Wow, what a great week it has been!!!! On Thursday, I took my Russian friends from UCSD down to Tribu De Jesus. Then I dropped off some of the Tribu kids to school because their van was not working. It was a lot of fun. The road into La Gloria was closed and we took a cool detour. I enjoyed learning some new roads in TJ. Another group of people came to Tribu unexpectedly and they were also Russians. They were from a church in Portland, Oregon, and they were just stopping by. The UCSD group told them about their project to get water piped over to where the older boys were housed. They were so excited about the project that they went to the building supply store and bought all the needed supplies. What a blessing! There were a lot of workers and they quickly built the framework to support the water tank. All the wood work was done before they left that evening. I left the UCSD group for three days to let them complete the project and would return on Saturday to pick them up.

On Friday, Grandpa and I took a young man from the church to the airport in Tijuana. This was a lot of fun because we had never done this before. They have a very nice airport. On the way home we were looking for a place to eat lunch and we found a killer taco shop called Checkos Fish Tacos. This place is way off the main drag down in the neighborhood near the Otay border crossing. The owner has been in business for only a month. He is a cool guy and we look forward to eating there again. His tacos were to die for. After dinner we picked up some building supplies for Juan and went to Imperial Beach to pick up a refrigerator for Hortensia and a microwave.

On Saturday, we had a wash day at Pipila. I had the privilege of working with a group who comes to help us often. I met a man from our church and I enjoyed getting to know him while we served together. After the work day we went to pick up the group at Tribu de Jesus. This made for a long day. Martha and Dan who were riding with me enjoyed visiting Tribu and joined in painting a room. The UCSD group had a blessed time as they served and got to know the staff and kids better. They did a great job of working on the plumbing. Although plumbing and carpentry are not high on their skills list, they stepped out of their comfort zone and God used them in a great way. I took four boys to the .99 cent store and then we took 16 boys out for ice cream. We played games with the kids and then began our journey home. Of course, we made a stop at the local taco shop and another visit to the ice cream store. It was a long day but it was so much fun. I love serving the Lord in Mexico. It does not get any better. The group invited me to their church, Light of the World, in Encinitas on Sunday afternoon. It was nice to watch the response of the church to the story of the trip. The church is so supportive of the missions work that these young people are doing. After church, we had dinner with a family that are missionaries from Kenya. I enjoyed getting to know them better. Stephan has been the speaker at the last two Missions conferences at UCSD. The church will be building a house in Tijuana soon. They are very excited about serving in Mexico. On Thursday, David and his pastor will come down with me to check out the work at the orphanage and to see what we at Spectrum are doing. I am very blessed to have met these great folks and enjoy attending their church even if most of the service is in Russian. The students from UCSD have become very good friends and coworkers.

Today Grandpa and I built a pirate ship for the stage at our upcoming camp in May. Please be praying for the kids that they will grow in Christ. For those who do not know Him yet, we pray that they will understand and believe in Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior.

I am looking for some folks to donate some "bling" for the girls to enjoy. We have been giving them some little bracelets, beads, fingernail polish, little girlie purses, rings and hair stuff. I am also looking for some small dolls for the little girls. It's great to see their faces light up when they receive these little gifts. If you are interested in helping with this, please give me a call.

Friday was a good day. We had a great discipleship meeting and I worked on Armondo's Truck. Saturday we had a good time going to love the kids at Tribu de Jesus. Eight of us piled into the van and headed south. We played games with the kids and gave them prizes. Some of the group held babies and played with the toddlers. I had a great time playing with and talking to the older boys. My spanish has a long way to go but I was able to have some conversations with the boys about their families and how they felt about some things. Elise worked with the girls brushing by their hair and painting their fingernails. We gave them some bling bling stuff to help them feel pretty. It was a fun day.

I am very excited because a group of friends from UCSD will spend three days next week working on a water system for the boys house. The main house already has water. These students are great and their labors will make life a lot better for the kids.

After serving at Tribu we took an off road shortcut to the shrimp taco place and later we had ice cream treats. It sure is a lot of fun to serve the Lord with a great group of folks.

Catching up.

Well it has been too long since I wrote. Things are going real well in the ministry. Monday night club is growing in numbers. We had a whole room full of kids the other day. I have been busy repairing cars and various things. Wash day was super fun last Saturday. This Saturday we are going to Tribu de Jesus. Tribu looks like a completely different place than when they first got the new place. God has blessed them so very much. It is such a joy to work with the kids there. Camp will be the first weekend in May and it's coming up fast. There is a possibility we may do two camps this year in May. Please pray for the kids. Camp is a special time because the kids are more focused and God can work in their lives. Last year five kids accepted Christ at camp. Grandpa and I will be building a 18 foot long pirate ship for the stage. My friends from UCSD will spend three days at Tribu next week. They will be working on a water supply system for the boys house. We are booked for the summer with groups coming from all over the country to serve with us. Please pray for these folks that their hearts will be challenged for missions. Please pray for me that I might be able to add another day of working with Spectrum. Currently I am working 3.5 days a week. My desire is to add another day at the end of the summer. Please pray that God will provide the needed funds for this to happen. We will be at Spirit West Coast at the end of May. Please pray that we are able to challenge people to missions. Our Discipleship group is doing well on Wednesday mornings. Last Sunday night Grandpa, Brenda and I attended a commisioning service for our friend Rafa. He will be going to San Quintin as a New Tribes Missionary. See his bio on my website. It was a great service. We Had a wonderful time worshiping. Their praise band rocks. It is sort of a cross between salsa and Jim Croce. Pray for Rafa as he settles into his new world. Rafa, we will miss you!!!!!!! Pray for us that we will really bless the kids at Tribu on Saturday. Spanish class has been going well and we are learning a lot. It is a slow process but we are moving forward.

Club and Camp

We had a great time at Club on Monday night. There were a lot of kids and the energy level was very high. The kids were amped. I had a van full of kids to take to Club. They were reciting their memory verse together in unison. Singing was great and we had a good time in games. Palao did the lesson on Abraham and Isaac. On the way home the kids were singing and again reciting memory verses. It just doesn't get much better than this.

Today we went down to the site of our summer camp, Agua Viva. We went to measure the stage and work on the design of our pirate ship. Grandpa and I will be working on a 16 foot long pirate ship for the stage. Camp is in the first week of May. We are getting excited preparing for the event. Last year five kids made decisions for Christ at camp. Please begin to pray that God will prepare the hearts of the kids and that eternal decisions will be made at this camp.

Spanish class tonight was fun. We are learning but have a long way to go. Please pray for us that we will improve in our Spanish this year.

Grandpa and I went with Aaron to a Bible School this morning where he challenged a group of kids from Oregon to give their all in serving the Lord.

I have been asked to lead a discussion tomorrow morning on Psalm 2 in Spanish. I am not sure that I am up to this challenge but I will give it my best. God is great and the last two days have been very exciting.