Another week has gone by and it seems as though time is passing in warp speed. 

This week I spent my morning at Daily Vacation Bible School with the kids at the orphanage.  Erin and I were in charge of Memory Verse (in Spanish) and Snack (everyone's favorite!)  Each morning at 10am we took all the kids to a park near the orphanage, there we sang some opening songs as a group and then split into 4 centres; Bible Story, Craft, Games and Memory Verse/Snack.  The kids had a lot of fun and so did we!  They collected tickets for participation and good behaviour and yesterday they had a fiesta where they could cash in their tickets for lots of cool prizes!

Putting the words in order for the memory verse!

I may have distracted Nohemi a little for this picture (Sorry Erin!)

Lolis got her hair in the frosting of some of the cupcakes!

Singing some songs with lots of actions at the beginning and end of VBS.

Construction is coming along well.  This week I spent my afternoons at the site digging, pick-axing, tying rebar, shovelling for cement pours, and various other normal construction worker things.  Last Saturday, a large group of people from a computer company here in Aguas came to the worksite.  They set up a big tent and had a lot of different activities for the kids.  They also had a number of people helping with construction.  They sanded and sealed a couple of the rooms as well as poured cement for a sidewalk and half of a basketball court!  They also served everyone lunch (that didn't go over so well with me the next day) but was enjoyable nonetheless.

Sarahi maing a mask.

Omar and Rigo showing what they did!

Construction Goofballs!

Jared

Duane

Nathan

So this is a little of what is happening while I'm here.  Along with a lot of hugs and kisses from many beautiful children which, of course, are the highlights of my days!

God bless, thanks for you prayers!

Carolyn

Day Seven

  I've been her for seven days now and things are going great.  I had a good time of rest on the weekend that I got here and got to catch up with the volunteers that I've missed since I've been gone.  Erin and Skip are my roommates for the month.  They are incredible ladies.  Both are from Canada, Erin from Lethbridge and Skip from Calgary.  I met them both last year when i was here, they were both on short-term trips but decided over this past year to make it longer term.  They rent a house about and half a block away from the orphanage.  Erin is in charge of two beautiful little boys, Jose and Ricky.  They live here at the house as well.  Erin is referred to as super-mom around the orphanage!  Skip is working at the construction site most days.  She also plays a very important role when teams come here to help out.  She helps in the organizing and as chauffeur, guide and leader when they arrive.  She is also still working on contract with Samaritan's Purse as a group leader so as of last Saturday and until next Saturday she is in Costa Rica leading a team.

Bobbi is here staying with us for a few weeks.  Bobbi is from my hometown, she was a member of the first team I was part of that brought us to Dulce Refugio.  After that trip, Bobbi and her husband Ira decided to move to Mexico as missionaries.  They are working at the sister orphanage to Dulce Refugio.  It is in Queretaro and it is called Pan de Vida.  The other long-term workers here are Jeremy and Ana, Jeremy is in charge of all the behind the scenes stuff of the orphanage, the work-site, volunteers, money, etc.  Duane is the leader at the construction site.  He has designed the buildings and he's the one with all the know-how!  Both Jeremy and Duane are from BC and they've been living here for many years now.  Ana is Jeremy's wife, she lived at Pan de Vida before they met and got married.  Her main job right now is taking care of their very handsome new baby boy, Benjamin.

There are also a number of short-term volunteers here right now.  Bonnie and Amber are here from the States on an internship through the organization Orphanos, they will be here until the end of the month.  Jared, is a guy from the States as well, he has been here for a month and will be here for the next year, teaching English at a private school and helping out when he can.  Nathan is from BC, he is here helping out at the work-site for 5 weeks.  Hannah is from New Zealand and she is here for a year on a cultural exchange, she helps out at the orphanage as well.

Well that's an introduction to the volunteers here!  Over half of the kids were away at camp at the beginning of this week.  I haven't got to spend a whole lot of time over at the orphanage so far but next week we're doing VBS in the mornings so I am sure I will have lots of quality time and pictures!

I will post some pictures of the work-site as my days so far have been full of sanding, plastering, sealing walls, shovelling for a cement pour and shovelling some more! The progress on the construction from last year and the year before is absolutely amazing!  At this rate, the kids will move to the new site next summer!!  That's something everyone is looking forward to!

Enjoy the pics!

Bobbi and I took the bus all by ourselves to work this week!!

The outside of the dining hall!

The new dorm, almost ready to pour the roof!

The progress from our first trip to this one!  Three years.

I'm On My Way

I'm here sitting in the airport in Houston.  I found a spot close to the window and an outlet so I could plug in my computer.  It just started pouring outside and these huge double decker planes are coming in and out.  Isn't it amazing that a huge chunk of metal filled with people can float in the air and take people anywhere they want to go?  I think it's just incredible and gives proof to the incredible God that created us and gravity.

As nice as it is in my little spot between the window and the outlet, I'm pretty pumped to get out of here!  Being the frugal women that we are, Mom and I opted to not get a hotel room last night since we wouldn't be leaving Edmonton until around midnight and I had to be at the airport in Calgary at 5am.  that left only about 2 hours of hotel time!  So the sleep that I have had has been on a chair in the airport and in my seat on the airplane.  I got to Houston at around 11:20am and I'm here until 6:25pm.  (The pavement oust my window looks like a lake.  It's funny to see huge airplanes sitting on a lake.)

So I'm going to arrive in Aguascalientes at 8:30pm.  I expect thunder and lightening.  That seems to be the norm with my arrival, I like to come in with a bang!!  Getting in at 8:30 means that I probably won't get to see the kids tonight.  I can't wait to see them.  I can't wait to hug them and kiss them and tell them in my broken Spanish how much I've missed them!  (Just saw some lightening, this better clear up before it's time for me to leave)

I think the Jon Foreman that I'm listening to is getting me into a deep thoughtful disposition.  I'm thinking about how excited I am to get there, to get to work, to get back into the life of service.  At the same time, i think I'm a little apprehensive.  I know that everytime I come it gets harder and harder to leave.  It's so easy to fall in love there, not with a person but with God's children.  And it's easy to feel fulfilled because it's so obvious what God has for you to do there.  There is so much to be done.  My prayer for this trip is that God with open my eyes and reveal to me that I am equally as useful in Bonnyville or in Barrington or wherever else He may take me, because no matter where I am, I am to be doing His will and His work.  I've failed in that respect this past year, I haven't been content in what God has blessed me with.

I won't rant anymore, I can imagine that this information may not be as revelational to you as you read it as it is to me as I type it.  However, I will ask that you prayer for me.  That I will make an impact whilst I'm In Aguas.  In the lives of the kids and in the lives of the workers (these are amazing people).  Also, please pray that I will be able to use this time to get closer and more committed to Jesus Christ.  That I will know Him and know His will, and even if I don't know, that I will be content in knowing that He does!

Thank you for your interest, support and prayer!

Carolina (That's me in Mexico!!)

Why Celebrate Christmas?

Christmas Thoughts   Christmas is the time that we celebrate the birth of Jesus.  But in order to truly appreciate this gift, we have to know that Jesus was born to be our SAVIOUR.  God didn't send Him to earth just to live with us for a little while for the fun of it.  He sent Jesus to this earth as a baby, born is a stable with Mary and Joseph as His parents so that one day He would die on a cross as a sacrifice for our sins.  That was the plan right from the get-go.  It wasn't something that was decided later on in Jesus' life.  This was His purpose.  So that night, in the stable, was the beginning of our salvation.  Thank You God for giving Your Son.  Thank You Jesus for Your willingness!  So Now we celebrate the day that You were born to die so we could one day pray for You to save our lives!   I Celebrate the Day - Relient K   And with this Christmas wish is missed The point I could convey If only I could find the words to say to let You know How much You’ve touched my life Because here is where You’re finding me, In the exact same place as New Year’s eve
And from a lack of my persistency We’re less than half as close as I want to be
And the first time That You opened Your eyes did You realize That You would be my Savior And the first breath that left Your lips Did You know that it would change this world forever
And so this Christmas I’ll compare The things I felt in prior years To what this midnight made so clear That You have come to meet me here And the first time That You opened Your eyes did You realize That You would be my Savior And the first breath that left Your lips Did You know that it would change this world forever
To look back and think that This baby would one day save me In the hope that what You did That you were born so I might live To look back and think that This baby would one day save me
And I, I celebrate the day That You were born to die So I could one day pray for You to save my life                                                                    Mom                                                                          Grather                                 Michael                                           Dad                                                    Me

Walking and Jumping and Praising God

 6Then Peter said, "Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk." 7Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man's feet and ankles became strong. 8He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. 9When all the people saw him walking and praising God, 10they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

I am the begger!!!  I have been healed so now I am praising God!!

Last Saturday I dislocated my knee.  I was with my Volleyball team at Districts and I caught my knee on a hinge that was protruding from the stage.  Anyway, to spare the painful details, my kneecap was located on the side of of my leg.  To my udder embarrassment, someone from the school called the Ambulance.  So here I am in extreme pain, being put on a stretcher in front of a gym full of people (however it was quite discrete) and being taken to the hospital because my knee is out of wack.  So as I'm being put in the Ambulance I say a preayer, "Lord, please take care of this."  I watch Grey's Anatomy and I know the girl who puts bones back in place, and she's not someone I wanted to meet, or trust with my leg!  So, in the Ambulance we hit a few bumps, which caused the pain the heighten quite drastically.  Finally we hit quite a doozie, and I felt a POP, and then relief.  Hello, my kneecap was back in the right place!  Woot woot, the paramedics and I were very impressed!  Still, at the hospital I had to wait to get x-rays and then the doctor decided I should have it in a half-cast to hold it still and use crutches for two weeks and see a doctor in Bonnyville right away.  So, I obeyed.  I used the crutches for the rest of the day on Saturday, most of the day on Sunday and some of the day on Monday and Tuesday.  On Monday I saw a doctor here, and he tapped my kneecap and sure enough it was shifting off to the side again, just tapping.  So, he referred me to an Orthopedic surgeon and told me that he would probably want me on crutches for 6 weeks.  I don't know how many of you have been on crutches before, but they are not very practical.  This was not good news.  This brings me to Tuesday.  Tuesday nights are Tehillah nights.  I had been using my crutches all day and my leg was quite sore.  At Tehillah we had a missionary speak and sure enough, he spoke on healing and the miracles he has seen in his ministry.  At the end of his talk he said that he isn't anyone special, but that God uses him and through him people have been healed.  So i looked at the guy next to me, Greg, and said, "Want to heal my knee?"  To which he replied "YEAH!"  So He prayed, and I prayed and then we decided the best next step would be to take the cast off!  So we did, then we tapped my knee, pushed my knee, I stood, I kneeled, I bent, I ran a little!  HEALED!  THANK YOU JESUS!  We were a bit giddy at this point, very excited to say the least!!!  Why do we put God in this box.  We believe the scripture, we read Acts 3 and have no doubt that God worked through John and Peter to heal this begger, but we don't believe that God can work through us to heal each other?!  Today is Friday and I've been walking and leaping and praising God since, probably not as much as I should, because I am made of flesh.  But I love the Lord, and I hope that the people around me see that.

Thank You Lord, that You are good, and You are able!!

Carolyn