Sunday, April 6, 2025

Arrival of Week 2

The Week 2 team arrived safe and sound in Colima.  After a quick stop for tacos at our favorite local "fast food" taco shop, Taco Loco, the team headed over to the hotel to settle in.  We had carne asada, pastor, and chorizo tacos for dinner with many different types of refreshments.  My favorite is horchata (classic) but the most popular tonight was the cucumber lemon aqua fresca.  

Prayer requests-

Safety-  There were a few checkpoints setup by police last week that I noticed while driving around.  I asked the orphanage workers about that and they said that it isn't unusual to see those setup from time to time.  Pray that we would have protection as we are going about the town of Colima this week.

Group unity-  The start of a trip is always a tricky one as the team gets to know each other better and understand each other.  Please pray that we would find comfortable rhythms with each other and join together to be light here in Colima.

Saturday, April 5, 2025

Week 1 Day 6









 Today was our last full day at Colima! We started off our day doing activities with kids and throwing water balloons! 

After the activities we worked on our last projects which was finishing the bunk bed and painting outside and inside the Kairos home. 

We then ate at the señoritas for the last time and started heading off to the water park. Everyone had a great time at the water park, especially riding the huge slide. 

Ending off our day we headed to Adolocente to eat dinner and give some of our last goodbyes. 

Overall today was amazing and god has really worked through our hearts this week.


Thursday, April 3, 2025

Week 1 Day 4 and Day 5

 Wednesday was a very fulfilling day! Of course,e it was also a hard day as it was the middle of the week and tends to be the hardest. All in all, it was a very successful day.


We started the day with another round of activities. In sports, it was 9 squares, which is everyone's favorite game; the squares were a little rough on the edges but still very popular nonetheless. In music, they enjoyed keeping balloons in the air with fly swatters and hitting plastic cups with the frisbees. It was a very friendly competition between the girls and the boys. In crafts, the kids got to "bedazzle" ballcaps. Truly making them sparkle.


After Activites we went back to working, one group went to Unrau to finish painting the orange wall, another group finished the painting at Adolocentes, a group headed back to Leonel to really work and get the privacy fence up. With Wes and Steve welding the Kairos boy's beds.


With that in tow, we had lunch at Leonel. Enjoying a loaded plate of tostadas and cold hamayca. After lunch, we were back to work! The Unrau crew switched routes and headed over to Casa Kairos to clean up for the party later that night. The wall crew got a couple extra hands from the team and from the Senoritas and were able to finish the wall!!! (Yaaay!!) We are very happy with how it turned out and grateful for all the hands that helped us out.

With projects done and tired/sweaty crew, we headed back to the hotel, where we got ourselves cleaned up before we headed to Casa Kairos. The dinner at Kairos was a dedication to the wonderful boys headed into university and to start a slow growth away from home. There are 2 boys that will start living in it, and one more that will join them after he graduates from high school. We enjoyed a wonderful barbecue outside, with a small speech and cake to end the night.

It was a wonderful day! And we are excited to enjoy the last two days of our trip.


Today was a very long but exciting day! It was our adventure day, and it sure was an adventure. We started the day with our morning devotional before heading out for a full day. We got the wonderful joy of having Tortas made by our tour guide Jupiter.

We headed out on our adventure, starting with a 4km hike up to a shrine. The whole way up was constant elevation but the views were very worth it. We listened to music, chatted with the kids, and made our way, slow and steady up. Once up there, we got to explore a shrine and a cool runoff from where people will paraglide. The way down was, of course, way faster, but that's probably because some people ran down. 

After the hike, we drove about an hour to our new destination Cold Springs, to spend the afternoon. We all dozed on the bus to regenerate ourselves for swimming. Once at the cold springs, it was time to enjoy the wonderful sunny day God had given us. We swam in the cold spring pool with little fishies swimming around. Played with beachballs and searched for sand shells under the surface. We enjoyed tacos and quesadillas for lunch before tanning out in the sun or sitting under the shade and just spending time with each other. Some people did diamond art crafting, and some kids played games or went back into the water. While some kids enjoyed the grass and talked about so many different things. 

After a cooling day at the springs, we headed down to Comala to finish our night. We drove down to Casa Volcan which is the restraunt that Jupiter owns, we enjoyed yummy potato chips, burrito's and frappes. Once dinner was over we headed out to do some last Mexico souvenir shopping. Then we headed back, dropped the kids off, and headed to the hotel, ready to rest for the next day! 

Today was a full day, but we also had some of the best laughs, conversations, and time growing our relationship. Let's see what the last day brings!





















Tuesday, April 1, 2025

Week 1 Day 2 and 3

Great day today and yesterday! Activities are going great and there are already some awesome relationships forming between us and the kids. 


In the last two days, we’ve worked on painting the adolescentes and unrau home, Ying is mastering the wall mural, and building the wall around Leonel. Everyone is working hard and working really well together. 


Yesterday we had a party with the señorita house and tomorrow we are heading to a party at the new young adults home, Kairos, for the grand opening. 


Keep praying for God to provide energy, clarity of mind, and continued strong relationships! 











Sunday, March 30, 2025

Week 1 Day 1 2025
















Today we spent time getting to know and experience the global church with the Grupo Amor church. It was quite similar to our church back at home, with music and a band on stage with a lesson afterwards. 

After church we went to the beach with some kids from Casa Matrz, Lenoel, and Famoso. They were all kids graduating from one school up (ex. middle to high school). We spent hours on the beach, throwing sand at each other and eating delicious sea food and taking in the warm, perfect weather and the ocean air. 

The drive to the ocean and back was long but a perfect opportunity to connect with the kids, learn some words and listen to music together. We even watched Nick play 2048 while listening to Justin Bieber. 

All in all it was a super fun, exhausting yet wholly fulfilling day. 



Saturday, March 29, 2025

Week 1: The Adventure Begins!

 

Hours of flying, hours of driving, and we are thrilled to have feet on the ground and tacos in our tummies in Colima!

Thanks for your prayers for safe travels, and please keep them coming as we start to engage with the kids of Hogar de Amor tomorrow. Pray for sweet time together, safety, and love that transcends age and language!

Tuesday, March 25, 2025

Adventure 2025 beginning soon!

Team Mexico 2025 (+ a few more that didn't make the picture)

This Saturday our first team will leave for Mexico.
There are so many swirling emotions… excitement, fear, joy, apprehension,
and anticipation as we near the day of departure.

We trust that God is working behind the scenes to help us through customs, with the heat, communication to others in Spanish, growing relationships with the children and house parents, health and all the while recognizing that God is working in all of it.

Anytime you travel and go to a different country, there are many potentials for problems.
Would you join us in prayer for our team, our family (that we are leaving at home), as well as the children and house parents that we will visit?

Here's a list of people that are going so that you can pray for them by name:

March 29 - April 5:
Steve, WanYing, Francisco, Abigail, Nick, Isaac, Josh, Madeleine,
Maria, Jamie, Sasha, Julie, Bianka, Raylin, Rebekah, Alana,
Aliah, Hazel, Jackson, Jeffrey, Laurie, Aralyn, Shaunda, Wesley


April 5 -12:
WanYing, Katelyn, Kristie, Kim, Alexia, Darrin, Ryan, Steve,
Dan, Darla, Scott, Marcia, Kylie, Ashlee, Lindsey, Savannah

Thank you for your prayers and support.