MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE

  Paula and I just returned from a 10 day trip to Central Mexico.  San Jose Del Rincon to be exact. 1600 miles round trip in 2 vans to bring Christmas to 2000 + kids. Phil and Marianne Chain have been doing the Christmas backpacks gifts for years. We have been going with them for the last several years. Chiapas Mexico,  Puebla Mexico, San Rincon Mexico this year. 4 events in 4 days with the local church doing all the planning and set up at each event. 

   The hotel we stayed at had no heat to quell the 36 degree night Temps, and only spotty hot water powered by solar only. We made the best of it, and it was only blocks from Pastor Jorges church and home where we ate breakfast and dinner. 

   Several of us attended church at an outdoor Baptist Church in Michoacan, Mexico near the Monarch Butterflies wintering spot. A bright sunny day, but no time to make the trek up the mountain to get to them. It takes a few hours, but we've been there before.

  Several people accepted Christ during the programs. Paula and Marianne were sharing the Gospel as they fitted many with reading glasses and praying with them. The young people were presenting the Gospel in drama, song, puppets, skits and of course the giving of gifts to every child. A great week!!!

   We try sending out Christmas cards before we left, if we missed you we are sorry. Consider this your Christmas Card. I put this on Facebook to thank everyone for your prayers and support, we really appreciate it.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

THE BLESSINGS ARE ALREADY FLOWING

  Last Thursday a 53 foot semi trailer arrived with 3500 shoe box gifts, 500 backpacks full of toys and health kits, clothes, and even some shoes. There was also hundreds of bibles, boxes full of shoes, clothes, sewing materials, sewing machines,  a pulpit for Pastor Joel. It took only a few hours to unload it all. 

  After unloading, we loaded up two trailers, 3 vans and a pick up truck and crossed into Mexico 🇲🇽.  The Favor of the Lord was with us. We picked up Ricky Carroll and Jay at the airport on the way to Mexico.  Ricky is a Pastor and head of Handful of Purpose Ministries. He and his wife Theresa organize and collect all these gifts to distribute to several partners in Mexico. Some has already been given to Pastors that drive long distance to get them. The bulk of the gifts will be handed out personally when they return after Christmas. 

   Paula and I will be heading 12 hours south into Mexico with Phil and Marianne Chain with our van full to bless over 2000 kids with backpacks, toys, candy, and The Story of Jesus kids booklets. Beans, rice and other food will be given to each family. Jaime Mayorga Melodys Orphanage and a few other people will be coming down to join us for the outreaches scheduled for the 18th thru the 21st. Phil's partners from different states in Mexico will join us as well with doctors, dentists,  shoe shiners, hair stylists, evangelism will take place at each event.

   It's always a busy time of year for most of us, so we pray that this season will be different and more meaningful to us all as we anticipate the return of our Lord and Savior. Thanks to all for your continued prayers and support for all the outreaches.

   Our house finally sold and we have moved into our manufactured home. It's big 3 bedroom 2 baths, and we're trying hard to downsize to fit everything, after moving from the ministry house. 

   If your reading this, send me a text 708 528 4622, because I don't know if anyone even reads this. 

JOYCE MEYER CONFERENCE/ MENS GOLF

Last weekend Paula and 2 other friends attended the 3 day conference in San Antonio. They were completely full by the end. We golfed two of the 3 days and had a good time as well. 

  We finally got our new patio cover 

last week. It's only been destroyed since April. It looks great. The insurance company sent us our depreciation money they held until the work was completed. 

   Power ministry was here last week on thier scout out trip to pray about future building projects for next year. Our only project is to close in the east and west walls of the area we hold our food outreaches. 

   Paula continues making quilts two days a week and our monthly food outreach has been held every month for 16 years. 

   We are settling into our new home in Alamo TX.  Downsizing is a pain!! We need to eliminate more stuff. The new owners of the ministry house in San Juan are willing to let us park vehicles there, and use the warehouse to store food and the stuff we haven't gotten rid of yet. 

  Our plan is continuing our food distribution and spend time in Illinois during the hot summers in Texas. This year was brutal down here. 120 days 100 degrees or higher.

  Melodys Orphanage also moved this summer into a temporary house until a permanent residence is found or built. At the end of October they loose 40% of thier support, which leaves Paula and I and some of our supporters as the only support. Please pray 🙏 for continued provision for them. 

   We head to Illinois on Thursday to attend a special event for some very special people. We also get to attend a breakfast at Leas school, which will be a highlight 😉.  We purchased 500 soccer balls for this years backpack and Christmas gift outreach 14 hours into Mexico this December. 

NOW WEVE BEEN IN THE HEAT

We dropped off the R.V. to have the non working brakes fixed and several other things needed fixing. We flew home to finish moving everything out of the house in the heat. Everyday since we returned has been over 100 degrees. Over 50 days in a row!! 

   We're pretty much settled into the new house. The damage to our patio from the storm in April is still not fixed. I spoke to the contractor and he said it will be replaced in couple of weeks. I had the siding and awnings fixed.

   Melodys Orphanage has moved into another temporary house,  so the need for a permanent facility continues. We have been there a few times for birthdays and the kids are doing great.

  Our food outreaches continue, as does Paula's sewing class. Paula has sold all the quilts they have made, which is great. We're down to two pallets of beans in the warehouse and Hope Development called the other day and is donating another truck load of beans. We are on the hook for the transportation from Illinois. Fortunately the rate has gone down a bit from the last load. Should be under $3000.

   I'm heading back to Illinois next week to get our truck and R.V. It was a costly trip this year, $5000 in repairs total!!! Ouch !!!

BEATING THE HEAT

  We've been up in Illinois for the last several weeks enjoying the cooler weather, at least until now.  105 heat index here today and super muggy. It's been at or near 100 back home every day for over a month 😩. 

  Sergio and China are holding down the fort for us, feeding the 🐈 and watering the plants,  taking care of the ministry. We are indeed grateful for all they do.

  We stopped at Phil and Marianne Chains in Oklahoma for a few days before coming to Illinois. 4th of July at the Elozondos a tradition we try to keep. Camping at Indiana Beach twice while we've been here. A few days in Carthage  Illinois after our truck broke down. A few rounds of ⛳️,  lots of great food, and time spent with family and friends. 

  We fly home on Tuesday because now the camper is in the shopwith failing brakes. We thought that we'd fly home to the closing of our house,  but that has been postponed until September. 

  Melodys Orphanage has moved since we've been gone, to a new place in Reynosa. We will pay them a visit when we get back. We also celebrated our 26th anniversary last week. 

WHEN GOD MOVES, SO MUST WE

   Last year, we felt the Holy Spirit moving us to downsize and spend more time with Family up in Illinois. We purchased a manufactured home in Alamo in a nice park with a swimming pool,  club house and some very friendly people. Herb and Carol live there as well as Sandra. They have been on missions trips with us and support the ministry as well. We have been moving things over there for the last couple weeks. 

  Kaleo International Ministry is purchasing the ministry house in San Juan. They have a huge ministry in Mexico and other nations. It's been a long process,  but it looks like they have secured the loan to buy it. We haven't had any groups here since Covid so we felt it was time to move on. We don't need 6 bedrooms,4 baths and 2 kitchens for just us, but it will serve their ministry well.

  We were supposed to be leaving tomorrow to join the family at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota to camp for a week, but moving has us to busy. We'll head to Illinois in a few weeks.

  We will continue with ministry in Mexico with feeding and the distribution of food for the poor, and support of Melodys Orphanage. Sergio and China will help as they have been for several years, so while we're not here, ministry will continue. 

   Melodys Orphanage is still looking for a permanent solution for their housing. God knows the need, and promises to provide all their needs!!!. We stopped over there the other day for lunch. What a great group of kids, and they are getting so big.

  Please continue to pray 🙏 for 🇲🇽 as violence has increased lately with a new cartel trying to take over Reynosa. Pray for us as we move forward with moving. Ministry awaits us in Illinois as our friend Roger needs help with the several ministries to the poor and homeless people in Illinois and Indiana. So we're not retiring,  we're re- tiring meaning putting 4 new tires on our vehicle to keep going.

   

THE DAY OF THE CHILD

  Two weeks ago, maybe three, 🤔 Hull’s Grove Baptist Church came just in time to celebrate Children. An annual event in Mexico. We started the day at the dedication of a Church we paid to have their roof installed. We then held our monthly food outreach,  and celebrated the kids, moms, and dad's. 130 kids plus the parents had the community center full.

   The Hull’s Grove people held an children's program inside, while Jaime and Saul led in worship and the Word. I know I shared some of this on the last post, but I wasn't able to get the pictures on.

   A visit to Big Heart Orphanage in the mountains by the team, and also a visit to Melodys Orphanage and Children's Haven Orphanage. 

A LONG TIME BETWEEN POSTS

 I guess this is the longest stretch between posts. Mainly because I don't know who's reading it since Blogger no longer forwards the posts to email. We have been keeping busy with food distribution and Paula's sewing class. 

  We just had our first team in years. Hulls Grove Baptist Church has come for the last 8 years or so, building houses, ministering in the colonia,  and helping with Melodys Orphanage. Six ladies came the week before from the same area and held children's outreaches,  visited 3 orphanages and stayed at Big Heart Orphanage ❤️. 

  The team from Hull’s Grove Baptist Church arrived on Saturday and they helped remove debris from our trailer park that sustained a lot of damage from a storm Friday night, including our trailer. We returned to the park on Monday to continue to help remove debris and repair a few roofs.

  Sunday we went to Pastor Juan Cantus church to attend the dedication after we had paid for the structural steel and roofing materials. They had been without a roof for 2 years!! How many of us would attend a church without a roof? The congregation fed us delicious tamales 🫔 😋  after the service.

  We left there and headed to the Community Center for our Childs Day Celebration and our monthly food outreach. We had soccer balls and gifts for the kids and we also gave the women gifts for Mothers Day and the men for Father's Day. 

  We took the team to see where the immigrants were in Sende de Vida camp. They also went to Children’s Haven Orphanage on Wednesday and Thursday and Friday we were at Big Heart Orphanage in the mountains ⛰️. 

  Now Paula and I are in Illinois for Leas dance recital tomorrow. We arrived on my birthday and are always excited to see the Family.  Thanks for your prayers and support.