Dear Friends:
Our vision for our girls at Casa is that we would be able to help them see themselves as unique and valuable in the Lord, seeking to fulfill all of the potential He put in them. We believe a strong relationship with the Lord and a good education are the keys to their success. We pray the Spirit of Jesus will be upon them!
Isa 11:2-3 The Spirit of the LORD will rest on (them) — the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD — and (they will) will delight in the fear of the LORD. NIV
If we can help them to be well-equipped to go out into this world with a success mentality, and in the Spirit of the Lord, we are confident they will have a positive impact on our world!
It has been an eventful summer at Casa! First, one of our supporters sent the funds so that Gracie could start her hepatitis C treatment! What a miracle, and what a blessing! A lot of her liver has been substantially harmed by the hepatitis, and the prognosis for her was really bad. Now, we need to pray for her that the medication will destroy the hepatitis, and that her liver will be restored adequately that her life will no longer be endangered by a liver that is not functioning adequately. She will be taking daily treatments for the next 3 months.
Secondly, the doctors have advanced the date for kidney replacement for Ana. She and her mother, Lucy, who is the donor, are scheduled for surgery on August 16. She must report to the hospital a week ahead of time to prepare, so the time is almost here! While this is good news, we want to continue to pray that God will heal her kidneys and she will not need the surgery. That would be far better! The time is short! Let’s bathe Ana in prayer!
Our high school graduates are all on track to continue their education, but all on different tracks! Lulu has now gone to Chihuahua to live with her older sister. She states that her goal is to attend an English language school there until she is proficient in English, and then she wants to apply to come to the US to college to be educated as a physical therapist. We will provide help for her to accomplish her dreams, beginning with helping to pay for her schooling in Chihuahua this coming semester. We haven’t learned the cost of this school yet.
Cielo and Briza are busy finding a place to live in Cd. Juarez, so that they can attend intensive English language courses this coming semester. They have found a school to enroll in that will only cost them $200 per month each.
Victoria has received all of her credentials (her I-20) from the El Paso Community College, and Ana is busy trying to get her appointment at the US Consulate in Juarez scheduled. We are praying she will get her visa! Ana’s sister, who lives in El Paso, has volunteered to let Vicky stay with her! The costs of this school are about $2,600 per semester.
All of our girls not headed to college went on vacation in Chihuahua this past week with Betty and one of our helpers at Casa, sister Ruth. They report having a great time doing fun things around town.
We should be getting 4 new girls at Casa in the next week or two as we get ready for the new school year. We are praying that the Lord will direct this process and we will get the 4 girls who can most benefit from our program.
July, we had our annual fun day at a nearby recreation area, where the kids could just have a fun “retreat” day of swimming, playing games, Bible learning, and a great worship time. We had about a total of 60 students from Palomas and Ascension participated.
Now in August we start a new school year! We are excited to see what the Lord is going to do in the lives of the children and families in Palomas. We have 118 students registered for the program. We still have 4 secondary and 2 high school students who are in need of a sponsor. If you would like to help, please fill out the form below and send to Pat in the envelope enclosed. We will be giving them backpacks full of supplies and measuring them for uniforms on Saturday. The Pastors and parents will join us for an orientation and overview of the year to come. As with any program we learn new things each year and try a few new ones. We hope to have more involvement from Pastors and parents this next year. We covet you prayers for the program and all those involved.
Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it. Proverbs 22:6
Blessings,
Bere, Jim and Pat