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.

Manantial de Amor

Saturday, Kathy, Cathy, Katie, and I went to one of the girls' homes and hung out for a few hours. We will be doing that more often and planning special activities with the girls. I already have a special relationship with one of the girls, Kareli, who I met my first year here and then again the 2nd year. She is the one holding the Twister box.

busy week

Last week we had 35 women here from Cincinnati who come and do Christmas activities. They go to each childrens' home and give out presents and do crafts and decorate. They go to the Rio and Cadareyta and do outreaches. Plus they do some decorating here on campus and include the women staff with meals, etc. I enjoyed meeting them and getting to be a part of some of the things they did. One day I left my kids out of school early so I could go with them to the Rio and other times I met up with them after school or they included the staff children.


American and Mexican women working together to make blankets.



A SMCA craft day!


My students' outreach was putting together baskets for the masons who work for us.


On their last night we brought in girls from 2 homes and did hair, makeup, nails and had dinner together.

Thanksgiving Thoughts

As I am sitting here on Thanksgiving and not with family and friends from the states, I have a lot to be thankful for. God is teaching me so much this year that I couldn't learn back home. I am seeing things through different eyes and looking at the big picture God has rather than our day to day picture. Being the teacher here is different than coming down for a week's mission trip. My job is very important so the parents can do their work but I don't get out to the ministries much. This week we had no school Wed through Friday so I took that chance to get out into the other ministries. Wednesday I got up early and we went to Casa Hogar Douglas, the childrens' home nearby, to take the children breakfast. They usually have beans and tortillas and we took sweet rolls and juice. It was so fun to see their sleepy faces come in and eat and then they headed off to school.




Then I went to Cadereyta where we played with kids, served food, and working on construction.




I was so excited to see Nacho and Jullian who I had played with summer 2006!! (You might recognize Jullian from my brochure and pictures - he was always on my back)

SMCA Thanksgiving

boliche

The other night we went bowling with some of the teens on campus. Even though bowling is not my favorite, it was a great time and I am building relationships and working on my Spanish!!

The new Sierra Madre Christian Academy

The new school is done thanks to a lot of hard work and monetary donations!!

The guys hauled everything from the old school.

The girls cleaned and got the new one ready!

This morning I put my new room together!

Day of the Dead

"Day of the Dead" is a huge holiday here. They celebrate it instead of Halloween. People go out to the gravesites of their loved ones and put flowers, food, etc. everywhere. They believe the spirits need the food for their journey. We also saw some tents with memorials set up. Thank goodness we know where our souls are going and we don't need to take care of them after they are gone.

My first visitor!!

My cousin, Karen, came to visit this weekend! She lives in Austin so she took the bus down. I got to show her around and we went to one of my favorite authentic restaurants, Tacos Fede. We went shopping at the market Friday and ate in a cute little town, Santiago. Saturday we went downtown and to the Forum. It was so great to have her here. p.s. I love visitors (hint, hint)

Fall Festival

Tonight we had a fall festival for the staff kids. We had a hay ride on the back of a pickup, played games, had a bonfire, trick-or-treated to the houses inside our campus, and watched "Charlie Brown - The Great Pumpkin". Lots of fun!! (yes I made my costume out of cardboard, a cut up shirt, and a bucket for the hat!!)

field trip #2

Yesterday we took a field trip to The Forum in downtown Monterrey. The Forum is an international event where countries come together and discuss relevant issues. There are 4 concepts: Cultural diversity, sustainability, peace, and knowledge. The Forum meets in a different country each year and we are lucky enough to have it in Monterrey until December. Just like the Olympics, there are many new buildings and new landscaping done. There are exhibits, museums, shows, etc. Our students got to see a Cuban dance exhibit and several museums. Everyone there loved to see the blonde children and wanted to touch them. We were an unusual sight I guess.

reflecting

Well I've been here 2 months and sometimes it seems to have gone fast and then I think, it's only been 2 months. Anyway, I have lots of time to think and I feel like God is showing me soo much. I can't believe how I drug my feet so much about coming and cried and thought I couldn't do it. Now that I am here I realize how it's not a bad thing and I wish everyone could take leaps and do things like this. You can't even explain the blessings but you see things differently. One of the guys was asking me what the biggest hardship is of being here. There are lots of little things but really there are none. When you step away from your life for a time you can see things in a different light. Money doesn't mean anything like it did in the States. It's amazing how I could even get sucked into materialism when I was there for a weekend and went into Target. But here it really doesn't matter. I could give money away without a second thought. Maybe it's because it is support money, but I don't think so. It really is a state of mind. We see God provide because we live on the edge. Here I get excited for the little things. A letter in the mail or a piece of candy or a call from a friend can mean so much and I took it for granted before. I don't want to lose this when I go back. We are all in community here and everyone uplifts and encourages each other and lives in harmony. Why can't life be more this way?? I wish everyone could experience this life for a time and then go back and see how your life would be changed.