From Reyosa, #1

Saludos en el nombre de Jesucristo!
Some of us are here visiting Casa MAMi. From Advent, are Melissa Carlton with daughter Amanda; and our daughter Melanie and I; A group of 11 from Church of the Holy Apostles is here for their first mission trip. (pictured above!) We arrived on Saturday and spent Sunday getting to know the girls and beginning a Vacation Bible School program. I will list observations and information gained and plan to update this blog a couple of times this week. Thank you for prayers for saftey for all and getting the work accomplished that we came here to do. The Holy Apostles folks are enlarging the dining room with cement blocks, working on the roof and completing painting jobs through out. They did several fund raisers in order to prepare for the trip and brought four days of VBS to share with the girls. More later from them!
1) Elma is in agreement that the ministry of the second location (dedicated to single moms with sons - whose daughters may or may not be at Casa MAMi) is a separate ministry. This is a relief since the board is in agreement that we are not ready to expand at this time.
2) Currently a few children (10-12) are coming to the home for day care. A small amount of income from state funds is provided for each of these children, allowing the extra staff to be paid for by the Mexican government. Since the beds are still on the first floor the day care is happening in one of the large dormitory rooms on the second floor. It seems to be working smoothly.
3) The laundry room is upstairs and functioning well. Elma has three washers and one dryer. Many clothes are outside and drying in the sun. I will take some photos and post them. The arrangement of storage plus dressing stalls seems efficient.She has applied and is hopeful that the request will be granted for the Mexican government to provide a commercial washer and dryer for the home; this may come by the end of July. (Elma does not want to use funds for this purpose; she wants to wait for the gift!)
4) The patio stairs and iron work with mosquito screens over the second floor hall windows is very nice; (They knocked out the windows and bars that were installed in Feb.. and replaced those openings with larger ones.) it all appears safe and well ventilated.Workers are here completing the cement covering of the blocks. Paint will come next and I think the work on the second floor may be complete. We have been painting the few remaining places in need of paint. Melanie did a pretty Precious Moments angel on one wall.
5)There is a steady stream of visitors. The pastor who leads PCUSA Puentes de Cristo (Bridges of Christ) was here with 5 faculty from King college near Pittsburg. They want to plan a program that brings students down to work and serve. The Mother Superior from a convent was here to get a letter of reference from Elma to help her get help from the Mexican government for a project she has. She knows that Elma has been successfull in getting govt help in the past. A friend of Elma's who has worked with the cancer society was here saying she wanted to come work at Casa MAMi. Of the old staff, only Karla, Mikey, Margarita and Patty remain. Nora quit and so did her mother. The staff is down to 8, I believe. Mikey will marry in June and his wife, a seminary graduate, is interested in working here. Mikey and his wife will live in the other location with Pastor Oscar and his family.
6) The girls are doing well. Some of my favorites have gone to live with their families, namely Estefania. Elma is happy that so many girls are becoming healed. Once 16 were on medication and followed by psych. evaluations. Only 4 are still taking medicine. One 15 yr old is pregnant. A 12 year old (about 7 months pregnant) came today, as a possible new admit, but the DIF took her, met with her parents and they took her home. We pray this was the best decision.
7) Construction: it's a mess. Remember how hard it is to remodel? And, remember what the last two months is like? I will take some pictures to post for you; I feel like it is amazing that Elma, staff and residents are enduring the mess and confusion as well as they are! It is a testimony of their vision and place in the Lord! They are full of gratitude and peace. I am thank ful to be here and praise God for all that has been accomplished. Some one built more of the junior beds. They are in the upstairs front bedroom, waiting to be occupied.
8) Elma and I have had some conversations related to her hours, paper work, IRS and the US non-profit board role; as well as her staff. We are getting along and understanding each other.
I will post more pictures this week! God bless~!