Thank heaven the Covid restrictions are coming down! We can go out and do things again! And that may include a missions trip to Mexico for you! (Sorry, it is not all expenses paid) But, we still have kids, families, churches in Palomas and nearby villages that need help and encouragement. We still have girls in Casa who need godly big-brothers and big-sisters, or Aunts and Uncles to steer them on a good path! People are able to cross the border with a real ID driver’s license, so you don’t need a passport. If you have been thinking, “maybe I will go check it out one of these days,” maybe this is your time! We will have a group going to Palomas Friday afternoon, July 9, and returning either late on Saturday night, or early on Sunday morning, because the church van is needed by the Youth Group on Sunday. Give me a call if you would like to go! 505.690.8302 (leave a message if I don’t pick up).
Last month was a great time at Casa, as we finally got to celebrate the quinceañeras for Melissa and Nahomi. It was a Vaquero quinceañera celebration! The girls got to dress up, and then we held a Christian celebration for them, with words of encouragement from Raymundo, prayers over them, and then on to the dinner! A couple of young men brought horses by for the girls to ride—that was quite an event, as both girls were scared to death, but eventually we were able to get them on the horses for a few minutes. Then we had a taco dinner and we did a line-dance (believe it or not, I danced with them, with my 2 left feet!)
After the dinner, we had my favorite part of the whole fiesta, the ring ceremony. This is something I do with all of the girls from Casa, and I think the idea came from Focus on the Family many years ago. It is a serious moment when I explain to them that now they are “coming of age”, it is time to dedicate their lives and their bodies to the Lord. I talk to them about abstaining from sex until marriage and that is important to understand that they are “married” to Christ as a part of His church. Then I gave them each a nice ring that had “Primera Diós” inscribed inside.
That is something that is important for all of us to keep in mind—we are the bride of Christ, and he, as the bridegroom, will be coming soon to claim his bride! Eph 5:25-28
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, 26 so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. 28 So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. NASU
This passage explains that by baptism into Christ, we are set apart—sanctified—cleansed of our sins and made pure through the forgiveness of sins so that we may be presented to Him, holy and blameless. Our side of the covenant is to keep his Commands and to draw near to Him. It is a beautiful picture of how the bridegroom makes a covenant with us, much like an engagement, calling us to be faithful to him and the Word of God, and even then, he enables us to keep the commitment and cleanses us of our sins. In Rev. 19:7-8, we see that we, as the church, at the end of this age, will have cleansed ourselves, and we will be ready for the wedding ceremony as His bride (the final fulfillment of His covenant with us!)
The girls have finished with school for the summer, Andrea is graduating and plans to go to a Communications school in Chihuahua. We are hoping and praying it works out for her. So far, we have not been able to find a family for her to stay with, and if we can’t, then she will have to delay starting college until January, when she is 18. Ana and I are hoping to meet with DIF in Cd. Juarez later this week to see whether we might obtain additional girls from them. Our goal is to fill the shelter back up with girls in August. Please keep this in your prayers.
so we are thinking that she may decide she doesn’t want to continue in college. We will see. Lupita is playing “catch-up” in school, after basically losing 2 years of school due to the ineptness of the government and the schools to really help kids, and so it appears she has become demoralized. She is 18 now, but still has 2 years of school to obtain a diploma. We are praying and encouraging her to hang in there. She is a sweet girl, and she definitely has a lot of potential.
May the Lord bless you and keep you, may He make His face to shine upon you, may He fill you with His Spirit, and may He grant you peace!
Jim & Pat
Hello, Alas family. It is time once again for our newsletter. We have quite a bit to celebrate this month, as we are having our annual graduations and end-of-school-year celebrations with all our students.
Additionally, we gave special recognition to all those students who managed to maintain an 8.5 or higher GPA, all the more impressive given that all of them were taking their courses remotely. We gave these outstanding students a prize, not only to motivate them but also to motivate all the other students to strive to better their grades.
Also, in June, we took new pictures of all our students, new and old. As we welcome our new students to the program, we ask you all, Alas family, to pray for us and our students so that we can find new sponsors. We would also like to mention the wonderful help of one of our Alas college students Oscar Maldonado Valerio, a dedicated student and follower of Christ. He helped us this month in teaching our young students by speaking about his own experience in school and in Alas. You can read more about him and his future goals in his testimonial below.
This month, we would like to spotlight our college students. We want to make clear how great of an achievement it is to see our students succeed with the program all the way to college, so each of the following students deserve the utmost praise. We would also like to give special praise to Aurora, as she
Aurora Chavez
“I’ve been in Alas de Amor for 8 years now. Alas helped me by covering the
majority of my tuition, from middle school all the way through college. Alas also
helped me feel motivated and believe in who I could be as a person. I only have
a few weeks left in college. I’m considering working in the Department of
Transportation or perhaps start my own business. I’ve learned a lot of stuff,
academically and for my personal development. Most of all, I appreciate all the
life lessons I’ve learned.”
Oscar Maldonado Valerio
“I am studying to be a Computational Systems Engineer. I have been in Alas de Amor for 8 years. Alas de Amor helped me financially, helping me and my parents. School tuition and costs became more and more expensive every year, and they helped with that. I see them as a means to continue with my studies that God put in my life. I am 2 years away from finishing up school. I’ve thought about becoming a teacher, but I first would need to finish a Master’s degree. I’ve also thought about being a network engineer, starting my own business in computers, or perhaps graphic design. The most interesting thing I’ve learned was how to design and create mobile apps, making webpages, videogame programming, network design and installation within enterprises, business administration, logo design, cellphone software and hardware repair, computation and many other things.”
Edith Gonzalez
“I am studying Business Administration. I’ve been in Alas de Amor between 7-8 years. Without the help of Alas de Amor, I would not be able to study in college. They help me financially and motivationally. I have two and a half years left in my degree. I’ve thought about going away to work in larger corporations. I find everything I’ve been thought very interesting. “
Brisa Santellanes
“I am studying to be a nurse. I’ve been part of Alas de Amor for 7 years now. Alas de Amor has helped me continue with my studies and follow God’s path. I have about 3-4 years left of school. I would like to apply to be a nurse in a hospital. The most interesting thing I’ve learned is about the personal rights of U.S. citizens.”
Cielo Santellanes
“I am currently studying special education. I’ve been in the Alas de Amor program for 7 years. Without a doubt, Alas de Amor has been a great blessing in my life because it has helped me financially in my studies. I still have a long way to go to finish my degree, but I am almost done with my first year. I still have 3 more years to go before I can reach my goal. I would love to work for a school for children with disabilities so that I can help them learn as much as possible. During this past year I’ve learned a lot, but learning a new language and understanding a new culture has been a great but worthwhile challenge.”
Victoria Gonzalez
“I am studying nutrition. I have been in the program for 7 years. Alas de Amor has helped me a lot and I would like they continued to help me. I have 1 year left of school. I would like to work in a hospital. The most interesting things I’ve learned were how to calculate calories for patients.”
Once again, Alas de Amor family, we appreciate everything that you’ve done and continue to do for us. We could not do anything we do without you. We hope that these testimonials form our college students help understand why it is that we work hard for what we do. We can only dream of a day in which all of our children are able to chase their dreams and receive a college education. May God bless you all.
Bere