stpaulmexico2021

 Our health and Hygiene classes were done and the construction project was a little behind because of our flight changes at the beginning of the week, so half of the health team joined the construction crew to finish up today.  The family picked blue for their house so we were able to paint it for them. Most of the drywall and electrical is done, the family will just need to finish a few things. We got to be there when the local pastor came to do a blessing of the house. He did it in Spanish and our pastor repeated in English. At the end of the day, the family asked us to leave our handprints on the side of the house so they could remember us. And finally,  they were handed the keys.  So amazing. The rest of the ladies stayed back to help with things at Ysleta Mission. Saturdays they have a very large food distribution. We were able to help get boxes ready and also distribute.  What a wonderful mission this place is for the community. We got to end our last night with a great dinner ou

 We had our last day of the clinic already.  We had more families come to learn health and Hygiene and receive a water bucket. Today we had nearly 20 children come because there was no school today. It was an energetic but fun day. We then had to say goodbye to our host and our translators. We all feel so blessed to be a part of this. On the way home, we got to see more of the town of Juarez, including a message written on the side of a mountain.   The work crew made alot of progress on the house. The door and windows are installed, the roof is done and the drywall is started. Tomorrow is the last day. The final projects will be completed and we will paint the outside. The family is so excited.

 The hygiene/water group went to a new place today. We set up in a community center in a town called Kilometer30.  We were able to supply 30 more families with water filters! 4 children were with us. They heard the story of Jesus walking on water and loved the puppets telling them about healthy food and brushing teeth. The house building crew made good progress. Insulation was put in, doors and windows were installed and the roof is started! They had some visitors today. Some puppies and the family that will be living in the house. The family picked the paint color for the outside. The kids are very excited. We are all feeling very blessed to be a blessing. Our team had an encouraging devotion after a delicious dinner and we are ready to go again tomorrow.

 What a beautiful day God gave us for our first day as a team to work.  The construction team went to Anapra, Mexico. They started with a cement slab and ended the day with 4 walls. Our foreman Scott,  was impressed with the Michigan muscle. They pulled out a great day. They got to meet the woman and 2 children who will be living in the house.  The other half of our team met at a church in Juarez, Mexico. We had 7 children who learned about Jesus walking on water and some ways to be healthy like brushing your teeth, eating a variety of healthy foods and washing your hands. The adults heard the story of the Woman at the well. They all came today to learn how to make their families healthier especially by getting a water filter bucket, but they also learned that we have living water through Jesus. What a blessing all of our translators were so that we could communicate with all of these wonderful people.  The boarder crossing went smoothly and the view of the mountains was breathtaking. 

 The rest of the team made it to El Paso! We had smooth travels with no complications. Yay. We got to see a beautiful sunset as we landed in Chicago. Looking forward to our first day in Mexico tomorrow. 

 We know that God has a plan for our trip and things will not always go as we plan.    11 of us had our flight canceled today but 4 of our team made it to El Paso safely. We are praying that all goes well and the rest of us will get there with little complications tomorrow. Here is a letter of update from Claudia: Greetings from El Paso.  Mike, Dennis, Kathy and I are in El Paso at the mission. We unloaded all of the materials and drilled holes in the buckets. Scott has been a very nice host and we will be having dinner with him tonight. He will answer all of our questions in preparation for tomorrow. We will leave the mission house at 7:30 AM and head into Juarez for our work with the people. Scott is coming with us to chaperone and make sure we are pointed in the right direction. This is a relief.  The weather is wonderful, 80 degrees and sunny. You will appreciate it. Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow.  Many prayers for a successful flight.  Claudia and Mike