Dear Friends:
The school year is coming to a close, and we are busy with all of the duties that come at this time of year! We have Michelle graduating from elementary school in the end of June, Andrea graduating from Secundaria (Jr. High), and Briza, Cielo, Lulu, and Victoria graduating from high school.
Big changes coming for Casa! With 4 of our girls headed to English language school (we hope and pray!), we will also be opening up Casa to 4 new girls this summer! It’s like our “family” of girls keeps growing! At this point, we are starting a big fund-raising drive to help provide support for all of this! So, we are attaching a brochure for you to consider and to pass around! Our costs are about to go up, with 4 girls in college! That is going to cost us about $2,000 per month extra to pay for their tuition, books and a little $ for necessities, which is about $500 per month each.
Report on this last month. It looks like Ana is stabilizing, and will be able to rejoin our team as Assistant Director of Casa this month, after a long period where her very life was in danger due to her kidneys shutting down. She is on a stable dialysis plan, and she may be getting a transplant very soon! Betty has begun a weekly Bible study for our girls and for other women and girls in the community, and it is growing quickly–this is an awesome ministry for the women and girls of Palomas! Gracie continues to bless us in leadership and counseling for the girls! We are praying for a solution to her grave liver issues caused by hepatitis C.
Our girls are getting Spring fever it seems like, and so many have had to go on disciplinary measures for one thing or another this month–oh the trials of teenagers! We continue to stand on:
Prov 22:6 Teach your children to choose the right path, and when they are older, they will remain upon it.
We are thankful we can trust the Lord in this, that He will always be there for them, that He loves them more than we do!
Pastor Beto Herrera is working monthly to provide encouragement, direction, and unity for the Pastors of the churches we sponsor in Palomas. Unity of the churches, and simply an opportunity for our Pastors to obtain sound wisdom is so important! We are so thankful for this new component of our ministry!
This past month in the Alas de Amor program, the youth group from Ascension share with our students and parents the importance of commitment. Commitment is defined as “the state or quality of being dedicated to a cause, activity, etc.” We want to encourage all of our students and their family members to embrace the definition and mandate of God to be faithful to avoid any compromises they might make in their personal, professional and spiritual lives.
Matthew 5:37 All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.
This coming month, we are looking forward to celebrating Mother’s Day with all of the churches we work with in Palomas! This is a big day in Mexico, and we love to do what we can to help bless mothers! The churches will have a drama for the moms, and we have been busy gathering gift bags from many of you, and checking the stores to buy discount items like toasters, blenders, and even microwaves, that the churches can give as prized to games they will play with their members. It is truly a joyful event. WE WOULD LOVE TO HAVE ANY OF YOU COME WHO MAY WANT TO PARTICIPATE! We will be holding these events during the day on Saturday, May 12.
As mentioned in our last letter, we took pictures of all of our current and prospective students that, God willing, will be in the program next year. As many of you know, the Alas de Amor program would not exist without the orphanage Casa de Amor para Niños. We initiated the scholarship program to support those students and families in need in Palomas and other surrounding towns. Throughout the years, we have seen how God has been working in those communities and the families and student in the program. I can say, with confidence and faith, that God has and will continue to use Alas de Amor.
However, as mentioned before, the Alas de Amor program wouldn’t exist without the orphanage. It is imperative to keep the orphanage running to be able to support our 12 girls and continue our work with Alas de Amor. This year we saw the urgent necessity for financial support for the Orphanage, since on average we need $6,000 dollars per month to support the orphanage. We have been seeing the need to increase the income support coming to Casa de Amor para Niños, since our 12 girls need to be provided and attend, plus four of them will be starting college this upcoming year, which really means we will be supporting 16 girls!
Thinking of a way to maintain the support for the orphanage and scholarship program, we asked God for guidance and believe He is showing us that we need to establish monthly support for both programs. Please see the attached brochure, and please see if you can recruit others to become involved in supporting this amazing program! We know that God will continue to be faithful and pour his blessings out upon each one of you.
Malachi 3:10 …Test me in this, says the LORD Almighty, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.
Blessings,
Bere, Jim and Pat