Braids by Wasilla Bible Church

Usually when tourists come to Mexico, one thing they do is get their hair braided by the local women. Today the tables were turned & our girls got their hair down by the gals from Wasilla Bible Church. While the gals were braiding, the guys were cleaning up the construction site at the Education Center.

What's amazing about this group of young women & men from Alaska is that they chose to make their trip to GCH their high school graduation trip. While so many youth today choose trips that are just for them, they chose a trip to serve others. It was an encouragement to us to see young adults make this choice... truly a testimony of their commitment to follow Christ!

Thank you, Twin Lakes

Last week 6 families from Twin Lakes Church in Aptos, California came down to love on our kids and work. During this busy time, they worked on the building, hauled materials, did a kids' program and created exciting slide shows of our kids (which they showed to them!). They also made a special slide show for me (Tia Stacey), which I will cherish the rest of my life.

Thank you Twin Lakes families for your generosity, creativity & the love you showed us!

Local Volunteers

One of the blessings we have at GCH is partnering with local Mexican volunteers who have the heart and compassion to help our children. In the photo is one of our newest volunteers, Oscar, a young man from the local church who is studying in the university. Here he is helping one of our kids with his homework. We are blessed to have partners like Oscar.

3 New GCH Kids!

Today, GCH had the wonderful privilege, once again, of welcoming 3 new children into our family! They are Francis (girl, age 8 - in the middle), Isaac (boy, age 6 - on the left), & Jacobo (boy, age 5 - on the right).

It's always a VERY exciting moment for all of us (our kids get excited too!). When kids come to GCH, we all rush to meet our newest family members with joy & enthusiasm. Unfortunately, they have been so poorly treated in their past that they are frightened, ill, mal-nourished & in crisis. Notice in the photo their concerned looks & symptoms of neglect.

So we quickly get to meeting the most urgent needs (food, adequate clothing, love, etc). And then we begin to see them relax & even begin to laugh. By the end of the day, all 3 were playing, eating well, making new friends, and exploring their new home.

Over the next few weeks we will see the miracle happen... they will become happy, joyful children who feel safe, loved & secure. And they will learn about Jesus!

Please keep these 3 precious children in your prayers... they're worth it!

School performance

Yesterday, some of our kids were part of a school performance. The dances they performed and costumes they wore represented different parts of Mexico. Shown in the picture from left to right are: Shawna Berry, George Palau, Leonardo Zubiran, Eric Palau, Marcus Palau (not in school yet, but wanted to be in the picture) & Jesse Berry. Don't they look great?

Bryan & our fire sprinklers

As you may know, we have been working hard on completing the Education Center. Through many hard-working teams, individuals and sponsors, construction has been moving along well.

We recently reached the point in construction where the fire sprinkler system needed to be designed & installed. Our problem was that we didn’t know how to design the system(nor did we have the funds to buy the material), so construction was going to drastically slow down. So we began to pray… fervently!

A few weeks later, a team from our sending church, Santa Cruz Bible Church, came to help with construction and play with our kids. As we were organizing people on the team, a gentleman named Bryan said “I don’t know much about this, but I’ll give it a try”. We then asked Bryan, “what do you do for a living”? Bryan replied that he is an engineer who specializes in fire sprinkler systems!

Over the next 2 days, Bryan got busy pouring over the building plans and designing a system that will keep people safe & prevent the building from burning down. In addition, Bryan later got one of his suppliers, Jack (who is also a Christian), to donate all the materials for the system.

Last weekend Bryan, and other professionals he had recruited, came down to volunteer their time to install the system. Here's a picture of one of the guys installing some pipes. They made significant progress and things are now moving full speed again in the building.

Thank you, Bryan and team, for using your talents & resources to serve the children of Grace Children's Home!

Check out our wheels!

Recently, through the generous donation of a long time friend & a good auction, GCH was able to acquire a good 14 passenger van. What's great about that is, the wheels we've been using as primary means of transportation for our kids was really TERRIBLE! Now, things have changed!

Our new ride is comfortable, has SEAT BELTS!, the engine is good, it's safe & reliable, and is in GREAT condition. We thank God for this new vehicle and thank our friend, Lisa, for helping to make it happen!

Horizon Christian Fellowship

Last Saturday, Grace Children's Home hosted a team from Horizon Christian Fellowship, from San Diego, CA. The team was led by Juan & Alicia Strutton, the new directors of GCH's baby-senior home project.
Our kids had a great day decorating bright, yellow shirts (with their pictures on them!) & playing with their team. Also, the GCH playground got a much needed face lift -- including repairs & a new paint job (check out the finished product in the photo).
Thank you, Struttons & the Horizon team members, for all you did to bless us!