The roof is going up.

Last week the workers were able to get started on putting up the roof.

Some of the supplies for the roof.

The smaller bedroom.

Edgar.

The kitchen area.

Things continue to go well and we are excited about the progress that has been made.

More visitors!

Last week we had 5 students visiting us from the Mennonite Canadian University in Winnepeg, Manitoba. I will admit it, it was great having more Canadians around! :) They spent 9 weeks in Guatemala before coming to us. They took Spanish classes, did work projects, lived with Guatemalan families, and had a lot of homework! This was a semester of school for them so they were required to read books and write reports.

While they were here with us we put them to work, as well as having some fun time with the kids.

Michelle and Rebecca are helping clean out a storage area at the Men's Rehab Center.

Nicole and Kim helped sort clothes in another storage area at the rehab center.

Enni and Nicole.

We received a donation of rice, beans, sugar, etc and here Enni is carrying a 100 lb bag of rice to the kitchen. Nicely done Enni!

Kim managed to carry a 100 lb bag of rice as well.

And me? Well, I helped out in other ways. Important ways. Yes, very important ways. ;)

They pulled weeds and made rows to plant vegetables in.

Nicole and Michelle.

Sorry, I didn't get any pictures of them planting in the afternoon.

Michelle was helping Victor study for a test. I tried to get a "natural, action shot". My photography skills leave something to be desired!

Kim helped Engler out with his math. She LOVES to teach math. I told her to come back and live here forever. I would bake her some chocolate chip cookies every week if she did! So far, no takers on that offer. :(

Antoni and Nicole.

Wesler and Enni.

On the last day we had a picnic. They girls bar-b-que'd a bunch of hot dogs for us all. They are some fierce bar-b-quers!

This looks gross. But the kids loved it! And the girls loved cooking for the kids.

Michelle, Felipe and Victor Daniel.

Antoni and food. They go together like wet dog and smelly. :)

Everyone enjoyed having the picnic and we loved having them here visit with us and helping out. They were very sweet girls, loved to work and they were a joy to have around.

Thanks for coming to visit!

Construction update.

We have now been working on the transition home for more than 8 weeks. A lot has been done! Men from the rehab centre continue to help out and the teens are always helping out and learning new skills.

That big black dog you see on the right hand side of the picture is Spatz. He is sitting at the door hoping someone will give him bread. He loves bread.

This is at the front door. This is the living room with one of the bedrooms straight ahead, and one on the left.

This is the living room looking from the other way.

This is the storage area and the kitchen.

The storage room will be on the right, and the kitchen will be on the left. Do you like the scaffolding? OSHA approved? :)

The view from the kitchen.

This is one of the bedrooms. It is hard to get a feel for the actual size of it.

But they have a very nice view!

The next step at this point is the roof. We are now just waiting for supplies to be delivered. Things are going smoothly though and we are thankful for that.

Please continue to pray that things go well and we can move our "young adults" into the house as soon as possible.

God bless.

Visitors.

The last week and a half in February we had 3 ladies visiting us. Kris and Karen are from Pennsylvania and had met Victor and Chici while they were in the U.S. in November last year. They invited Maritza from Seattle to come as well. She is Puerto Rican, spoke Spanish and was a big help to us with translating.

The ladies were busy doing a variety of things while they were here.

Karen got started the first day by painting the inside of the pila area.

Martiza does a careful job of painting the outside of the pila.

Kris went shopping the first morning and started cooking some amazing meals for us.

Adrian went with Maritza and Karen evangelizing in the town.

They prayed for and talked to many people about Jesus' love for us.

One night, Kris treated us all to dinner at Pollo Campero.

We had three big tables to fit all of us!

Antoni was determined to enjoy all the food to the very last drop. That is a ketchup packet he is sucking on. And notice the bones on his plate? Stripped clean!

Pollo Campero is near the mall. So after our dinner, all three ladies gave the kids money to spend on themselves. We decided to go to an arcade type place inside the mall.

Maria

Leslie and Edgar. All the teens loved the air hockey table.

Noe. All the smaller kids loved the helicopters.

Antoni and Angel on a motorbike game.

Wesler.

Jose and Felipe.

Katerine and Geovani.

Later in the week, Karen and Maritza shared at the Men's Rehab Centre.

Ministering to the men.

Kris continued to make some amazing food and treats for us.

We went to visit Willie and Norma and their girls. They used to work for our ministry years ago. Norma is a principal at an elementary school so we went to speak to the kids.

They also helped us to bag up the beans and rice that we give to be handed out to families in the dump in Sumpango.

The ladies had a great time of ministering to us and to others outside of our home. They were busy and loved it. They have spoken of returning to visit us another time and we would love to have them!