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Second Floor Construction Project

July 9, 2014July 9, 2014 by Bill Lee, President of Embrace the Dream Foundation, Inc., Greenville, South Carolina

Below are several photographs taken by the Fort Worth, TX mission team that give us a good idea of the progress that has been made on the second floor construction project.

The Fort Worth team sealed the concrete walls and ceiling, so this week, the ceramic tile is being applied by the general contractor and his team of workers.

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Attendance at Sunday worship services is exploding, so as soon as the second floor is completed, the Sunday worship service will be moved to the open area on the second floor where we believe we will be able to accommodate significantly more worshipers. In June, attendance reached a record level of over 260.

Damaly is still in culinary school in Puebla and Alexi has recently moved to Colima where he is attending the University there.

We thank everyone for your prayers and your financial support of Embrace the Dream Foundation and La Familia. Our next capital project is to replace the 15-Passenger Van that is on its last leg. We believe we can find a satisfactory used 15-passenger van for around $25,000 to $30,000.

A Van Fund has been established by Lighthouse Fellowship in Fort Worth and Embrace the Dream Foundation in Greenville, SC. Your financial support is requested. I will keep everyone informed as to our progress in raising these funds.

Omar, Cintya’s Husband, Suffers Stroke

July 9, 2014July 9, 2014 by Bill Lee, President of Embrace the Dream Foundation, Inc., Greenville, South Carolina

A mission team from Fort Worth, TX returned from La Familia on July 3 and reported that Omar, Cintya and their baby boy have returned to La Familia following a stroke Omar suffered recently.

Several months ago, Omar and Cintya (volunteers at La Familia) were married and when a friend of Omar’s offered the newly weds his home to live in while he was working in the US, they took him up on his offer. Omar quickly found a job working with a large agricultural business.

I don’t have a lot of details, but the Fort Worth team told me that Omar has some facial distortion from the effects of the stroke and has some speech issues. I have asked several of the physicians who have joined me on mission trips to La Familia to make recommendations as to what type of medical attention Embrace the Dream Foundation and other interested parties might assist Omar in receiving.

I also learned that one of the boys that recently became a part of La Familia has quite a few large growths on his body and has never been seen by a physician. I have also asked for advice on how to get this new La Familia resident the medical attention he needs.

Signal Crest UMC from Signal Mountain, TN is going down with a team next week and they are going to do their best to see that both the young boy and Omar are able to see a competent physician.

One of our doctors from the Sumter Team in Sumter, SC has been updated on the situation and has given me instructions on questions to get answered.

Father – Son Mission Trip to Casa Hogar La Familia

July 9, 2014April 30, 2014 by Bill Lee, President of Embrace the Dream Foundation, Inc., Greenville, South Carolina

Over Easter week this year (Semana Santa) Bill Lee from the Church of the Redeemer in Greenville, SC led five fathers and five sons from Sumter, SC to Mexico to spend their Spring Break with the Children of La Familia.

One of the main projects for this mission team was to add clothes line posts and restring the clothes lines in the outdoor area where the children’s clean clothes are hung out to dry. See photographs below of the finished project.

(L to R) Gary Brown, Ed Bynum, Barnes Boyle III, Bert Parker

One of the most valued contributions the Sumter made was to replace the worn and bald tires on the old white van mission teams use for transportation when visiting La Familia. Brand new tires were installed during our visit. To illustrate how badly the tires needed to be replaced, one person commented that the old tires were so bald that you could see the air inside the tire.

Each morning before breakfast at Sandy’s Restaurant, one of the father’s led a scripture lesson and one of the son’s offered up prayers for the success of the team that day and for the food we were about to receive. The food Sandy prepared was terrific as usual.

At Easter Sunday worship services, the building was packed as usual. One special treat we all appreciated was to have Karla Frye translate Juan Francisco’s excellent sermon for the benefit of the Gringos. Ten years ago Karla was adopted by a family in the Atlanta Area and now has returned to La Familia to serve as a volunteer. She did a great job of translating. Below is a photograph of two missioners sitting on the “Papa Joe” bench following the worship service with several of the Children of La Familia.

We have been waiting a long time for enough donations to pave the area outside the front entrance of the main building at La Familia, but that day has finally come and the area is now a combination basketball court, futbol field and volleyball court. I promise you it gets plenty of use.

The visit was completed with a day in Puebla and Cholula visiting the pyramid and climbing the stairs up to the church that is located on top of the pyramid.