Changes

I thought you might like to see what's going on at the Back2Back base. The Medical center is getting closer to being done. It is across from the teen homes.



House 5 and 6 are coming along. This is Teen Home 5 which is next to the Couch's house. Does anyone want to come down and do a roof cement pour for House 6??? (that means by hand with the bucket brigade, for those of you who haven't been here)

January at the girls' home

This month we took lunch to the girls at Manatial de Amor. They were so excited they were waiting at the door. We brought taco salad and they weren't sure what to do with it. They preferred putting the items seperately on their plates. The kitchen and refrigerator were empty so we weren't sure what they were planning to eat the rest of the weekend! It broke my heart. We brought games where language wasn't a barrier like Dominoes and Yahtzee. I learned a lot of key Spanish words like 'comer' which meant they had to pick up a domino if they couldn't go. What a great way to interact and laugh with the girls! Then the girls got to decorate heart cookies. You can see in the pictures that they were enjoying the icing. I brought red sugar and they thought it was chili powder (which they put on everything anyway). After praying with the girls, we headed home. One of the girls had tears in her eyes and I thank God for being able to show her some love that day!!

Prayer requests

As the Merrill family prepares to leave Back2Back in 2 1/2 weeks, please pray for a number of things:

-Pray for Bill to find a job that he enjoys
-Pray for Jenna (3rd grade), Ella (1st grade), and Isaac (preschool) as they transition to the States. They have been here 3 years and Jenna and Ella have never experienced a public school.
-In our small community the kids are very close and this will be hard for the ones leaving and staying
-Pray for Bill and Heather as they get adjusted to life after foreign missions
-Pray for their 6 teen girls they leave behind as some are angry and hurt
-Pray for the new house parents as they adjust to life here, a new community, 6 girls...
-Pray for safe travels for the Merrill family

SMCA Dedication

A few weeks ago we had the dedication for our new school building. Each child had a job to do and then they performed for our visitors from Ohio- those whose generous donations made it possible.




2nd grade boys were tour guides

1st grade served snack

awesome sighting!!

I got to see a flock of green/yellow parrots migrating south. They flew over my head making all kinds of noise. It was so cool to see all that color. There must have been 50 or more.

Fun in the Sun in January!!

Hiking Today!

Today was a beautiful day and I got to enjoy it with some of the kids from Casa Hogar Douglas. We went to Estanzuela, a park with lots of hiking. We spent 2 hours walking the trails and climbing! I loved it!


Marlen, Paty, Fany, Jonatan


Check out that mountain in the distance!

NO PHONE

I will no longer have a phone so the best way to communicate with me is through email, facebook, or AIM.

home

I am back in Mexico after 2 weeks of holiday. It was a whirlwind of seeing as many people as I could and spending time with family. I am blessed to have so many wonderful friends who encourage me and love me, but I was ready to be back to the simple life of me and God - no materialism, busyness, drama, etc... I got back only to shake my blankets out for bugs, run my water till it was clear, and experience a few power outages overnight; but it is home!! I enjoyed getting up and watching all 15 of the kids playing together in our yard.