March was a super busy month!  As Ira and I prepare to attend Mission Training International during April, he wanted to dive in on the projects that needed to be done.   Ira took tiles that were left over from previous projects and used them to tile the freshly painted vegetable room.  What a difference it makes in the appearance and ability to clean it!  He then rebuilt 2 drainage clean out tanks and repaired another.  These will be very useful now that rainy season seems to be around the corner.  Then Ira and the boys took on the dirty job of completely overhauling the existing septic system.  They emptied the tanks all by hand and then replaced the filter system with new rocks, gravel and charcoal.

In between the big projects, Ira worked on the makeover for a new computer lab.  All the computers we have right now are donated and very dated.  Being an institute that is focused on education, the directors would like to purchase new computers so the kids can learn how to use them and different programs.  He also did his regular maintenance and even repaired a shoe for one of the volunteer teachers.  She was so grateful, she made him a cookie, drew a shoe on it and wrote DtB which is an abbreviation for Dios te Bendiga/God Bless you.  Ira was very encouraged through her appreciation.

I am still working on various projects in the administration office.  I scan invoices and do data entry.  I have never had any Microsoft Word/Excel classes, so the spreadsheets intimidate me.  I am afraid to do anything different from the straightforward entries.  Little by little though, I am getting the hang of it.  I also had the opportunity to substitute teach this month.  I am very aware that teaching is not a God given gift of mine, but I really wanted to help the volunteer who needed to be away.  As always, in my weakness, God showed up and I ended up being the one to learn.  I actually enjoyed spending time with the kids and building a different kind of relationship with them through the classes.

The kids also had projects this month.  A local business comes once a month to do various activities with them.  This month, they brought items that are normally thrown away and recycled them into toys and different items.   Among the finished products were planes, trains, trophies, pencil holders, kites and dolls.  The kids really enjoy the opportunity to exercise their creativity.

So that wrapped up March for us.  Now the kids are out of school for 2 weeks for Holy Week and Spring Break.  A Sunday School class,Temple Baptist Church, from our hometown of Nova Scotia sent some money so that we could buy balls and other items for the kids to have during their free time.  The timing is perfect as they often get bored when they are out of classes for too long.  The girls got jump ropes, the boys got tops and they all got soccer balls.  

Happy Holy Week Everyone~we have much to celebrate as the weekend approaches because we serve a Living God! 

Most of our volunteers are long term, live on site and serve on a daily basis in various ways or short term teams who come to minister through projects and building relationships with the children.  This month we had friends who came on their own to invest in the well being of everyone at Pan de Vida.

I met Gillian 6 years ago on a short term trip through Samaritan's Purse in El Salvador and I have loved her ever since.  Anyone who has done a mission trip knows the depth of bonding and building of relationships that happen during that time.  With Facebook, we had always stayed in touch and encouraged one another in our spiritual journeys.  In 2008 Gillian  made her first trip to Pan de Vida to visit and see the ministry first hand.  While here, she fell in love with all the children and became a child sponsor.  Since then, she has been able to return 2 more times to visit her sponsor child and show her continued support.

James, who is from our home town area in Nova Scotia, came on a short term trip, with members from our home churches, last year.  Being an electrician, he saw the need for many repairs throughout the orphanage.  He then went home and made plans to return.  He took time from his family and work, brought his friend, Charles, and came to make improvements to the facilities here at Pan de Vida.  While here, we experienced rain, lots of rain, on a daily basis.   This revealed that the drains from the school courtyard were plugged.  In addition to the electrical project, he dug in and helped Ira with emergency relief work to keep the school from being flooded.  This is all very hard and dirty work.  It humbles us to know he would take his personal time to invest in improving the facilities for the children.  

We want to take this time to Thank them for coming to sow seeds of love, hope and opportunity into the lives of the children of Pan de Vida!

As always December is a busy month of activities for the children as they celebrate the birth of Jesus!  Many businesses and local organizations come throughout the Christmas break and Bless the children in a variety of ways.  Some bring food, others gifts of toiletries, another gifts of a new outfit or shoes and some minister through skits and song.  One school group came at lunch time and shared their personal box lunches with the children.  

The orphanage has had many piñata parties and donations of Rosca de Reyes which is Three Kings Bread.  Rosca is the name given to any ring-shaped bread or cookie. This sweet bread was once used by the friars to evangelize: a small doll, representing the Christ child, is baked right in the bread- "hidden", to symbolize the hiding of the infant from King Herod's troops on the day of Los Santos Inocentes/the Holy Innocents. This treat is traditionally served on the Three Kings Day, when the children receive their toys. Whoever gets the slice of rosca with the doll in it has to provide the tamales and atole for the next party on Feb 2nd.  

Christmas Eve is a special time for the children and volunteers of Pan de Vida.  The kids have a concert with each age group doing a special presentation through skit or song.  Then Tio, the Director,  gave the Biblical Message.  Afterward everyone sang Christmas Carols in praise to Jesus who was born to be our Saviour.  Following the service a traditional meal was shared and everyone stayed up throughout the night continuing fellowship around a bonfire or watching movies. 

We are thankful for the opportunity allowing the children to worship Jesus in such a special way and become more aware of who He IS!

This year Pan de Vida had a "Quinceañera" for 5 girls, Ines, Vanesa, Maria Rosa, Ana Velia and Margarita celebrating their 15th birthday.  In Mexican tradition it is held to commemorate a girl entering womanhood and is usually as big as or bigger than a girl's wedding.  In attempts to cherish the girl's heritage, Pan de Vida always hosts an event to recognize this time in their life.  The ceremony is very spiritual and focused more toward the responsibilities of seeking God's direction in their lives.  

Since the budget Pan de Vida has is used to solely run the daily needs of the Orphanage, events like this are only possible through extra donations of others.  We are grateful for the groups and individuals who have shown a huge heart in generosity to make this possible for the girls.  This year each girl took time to express their thankfulness and reflect on God's provisions in caring for them.  Each one shared a favorite scripture as well.

Psalm 51:10 ~Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Proverbs 4:23~Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

Song of Songs 8:6~Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame.

Ecclesiates 11:9~You who are young, be happy while you are young, and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth. Follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see, but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.

Psalms 27:10 Though my father and mother forsake me, the LORD will receive me.

Of course no celebration is complete without a reception.  Everyone feasted on a special meal and were entertained by the girls doing special dances.  It really makes a person's heart swell to see the girls beam with so much joy as they feel like the princesses they are.  We are truly blessed to see the work God is doing in their lives.

September has been filled with lots of celebrations.  1st the kids started school so that made us all happy to get back into a routine of activities.  As much as everyone enjoys the break, we are all equally excited to return to some structure.

Then the Pan de Vida Church celebrated it's 17th anniversary of ministry.  It was a time to reflect and give thanks to God and His provisions.  The worship team played songs from the previous years and each Sunday School class did a presentation through skits.  Dario, the Director, shared a testimony on how the church began and testified to God's faithfulness in sustaining not only the church but the Orphanage.  The ladies of the church then blessed everyone with a wonderful lunch that allowed everyone to continue the praise to God and His goodness.

On Sept 16th, we then celebrated Mexican Independence Day.  This continues to be on of the major events of the year.  The auditorium was decorated in the Mexican colors of red, white and green.  Everyone, from the youngest to the oldest dressed in traditional clothing for the celebration.  There were games, activities, dance presentations and food tables.  So not only do we rejoice in the freedom of Mexico but we parallel the event to the freedom we, as Christians, have through Jesus Christ.  We continue to give thanks to our Heavenly Father for allowing us these continued blessings and time of fellowship.

This years football season for "The Buffalos", girl's flag and boy's tackle teams, is officially over.  There was a special event this past weekend to recognize the players for all their hard work, dedication and growth.  Both teams did exceptionally well with the girls winning the semi finals to make it to the championship.  They ended up losing the finals but they were ultimately winners with the way they worked as a team and displayed great sportsmanship.

Another achievement this season is that the Pan de Vida on-site football field was inaugurated and is league approved and eligible to host official games.  Now the kids can be active in all practices and games without the obstacle of transportation and conflicts of schedules interfering.  We have a Coach, who is Christian, that is very committed to come to train the youth not only in skills of the game, but also in character of being great team players through attitude.  The kids have been able to interact with other youth on different teams to exercise everything they are learning.

It has also been fun to have the games at the orphanage so that the other kids, volunteers and friends can watch.  We make up the biggest cheering section with our pop bottles of rocks and graffons for drums.  It is a real family event and we are so grateful that people have had a passion to contribute for this to all be possible!

Recently a team comprised of 3 families from Louisvile, KY partnered with our USA organization, Orphanos,  www.orphanos.org, to come and serve at Pan de Vida.  Two of the families had come the year before with a team and led DVBS and resurfaced the football field.  In preparation for this year, they knew they wanted a project that would allow them the ability to work together as families but also be at a level that could include their children.  Also being big supporters in literacy education, they felt led to do things to help with our on site school so the idea of classroom projects was developed.

Over the several months of planning, they were able to collect and purchase lots of school supplies and educational teaching tools.  One family loaded up their car and drove all the way to Mexico to bring it to us.  Unfortunately, due to a loss in the family, they had to cut their trip short and return to the USA but we are very grateful for all the hard work they put into preparing and delivering the supplies to Pan de Vida.  The other 2 families flew in and then dove into doing makeovers to the classrooms. One teammate did carpentry work and made racks and varnished them for each classroom that the children could use for hanging coats and miscellaneous items.   

Since school was still in session, they had a great system of taking one empty room and getting it cleaned, painted, decorated and put back together in 1 day so the kids could then rotate into it and free up another room and repeat.  They had theme stickers for different rooms that were being applied.  One day, a classroom took more time than expected and didn't get the stickers done and planned to do it later.  However, the kids immediately came inquiring about them and the team explained that they had the stickers and would be sure to apply them.  Well as soon as it was recess the kids didn't even go for their snack, they wanted the stickers.  So they had fun lifting each child giving them to apply them themselves.

Also, Bonnie, one of the team members, had different craft lessons that she would do daily.  One day she did the chemistry project of making "flubber."  Not only were the kids surprised at how you could take such basic ingredients and make something so unique, they were even more amazed at how the green and yellow stripes of a ziploc bag turns to blue when you close it.  So not only did they have the flubber to experiment with, they had bags to play with as well.  They also learned some culture based around the Kentucky Derby and made stick horses.

Also while the team was here, Janel who turned 6 had a birthday party and her guests consisted of all the girls in the "chiquitas" dorm.  They were invited to a sleepover American style.  They played games, had cake, beaded jewelry, watched movies and the next morning were treated like princesses to a big breakfast with everything from eggs, bacon and pancakes.  The parents said the most humbling part of the experience to them was that each one of the girls from Pan de Vida brought a gift.  They were not expecting this and knew they could not afford to buy anything and learned that the gift they gave turned out to be their favorite toy or stuffed animal.  They didn't come with something they no longer wanted or needed, they came with what they liked the best with hopes that Janel would like it as much.

The icing on the cake was that they were able to see the Pan de Vida girl's football team compete on the home football field.  The previous year they had put lots of back breaking labour and sweat into cleaning rocks, grooming and laying sod.  This year they saw the fruit of their hard work.  Again, Pan de Vida has been so blessed by the partnership of The Westlakes, Bartees and Keister families and their ministry in serving Jesus at Pan de Vida.

Ira and I are celebrating our 4 year anniversary in ministry at Pan de Vida.  It has been quite the journey and God continues to teach us new things.  While Ira's ministry through maintenance, work projects and teams has basically been consistent, I have bounced around in various activities within the Orphanage but mostly I am referred to as "The Reporter", due to the updates and photos I share.  This last year we really felt God challenging us to grow more in the ministry and that has led us to finally take the in depth Spanish courses to improve our language.  

I was helping the younger boys with homework and while I could help in some of the basics of math, I was struggling with certainty of grammar, spelling, pronunciation etc.  Also, several of the other boys were wanting help with their assignments and I quickly found out that I wasn't much good to them in my current level of Spanish.  Ira had his own set of obstacles in working with the kids to do various projects.  

One of the boys, Luis, loves to work with Ira.  Everyday after school he is immediately at the workshop.  He is the boy who does not learn well academically but is very eager to help in any way he can.  Ira realized that this was an opportunity to teach Luis some basics in math and other subjects through vocational training.  He has already learned how to solder and this has boosted his self confidence as well. So Luis, who is 15 and has a grade 1-2 education and felt defeated in learning, will now become Ira's apprentice in the fall when Ira finishes his Spanish school.  We are also hoping to become more involved with devotional time and being spiritual mentors.

We are attending Harvest Language Center in Guadalajara.  It is Christian Language school created by and for missionaries. So in addition to the Spanish language, we are also learning Biblical vocabulary, doing devotions and Bible studies in Spanish.  We both feel very blessed by the directors, teachers and fellow missionaries in the school.   Next week we will wrap up our 1st session and take our exams, then have a break and start our next semester.  We have wanted to do this the whole time we have been here but until now, the timing just didn't work out.  Now looking back, we can see how God used the past 3+ years to prepare us.  We look forward to how God is going to use this to grow us in His service.

The Pan de Vida Youth Group finished their series on Missions by doing an overnight Mission trip to Amealco.  It is home to the indigenous Otomi people where many still speak their own dialect, and wear handmade traditional clothing.  The team stayed at "Casa Otomi", which is a Christian Community Center planted by missionaries and is partnered with Children of Hope.

The team did lots of preparation for the trip and organized a few outreaches.  Upon arriving, they pitched in to paint the playground equipment, all the doors and trim on the building.  In the afternoon they walked around the community, which is very spread out, and went door to door inviting other youth to come watch an evangelistic movie and fellowship with a hot dog and marshmallow roast.  That evening, an hour past the time to start, not a person had showed up.  The team then rallied in prayer that the people would come.  Soon, about 30 people showed up.  This in itself was a testimony to the power of prayer.  After the movie, Paco gave a message on salvation and God having a purpose for our lives.

The following day, the youth planned a soccer game.  The leaders had wanted the teams to mix the players together so that it would not be a competition of Pan de Vida youth vs. Otomi but the Otomi boys were not too receptive of the idea.  They weren't there for the sportsmanship, they wanted competition.  So they started as opposing teams and after a while, the Otomi team became more welcoming to the Pan de Vida players and then swapped up some.  After the game, the team served refreshments.  Kike gave a Biblical message and the youth then did 2 skits.  One was a dryme, which is a skit acted out to the words of a song and the other was a cardboard testimony.  

This mission opportunity was not only a way to minister to the people in the Otomi Village, it was also a way for the youth at Pan de Vida to grow in Christ and in unity with each other.  They learned to serve others and also how to have a Christian attitude when others are not open to God and His love for them.  It has really stirred in them a desire to do more in serving God because they witnessed that building the relationships and earning the trust of others in order to minister does take time.  

Pan de Vida had a special service this past Sunday as we celebrated Resurrection Day!  Everyone was up before dawn to attend the 6am Sunrise service.  We started with a time of worship and  Pastor Justo presenting the message on Jesus' Resurrection and our victory of life eternal for those who believe.  We then had a very meaningful time of communion.  

The youth group ended the service with a couple of performances.  They did a skit on Jesus' saving power and then a cardboard testimony.  It was very impacting as each one went up and displayed a piece of cardboard that explained their prior bondage and then flipped it over to reveal how God has worked in their life.  It was very emotional and an opportunity to reflect on how God is changing them.

After the service we all shared a traditional Mexican breakfast of tamales, atole, a thick, hot flavored drink and buñelos, which is a flat, sugared, fried bread.  It was a true celebration to our Risen Saviour.