will be glorified through each and every one of our actions.

The Benedicts
Co-Laborers in Christ,
Mexico Division

It has been a very busy month! We have had two groups come in, both from Alabama. The first group was from Tannehill Valley Baptist Church and they helped us put on a two-day camp (a mini-VBS) to jump-start the VBS to follow. The second day we had 127 in total attendance. They all got a good presentation of the gospel and our newest boy, Jesus, came home with a dark cloud hanging over him. We had a chance to talk to him and he accepted Jesus as his Savior and now the cloud is gone!

Our second group came in from Valley Creek Baptist Church a week later and brought the things for us to put on a VBS. We had a great response, especially considering it was the final week of school here and all the schools put on a program for the graduating kids. Even with that going on, we had a total of 177 the final day! Yesterday at church we had some of the kids return from VBS for our regular church service. We are so thankful, and God is so good!!!

When the first group came, we were still having septic problems so they dug up two of the three lateral lines and redid them. They had been torn poff of the septic tank from people driving over them to get to the property behind the Children’s Home. We had to put in all new pipe because everything was all stopped up as well. The second group came in and finished the third line. Everything seems to be running well. Yesterday Nathan and the boys put in a cement slab over part of the area for people to drive across to prevent tearing up the lines again.

We have been receiving a lot of visits from the state Division of Family Services (DIF). They came on Monday and had lunch with us. They are very pleased with things here and want us to expand the focus of our home in such a way that we would help them out a lot more. Please pray for us as this might be a HUGE window of opportunity that may be opening up to us. They have told us that our home is the best in the state and they’d like to place more children with us. This is exciting and scary at the same time.

We are looking foward to receiving three new little boys in the near future and possibly a 14-year-old girl next week. We have been getting tons of phone calls from people looking for places to put kids, both from DIF and from parents. The need is HUGE, but our God is Greater!!! Please pray for us as we make decisions, that God will guide us in each step.

If there is anyone looking for an chance to serve God here in Mexico for a few days, we have an opportunity for you the first week of August. Amber has to go to the border for a few days and it would be best if she could take Jacob with her. That leaves Steve alone in the home, which isn’t impossible, but is very difficult. We would need someone who can just be an adult presence in the home for a couple of hours each day. This would be while Steve runs to town for groceries and other needs. We are looking for someone that can afford to come and who wants to be a blessing. We need to warn you, however, that this comes with another kind of price… you’ll fall in love with the kids. You could stay at our house and we will feed you. An interpreter will be here also. If anyone is interested, please contact us.

We have another new addition to our family to report also. Our daughter, Alison, gave birth to another little girl the 11th of July, Kennedy Marie Polly (7lbs, 12oz, 20.5 inches long). Both mom and baby are doing great but would appreciate prayers as her husband, David, is still in Africa with the Navy for another month or so. We are so grateful to her church family for stepping up and taking care of her and the girls throughout this time.

Once again we want to say thank-you so much for the support, and encourage you to keep lifting us up in prayer.

The Benedicts
Co-Laborers in Christ,
Mexico Division

We have kids sleeping in the new addition! The only thing left to do is put in the curtains, electrical outlets, and ceiling fans. We also need eight new mattresses for the new beds and they each cost about $120. We could get cheaper ones but since these are for the high school age boys, cheap ones won’t last. If anyone would like to buy a mattress (or all of them) please e-mail us back and we will tell you the best way to get the funds here.

We had the unenjoyable task of cleaning out the septic tank and digging up the drainage system these past couple of weeks. Praise the Lord everything is back in working order. Nothing like a little raw sewage streaming across the yard to brighten up your day.

We have had another new arrival. Seven-year-old Jesús came to live with us last week. Please pray that he accepts Christ soon. He doesn’t seem to miss family too much, but he takes A.D.D. to a whole new level! And for those of you who were praying for Gabi since the last update, she has been doing wonderful! The only thing she is really struggling with now is salvation.

In other new arrival news, baby Jack was born to Mary and Nathan on the 8th of May. He is adorable and such a good baby. Also for those of you who were praying for Mary and Nathan’s vehicle situation, they’ve had another new arrival. A Suburban has been given to them which is exactly what they needed. God is so capable of meeting each and every need.

Jacob and Juan Adan (one of the 15-year-old boys here at the home) were able to help out trasnslating for a group from Kentucky doing a Gospel saturation project in a town about an hour from here. They gave out well over 6,000 pieces of scripture, and were able to see several people make decisions for Christ. They came home very, very, happy, but tired. Most of the bigger kids here at the home also had a part in this as they prepared the scripture for handing out. In the middle of stuffing the Gospels, big Luis started singing, “Everybody ought to know who Jesus is.” It’s nice to know that they “get it”.

We have some prayer requests for you to remember. The 17th of June starts our “group season”. We have groups coming over the next few months to do a day camp, VBS, and different projects that need to be done here at the home. Please pray for their safety and their finances, but most of all that God will prepare their hearts to be ready to serve and be blessed, and for the hearts of those they will come in contact with, that they will be softened towards Him. Please pray for Lidia also as Satan is really attacking her. And as always, pray for us that God will give us strength to do the work that He has set before us.

Hello Everybody,

I’d like to start off my introducing you to our new girl Gabriela, or known here as Gabi. She came to us from a state home in Durango, like many of our kids have. She’s having a really hard time adjusting so please pray for her. She’s been in that same children’s home since she was two and she is now fourteen. She really needs to be saved.

We’ve been busy getting our next group of high-schoolers signed up for their classes this fall. We will have eight in high school… EIGHT!!!! If you only knew how much of an accomplishment we see in that – it’s just a miracle. All of our kids are again in school after a two week spring break and are very happy to be back.

A couple of months ago the teachers came to us and told us that our kids are behind in their reading. It’s really hard to find decent books in Spanish, so we just paired them up and put them to reading the Bible out loud to each other for twenty minutes apiece a day. Then they had to write a little report about what they read to show their comprehension level. Every one of our kids moved up at least one grade level in their reading, and Azucena moved up three grade levels. We are so happy with their progress. And we even got a good note from the school today, congratulating the kids and their progress. That’s so much nicer than the bad notes, not that our perfect kids ever would be deserving of that. Right.

Why does it always seem like we have to have at least one vehicle down? The old green van, she ain’t what she used to be. There’s an electrical problem somewhere and the battery just drains. Oh, and speaking of vehicles, if anybody has a vehicle, preferably a SUV that they would consider donating, Mary and Nathan are in dire need. They have a dying Jetta, which was wonderful for their deputation with one child, but baby Jack is going to be here any day, and there really just isn’t enough room. These are missionaries that we can vouch for their need and the fact that they are very hard workers (and we’re not just saying that because they are our kids, they have impressed even us, and that’s not easy!) The terrain here in Mexico eats up small cars and it’s only going to get worse when they eventually move to Oaxaca where dirt roads are more common than paved roads. We’re sure that God has the right vehicle and is going to touch the right person’s heart to meet this need. Maybe it’s you.

Speaking of baby Jack, Mary has been having contractions and Dr. Elizabeth said the baby could come any day now. We are anxiously awaiting. Please pray for her and the baby, that all goes well.

As many of you know, we have been working on an addition to the boys’ end which will allow us to accept more children. It has been a lengthy project and thanks to a large gift from the people at Bayou View Baptist Church we were able to move one step closer to having the room occupied. We have a man coming out today to give us an estimate on the paint and glass for windows which we are hoping to have completed before the rainy season begins.

We want to close this update by thanking you again for your faithful support. This week I was again amazed. As folks continue to dig out from under some incredibly devastating storms, they have continued to be faithful in prayer support and giving as well. I am honored by this and our LORD is honored in this also.

The Benedicts

Co-Laborers in Christ,

Mexico Division

Good Morning Everybody,

First of all, sorry we haven’t gotten an update out since Christmas, but we had a wonderful time. The kids all got new clothes, lots of toys, and each child received a pair of roller blades and much more! Brayan (six years old) promptly went out two days later and broke his elbow! Amber got to spend the night with him in the hospital. They put a pin in and he’s right back to being Brayan – an accident waiting to happen. Thanks to all who gave to make this a great Christmas for our kids.

This weekend we have another 15th birthday party coming up for Tamara. She’s very happy and excited, we’ll be happy and excited Sunday when it’s all over and we don’t have another one until Azucena in June. Please pray that everything turns out alright and that it’s a memorable day for Tamara.

When we went to the border to pick up the Christmas gifts, we had just gotten the Dodge out of the shop for transmission work. We made it to San Antonio just fine, but then first gear started giving us some problems. We checked the transmission fluid, topped it off a little, and kept going with lots of prayer. When we hit the border, first gear started working again but reverse and neutral went out. We made it home just fine, with only one blown trailer tire. Now the Dodge is back in the shop and hopefully we’ll be getting it out today at minimal cost, please pray for the minimal cost.

We really NEED a new vehicle. We have the Ford van that runs like a champ, but the Dodge is probably going to be an on-going problem. When it was in the accident, the frame got bent and so the motor and the transmission don’t exactly line up. It works great for local travel, but we don’t trust it for making long trips anymore. The front passenger door does not open either and we’re getting old and less mobile by the day. We’ll be going to the states in February/March, please pray that we’ll be able to get a new vehicle during that time frame – hopefully a small SUV type that can handle the rough roads, but still gets decent gas mileage.

A few days after Christmas we received two new girls from Durango. They are Anna, (twelve-years-old) and her little sister, Manuela (ten-years-old). They seem to be doing well and Manuela has gone from asking questions about running away to asking questions like: “Do we have to leave when we’re eighteen but we don’t want to go to school anymore?” We have really been enjoying them. Please pray for them and their need of salvation. Pray that we’ll be able to present the Gospel to them clearly so that they will be able to make a decision soon.

Big Luis turned sixteen this week, which is the boys’ big birthday here in the home. Normally the kids get $100 pesos (about nine dollars) for their birthday, but for the boys’ sixteenth birthday, they can ask for something big. He wanted to get his teeth fixed. Because of the heavy metals and the fluoride in the tap water here, a lot of people have stained teeth. So he is in the process of getting his teeth whitened, because of the severity of the water situation where he came from, his teeth also have lines etched in them which will require a further process of applying resin to the teeth fronts. He is very happy and says, “Now I’ll be able to smile like I want to!”

The Means family has left to go to language school in Cuernavaca in the state of Morelos. We want to say thank-you for their service and ask you to pray for them as they start this new part of their lives. The timing worked out perfectly as our daughter Mary, Nathan and baby Sam have moved into their (the Means) old house, which was our old house. We are so excited to have Mary and Nathan here and they have just jumped right in with both feet and taken a load off of us for which we are VERY grateful. We were also able to drag our daughter, Alison, and her daughter (our granddaughter), Cadence, back with us. It has just been such a lot of fun to have our girls, two of our grandbabies and even Nathan here with us.

Thank you all so much for all of the prayer and financial support. We mentioned above that we will be making a trip in February/March.

This will be a support raising trip for the children’s home. When we have more of a schedule and know when we are going to be passing through areas, we will send out another update. If you’d like to have us come present the ministry of the Children’s home in your church, we can make arrangements then.

We’re trusting God to do great things both for the children’s home and for those who decide to get involved.

For those of you who are suffering with the cold and snow, we would like to tell you that temperatures here are staying in the 60′s-70′s during the day but are down to the 20′s-30′s at night. We sure do miss the white Christmases.

We’ll be leaving early Wednesday morning to make our trip to the border to try once again to bring the Christmas presents back with us. Please pray for safety as we travel. We will be meeting up with some of our kids in San Antonio and will get to spend a little bit of time visiting with them. We will be coming back Saturday or Sunday. Brother Raul, who is the president of the Children’s home association here in Mexico, will be meeting us one of those mornings with the paperwork that is necessary. Please, please, pray that all goes well.

Thank you so much for all the prayers for Karina, she really seems to have turned the corner. It’s so hard sometimes when we know that something is going on in their life that is causing so much pain and we just can’t figure out what it is. Pray for the rest of the kids also, holidays can be a very difficult time for them.

Luis, our soon to be 16-year-old boy here, was talking to his mom the other day saying that they should consider moving to Jerez to start over. He thinks that if they were to get away from all of the influences in their lives and get involved in our church, that it would be easier for them to allow God to change them. He said, “The change God has made in my life is almost a miracle.” to which his mother replied, “Not almost a miracle, it IS a miracle.” We praise God for Luis and the testimony he has in front of his family and everyone else.

Last week we celebrated the quinceañera (15th birthday party) of Marivi. She was beautiful, both inside and out. The service went great and the food was wonderful. Everybody was having a good time when the lights went out. A transformer blew and left about half the state without electricity. God had intervened in the plans when we were ordering her cake and instead of one, big, wedding style cake, she had thirteen smaller cakes. By flashlight she passed out cakes to some of the different families there. It is so cool when you see how God has everything foreordained even when we think we’re in charge of the plans. We can see where He was guiding even in something so seemingly insignificant as a cake. We had our cake when we got back to the children’s home, using our generator to light things up and the party continued. About ten minutes after we got done eating the lights came back on. I think some of the kids were a little disappointed because we were having a ball!

We were talking last update about all of our financial struggles at the home. It has been a difficult year as our “family” has increased and finances have decreased. We want to say a great big “thank-you” to all of you who responded with gifts. We were able to get our head above water for a brief reprieve. We are planning on making a fund-raising trip in February/ March with the specific goal of raising monthly support for the home. If your church might get involved or if you know of a church that is looking for an opportunity, please contact us and we’ll get it scheduled.

We’d like to take this opportunity to thank God for all for the blessings He’s given us this year, and for the confidence that He’s going to give us more in the future… friends, family, prayer supporters, financial supporters, the changes in the children that we’ve seen this year, the spiritual growth in the church,… God is so good to let us be a part of what He’s doing down here.

The new kids are really fitting in well, and they are just such a joy to have around. Little Jesus is a ball of fire and you never have to guess where he’s at, you can always hear him. You almost never see that kid without a smile on his face. Little Emmanuel is a lot more quiet and needs lots of hugs. Brandon and Antonio just act like they’ve been here for a long time, they blend in well. Janelly has figured out her niche and most of the time that’s hanging around with us along and some of the other kids, asking questions about what we do and why we do things the way we do and really understanding a lot about what we’re all about here. Rosa is so quiet you almost don’t know that she’s here, but she’s really started to enjoy playing the auto-harp. We’re glad that they’re all here and we’re looking forward to when they make their decision to accept Jesus.

Karina has really been giving us a way to go over the past few months and we really need everybody to pray with us for her. She was doing so well, but something has come into her life that has caused lots of problems. We’re still trying to figure out what that is. We believe some of it was things that she’s been reading at school that we don’t allow, and we think that Satan has used that as a gateway to cause rebellion. Please remember to pray for her.

As we write this, the children’s home is $850 in the red. This is very difficult for us because we would like to be able to send Christmas presents to our kids and grandkids, but we have to personally make up the difference, which takes all of our resources. Receiving new kids is a blessing, and we don’t doubt that these kids are supposed to be here, but it comes with a price. They need clothing and other items, i.e. pillows, etc, not to mention the extra food expenses (and boy can they eat). We know that God will make a way for everything, and we would encourage you to prayerfully consider being part of His helping hand by sending a Christmas donation for the children’s home.

This time of year can be very stressful for missionaries on the field who can’t get away to be with their families and loved ones. Please remember to pray especially hard for all of us missionaries on the field during this next six weeks or so. Thank you in advance!