Buen Provecho, Paca, and Children's Church, among other things

Well it's been a little while, but things are going well for us here in the Career Girls dorm. The girls just took off for classes this afternoon. They are all (well, most of them are) studying hard now, as they have their first round of test coming up. Please lift them up as they prepare and take their exams. This year it's a little different, in that they have less exams, but several quizzes, throughout each grading period. Hopefully this will prove to be a better setup.

Ludy came to me about a week ago and asked if she could store something in my fridge for a month. Then she handed me a large jar of what looks like pineapple in pineapple juice, or something similar. "It's a science experiment," she informed me. Well, at least it's good to know she's not trying to start a career of making preserves or something! Today she had to take the jar to class and told me she'd gotten in trouble for forgetting to take it yesterday, like she was supposed to. Her punishment? To taste it. Bon appetite! (or as we say here in Guatemala, "Buen Provecho!")

At the beginning of February, we started a budget system in our dorm...with monopoly money (thanks, Mom, for that great idea!) So far it's been going great, and I think the girls are really enjoying it. I "pay" them every Saturday (their pay is earned by going to school & doing their assigned work, doing their weekly chores, and being faithful in their volunteer job a Casa, which was designed as a very specific and practical way for the older kids to give back and sort of earn their keep here.) A while back, Mike helped me come up with some rough numbers of what the regular expenses are here at Casa Aleluya and more or less what the per-person cost come out to be, so I used those figures to come up with the girls weekly/monthly dues: Rent, Electric, Gas, Water, Food, Medical, Tuition, Clothing, Toiletries and Cleaning Supplies, and we even have a section for them to give an offering to God. Although I didn't assign a specific amount to that, I explained to them what a tithe is and how tithes and offerings look in both the Old and New Testaments, so with that knowledge, the amount is up to them. That has been interesting...I'm pondering an idea of tracking their tithes and giving more in their pay every now and then to those who tithe more generously, to help teach them how the Lord provides for us when we're faithful to give to Him first.

The girls earn a little more each month than they need to pay their bills, so they're allowed to save for rewards/prizes, and "buying" from me (so far we've done coffee, snacks, and clothing, which was definitely the most interesting!) Over the past several months, many of you have generously donated clothes, and even some shoes, to for me to give to the girls. I've been hanging on to them with the idea of using them for good behavior rewards, but I think we've found the best outlet in letting the girls buy the donated items with their monopoly money. I should've taken a picture of it! We organized the clothes and all out on the bed, and they all shouted "Paca!" which is the using clothing area of the market. "Our clothing," I informed them, "is better than Paca, as a lot of it is new, and the used items are still nice." Well, the buying and bargaining experience WAS like being in the market! I couldn't believe how much they really wanted to bargain with me! It was a good learning experience for at least one of them though, as she nearly spent herself penniless. But that means this budget program is accomplishing exactly what I was hoping for: that it would give them a chance to practice responsibility in money management and bill paying, to prepare them for "real" life, once they move on from Casa. I'm also seeing it raise their awareness of the costs they incur here at Casa (especially electricity--they get charged a fine for leaving the lights on unattended...funny how they seem to turn the lights off when they leave the room more and more now.)

My only regret is that I didn't get on the ball to start this sooner. Hopefully whoever takes over the dorm will be able to carry it on. (Please continue to pray for that person/people whoever it may be, as well as for the girls and me, as we move closer to making that transition.)

Pueblo de la Verdad, aka Children's Church for Los Angelitos' preschoolers, has been going well. I'm really focusing on preparing the leadership team to take over once I leave. I have no doubt that they can do it, but I am a little concerned about them keeping the team and program motivated. At this point, they pretty much lead the program, but with me overseeing it, I help keep them on track. Please pray the Lord would raise up one of the kids to take on that role now, or even that they'd all share it.

Some fun news about Pueblo is that, because of someone's generous donation, I was able to purchase a second microphone (especially helpful for puppets) and a guitar for the Pueblo program specifically. Until now, we've been using my guitar and extra mic, so now they'll be set. Elvis has been toying with learning to play guitar for a while now, so he will be in charge of the guitar, and hopefully we'll have some time to sit down and at least go over the basics. The songs we play in children's church a really simple, so I think he'll be able to learn them fairly easily. He was pretty excited about the guitar though!

Please do keep praying for this program and the upcoming transition in leadership. The kids have really taken ownership of it and over the past year or so have built relationships with the children in their small groups, so I know they are making a difference there, and the children are learning more about God's truth in His word, particularly Old Testament stories that most of them have never heard before. My hope and prayer is that this program be able to continue and to grow even stronger than it is now, and that these teens who're leading it will grow and be stretching into strong, equipped disciples of Christ, actively serving Him.

Rene and I would also love it if you would lift us up as we prepare for this transition in our life together, especially as we get closer to the date...just a couple more months!

Many blessings to you all!
love,
Ginny