Casa Hogar La Familia

Texas Mission Team Visits La Familia

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Marshall Sansbury and a mission team from Acton UMC in Fort Worth just returned from a week at La Familia. The team reported the following accomplishments during their visit:

  • Purchased material and made curtains for the home.
  • Repaired the microwave ovens.
  • Painted the bathrooms both upstairs and downstairs.
  • Bathroom mirrors for the upstairs are to be delivered this week.
  • The water filtration system is scheduled to be delivered and installed next week.
  • Purchased more chairs for the expanding church attendance on Sunday mornings and Thursday evenings.

Juan Francisco and Silvia are doing everything in their power to get a visa to make a visit to the US. They are hoping to travel in the last half of April 2016. I will keep everyone up to date as their travel plans develop.

On Juan Francisco’s project list for capital expenditures in 2016 are the following items:

  • Complete the perimeter wall.
  • Install gates for the front of the home to allow the directors to secure the building.
  • The old blue pickup truck is on its last leg. The transmission is giving them a lot of trouble. They really need a new pickup truck or small car to help them conserve gasoline.

Juan Francisco is putting together a budget for these items and I will pass them on to all “Friends of La Familia” as soon as I receive it.

More news that mission team leaders need to be aware of is that Estrella de Roja bus service between the MEX Airport in Mexico City and CAPU in Puebla has been discontinued. It is (temporarily, we hope) now necessary to take a bus from MEX Airport to Estrella de Roja’s bus station at 4 Poniente in Puebla and take taxis over to CAPU to catch a bus to Tecamachalco.

Marshall reports that all of the children at La Familia are in good health and the home is in excellent physical condition.

Fishersville UMC Takes Children Shopping

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Children with new shoes
La Familia children with new shoes and clothing
Fishersville United Methodist Church of Fishersville, VA visited La Familia with a mission team in late July. As has become their tradition, the Fishersville team purchased shoes for all of the children as well as some much-needed clothing.

Meli, oldest child in a family of four who recently came to La Familia from a community near Palmarito, is obviously elated with her new shoes.

Meli with her new shoes
Meli with her new shoes

Donation Request for Second Floor Windows and Doors

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Some of you may have seen Silvia’s Facebook post that a storm with heavy winds blew through the Quecholac community and blew out the temporary (plastic) covering that the directors had used to cover the window openings until we could raise the funds to purchase permanent windows.
 
So now we need to see what we can do to raise the funds necessary to completely finish the second floor.

Here are the prices (US Funds) we have received from the window and door manufacturer:

  • Large Windows – $275 each or $3,850 grand total for all 14 Large Windows La Familia needs.
  • Small Windows – $93 each or $372 grand total for all 4 Small Windows La Familia needs.
  • Doors – $422 each or $2,954 for all 7 doors La Familia needs.
  • Large French Doors for the balcony – $607 each or $1,214 for the two French Doors La Familia needs.

 
Please send your donations to:

    Embrace the Dream Foundation, Inc.
    PO Box 5558
    Greenville, SC 29606

Please also indicate which product — Large Windows, Small Windows, Doors, French Doors — your want your donation to purchase.
 
Thank you very much,

    Bill Lee
    President
    Embrace the Dream Foundation, Inc.

Sumter Team Spends Their 2015 Spring Break at La Familia

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Eighteen members of the Sumter (South Carolina) Mission Team returned to La Familia for the third year in a row. The visit was made up of some mammoth volley ball and soccer games, Dr. Andy gave all of the children physicals, Dr. Andy and Dr. Bert stepped out of their fields a few steps to examine all of the children’s teeth while the women and children led the children in a series of crafts and board games.

The children’s teeth are in excellent condition. Only four cavities were identified. The physical examinations confirmed that the children are healthy with no serious illnesses.

During their visit, the team bought 12 kilograms of steak for lunch on Sunday. Add a large salad and a bowl of brown beans for an outstanding meal following worship services on Sunday. After which came the athletic competition. The addition of the court in the front of the home has to be some of the best money ever spent at La Familia.

One of the missioners brought along a bag of potting soil and taught the children how to plant plants in a styrofoam cup, water them and watch them grow.

Another created a chocolate pudding concoction with cookies that the children could make themselves. Another table offered fingernail polish for the girls to paint their nails.

The casa hogar also benefitted from a new Jumbo Sequence Game that the missioners donated to the casa and several new decks of playing cards that will get a lot of use for weeks to come.

Carolinas Team Visits La Familia

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Departing Charlotte, NC on Thursday, February 5 and returning to Charlotte on Thursday, February 12, a corporate team from Charlotte teamed with a Church of the Redeemer team from Greenville, SC. The main project for the week was building a wall to wall and floor to ceiling set of “cubbies” for the new girls dorm room in the recently completely second floor. As soon as these dorm rooms have been completed, all of the girls will be moved to the second floor and all of the boys will sleep on the first floor.
 
cubby holes 

The ladies on the team also put the finishing touches on the “cubbies” that were built by the Fishersville, VA team in December of this past year. The girls of La Familia decorated their own “cubbies” with photographs and stenciled letters.
 
finished cubbies 

All that remains to be done before the second floor is ready to be occupied is to install the windows and doors. We are currently estimating how much each window and each door will cost so we can ask for donations to complete this project.

The smartest decision the team made was to have all of the wood precut at the lumberyard and each of the pieces were pre-painted before they were installed. This decision made the entire job progress much faster.
 
painting project 

The team also changed the oil and filters on three La Familia vehicles: the new white van, the old gray van and the blue pickup truck.

Be sure to go to the EmbraceTheDream.com site to see the new photographs of the children. Under the tab “Meet the Children” you’ll see each of the families that make up Casa Hogar La Familia. Below is a group photograph:
 
children of la familia 

Ana Karina is back at La Familia. She joins Mayo, Damaly, Raquel, Omar and Cintya as a volunteer.
 
directors and staff 

Now that the Grupo Amor worship service has been moved to the second floor, there is enough space for approximately 220 worshippers.
 
Sunday Worship