Big Ride 2009

The Big Ride is over. 150.02 miles. It was the hardest one ever, because I picked a day day where the temperature went high into the 90's. I broke my personal record for water consumed. Much of it dumped on my head. This year I did the ride completely solo. A first. I missed my buddies.

Here are some photos I took from the bicycle while I was riding. It is quite a challenge to aim and time the shot to get what you want. But it also results in some interesting shots.

Thanks to all that supported the ride. It still is not too late. Hope to see everyone at the party and fundraiser on Sunday.

JCEP Kids Update

(Photo Above: Blanca and Anahi cut watermelon for the Fiesta.)

Saturday, August 15

After the construction and medical team left Juarez, Timothy Purdy decided to stay behind with me to connect with the kids in our JCEP program. We dropped off the team at the airport and returned to the Colonia. Saturday afternoon was filled with visits to many of the homes where our kids lived. We disturbed many siestas, but were never met with less than smiles and invitations to sit and talk.

First we went to the home of Anahi, our second-year college student studying to become an attorney. I have become good friends with her family. Her father is now working on construction for a new factory near the Santa Teresa border, where a Taiwanese company will manufacture parts for Apple. We sat around the dining room table in the middle room of their Mission-Ministries-constructed house. He sent Anahi’s two younger sisters to buy us Cokes at the nearby aborrotes (small grocery store). Anahi shared her photos with Tim. Reliving her trip to the U.S. last summer.

Anahi has become somewhat of a big shot at her local church. On Friday night, when the rest of the team went to the local church, I went to see Anahi as the Master of Ceremonies at her church’s youth night. She introduced a very entertaining band, a young rapper and the minister. The whole evening lasted nearly four hours and the alter call alone was more than an hour. This varies greatly from our tidy one-hour services at my church. I am very proud of Anahi with her polish and confidence on stage in front of a large group. This public speaking will serve her well in her future career as an attorney.(Photo Above: The three amigos, Moises, Samuel and David after Anahi's church service.)

Next we dropped by the home of Leo and Susie. Leo now heads up Mission Ministries in Mexico. Susie is busy running both libraries and shepherding our thirteen JCEP students. They have taken in a young Tarahumara girl named Natividad. Leo is a missionary and visits the Tarahumara in Copper Canyon once per month. We conversed in Leo’s living room sitting beneath a big beautiful photo of their daughter Esmerelda, taken at her quinciñera (party celebrating a girl’s fifteenth birthday) a few years earlier. Esmerelda will be joining our group of students as she begins college to become a teacher this fall.

Within walking distance of Leo’s is the cluster of homes surrounding the original library, now called Library 1 by the locals. Juanita (11th grade JCEP student) lives with her family in this cluster. We spoke with her and her parents and enjoyed a baby that her Mom was watching for a friend.

In the back of the complex we awoke Angel (8th grade JCEP student) and his mother Rosa from their siesta. We didn’t stay long since Rosa appeared anxious to get back to her nap. She works hard in the Missions Ministries kitchen and had gotten up at 5 am to make breakfast for the team that morning. (Photo Left: Angel helping with house construction.)

We hopped in the car and made the short trek to Blanca’s house. Blanca is in her second year of college studying psychology. We hung out with Blanca and her family for more than an hour. Consuming more Coca Cola, which seems to be the hospitality drink of choice in these parts. Blanca’s dad speaks English very well. He has picked it up just by listening, reading and watching TV. He is still unemployed and Blanca’s Mom is also now unemployed having been laid of from her job at the Phillips ballast factory after many years of working the night shift.

Finally we drove down “Dead Horse Road” to kilometer 30. Kilometer 30 is named thus because it is approximately 30 Kilometers from the border. Dead Horse Road cuts through some bleak desert and is covered on both sides with trash, dumped and burned by the locals. The name comes from the fact that horse carcasses are occasionally dragged there to rot. I, in fact, had seen such a carcass last time I visited. (Photo Below: Dead Horse Road.)

We toured almost every road looking for the home of Jesus, our translator, driver and construction boss for the teams visiting. We finally found his house by spotting the gazebo he is building for his two daughters’ quinciñeras coming up in two years. This emphasized how important these coming out parties are for the girls here. Families spend a lot of money and time planning them.

Jesus’ house is the size of three MM houses all put together to make a very large and comfortable house. Jesus moved his family out to the desolate Kilometer 30 a couple of years ago and was able to buy his land cheap. This before there was even electricity in the neighborhood. Now he has electricity and a pretty nice place relative to his neighbors.

Our visits completed, Tim and I headed off to dinner at a restaurant, La Cabaña, which had been recommended near kilometer 20. The place was packed with the more upscale residents of town and we enjoyed a very good beef dish with tortillas, cheese and spices. With drinks the whole meal was $20. We brought back the sizable leftovers for our guard at the team center.

We ended the evening with a sunset walk trough the Colonia. Everyone was out enjoying the pleasant evening. We spotted a knot of people down the street and as we approached we saw Leo sitting outside surrounded by lots of folks. He was holding court and enjoying the evening. We chatted for a while before returning to the team center for the evening.

Sunday, August 16

The big plan for Sunday was to have a Fiesta at the MM team center. We invited all the JCEP kids and the Leo and Susie Pineda family. But we had some time to relax before going shopping in the afternoon.

I woke up early and decided to have a walk through the Colonia early in the morning. I took my camera hoping to get some good shots and indeed, I did. Being Sunday morning, the place was eerily quiet. It usually teems with activity the whole day. See my photos from walking around on my flicker site.

(Photo Above: Juanita, Perla and Claudia on the roof during house cosntruction.)In the afternoon, Tim and I made our way to WalMart in Juarez. We picked up burgers, vegetables, buns, soda, ice cream and watermelon. The WalMart has most of the same look and merchandise as the one in El Paso. Except you have to pay 4 pesos to park. The portion sizes of items seemed smaller too. Maybe people don’t buy in bulk or don’t have living-room-sized refrigerators.

We picked up Blanca and Anahi to help us prep for the party and dragged everything into the kitchen. A couple of hours later everyone started arriving. We had all the thirteen of current kids at the party. As a big surprise one of our graduates, Marta, came with her son Diego, age 14 months. It was great to see Marta. She is doing a great job as a Mom and is happily married with a husband who holds down a steady job.

The kids played basketball and fusball while I cooked the burgers. When they were ready, Anahi and Blanca assembled the burgers In-N-Out style with lettuce, tomato and onions. Everyone seemed to like the burgers and most even had a second.

(The kids from left to right: David, Angel, Moises, Perla Lupita, Samuel, Anahi, Margarita, Blanca, Esmerelda, Claudia, Carla, Juanita, Edith.)

I spent time speaking with each of the kids. We now have the following kids in the program.

Angel – 8th grader at Mexico Libre school. His Mom works in the Kitchen at MM. Angel is a smiling happy young man who worked hard helping us build the house earlier in the week.

Perla Lupita- 8th grader at Mexico Libre. Her Mom also works in the Kitchen at MM. Perla Lupita also helped on the house. She is very bright and charming young lady.

Claudia – 10th grader at Mexico Libre. I call Claudia Miss Mexico, because of her dazziling smile. She also is really gets great marks in school. (Photo Left: Claudia at construction site.)

Margarita – 10th grader at Mexico Libre. Margarita is quiet and intense. A very good student.

David – 10th grader at Mexico Libre. One of the three Amigos, David is a very good athlete and cleaned everyone’s clock in Fusball too.

Moises – 10th grader at Mexico Libre. Another Amigo, Moises is one of our standout English learners. He is always quick to engage in conversation and is quite confident.

Samuel – 10th grader, Mexico Libre. Samuel is quiet. But he gets the best grades of the bunch and Joel, the English teacher tells me he is the best at English as well.

Edith – 10th grader at new school. Edith just moved a little down the road and is attending a new high school that I do not know. I hope to see it next time I am in Juarez.

Juanita – 11th grader, Esperanza public school. Juanita has been in our program since the start, she would be our first kid to go through all 6 upper grades to graduation with our program. (Photo Left: Juanita on Slide)

Carla – 12th grader Mexico Libre. Carla is only in her second year in our program, but she is doing very well in English classes. She hopes to go to college next year.

Esmerelda – Freshman in teachers college. Esmerelda is Susie and Leo’s daughter. This is her first year in our program.

Blanca – 2nd year at Centro Cultural University de Cuidad Juarez. Blanca is studying psychology. She has been getting 9’s and 10’s on the 1 to 10 grading scale they use in Juarez. Blanca has become very conversational in English since her trip to the U.S. last summer.

Anahi – 2nd year at Centro Cultural University de Cuidad Juarez. Anahi is studying to become an attorney. She wants to work in the Colonia after graduation to help her people. Anahi has become a public speaker, leading youth worship services at church in front of 300 people. Her English is conversational after her immersion trip last summer.

It was really great to see everyone and spend so much time with them. Leo and Susie really are the glue of things and they are deeply involved with all the kids. Susie drives them to all functions in the Van we bought last year. We got group photos and the party went very late. (Photo Right: Margarita and Edith.)

I must say I really love spending time with these kids. They are special people and I am very blessed to be part of their lives. (Photo Below: Everyone at the Fiesta.)

SRK

Library 2 Up and Running Strong

I got to visit our second library in Kilometer 30. Originally constructed by our team in January 2008 and outfitted with furniture and books earlier this year, it is now fully operational. There are two librarian/teachers in the library when it is open. The hours are 2 to 6, Monday through Friday. Susie spends most of her time here since it is even more heavily used than the original library. (Photo above of computer classroom.)

The library is equipped with computers and furniture paid for by funds from an anonymous donor. The tables are rugged, first-quality new tables and the chairs are equally rugged, blue plastic stacking chairs. In the main library there are tables for the smaller kids as well as adult-sized tables. There is a classroom equipped with six computers. There is an additional computer equipped study space in the main part of the library. (Photo at right: Susie Pineda our librarian and JCEP shepherd.)

We still are adding books but as of now have a nice stock. On school days the place is packed. It even had students on this Friday when school had not yet begun the new year.

Outside, the playground equipment is holding up well with the bat slide, teeter-totter and the swing. The soccer field is dirt but is lined with half-buried tires for a boundary. (Photo below: The Bat Slide with JCEP van a Library 2 in the background.)

Next to the library is the house we built last year for the family to watch over the library. So far the security has worked well. The government installed a four-headed overhead streetlight to help as well. There is a Missions Ministries medical clinic on the site as well. It is staffed once per week by a doctor from Juarez. (Photo below: Story time at the new library.)
The whole complex is right next door to the local primary school and is within a short walk of the kindergarten as well. I am assured it has been a great blessing to the area and has become somewhat of a community center.

Thanks to all that have supported JCEP and this effort. You have blessed many families in this poor community. (Photo Below: The tires surround the soccer field.)

SRK

Aug 2009 Construction Team Trip Report

Duane Clapp and Hardwin Mead led sixteen folks, your author included, for a trip to build a house and staff the medical clinic in the Colonias outside of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. We were hosted by our friends at Missions Ministries. They run the construction teams and medical clinic. (Photo above: The construction team, JCEP kids that helped in construction and the family receiving the just completed home.)

After flying into El Paso on Southwest Airlines on Wednesday, we boarded vans for the trip across the border to the Colonias. The recent drug wars in Juarez don’t seem to have touched the Colonias. Outside of a few military checkpoints, the Colonias seem as bustling and crowded as ever. Walking outside in the streets one evening, the people were out in force welcoming us and sharing stories.

On Thursday morning we rose early and after a hearty breakfast at the Mission Ministries team center, began the construction. We built for a family of four who lived within a short drive of the center. The father, Baltasar, was just home from his night shift job as a security guard for Pemex, the Mexican oil monopoly. The mother Veronica and daughter Karen, 17 and Michelle, 10 pitched in pounding nails with our team. (Photo below: The team tilts up the first completed wall.)
We were also joined by five of the kids from the Juarez Children’s Educations Program (JCEP), our scholarship programs for Junior High, High School and college students. Our twelve-person construction team was relatively small, but with the extra help we got the walls tilted up within two hours. The roof was on by noon and we insulated and dry-walled the inside before 1:30, only five hours after we began!

While we were building, our medical team was seeing twenty-five families with a total of nearly eighty patients. The team was headed by Hardwin Mead. Nurse PJ Meys and medical students Ben Murray and Timothy Purdy completed our team. They were assisted by two translators and two staff members from Mission Ministries. Dave McCombs, President of Mission Ministries and his wife Judy also worked the clinic and pharmacy. (Photo Below: Hardwin Mead and our translator Joel, consult with an expectant mother before an ultrasound.)
Following another big dinner, Leo Pineda, the director of operations for Mission Ministries in Juarez told us his exciting trips to serve the Tarahumara Indians in the remote Copper Canyon of Mexico.

Day two again started early with devotionals and breakfast. We painted the house inside and out. Normally, we don’t finish the drywall the first day and cannot paint the inside, but this time we got it done. The keys were turned over by noon in a tearful and joyful presentation to the family. Marina Clapp and Debbie Scalero had purchased house-warming gifts for the family, on behalf of the team. The rugs, housewares and curtains made excellent gifts to get the home outfitted. The medical team took a break from treating another large group of patients to help dedicate the house.

I want to thank our construction team, for their hard work: our fearless leader Duane Clapp, Marina Clapp, Steve Schlepper, Nick and Debbie Scalero, Winslow Yee and his amazing twelve-year old son Everett, Richard Wolke, Austin Mead, Rex “the drywall lifter” Finato and Brian Mead, my fellow ceiling insulation installer. We were all led be Jesus, our construction manager and driver on the team and Bill Orange our long time collaborator on all things Juarez. I should also mention that the MM team of local construction experts was there as well, tackling some of the tough things like drywall cuts and electrical wiring.(Photo Below: A family staying at the women's shelter.)

In the evening the team headed out after dinner to church service with the family. Ben gave his testimony in Spanish. A very tired group returned back to the team center for an early turn-in.

On Saturday, the team returned to California having never spent a better four days. Tim and I stayed behind to tackle a few JCEP chores. More on that in my next blog.

I have some final thoughts I would like to share. Most years, Missions Ministries (MM) hosts 35 to 45 teams in Juarez to build as many as 65 houses. They also have helped JCEP build two Libraries and have constructed many churches. They have been severely hampered by a downturn in the number teams traveling to Juarez this past year. The biggest factor is fear of the recent drug-war casualties near the U.S-Mexico Border. I have been down twice this year and have never felt safer. We do not work in Ciudad Juarez, but in the Colonias (poor villages) some twenty miles southwest of the city. We travel around the city to get to the Colonias passing through the Santa Teresa, New Mexico port of entry. The Mexican army has several checkpoints and has been instrumental in cleaning up the police force and gangs.

If you feel called to serve others, there is no better way to do it in such a short time commitment and for so little money. Please contact me if you would like to join a team or receive more information. We need to get back off the sidelines and start supporting this great cause once more. (Photo Below: The Family getting the keys to their new home from Duane Clapp.)

SRK

Babies of Juarez

In 2007, the Anderson family went to Juarez on a Mission trip. Like many they did not want to leave behind these great people, but wanted to continue helping. They noticed that babies sometimes go 4 days without a diaper change because the parents cannot afford diapers. Cloth diapers are impossible because of scarce and expensive water. They also noticed that the high infant mortality was due to malnourished mothers that cannot breast fed and cannot afford formula. So they started Babies of Juarez to help provide these items. It is a compelling story and one that offers hope for so many babies in the colonias where we at JCEP build and educate. Read about this great effort at www.babiesofjuarez.org.

Juarez Mission Trip and Library Opening Jan 2009

Trip Summary

Joni and I traveled to Juarez with her family, my daughter Sara and a team of 43 people, including six medical professionals for our annual January trip. We built three houses for families in Kilometer 30, south of Cuidad Juarez. One house was built next to our library built last year. Caretakers will live in the house and watch over the library.

We had the grand opening for the library. (Photo Above) This included shelving books from an anonymous donor and those contributed by Fiesta Gardens School. These were added to books contributed by Menlo School the year before. We also installed computers and librarian desks. In addition, the tile and carpet were recently completed in the library. Also, the play structure outside the library was completed while we were there. The library will be open immediately for students to study after school.

The 12 students that we sponsor joined us. (Photo Above) They helped build the house next to the library. They also participated in the grand opening. Joni presented our 5 newest students with cross necklaces. We also presented blankets raised by Menlo School to Missions Ministries for distribution to the poor and clothes from many contributors.

The medical team treated over 100 patients. Including 3 pregnant ladies who received ultra-sounds. Many folks visited the New David L. Seabolt eye clinic, founded and staffed on our trip by Beth Seabolt and her assistant Julie Burlew.

Trip Diary January 18

We had a very early flight into Juarez. It was a direct flight but did have one stop in L.A. We arrived in El Paso around 1 PM and then had lunch at the airport. We proceeded to WalMart to pick up additional supplies including food, water, and food for the food outreach we would be doing on the trip. Unlike past years, we decided to forego eating dinner at a restaurant. Instead we bought our dinner and would travel to the team center before dark to eat. This was because of recent violence in Juarez resulting from the Mexican Government’s war on drugs. We felt it would be safer to not have the team out at night.

The team arrived at the Team Center in the Colonias without incident. We had a new route that took us on a new bypass highway above the city, giving us great views of Ciudad Juarez and El Paso. We unloaded and settled into our rooms. The team had dinner as a group in the kitchen. Everything was BYO. Sara and I had opted for the simple peanut butter sandwich, apples and chips. Many others we much more elaborate with roasted chicken, salads and microwaved cuisine. (Although I had told them I was not sure we had a microwave.) In good Christian fashion, everyone shared their food and I ended up having a little of everything. We shared some of our Oreos as well.

After dinner, we had a band practice outside in the Pavilion. Adam Cropper on electric piano and Kyle Tessier-Lavigne on guitar anchored the band. We had many other participants, including, but not limited to Jadyn Petterson-Rae (vocals), James Hughes (guitar and harmonica) and Sean Rule (guitar). Mackenzie Scanlan, Brooke Hobbs, Hanna Elmore, Sara Kline and yours truly joined in on vocals. Bill Elmore and I also hopped in on guitar at various times. Lots of others played tambourine or maracas. We also had a Turkish Darbuka (A sort of single bongo) that no one ever truly mastered except for maybe Kyle or Randy Elmore.

We started off the band on five songs. The most famous being “Lean On Me” and “God of Wonders”. We also worked on “Donde Esta La Biblioteca”, a little ditty that evolved from a song we made up while building the library on the trip the previous year.

The band really came together that first night after being a little shaky prior to the trip.


January 19

We woke early for devotionals at 7 am. Dave McCombs the new head of our hosts at Missions Ministries spoke a little about his faith and then I followed with a talk about searching for the big “Why” while on your trip to Juarez. Why are we here? Why does God call us to serve? Why are we on this trip and what are we going to find out that deepens our purpose for living.

Breakfast followed at 7:30. We had our usual feast from Chef Carlos. Scrambled Eggs, Pancakes, Bacon, Fresh Tortillas, Fresh Salsa, Juice, Potatoes and more and more food.

After breakfast we loaded up the bus and drove the 3 kilometers to our three build sites. We would build three houses with only the 38 people left over after leaving the medical team at the center. Usually we like to have 15 people per house, but several people had dropped out of the trip at the last minute for various reasons, including safety concerns. Since we had committed to three houses, we didn’t want to disappoint a deserving family by building only two. Fortunately our teams really stepped up and completed the houses on schedule.

After dropping off the first two teams, our team pulled into our site at the library. The house 12x36 foot slab is situated on a little rise about 40 feet from the library so that the residents can keep an eye on the building. Jose, Flora and their young son Jesus helped us build. They are a young couple very excited to get their own house. They were living with in-laws in a very small house nearby.

Our team consisted of 13 people - four adults and the rest 15 and 14 year-olds. Many of the students had traveled with James Hughes their teacher and coordinator for philanthropic endeavors from Sacred Heart Prep in Menlo Park. Also on our team were my Brother-in-Law Bill Elmore and His Brother Randy Elmore. Sara, her cousin Hanna, Adam Cropper and the rest of their friends made up the team. We were coached, guided and heavily assisted by Leo, the head builder and pastor for Mission Ministries, Jesus Malia, bus driver and head builder and two other teams Mexican team’s builders.

We set about building immediately after a prayer from the local Pastor Jesus. First we nail together the frame for the side and roof. These lay on the ground while we nail on the siding. After about two hours, we tilt up the sides and pop on the roof frame. Plywood then goes on the rood, followed by tar and roofing paper. Electrical cable is strung inside and we insulate the walls and ceiling. Because of my height I always end up doing ceiling insulation. A dirty, messy job, but a satisfying one. My 5-person team of Sean Rule, Jadyn, Bill and James made it fun and fast. Randy cut in the window opening and James set in the windows.

By 1:30, we were done with day one of building. It is amazing to see a house up and framed with the roof on in about 5 hours.

We picked up the other teams who were also done and headed back to the team center for lunch. Carlos had prepared his usual feast, but we had little time to loiter. We quickly sent the majority of the team to the new community center at Pastor Jesus’ church near the team center.

The team fed more than 100 people with ham and other food we had purchased at WalMart. This was followed by crafts and entertainment with the kids. There were balloon figures, face painting, nail painting (for the adults and kids), drawing, and other crafts. As always a favorite was the Polaroid photos of kids. They paste them in frames made from popsicle sticks and then decorate the frames. Thanks to the Rule family for getting al the film and making the frames. 110 photos went very quickly. This will probably be the last time we will use Polaroid’s since they have been discontinued. It was quite the scavenger hunt finding them in stores.

The remainder of the team went with me to the library in Kilometer 30. Although we had built the building in January of 2008 and painted it on the inside in February, it was still not up and running. It took almost a year to get the electricity hooked up by the government. We also needed to carpet and tile. These had been done and awaited our books, furniture and computers. These had all been recently purchased thanks to an anonymous donor through MPPC.

Our team put together tables, set up bookcases and delivered the books and computers to the site. The tables and bookcases were temporary while our final furniture comes in. But the team did put together two of the three librarian desks. These were the “ready-to-assemble” type with instructions written in a language roughly resembling English. Our intrepid team got them assembled anyway.

In the evening we all reassembled at the team center for a nice dinner, followed by testimony by pastor Jesus, who told us about his journey from gang member to church founder and pastor. Then the band practiced again.

Tuesday, January 20.

We did it all again the next morning. Assembling for devotions at 7 am. James Hughes and the students from Sacred Heart told us inspiring verses and stories about the joy of serving others. Many of the students had been on other mission trips.

Sean Reidy told an inspiring story of a woman saving sea stars. There was a big storm and the beach was covered sea stars all destined to die if they stayed in the sand. The woman was throwing them back in the water one at a time. A man came up and said, “What difference can you make with so many more than you can save?” The woman picked up another star, threw it in the ocean and replied, “It sure made a difference to that one.”

Similarly, we cannot house every family in need in Juarez, nor educate every child, but we make a big difference in the lives of the ones we do help.

At 8:30 it was back out to the houses and finishing the construction. Dry wall was hung, taped and mudded. The outside of the houses were painted and trimmed. Around noon we had finished our work. As a full team we went to each house to commission the house. Each family was told how much the construction meant to the team. Then the family expressed their thoughts to the team. We presented housewarming gifts of curtains, carpets, sheets and towels. Then the keys were handed over. As usual, tears flowed from both the families and the teams.

After lunch, the entire team headed back to the library to finish the work and have the grand opening. It was like a colony of ants as books were coded and re-shelved, computers were assembled. Thanks here to Brian Cropper and Sara Kline for working hard to get them all set up and running. There was one more desk to assemble as well. Swings were hung on the new playground equipment. The band played through the song list giving everything a festive feel. The JCEP kids helped by taking out trash, helping with books and performing other tasks.

Anahi and Blanca were there as well. They regaled us, in English, with stories of their adventures in college. Anahi decided to go on the lawyer track instead of administration. Blanca is studying psychology. They take a one our bus ride; with one transfer each way every day. They were very happy when we presented them with laptops. The Hobbs family had contributed one for each of them. The girls were very happy that they could now do their work on the bus or at home instead of having to go to the library.

When all was ready, we gathered outside for the ribbon cutting. With Joni and I flanking our librarian Susie and Brian and Sara holding the ribbon Susie did the honors and cut it. It was a satisfying moment in the two-year quest to get he library open.

Joni then presented the necklaces to our five newest sponsored children, Moises, Perla, Angel, Carla and Edith. We went inside for one more round of tunes from the Band. Everything concluding with one big sing-a-long of Donde Esta La Biblioteca. It was one of the best days I can remember.

In the evening we got one more treat when Carlos the chef brought a group of children he works with to the team center to perform dance moves and sing to 6 songs. It was a joyous performance. Nothing was as fun as watching Carlos wave his arms and sing while instructing the kids.

Now all that was left was to get up the next morning and head to the airport for the trip home. God had once again blessed us with a fantastic team to do his work in Juarez. As we were leaving, Joni and I were cooking up a plan for a third library. The work never ends.

Juarez Kids Raisies Money for Primary School Kids

When we were in Juarez last June, Charlene Flynn Golding and her daughter Caroline collected art from several of the children we met in the community we served. They produced a lovely set of postcards with art by each child, along with a photo and biography of each child. These are available for purchase on the website www.juarezkids.com. These are great items for sending quick notes to friends or family. Additionally, they need students to help sell the cards.

All the proceeds will go to Missions Ministries who will use the funds to pay for expenses related to school for kids in grades K-6. I wholeheartedly endorse this effort and am thankful for Caroline and Charlene and their great work.

SRK