Well since Jer. is in Canada I will post a blog. This past week Jeff and Stu. from Calgary, Alberta have been helping pour the beams to hold up the roof of the second floor of  the girls dorm. The construction has moved along well this year, but alas we have come almost to a halt since we have run out of funds to build. My goals will not be reached which is disappointing. I know though that man´s plans are not always God´s plans so I know that there is reason for this delay. The kids are healthy and doing well which is the most important part.  We have a small team of 5 people yet this year in November then into Christmas season which is just as crazy here as any where. I will miss it this year as I am heading home for Christmas to be with family. 

 Well where were we? Where should I start. God has been good. The past half a year went so quick. I got a little side tracked in blogging. I meant too, but since Jeremy does such a good job of keeping everyone informed of what is happening here at Dulce Refugio (xanga.childrenofhope) I let my blog slip a little, or maybe a lot. So since Jer. is in Canada still for another two weeks I will do a little up date. We are a little short handed at the work site. Jer is gone as I said, but so is Aaron. He is taking a course in another city so that he can teach English better to help pay for some of his expenses. I miss his presence at the job site and lunch time is a lot quieter with out Aaron starting all kinds of interesting discussions. So since my last blog a lot has changed. The kitchen is well on it´s way to being completed although there is a lot of  cosmetics to be done yet. Today we (Skip, Sarah, and I) poured a big beam. Sarah who normally helps with the children came out for the first time to work at construction as we are short staffed at the job site. She did great and I think enjoyed it.

Sarah and Skip loading the mixer. I think Skip is laughing at me because I was taking this picture for my blog.

I hire a helper to get the out side of the kitchen plastered. 

We poured the beam next to the stairs today. Well this is a start. Maybe I will do some more blogging next week.  

 It's been a month since my last update. Things have been moving along. First thing though is that lately the director of the orphanage Marci has not been feeling well. She has been in a lot of pain and is now undergoing tests to find out what the problem is. We are very concerned because she had cancer 5 years ago. So please pray that the doctors can find out what is wrong and that she can receive relief from the pain and continue in the important work that God has given her to do. Well in my last blog I said we saw a number of children leave, well we have received a number of new children in August, 4 boys and 5 girls. So we are back to 40 children again.  We also received the good news that Children of Hope received it tax number last month so we can now issue tax receipts in Canada. This will allow us to start a sponsorship program in canada to help deal with the costs of  taking care of 40 children. It also will help in the effort of raising funds for the construction of the new orphanage buildings.  The construction is moving along well. Helpers have arrived from different parts of North America. Adrian and Mandi arrived last Tuesday and plan to stay for a undetermined time. Mandi is from Winkler, Manitoba and Adrian is from Tamalipas, Mexico, but I know him when he was 13 and living at Pan de Vida, were we became good friends. Eileen is from New Mexico and will be here until October. Also helping out 2 or 3 days a week is Nathan from Ohio. He is here with his wife a 5 kids until May.   Jeremy, Aaron and I are from B.C. Canada.  So some days we have a crew of 7 people. Nathans wife brings lunch once a week.

There is a lack of funds to complete the roof of the kitchen. We hope and pray that the funds come in soon because we would like to have the roof done by the middle of December so that the groups coming in the new year can stay there. On a more positive note we started the girls dorm officually. We have the permit to build and are working on the foundations right now since the government gave us $10,000 dollars to work on this building.

Well we are already at the middle of the summer. How time fly's. Well this last month has been busy.  A lot of changes have happened. We are about 90% done with the walls of the kitchen and dining room walls. We dug for the footings for the girls dorms, but need to get the permits to get really started. In the home we have had a few changes,  8 children have returned to their mothers. A family of three aged 3,4, and 5 returned to their mother at the beginning of the month. At the end of the end of the month a family of 4 returned to live with their mother, and we hope and pray that this family will continue to study God's word. The mother often attended the services on Sunday at the orphanage. So hopefully she will continue in her walk with the Lord.  Our oldest girl left on her own, she is 17. It is not the first time she has left but if she comes back it will be harder to accept her because se left with out telling  anyone. Also a boy of 11 returned to live with his adopted family.  So we are 6 boys and 3 girls less. That in some ways is good. The bathroom in the boy house has one toilet and a shower for now only 20 people in stead of 26. It was fun at times watching the funny dances of some of the boys as they tried to wait to use the bathroom. Some times when some one was showering the line-up got fairly long. So 6 less in a way is a good thing as long as they are receiving what they need in their homes.  

Well it's been a busy month. Things are moving along very well.The group from Halifax has come and gone. It was a successful mission trip. The team got a lot done. We poured the footing for a 250 foot retaining wall and put down more then half the bricks. The group also tied a lot of re-bar for the girls dorm. A group from a seminary in Ciudad Juares has helped lay the bricks for the kitchen and dining room. Here are a few pictures.

I am amazed how God is moving the project along. We have been blessed with the things we need when they are needed. The brick layers came at the right time and have been a big boost to get the kitchen done on schedule. The only hold up might be funding for the roof but there are a number of ways that God could fill this need. Also soon we hope to have a foundation set up in Canada in less then a month so we will be able to give tax receipts to those who want to donate and receive a tax deduction. The goal is to have the team that is coming here at the end of the year stay in the kitchen and dining room. I thank you all for your prayers.