Great is our God!

A couple weeks ago a Christian group called PureNRG came with Family Christian James Fund to serve! The highlight of my week was undoubtedly the concert that they put on. We got all of the Casa Hogares together at a church for the concert. It is rare that all of the Casa Hogares come together in one place, so you can imagine the excitement that filled the room! Before PureNRG performed, each of the Casa Hogares had the chance to perform! Watching all those precious kids sing praises to the Lord brought tears to my eyes. The joy in their faces as they watched PureNRG was such a blessing to witness. All in all the day was a blast for everyone involved and one that I will not soon forget!

Here are the kids from Imperio de Amor singing praises to Jesus!

The tambourine band from Casa Hogar Douglas!

PureNRG!!

Little Gabriella from Casa Hogar Del Norte has captured my heart and my dad's as well. She is new to the home and such a sweetheart. Please pray that she will grow into a woman of God who believes that she is loved and cherished by our Savior.

Here she is again! I adore her!

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Last Friday, SMCA took another field trip to a Puppet Museum downtown. We had so much fun! We learned about the history of puppets, watched a puppet show, and got to try out all the different types of puppets.

"The House of Puppets"

Some of the kids experimenting with the marionette puppets.

The SMCA kids outside of the museum!

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One of the many obstacles facing the kids that we work with in the Casa Hogares is their lack of reading skills. It is easy for them to fall behind in school and since they are unable to get the special attention that they need at home, many of them have never learn how to read. As I have been learning about this, my heart broke for the children even more, but I was unsure of what I could do to help due to my lack of Spanish skills. However, I quickly learned that God is so much bigger than my inability to speak Spanish. I recently learned that two of the children's homes are opening up libraries, and the moment I heard this, I knew that this was something I wanted to be a part of!!

I learned that a woman in the States is applying from a grant from the Rotary Club and that if the grant goes through we will have money for the books to start the library at Del Norte. The problem was that she didn't have any idea what types of books would be good in a children's library. I quickly volunteered my services and last week I helped her finish off a few details on the grant application. We should find out soon if we will receive the grant. Please pray that we will! My heart fills with excitement as I think about using this library to instill a love for books and reading inside of children who had possibly given up on the opportunity to ever learn how to read!

How amazing is our God!?!? I can't even begin to answer that question!! He is continually blowing my mind! He planned that there would be a woman in the States with the funds, a head of a children's home with the desire to see her children read, and a teacher with knowledge of what books would be needed for the project!! I love how he gives separate people visions and then leads the to oneanother is his timeing! I have always had a love for children's books, and now God has allowed me to help with a project that will use this love to serve kids in a way that I had never dreamed of! Please pray that the grant will be approved.

Thankyou for your continual prayer and support! Please let me know if there is anything specific that I can be praying about for you.

Tonight is the Fall Festival put on by the SMCA families! Stay tuned for pictures of our costumes... it should be pretty funny!!

With Joy,

Jessica