Fall Outreach

Tonight we just hosted our 3rd annual fall evangelistic outreach. We try to put it on or near Halloween and El Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead - big Mexican Holiday on Nov. 2). The idea of our event is to offer hope & joy, instead of focusing on witches, the dead, etc.

Each year, we're getting a little better in our efforts.

This year we added pozole (a traditional Mexican soup) for dinner and live Christian worship. We included various games, popcorn, face painting, crafts, etc, etc.

There were at least 85 children PLUS their parents that came (that doesn't include our GCH family & friends).

The gospel was clearly presented by Pastor Martin Castro and people were given the opportunity to receive Christ for the first time in their lives. We praise God that tonight 15 adults made first time decisions to follow Christ and make Him the Lord of their lives.

We rejoice over all God did tonight and for allowing GCH to be a part of His plan! Tonight we all will sleep, joyfully, because we were able to see Him at work.

GCH Soccer Team

Like many of your kids, ours wanted to be in after-school sports. However, the thought transporting 31 kids to different practices at different schools was overwhelming... not to mention the costs. So, we decided to do it the way we usually do things at GCH... we made our own team.

Then, we started knocking on doors to see who would play against us (asking the private schools, since public schools don't have sports teams). Before we knew it, we had donated uniforms, donated fields and teams waiting to compete against us. Not only that, but within our volunteer staff, we have 3 commited coaches -- Juan Strutton and Marco and Edgar Andrade.

Last Saturday was our first scheduled game. You could feel the excitment grow every day since we found out we'd be playing. By the time Saturday morning rolled around, it was palpable. The boys were up and dressed in their uniforms at 5:00am! (They didn't need to be ready until 11:30am).

It turned out that the other team didn't materialize, but for an hour our GCH team got to play on a beautiful court for FREE. We had a blast, faces were red from running so much, and we will not soon forget the day. Don't they look great in the photo?

As I stood watching the game, I realized how ABUNDANTLY blessed we are! Most children in Mexico wouldn't have the opportunity that we had last Saturday (and all the future Saturday games we'll have).

At the end of the game, we all prayed and thanked God for the blessed, joyous time we had.

Erika's name is in the Book of Life

Erika is a smiley, kind young lady that came to join our GCH family this summer. While our girls' home is already over-full, we were asked by another orphanage to take her.

Erika is 13 years old and is in 8th grade. She is hard working, thoughtful, and fun-loving. She's a joy to have around!

Two nights ago, after our evening devotion time, Erika approached George and I to ask us how to receive Jesus in her heart. After talking a while about it, George led Erika in the sinner's prayer, where she repented of her sins and asked Jesus to come and be the Lord of her life. It was a beautiful moment!

The Bible says that those who pray such a prayer, that their names are written in the Book of Life, and that we have the promise of spending eternity in heaven with the Lord. We're so pleased to know that Erika will be there with us!

Who are the people in your life whose names still aren't written in the Book of Life?... who don't yet have the promise of heaven?

Don't give up... keep praying, keep loving and keep showing them the way. God can and wants to save them... let's get busy and be a part of His plan!

We finally got them!!

Many of you probably know that we've been through quite a bit of turmoil in the recent past. Thankfully, the Lord has walked with us through the valley and has brought us to the other side.

In the midst of the valley, one disgruntled ex-GCH worker tried to get George and I deported from Mexico. It was a scary time for us to think that perhaps we wouldn't be able to continue serving at GCH. But even in that time, the Lord blessed and sustained us, and He used a bad situation for good.

While we had our temporary visas to be in Mexico, we had hit several road blocks to get any further in our immigration status. But we got busy working and God opened the doors. We're thrilled to say that...
today we received religious visas for all 5 of us!

This is a huge victory and God has once again blessed our socks off.

Thanks to those of you who have prayed with us while we were in the valley. God certainly heard and answered your prayers!

Our October Prayer Letter

Jim, from Santa Cruz Bible Church and who installed the system, and George enjoy a glass of purified water.

First day back to school for some of our kids at one of the private school they attend.

October 2009

Dear Friends & Family,

It was a busy summer & beginning of fall here at Grace Children’s Home. This past summer was pivotal in our renewing our vision for our kids’ lives. It started with a painful, but necessary hurricane of staff changes. One former staff member in particular has called upon all possible sources at her disposal to try to disrupt our lives, and we’re still in the middle of the battle. But here’s what’s incredible (at least to me): What man has meant for harm, God used for our good!

Here’s a quick rundown: Mexican Immigration was called to inspect us; end result: we’ve turned in all our papers and we’ll soon have our residence! The Human Rights branch of the Government was called to inspect us; end result: we’ve deep-cleaned, renewed, refreshed and made several structural improvements! The Labor Commission of the Government was used against us; end result: we’ve learned much about Mexican labor laws, reviewed our hiring strategies, re-affirmed our vision for the kids, and gained five wonderful new staff! There’s more,… but to all of this we say: Thank you Lord Jesus! You’ve brought goodness out of an ugly situation.

Along with the all the above changes, here is some more exciting news. We now have 19 GCH kids in private schools! All of the kids that have shown to be responsible with their schooling, or that needed special intervention, are now receiving the best possible education. We send out a huge “thank you” to all of you generous givers. You’re making a tremendous difference in these kids’ lives!

Construction news: the Education Center is nearing completion, and is now being used for…well, education! Every school afternoon the place is buzzing with eight different study groups, all with their own adult leaders, and computers with internet access for the oldest group as well. In last Thursday’s Bible Study, we had 25 youth from GCH & the community in the main classroom gathered to learn more about the Lord and praise Him.

The dental room has been equipped with some very nice and newer equipment, including two self-contained dental chairs, a wall-mounted x-ray and a panoramic x-ray, and is close to being complete. New emergency exits have been installed in the girls’ & boys’ homes. We have a new storage area, much cleanup has been done, and we now have our own water purification system! We are SO grateful for the teams that sacrificed so much to make all this happen!!

As a family, I am glad to say that we are doing well. Stacey and I remain close to each other and our Lord, and our boys are all doing well. I want to thank all of you for your prayers and your sacrificial support for us. We couldn’t be here without you and I hope you see all of these things as a part of your life as well. May God bless your life in mysterious and wonderful ways.

Please pray that we keep the Lord Jesus our number one focus and that we keep growing in Him. We want to depend on Him, to thank Him, meditate on Him and to declare Him in all we do. Life without Jesus is empty and meaningless. Jesus fills us with joy and gives us an eternal purpose. There’s nothing better than to live for Him! We hope you experience His joy in your life today. Remember that He loves you.

With love and thanksgiving,

George & Stacey

The Palau Family – George, Stacey, Georgie, Eric & Marcus
http://www.gchmexico.org/
www.gspalaublog.blogspot.com

P.S. If you’d prefer to receive this letter by email, please let us know at gspalau@gmail.com.

3 baptisms!

Sunday was a joyous day for us at Grace Children's Home. Three of our older girls, Flor, Jennifer & Valeria took a step of obedience to follow the Lord in baptism. They decided to get baptized at the beach, after church. In the photo is the youth pastor, Martin, and George with the girls shortly after they were dunked. George, Martin and our senior pastor, Mike Vincent, baptized the 3 girls simultaneously. What a joyous day and time of spiritual victory!

Later that day, George and I reflected on how privileged we feel to get to be a part of things like this. It is a blessing directly from heaven that encourages us to want to do more for His kingdom.

Please pray for these young ladies, as well as for the spiritual lives of all the children at GCH. Beyond a shadow of a doubt, Sunday we lived life abundantly!

What a view!

Dear Friends,

Today there was a beautiful view of a rainbow right outside our house. We've recently been through a storm here at GCH, in regards to staff issues. Kids have a much easier time allowing God to work in them than do adults. When we were nearing our time to come to Mexico, I feared that we would have a difficult time with the kids, knowing some of the difficulties they've faced in the past. Not true. It's the adults, specifically the staff, who can be far more troublesome... But God has been good to us, and has allowed us to enjoy a time of rest after the storm. These photos show some of that rest and beauty. May God bless you today as you allow him to transform you into the image of his Son, Jesus.

18!!

It's official... we now have 18, yes 18, GCH kids sponsored to attend the private schools this next school year! This is amazing to us, as we know the economy has been hard on everyone. But praise God, several generous donors have commited to sacrifice to give our children a better future!

Since enrolling our children in the schools here, we've noticed a huge difference in the level of education they receive in the public and private schools. The private schools offer computers, art/music, English, more days of instruction, and higher academics.

We have prayed each year for more and more of our children to have this opportunity. This year, we even got one more sponsored then we had anticipated.

We thank God for those of you who are sacrificing and praying for our children! Time to rejoice...

The plight of people here...

Yesterday, as I drove over the border, I was struck by the amount of beggars I saw. It seemed like more than usual. Then I began to think about the situation so many here now face...
With the situation of the economy, those that used to commute to the US for blue collar jobs are now unemployed.
With the media hype about the violence here, those that worked in tourism before (restaurants, hotels, shops) have lost jobs left & right as these venues close. Toursim has declined drastically. The people are hit hard both ways.
As I looked at my fellow man & womankind hold their cups to ask for money or try to sell me their trinkets, I felt tremendous compassion for them. I couldn't possibly fill all their cups or solve all their needs, so I prayed and pondered.
I realized that by living down here, I sometimes get used to seeing things like this... it's a part of daily life to see desperate or difficult situations and people. But I pray I never get to the point where I don't feel compassion for the people around me.
I thank God that 5 years ago He sent our family to serve and love the people of Mexico. We've gained such a love for them & our commitment to them is stronger than ever.
Please remember to pray with us for the people here who are struggling.