December was a busy month, filled with old projects and new. It was very exciting to see how everything came together for Christmas time. People from the congregation came together with all their craft projects to sell in Huajuapan. Also the owner of the Wal-Mart branch in town offered to have a party for all the children of the casa hogar in their store. The party included breakfast, a puppet show and gifts for all the kids.  Other blessing also came in that month as well. Paulina got her cast off her foot after having it for 2 months and Emiliano, a boy who was here for a few days back in November returned for an unknown amount of time.  Also everyone awaited the arrival of Jony and Amber’s third child. They all welcomed the arrival of Ziva Nerea on December 27.

In January  we received a visit of an outreach from Wisconsin. They came down to help out in the final preparations for the inauguration of the gymnasium and to celebrate with us when it was finished. At the end of the month we were able to inaugurate the gymnasium as planned. We all enjoyed a night of celebration with cake and fellowship. The following Sunday we gave praise to the Lord as we were able to use the new gym for the first time as our new church building. We are very thankful for the place God has provided for us to worship and he is already filling it up with his children.

In February we received a baby girl, only a couple days old. The mother who was only 18 didn’t want her, so she came to the orphanage to drop her off.  We accepted her with love on Valentine’s Day. She still doesn’t have a name as we are waiting to see what will happen with her case, possibly adoption, but for now she is referred to as Vida which means life. We also had a visit from a group of dentists from the states. Although no one really enjoys going to the dentist, we are very thankful for the effort they made in coming here and all the work they did. At the end of this month, Ruben, a boy we have raised for about 10 years ran away and is now living and working with a neighboring pig farmer. We pray that the Lord continues to work in his life as the seed has been planted.

This past month of March we celebrated international women’s day with a women’s conference that was an outreach to the public. We filled the gymnasium with around 200 women. Also Freddy and Bertha made a trip to the states to share the ministry and to be part of a wedding. In the same time we received a visit from Amber’s parents, who came to see their new grandchild for the first time.

Now, in April, the kids are enjoying their spring break. We celebrated Easter with special service. We had 2 special songs that all the kids from the casa hogar sang and a reflection on Jesus’ life.  Just this past week we said goodbye to Eufemia, an eleven year old girl we took in the month of February, and the next day we were brought another baby girl that is 5 months old named Christina Theresa. We thank the Lord for the lives of these children and every child that is placed here, whether it be for a long or short period of time. He has his purpose in everything.  

We are about to complete 12 years, and even though there have been hard times, we’ve had our share of good times too. Even though sometimes there are doubts about what tomorrow holds, we know that God is in control of everything. Not a day goes by that we don’t stop to look around us to see how far we have come.  We give thanks to God for all of this. Without God, everything we have done would have been in vain.

Amber & Jony