Patzcuaro

It's been too long since I posted already. Here is an update.

Jovenes: Here are some pictures of Jovenes. The kids made some granola-type snack food heads on sticks (granola, cereal, marshmallow, m & m). See the picture for a better description. Jovenes has been a little smaller lately, but that lets us get things rolling again and rethink what direction we are goin in.



Here are Matt and Jesus showing of some of the creations. Matt's little head is wearing a veil, I think.





Poncho is one of the funnest kids around. He and Jesus (and Freddy, nest to Maggie in the middle picture) are all brothers.

Sunday night supper: Here are more pictures of a supper on one Sunday night. The entertainmetn for the evening was arm wrestling. Nayeli dominated the girls division single-handedly (yes, pun intended).



Here Alvaro and I are having it out. It was honestly not a very even battle. I have a bit of an advantage being older, etc, but it was all good.



This is what the arm wrestling was really like. A lot of laughing and joking not much wrestling.



I have to be honest and say that when I say here on the blog that we cook supper together, this group is who I really mean. Notice who isn't in the picture...yes, yours truly.

Patzcuaro: Monday the 2nd was a government holiday. We didn't have class and neither did most the rest of the country. So we, the young group, went to Patzcuaro, a quaint town about two and half hours away. We spent the day enjoying beautiful weather and the sites in Patzcuaro. It was a very enjoyable, if not long, day.



This is the bag of chips that I force fed to everyone because I didn't want to carry it anymore. Everyone was very kind and kept eating until they were gone. You can see some of what the city is like in the background. It was really pretty neat.



Here is Maggie, Christy Stoller (studying in Guadalajara), and Alvaro (red hat) at the top of the statue on an island in the middle of the lake at Patzcuaro. The island/town is called Janitzio. You have to climb up a bunch of stairs and work your way through surprisingly cramped spaces to reach the top of the statue (the top being the upraised fist of Saint Peter) and then you have to squeeze your head out the little space there at the top to see around. You definitely wouldn't fall out of the statue. Inside it was a slightly different story, but we all made it up and down fine and then waited an extremely long time for quesadillas at what some might consider a 'sub-par' restaurant, but it was all part of the great adventure of the day.

Prayer: I will finish again with some requests.

1. Praise for God's help with the school and an extension on the deadline. Pray that we can still get all the work done and that we can proceed forward with the school and have classes next fall. Pray for teachers. We still need teachers, especailly primary teachers.

2. Pray for the many that are going to be traveling to Ixtlan to visit and to work in the next couple of months. Pray for safety and that God would use each person to change lives here in Ixtlan.

3. Pray for Freddy, Jesus, Poncho and their sisters. Pray that they would listen and respond to what they are hearing as they spend time with us. They have a rough life and desperately need to hope that they can have through Jesus Christ and the salvation that we have through Him. Pray that their hearts would be soft, even now, so that God can work in their lives and build their trust in Him.