What's going on at Dulce Refugio
I know that many people have passed through this orphanage and left their mark at Dulce Refugio. I want to keep all of you informed about what is going on with the kids and the construction process. Please remember to keep us in your thoughts and prayers; I hope you continue to help us out here at Casa Hogar Dulce Refugio. Gracias amigos!
July was full with a wide range of events. I went on a couple of trips, hosted a team from Ohio, got a lot of work done, and spent lots of time with the kids while they're on summer vacation. It has been a great month and I'm excited to keep going...hopefully the school will be finished by the end of August.
My cousin got married in Puerto Vallarta. Over July 4th weekend, lots of family flew into Mexico and I was able to drive over to the beach for the special occasion. My parents were there and lots of other family as well. It was really good to see everybody. Congrats Ashlyn & Omar!
A HUGE thank you to the team from Ohio! They came down for 2 weeks and helped me out with a ton of projects. We were able to finish tiling & grouting the 3rd floor, almost finish the tile art on the 2nd floor, paint the office, cement the rocks around the trees, paint the walkway with varnish giving the rocks a nice red shine, and start a couple of welding projects.
It wasn't all work for the Ohio team. There were lots of fun activities planned with the kids. We hiked to the top of "Picacho" (one of the mountains here in Aguascalientes), went bowling, went swimming and other nights just hung out. As always, it was hard to say goodbye. The kids did a dance for the team and then there were lots of tears & hugs. We hope to see you guys again soon here at Dulce Refugio.
We received 2 new kids this month:
Iker is one of our younger boys and is fitting in nicely. He seems to always be smiling and willing to help out.
Irene is one of our older girls and is a little quiet. She gets along well with the others but still needs a little time to come out of her shell. I'm confident that she'll feel more comfortable really soon.
We said goodbye to 2 kids this month:
Fernando has been with us for almost 3 years now. At the end of the school semester he went to live with his grandma. He is a very good kid, a little hyper, but definitely a joy to be around. I gave him the nickname "Pakistani" and will miss seeing him around.
Andrea also went home after the school year ended. Andrea did not come through the government DIF agency so she went back with her family. I guess their situation has improved and they are now able to take care of her.
We had a team from Florida come for a day. They helped us out a lot and we got many projects done. We washed the 3rd floor with an acid cleaner because it got stained pretty bad from the grout. They helped the Ohio team paint the office, made concrete for the bunny cage so they can't dig under the fence and escape, and they helped bring more wheelbarrows of dirt to level the ground....this project is STILL not done. When the Horizon team comes in August we can finally finish!! There will be lots of dirt waiting for them.
We had 2 graduations. Two of our girls will be moving up to middle school so they will be in a new school for the fall semester. Congratulations Liliana & Jocelyn!
Nadia came to visit! Nadia is a walking miracle. She used to live in the Casa Hogar until she was diagnosed with cancer in December 2017. She was in real bad shape when she was in the hospital and no doctor thought she would make it past January 2018. Then all of a sudden things improved and she was released in February 2018. Since then she has been living in a government senior center where there is a medical staff on call 24/7. We have been trying to get permission to take her out of the senior center for a couple of hours at a time and finally after 1 1/2 years, the government approved....what a speedy process! Her 1st visit was to Dulce Refugio and we hope this will be the 1st of many trips outside for Nadia.
Praise God for her life...Prayer works!!
I had to drive up to the border to renew my visa & car permit. I got my documents and now I'm legal for another 6 months. I decided to go a different route and crossed through Laredo, TX, making my way up to Austin, TX. I was able to visit my friends Doug & Blanca Gephart and their 2 daughters. They were a missionary family to Dulce Refugio and served full time in our ministry for 1 1/2 years. It was really good to see them again and they took me on a tour of the capital of Texas.
And finally we said goodbye to the students from Ibero University in Mexico City. They were doing their community service requirement at our orphanage and have been helping out the past 2 months. It was a really good group of people and they were a huge blessing to the orphanage. They helped out a lot with the daily routine and took care of almost all of the driving. Thank you Ibero!
Please pray that God will bring more people to get involved with the ministry. “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few." -Matthew 9:37.