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.

Mexican Birthday Party

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Those of you who have never witnessed a Mexican birthday party have missed a real treat. The birthday boy or girl blows out the candles just like in the States except for one small difference: the birthday boy or girl willingly allows his/her face to be smashed into the icing on the cake. So, here is a photograph of what you have missed.

mexican birthday party
Mexican Birthday Party

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

Jazmin Premed Exam Update

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I know everyone is eager to know what is going on with Jazmin and the exam she was scheduled to take on July 2.

Jazmin and her advisors have decided to postpone the premed exam until July 2016 to give her more time for extensive preparation for the exam.

Please continue to pray for Jazmin. She will do her preparation at La Familia.

Bill Lee

Downers Grove, IL Mission Team Visits La Familia

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A team of 13 missioners from Saint Andrews Episcopal Church visited La Familia in mid June. The team made up of half youth and half adults got a lot accomplished in between highly competitive soccer, volley ball and basketball games with the children of La Familia.

Several projects were completed during this visit:

Everything on the kitchen shelves and the storage above the shelves was completely removed for cleaning.

Tables covered with "stuff"
Tables covered with “stuff”

While the shelves were empty, the youth on the trip painted them while the adults painted the walls surrounding the shelves.

L to R: Harry, Charlie and Mark
L to R: Harry, Charlie and Mark

One missioner in particular — Mark Spitalli — with bucket of concrete in hand, roamed all over the house and outside the house looking for sections of concrete that needed repair.

Mike Spitalli making repairs to the concrete wall
Mike Spitalli making repairs to the concrete wall

The area where the garbage is kept had become full of scraps of wood from the construction of the main home, so three of the missioners — Steve DePeder, Mike Maher and Mike Spitalli — built a huge bonfire behind some old concrete block and burned the debris.

L to R: Ben, Nathan, Harry, Mike, Steve
L to R: Ben, Nathan, Harry, Mike, Steve

A member of the Saint Andrews’ team — Mary Jane Haley — is a professional story teller. In her normal workweek, Mary Jane travels to schools in the midwest telling stories. Below is a photograph of her telling the Three Little Pigs nursery rhyme to the children of La Familia.

Mary Jane Haley telling Three Little Pigs story
Mary Jane Haley telling Three Little Pigs story

Because virtually everything the children eat at La Familia is fresh, there is a huge need for missioners to help out with the chopping of vegetables. See below a photo of some of our missioners — Vera Martin, Mary Jane Haley and Jordan DePeder — helping out with the chopping.

L to R: Vera, Mary Jane and Jordan chopping vegetables
L to R: Vera, Mary Jane and Jordan chopping vegetables

On our final night at La Familia, the children put on a show for us and afterward posed with the mission team for a group photograph.

Group Photo
Group Photo