Luis Antonio & Yesenia school opportunity

Meet Luis Antonio & his little sister Yesenia (as shown in the photo). They have been at GCH almost 1 1/2 years. When they arrived to GCH, Luis had received very little education and Yesenia had received none. We quickly enrolled them in school and both began to grow and flourish!

Luis is now in 2nd grade and Yesenia is in kindergarten. They both demonstrate good study skills and academic intelligence. This year Luis received several awards from his school for his academic achievements and he is an incredibly gifted artist.

Recently an opportunity has arisen for Luis Antonio & Yesenia to attend a special bilingual school near GCH. At this school they would have the opportunity to grow even more academically, studying English, Spanish, computers, art, music, P.E., math, social studies, etc. The English program used at the school is a program from the U.S. and the children are taught at the same grade level as children in the U.S. It is an excellent school and an excellent opportunity for Luis & Yesenia.

But for Luis & Yesenia to be able to enroll in and attend the bilingual school, they need sponsors. It costs approximately $1,500 per child for enrollment fees, books, uniforms, school supplies, etc. In addition it costs $150 per month per child for tuition for 10 months. Do you know someone who can help sponsor Luis Antonio or Yesenia (either partially or completely)? Our prayer is that both will be able to start in their new school in August 2007 (the beginning of the school year).

You may also know that we already have another GCH child, Leo, attending the same school. We're also praying for continued sponsorship for him for this next school year. He did great this first year at the school and excelled academically. These are the types of opportunities GCH strives to provide for our children, with the help of many generous partners.

WATER at GCH

GCH currently depends on trucks bringing water to fill our cistern everyday. It costs $19 dollars a day, which adds up to $570 per month... and that doesn't include drinking water. This trucked-in water is used for all our washing, bathing, flushing, and laundry purposes. On rainy days, the trucks can't get to our home, which makes our water situation precarious.

BUT GOD KNOWS ALL THIS, and He has a plan!

Recently, a local Christian mime came to perform for our kids. He brought one of his friends who happens to work for the Mexican water company, (which is run by the State of Baja) and the man began to ask about our water situation. When he found out that we didn't have city water and how much we pay for water for our kids, he committed to do all he could to change the situation. Since piped-in city water is much cheaper and more reliable, we were excited about the possibility.

In this photo is George, standing in GCH property, pointing to the white buildings which hold the city water we greatly need.

A few days later we heard from the man that the water company will be bringing city water to GCH within a month. Yesterday we received confirmation that the water lines will be installed to the border of our property IN 2 WEEKS... and they claim that they won't charge us for water!

PRAISE GOD FOR WHAT HE HAS DONE FOR US! Please keep this process in your prayers, so that GCH will have WATER! Also, please pray for the funding and work that will need to happen to connect the city lines to our cistern.

Piano lessons

Classes have started in the (partially completed) Education Center!

We recently brought my childhood piano to GCH and Tia Helen has already begun teaching piano to GCH kids in the building (as seen in the photo). While much work remains to be done in the building, we couldn't wait for all the drywall, sheetrock and paint to be finished to start giving our kids new opportunities -- note the unfinished walls & floor in the photo.

Some of the things we dream of teaching in the building someday are: English, Bible, art, music (as well as the piano), health, parenting classes (& other skills for our neighbors), Bible studies, nutrition, sewing, cooking, computers, business skills, tutoring/ homework help, etc, etc, ETC. The list is almost endless with possibilities!

Please keep praying with us that God will continue to provide the funds and workers necessary to complete the Education Center!

Vehicle Update

As you might know we've asked for prayer for $12,000 for a new mini-bus to transport the kids. God's answered that prayer through long-time friend, Lisa Cardenas, who has provided the funds. ISN'T THAT GREAT?! And ISN'T GOD GOOD?!
As we went out to purchase the vehicle promised to us, it was no longer available and the options looked grim. So, now we need to PRAY for the RIGHT VEHICLE. We know God's going to provide it, so pray with us that He'll do it at the right time. THANKS! We're looking forward to posting a picture of the vehicle once we find it.

1:00 am Visitor

Last night at 1:00am we had a 1:00am visitor. This visitor is not the kind you'd usually want... especially as it scurried & rustled under my bed. As we quickly lept out of bed to throw mouse traps around our room, I wondered "why me?".
Our little visitor continued to make noise, and I was certain he was probably 2 feet from my head. I finally resigned to sleeping on the couch! He won the battle for my bedroom for the night.
Today as I tried to catch up on missed sleep, I couldn't help but think about our late night visitor. And as I thought about him, I thought about people around the world & even in my neighborhood who would be glad to have only one such unwelcome guest per night.
It has been said that if we have a change of clothes, enough food for our next meal & shelter, we are amongst the richest people in the world. Not only do I have all those things, I have much more. I have so much but forget to be grateful for it at times. Instead I complain about a rare late night visitor.
Once I got this perspective, I thanked God for the wonderful home I have, my family, the meals I get to eat, my car, my clothes, my friends, my church, etc. And then I nodded off for a great nap!

"Kooshie" & "Litos"

Marcus aka "kooshie" is our 3 1/2 year old, who happens to be best friends with Carlitos aka "litos", the son of the "house mom" for the boys' home. We happen to have the privilege of living in the same house as "Litos"; so "Kooshie" gets to play with and learn about life with his best friend everyday. Some people ask us if we regret "what we've given up"... our reply is "look around us as to all God has given us..."... even "Litos".

Tio Lionel

Tio Lionel is one of our Canadian full time volunteers who loves Jesus, our kids and working for both of them! Lionel is one of those guys that can do a little bit of everything... can you relate? Lionel's solution to the little boys getting into the bigger boys' treasures was to supply them with a tool box with a combo lock. The world needs more guys like Tio Lionel... in the meantime, we THANK GOD he's part of the GCH team

Did I mention lately...

... how AWESOME & HARD-WORKING our kids are??? We CLEANED out the school's diplomas! Isn't THAT COOL?!!

Girls' Information

Some of you have requestd information about the children at GCH. Here are the girls' names, sizes, grades, etc. An "*" indicates they are the child of a staff member. To find info. on the boys, look for the prior blog entry titled "boys' information".

Name - Age - Birthdate - Grade - Clothing size - Shoe size
Flor - 12 - 9/15/1995 - 4 - 5 ladies - 7 adult
Jennifer - 12 - 6/6/1995 - 5 - 5 ladies - 7 1/2 adult
*Jocelyne - 11 - 1/7/1996 - 5 - 7 ladies - 8 adult
*Kathy - 9 - 9/5/1997 - 3 - 12 - 3 1/2
Ixsayana - 9 - need - 1 - 12 - 2
*Shawna - 9 - 11/26/1997 - 3 - 16 - 6 1/2
Adriana - 8 - 5/12/1999 - 2 - 8 - 12
Elizabeth - 6 - 5/7/2001 - K - 6 - 12
Yesenia - 6 - 5/12/2001 - K - 6 - 7 1/2
Ana Esmeralda (Belen) - 5 -8/14/2001 - K - 6 - 11
Karen - 4 - 11/18/2002 - K - 5 - 9 1/2
Yajaira - 4 - 3/23/2003 - NA - 3T - 7
Cesiah - 2 - need - NA - 3T - 6 1/2

Boys' Information

Some of you have requested information about the kids in our homes, such as ages, grades, sizes, etc. Here is the boys' info. Look for the girls' info. on a seperate entry titled "Girls' information". An "*" indicates they are the child of a staff member.

Boys' Information
Name - Age - Birthdate - Grade - Clothing Size - Shoe Size
Luis Antonio - 9 - 12/27/1997 - 2 - 8 - 1 1/2
Leo - 9 - 1/10/1998 - 2 - 14 - 3
*George - 9 - 3/31/1998 - 3 - 10 - 3 1/2
Juan Marcos - 9 - 6/28/1998 - 2 - 8 - 3
*Jaime - 8 - 10/27/1998 - 2 - 10 - 3 l/2
*Eric - 8 - 3/17/1999 - 2 - 8 - 3
Yean - 7 - 10/8/1999 - 1 - 7 - 1
Misael - 7 - 11/23/1999 - 1 - 10 - 3
*Jesse - 7 - 1/13/2000 - 1 - 7 - 1 l/2
David - 6 - 7/8/2000 - 1 - 7 - 1
Jose Luis - 5 - 9/22/2001 - K - 6 - 13
Alan N. - 5 - 9/7/2001 - K - 5 - 11
*Marcus - 3 - 9/6/2003 - NA - 4T - 10
*Carlitos - 3 - 4/10/2004 - NA - 3T - 9 1/2

Our boys' birthdays!

Recently we celebrated our 2 older sons' birthdays during our "monthly birthday party". Eric celebrated his 8th and George celebrated his 9th birthday. As you can tell, they had a GREAT time. Joining them to also celebrate their b-days this month were, Jahaira (4 yrs. old), Tia Haymme (house mom), Tia Lucia (cook), & Tia Julie (full time missionary & volunteer).

Party mishap of the day - Someone forgot to put candy in the boys' pinata! Yikes! You should've seen their faces when the pinata broke open and NO CANDY fell out. Seemed like April fool's came early this year. Gratefully, we found the "lost" candy quickly and tossed it out amongst the crowd.

Juan Marcos Update

Thanks to all who have prayed for Juan Marcos. He continues to work hard on improving the function of his leg, foot & hand. Here he is receiving physical therapy from one of our volunteers. At times it can be painful and frustrating for him, but he doesn't give up trying & we're hopeful he'll continue to gain more function. Good work Juan Marcos... and thank God for modern medicine!

Boys will be boys...

Young and old, all boys love to wrestle! Thankfully Tio Lionel, one of our full time Canadian volunteers, also loves to wrestle. The boys sure had a good time with him... and all slept VERY well after that!

Are you wondering?....

...what's going on with our neighbors and the church plant we're hosting? Well, the answer is... things are going GREAT with the adults AND kids. Here's a peak at the kids...

Georgie & Tia Fran

Georgie is our eldest son, about to turn 9 years old. We had the privilege of adopting him & our middle son, Eric, when they were little (through the California foster-adopt system). Georgie is now in 3rd grade and doing well.

Tia Fran is the house mom for the girls' home and has always been a special friend and "Tia" to Georgie. I couldn't resist taking a photo of them during the fun afternoon we had yesteday playing outdoor games.

Please keep Georgie in your prayers. We see the battle going on in him for his soul and pray each day he will continue to chose Jesus. Thanks for your prayers!

What a privilege!

We have the incredible privilege of living in a home with 12+ FABULOUS boys! Given their past, it might seem scarey (I thought the same before I came down here)... but I can truly say today that it is a complete joy to live with such special children. THANK GOD for each of them. Aren't they cute? This is how we spend our last hour before bed/ bible-prayer time... doesn't it look cozy?

Having fun... wish you were here...

School Update

It's progress report time and we are proud to report that ALL of our children have advanced in their grades this quarter! (Not a small accomplishment given the numbers we have). None of the children are failing or at risk of retention and they are doing well. WE'RE SO PROUD OF THEM!
On school days, the children go to school in the morning and come home around 12:30. After a quick lunch, they are organized into grade level groups and each group has an assigned tutor to ensure homework is completed every day. Believe me when I say, this is a huge undertaking everyday.
But all the hard work and prayers are paying off! Just as we see God's hand healing and growing them emotionally, physically and spiritually, we also see them growing mentally. WHAT AN ENCOURAGEMENT THAT IS!
So, thank God with us for the growth and progress of our kids. Pray the children will stay strong, & that our volunteers and house moms will continue to be used by God to bless and care for them.

Photo of our vehicle

Here's a photo of our shabby vehicle that I mentioned in the previous blog. YIKES!! Are you praying yet? We sure are. And please pass on the word about our need for the 12-14k to purchase the diesel mini-bus we need.

Urgent Need!

GCH currently transports 24 children to and from 3 different schools, with at least 5 round trips each day. In addition, we transport kids to doctor appointments, pick up supplies and transport local volunteers that help us run our homes. WE DO A LOT OF DRIVING!
THE URGENT NEED IS THIS -
Our current primary mode of GCH transportation is a 1980 Ford Econoline 15 passenger van that is in TERRIBLE condition. In this photo, you can see the seats are torn apart (making us and our kids sit on exposed springs), the passenger window is broken (making it very WET and COLD for our kids), part of the roof is falling off (a large piece fell on a kid), it's too small, and the electrical, fuel system, suspension, brakes, exhaust and engine are CONTINUALLY failing (leaving us stranded and without adequate transportation), the exhaust system leaks into the passenger area (making it unhealthy for our kids), ETC. (Can you tell we're a bit frustrated)?
THE SOLUTION -
George found a place that will sell us a 1999 diesel mini-bus (which holds 16), so our kids can be transported in a RELIABLE, water/weather proof, safe, DECENT vehicle. There would even be room to put the 15+ backpacks and for each kid to sit in a seat with a seatbelt... and they wouldn't have to breathe exhaust fumes or worry about getting wet or the roof falling on them. WOULDN'T THAT BE COOL?
So, WHAT WILL IT TAKE? -
We need $12,000 - $14,000 to make it happen. Do you know someone who can help with part or all of this cost? PLEASE pray with us and help us put the word out about our need. We GREATLY appreciate your help!