Dear Family & Friends,

You would think that the holidays end on December 31st. but not in Mexico. But in the traditions of Mexico it is on “Kings Day” on January 6th. This is the most important day of Christmas for the children as it is the day they receive their presents and have a large festival. Many special foods are prepared at this time.

We still had Alejandra & Marisol with us from the AGAPE Home for Abused Girls and we just thoroughly enjoyed the time with them. As I wrote in the December newsletter the hard part was the extra teenage noise that comes with radios and teenagers. I find that as I get older that peace and quiet is harder to find. Hehe. Guess I am just becoming a tired & grumpy old man married to a saint who puts up with me.

Well, you can imagine that by January 6th. My beard was quite long and I had my marching orders that on January 7th. I would once again morph (cut my beard) and transform into the muy guapo (very good looking) man my wife wanted back. Hehe. It was getting quite itchy and I was tired of all the notoriety I was causing when we went out. Faye just plain hated the scruffy long beard. But Faye and I did get a kick out of our monthly walk on the ocean malecon. The malecon was very crowded with tourists from Mexico City and Guadalajara and all the parents & children wanted to take their picture with Santa Claus. But the delight of our walk was when a sweet little Mexican girl walked right up to me and asked in Spanish “How come you didn’t bring me a Barbie Doll that I asked for in my letter”? She was about 6 years old and very serious. I was taken back and had to grope for an answer that would pacify her. It’s not often you can catch me without something to say. Hehe.

Casa Hogar

I am so excited as I now have a two teaching assistants. Their names are Bev & Bonnie. Bev is a volunteer that we became acquainted with at our Wednesday night bible study. She is an American but has lived in Mexico most of her adult life (75+ years) with her husband Bob. Bev not only speaks fluent Spanish but has a real knack for teaching the children as she had to teach her own children at home because they were living in a mining camp in the jungles of Mexico. She is not much bigger than some of the little kids we teach but definitely has a knack for keeping the kids focused. Bonnie is from Canada and is my drill sergeant as she makes sure all the kids thank me when I give them their snack. Its like have two no nonsense grandma’s in the classroom.

Plus we sure had a lot of volunteers in January and February which really means the kids start to excel with one on one teaching. Faye and I sure can’t thank all of you enough as you take time out of your valuable vacation time. We had some volunteers for just one day but many volunteers for 2, 3 or even weeks and months. Like Jake & Jeanette who were from Canada and visit every year and just love on the kids and help me teach. Jeanette is a professional singer and song writer and loves to sing and play her guitar for the kids. One day little Arturo (4 years old) and very stubborn was having a real bad attitude day, so Jake just picked him up and carried him around for a whole hour. I thought Jake’s arm would fall off. Then their dear friends Rita & Ed showed up along with Esther and Glen, all of whom are from Canada. There were many days I never got to teach and only had to worry about getting the snacks to the kids. It was a time for Faye and I to really stand back a little and enjoy watching the Lord work.

AGAPE Home for Abused Girls

Lots of activity here at AGAPE as the Navy League visited and painted all of the outside walls. Then we had church teams come from North Dakota, Des Moines, Iowa and Port Angeles, Washington and helped by painting most of the inside of the facility.

In 2010 we will have a church teams down from the USA to help with construction of two new baths and finishing off a new dorm and other small tasks. If your church is interested to Christian outreach give me a call or an e-mail and we can help facilitate your trip. I mean a trip to Puerto Vallarta; it can’t be too hard to sell. Hehe. Our Pastor also has a book mobile and also a mobile kitchen visiting every Tuesday to the dump and the poor areas around the dump as well as using church teams to build houses, lay concrete floors etc. Our church takes a very active part in not only the community as a whole but also encouraging us and other ministries in our outreaches. What a great pastor we have. I can truly say that we have had more and more volunteers to help Faye & I teach because of our pastor and the churches outreach. We not only appreciate the extra needed volunteers but also the encouragement we receive from Pastor Ric, the church and its members.