WHAT`S NEW IN BOCACHICA!

¡THANK YOU!
About a month and a half ago (see blog entry dated Dec. 2, below) we shared about a need we had for financial help for Reinel, the second recipient of our nursing scholarship. We are very grateful to the Lord and to two very special families who have adopted Reinel and have committed to help him during the 2007 school year!

MINI-DTS
Some really neat things are happening in Bocachica! As I write this, our staff in Bocachica are holding the ministry`s very first Mini-DTS for the youth of Bocachica and the other communities on the island. Yesterday I recieved a report from Erika and this is what she shared:

¨Some very good things are happening with the Mini-DTS, God has been ministering to the youth very deeply in many areas, including deliverance. The Mission is like a Temple where the presence of God is living. We have recieved a lot of help from the YWAMers in Cartagena and we have really enjoyed this time a lot. There are young people from both churches in Bocachica and also from Tierrabomba and Punta Arena. Today we are going to be ministering inner healing and later this week we`ll share about missions and we will also give a presentation about the ministry... Several of the kids are motivated to do their DTS in Cartagena and some are thinking about serving here at the Mission. We are convinced that God is bringing something new to Proyecto Libertad this year, through this school. We are seeing that God`s purpose in this is bigger than what we inicially thought and the impact is going to be big.¨

NEW STAFF

We welcomed a new member to our staff. Josefina Hernandez is from Tijuana, Mexico. Jorge and I met her when Josefina did her DTS at the base in Ensenada and she later did part of her outreach in Bocachica. Josefina is going to be working with Chilren`s Ministries which includes the Child Sponsorship Program, Children`s Feeding Center, Children`s Library/Study Center, and Discipleship. Her arrival was an asnwer to prayer because the person who was in charge of Children`s Ministries, Blanca Rosa Salcedo, has finished her committment and is now working with YWAM in Costa Rica.

Soon we will try to add a photo of the Mini-DTS and the staff with Josefina. For now we would like to show some photos and share what has been going on with Proyecto Libertad.

GRADUATES!

Yorcelis (left) was the first recipient our our nursing scholarship. With the donations of a few generous supporters, Yorcelis was able to complete her first level of nursing. We are very proud of her! Marley (right) has been on staff with us for several years and over a year ago we sent her to study a computer course in Cartagena. She was very diligent in her studies and along with fulfilling her responsibilities at the Mission (bookkeeping, children`s discipleship, etc...) she also graduated in December ´06.

Many of you remember Samy, he met the Lord through our cell group meetings at the mission and since he gave his heart to Jesus we have seen beautiful growth in him! Even though he was very behind in his education, due to not being able to afford school fees for several years, he really applied himself and was able to finish like 5 grades in about 3 years and in December he graduated from High School! Now Samy is praying because he wants to do his DTS this year. He is a very special young man who wants to serve God with all he has and we are sure that God has many things planned for his life. It has been a priviledge to have him with us these years at the Mission and to be able to help him in this whole process. Samy was one of the recipients of our Child Sponsorship Program. If you would like to help Samy financially to be able to do his DTS this year, please write us and we can give you more information. We would love to be able to send him on an international outreach too! (In this photo Samy is with Marley and his Mother.)

OUR SYMPATHY

Martin Hakenjos, who has been with us in Bocachica since the very beginning, had to fly home to Germany because his mom was very sick. We were sad to hear that on December 13th his mom passed away. In spite of the sadness, we are thankful to know that she went to be with Jesus and we will meet again one day. This photo of Martin and his mom was taken a few weeks before she passed away.

CONSTRUCTION COURSE
In September we were able to host a construction course at the Mission. This time was extra special because the course was approved by the SENA, a Colombian governmental institution that give free technical level education. The men from the community spent several months learning skills like how to build walls, cement work, drainage and metal structures. In order to put what they had learned into practice they were able to work on the clinic and library projects at the Mission.

NEW LIBRARY

We were finally about to start the construction of a second floor over our Feeding Center in order to house our Children`s Library. The library was founded years ago by Lucha, now my sister-in-law, and from the beginning we were using a borrowed building which was owned by the local church. It was a blessing to us for many years but the building was in bad shape. When our contract ended with the church we decided to build our own place. The library is a place where the kids and teenagers can go to get help with their homework and school projects.

THE BOAT

As you know we have been working on renovating our minisry boat for years, as the Lord provides the funds to do so. This past year Martin was able to focus on this almost full-time and he accomplished a lot. Now what we are mainly lacking is the motor. We have about half of the money in savings but still need to raise the other half. We continue with the vision of sailing to other islands and river communities of our region taking physical and spiritual help to the needy.

This is what the boat looks like today.

Jorge On The Mend...

Jorge had surgery on Jan. 6th to repair a very large hiatal hernia. He was in the hospital for 2 nights and is now home and on the road to recovery. He still has some pain and weakness but he is doing really well and should be back on his feet in a few more days. We have a follow-up appointment with the doctor on Monday, Jan. 15th and if the doctor gives him a green light we will probably be leaving Queretaro the following day, heading north back to Arizona. We are very thankful for everyone´s prayers and all the emails we received wishing Jorge well. We are thankful that he had one of the best doctors here in Queretaro for his surgery and the hospital experience was very positive.

Uruapan

We took Silvia with us to the city of Uruapan to visit Jorge´s cousin, Mauro, and his family.

Mauro is retired from the railroad but now he makes and sells model trains as a hobby.

Mauro with his wife, daughter and three grandaughters.
The fruit stand. A very typical snack all over Mexico is a cup of mixed fruit (usually pineapple, watermelon, mango, canteloupe, papaya and even cucumbers...) served with salt, lime juice and hot chilie powder sprinkled on top. It sure beats our fattening fast food in the States, huh?!

Uruapan has a beautiful park with a river running through it, well, actually the river is born in the park from underneath the ground. It is like a tropical rainforest with walkways leading by waterfalls and beautiful fountains.

Family Outing to Guanajuato

We all piled into 3 cars to make a day trip to the city of Guanajuato... it is a beautiful colonial city and if you ever plan to be a tourist in Mexico this is a place that you just have to visit!! This was my third time to go and it gets more beautiful and romantic each time I go!

The Silva Gang!

A view of the city...

Guanajuato is famous for it´s ¨Mummy Museum¨. Very interesting to say the least!

One of the neatest things about Guanajuato are it`s winding underground tunnels.

Beautiful architecture!

The city is also known for it`s love of the Arts!

Silvia checks out the local crafts that are for sale.

Happy New Year!

New Year`s at the Silva`s always includes family, food and fun!!

Jorge and 8 yr. old niece, Montserrat, chopping up the fruit and goodies to make ¨Ponche¨...it`s kind of like apple cider but has lots more stuff in it...guava, sugar cane, apples, tamarind, tejocote, cinnamon, raisens, jamaica flowers...yum, yum!

Jorge was in charge of the ¨Ponche¨ and he did a great job!

Jorge`s sister, Lupe, preparing the pork to make ¨Pozole¨, a very traditional dish made especially at New Year´s. It is made with pork, white corn, chiles and I`m not sure what else... and then once you serve it people add their own goodies according to their own tastes...chopped onions, radishes, shredded lettuce, shredded cabbage, avocados, oregano, lime juice...

My bowl of Pozole. It may sound kind of like a strange concoction but it really is delicious!!

The girls helping to chop and shredd!
Lupe with the finished product.

I had to orientate Silvia as to how to adorn her Pozole!

Mamita wasn`t feeling too well but she was able to get up to the table for a short while.

Nieces, Sandy, Gaby, Cyndia and Galia

After dinner there is a toast at midnight and everyone has the opportunity to share a few words about their hopes for the coming year and then everybody hugs everybody...and after that there is dancing for all ages!!! Montserrat and Frida get things going!

Jorge`s cousin, Socorro, and her husband, Chuy.

Jorge`s sister, Lupe, and brother, Chava.

They even do line dancing to country music!

Silvia and Chava... I think I was the only party pooper that didn`t dance that night!!

I know, shame on me!

We all finally went to bed around 3:30 am...

A Special Visitor...

Our Colombian friend, Silvia Rondon, is currently studying for her master`s degree in Norfolk, Virginia and she came to spend the Christmas and New Year holidays with us here in Mexico. Unfortunately she had a hard time getting here due to problems with her visa and a one-day trip turned into a 5-day ordeal...she didn`t make it for Christmas but in true Colombian form she refused to give-up without a fight and finally, on Dec. 27th she made it!!! God truely was with her and did many miracles along the way to make it all possible!

Silvia finally makes it to Mexico...arriving to Jorge`s cousin`s house just outside of Mexico City.
Jorge`s cousin, Socorro; nieces, Galia and Cyndia; Silvia; nephew, Alejandro; Karen; and niece, Liliana... a few from the welcoming committee.

The first place we took Silvia was to the market...it`s a Mexican experience that you can`t miss! Here she is with Jorge and his dad at the meat section...
Fruits and veggies with Karen...

Eating ¨Gorditas¨in the restaurant section...

Silvia`s wanted the ¨real¨mexican food...not the tex-mex stuff...And finally the piñata stand!

Buying tamales, buñuelos and atole for an evening snack!

Who`s In The House?!

We had lots of family visiting over Christmas weekend... here`s who`s who:

Jorge and I on Christmas Eve.

We got Mamita fixed up but she didn`t feel well enough to get out of bed, unfortunately it was a hard night for her pain-wise so I jumped in bed with her to get the photo.

Jorge`s oldest brother, Toño.

Our niece, Ruth (daughter of Blanca who passed away 5 1/2 years ago) and her husband, Omar.

Niece, Sandra, younger sister of Ruth.

Jorge`s sister, Lupita and her three daughters, Galia, Gabriela and Montserrat.

Jorge`s sister, Leticia with her husband, Pepe, and their kids, Pepito and Brenda.

Jorge´s Dad and youngest brother, Chava.

Jorge`s sister, Isabel (right), with her son, Neto, his wife, Cristina and their son, Christian.

Jorge´s second cousin,Cyndia and her daughter, Frida.

Back in 2000 Cyndia served with us in Bocachica for about 9 months.