Dear friends and family…
It has been a little over a year since many
of you have heard about one of my trips. And for some of you this is the first
time. As with all of my other trips…if you would rather not receive my daily
updates please let me know and I will remove your name from my distribution
list. Also, if you have a different email address that you would like me to use
let me know that as well.
What have I been up to?
For the last year I have been working at LexisNexis
as a Sr. Project Manager. It has been a great opportunity to work with a great
team and on some very interesting projects. Laura and I have been pretty busy
with our church and family activities and adjusting back into the corporate
life. Life has been good, I hit the 60 year mark this year, and two more
grandchildren are on the way this late summer and early fall.
Project Mexico and St. Innocent Orphanage
About a year ago I found about Project
Mexico. Project Mexico performs works of mercy and helps others do works of
mercy in the name of Jesus Christ, transcending cultural barriers by building
homes for the poor in Mexico and by providing a home for orphaned boys through
St. Innocent Orphanage. This will be their 25th year of operation.
St. Innocent Orphanage is located near
Rosarito, Mexico on a beautiful 16-acre ranch. In 1996, they were very
fortunate to obtain an old horse ranch, which through the generous help of many
volunteers has been turned into a home for abandoned and abused boys. St.
Innocent Orphanage seeks to surpass the basic needs of their youngsters and
provide them with spiritual direction, public education enhanced by private
tutoring, athletics, extra-curricular activities and most importantly, tremendous
amounts of love from all of the staff and volunteers. Providing such a
supportive and well-rounded program allows the boys to develop bright futures
out of difficult pasts.
All of the boys are truly orphaned which
means that their parents died, they were removed from their home by social
services or they ran away from home due to abuse. Without a program like St.
Innocent Orphanage dedicated to providing for teenage boys, the boys would
likely be involved in some of the worst aspects of Tijuana’s society including
child prostitution and trafficking, theft, drug abuse, and illegal border
crossing.
Upcoming Trip
For those of you who know me, I cannot pass
up an opportunity to serve with an organization like this one. I started
working within our church and we have been able to build a team of 8 that will
be leaving on Tuesday to spend a week helping build homes and spend time with
these precious boys. We will be joining up with about another 150 people from
across the country and are hoping to build 9 homes while there. We will be
camping on the orphanage grounds and traveling back and forth to the work
sites. Our church was awesome and helped us to raise all of our support.
What now?
As with all of my other trips I will be
attempting to send out daily updates. We want each of you to be a part of our
team in Mexico. If you will send your prayers and thoughts our way it will do
wonders for us while working in this different environment. We have spent a lot
of time preparing and training and now we have the opportunity to roll up our
sleeves and put it all to work.
What our trip will look like
Arrival Day...
Welcome to St. Innocent Orphanage! At the "ranch" everyone will set up
a tent and get acquainted with our boys.
Build Day 1...
Let construction orientation begin! Today,
each group will meet the family they will be building for and pour the
foundation of the house.
Build Day 2...
Grab a hammer! Today is framing day and the house
will begin to take shape. Then head back to the ranch and take a bucket shower.
Although rustic, getting cleaned up has never felt so good!
Build Day 3...
Today the house will be wrapped and readied
for stuccoing. The roof, windows, and door will also be installed. Some stucco
may be mixed as well!
Build Day 4...
Stucco, house blessing, and good byes make
for a beautiful, bittersweet day. The keys are handed over to a very happy and
grateful family.
Sunday at St. Innocent's...
Experience the Divine Liturgy in
Spanish! Recently, a pavilion was built
on the grounds of the orphanage so that participants and the boys could have enough
room to worship together. Afterwards, join in for a Sports Extravaganza with
the boys!
Conclusion
If you would like to get more information on
Project Mexico and St. Innocent Orphanage you can check them out at http://projectmexico.org/Home.aspx.
Thanks for your prayers and thoughts.
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