Pictured above front and center wearing a redish shirt is Juan Carlos Urbina, who this Fall entered a Technical College in Colima to begin his studies to become an electrician. Juan Carlos was raised in Casa Hogar La Familia and is moving on to the next phase of his life. We are all extremely proud of Juan Carlos and wish him the best.
 

On November 5, 2022, Isabel walked down the aisle to receive her degree in Finance from the University of Colima. Isabel and her husband, Gabriel, have worked as house parents at a casa hogar in Colima during their college years. Isabel hopes to find a job in a financial institution. They plan to remain in Colima, on the West Coast of Mexico about 16 hours by bus from Casa Hogar La Familia.
 

Back to School

After two years of home schooling, everyone — the children, the directors and the volunteers — are celebrating the return to the classroom; that is, a REAL
classroom in a REAL school.

Of course, back to school means going shopping for book bags, uniforms, shoes, after school clothes, school supplies, etc. Preparing 30 children for a new school year is quite an undertaking. Below are several photographs of the children in their new school uniforms:

School Uniforms for the 2022/2023 School Year

Universities

Thanks to your donations, Embrace the Dream is once again able to fund educational expenses for the children of Casa Hogar La Familia at the college and university level.

University of Colima: We have the following children from La Familia:

• Isabel is a senior majoring in Finance.
• Daniel is a junior majoring in International Business.
• Fernanda is a freshman majoring in Gastronomy (the art and science of good eating).
• Juan Carlos is studying to become an electrician and an appliance repair person.

College and University Students in Puebla:

Josué and Rodolfo are attending The Technological University of Puebla. Josué is majoring in Mechanical Automation and Rodolfo is majoring in The Career of Automotive Systems.

Karen is attending a business school in Tecamachalco and working on a degree in accounting.

Jazmin has graduated with a nursing degree from the University of Colima, and now she is pursuing a specialty in Intensive Care. She is continuing her studies at a clinic in Tecamachalco.

Bicycles for the Children

Silvia (director at La Familia) has an Uncle Seky who is a great friend to the children of La Familia. You may remember Uncle Seky from years past when he chartered a bus and paid for all of the children to go to Six Flags in Puebla.

Well, this year, Uncle Seky visited La Familia and this time he brought with him some new friends: his new friends are members of a club that collect bicycles in need of repair — repair hem so they look like new and give them as donations to different institutions.

Last week they traveled to La Familia and made a surprise visit. The men prepared a delicious taco lunch for everyone at La Familia and the BIG surprise were the bicycles they brought for the children.

As you will see in the photographs, the men installed racks for storing the bicycles in a dry space that will preserve their beauty.

And finally, they topped off their visit with a large donation of boxes of flour to make cakes and some other sweet goodies.

Two New Children at La Familia

The children’s names are Sandra Deonate, she is 10 years old and her brother is Felipe Deonate, he is 8 years old. They have 3 weeks in Casa Hogar.

Mission Teams

We have one more mission team scheduled to travel to La Familia in October from Lighthouse Free Methodist Church in Fort Worth. The leader of the Lighthouse mission team is Nanci Danielsen

Bill & Patti Lee visited Isabel and her family in Colima. (Patti not pictured). L to R: Bill Lee on far left, Juan Carlos in red shirt; Gabriel is Isabel’s husband, Josué is Isabel’s oldest child, Josué is holding 2-year-old, William,(William is my namesake), Isabel is holding 6-month old Malcolm, her youngest son and also my namesake; and on the far right Isabel’s baby sister, Fernanda.

Isabel and Gabriel are house parents at a Casa Hogar in Colima.

Mission Trips have officially returned to Casa Hogar La Familia. Following the visit to La Familia of Lighthouse Fellowship in Fort Worth and Federated Church in Kingfisher, OK are two more mission teams who have scheduled trips to visit the home this year.

Both Fishersville UMC of Northern Virginia and Lighthouse Fellowship have mission trips planned for this summer.

When the Federated Church left La Familia, they were disappointed that they did not have time to complete one last project: Repaint what the children call the casita, the small structure that contains the swings, sliding board and small playhouse for the children of La Familia.

The Federated mission team purchased the paint for the project and Juan Francisco said he and some of the children would get the casita painted after the team departed. Below are photographs of the freshly painted structure:

This past week, Juan Francisco’s church in Quecholac (Grupo Amor) held a church camp for all of the children of the church. I don’t have any photos yet, but will try to get Silvia to send me some.

We also have news from Colima where Isabel Urbina, her husband, Gabriel, and their two children are living while Isabel is a student at the University of Colima. They are also serving as volunteers at a Casa Hogar operated by the Grupo Amor Church, also headquartered in Colima.

The Good News: At 1:40 PM on May 7, Isabel delivered a baby boy. His name is Noah Malcolm Urbina Cortes. He is healthy and weighed in at 6-1/2 pounds.