Our "little" visitor.

It's Saturday morning, and Melissa and I are enjoying a cup of coffee and working on our homemade bread.... when suddenly this jungle sized monster of a spider comes crawling our way. Needless to say, we jumped on the kitchen chairs and screamed to our other roommate to call for help. Yeah, we called for help. Our friend, Ivan, was at work so he told us to trap it and he would come kill it for us. He came over that afternoon, put 5 socks on his hand, took it outside and smashed it with a rock. I'm not sure what kind of spider it was, but he said if it had gotten us with its fangs we would've had to go to the hospital. Good thing we have friends like Ivan! And all I can say is I hope this thing didnt have babies in our house....

Thalia

Thalia came to the orphanage with her two younger sisters in tow, another sad story. But again, they are safe here in the arms of Jesus and are all such helpful and beautiful girls. Thalia is a very good student and has the sweetest laugh.. which makes my day a lot. Her birthday is coming up this Tuesday so we are going to celebrate with cake and a movie!

Rosa and Marcia

Rosa and Marcia are sisters (Marcia is the one sitting at her desk). They have a sad story, but the most important thing is that they are safe now in are learning about Jesus' great love. They are both soft-spoken and sweet and quite the little perfectionists! Rosa has a beautiful singing voice, and Marcia enjoys going to karate classes after school. Marcia was even my "super proactive student" winner this week!

Maribel

This is Maribel. She is my dancer, singer, lots of colors artist. :) She was living with her grandparents, but her grandmother passed away and her grandfather couldn't take care of her. She brings so much life and joy to Casa de Fe and to my classroom. It wouldn't surprise me if she was famous one day.. even if it was just for her beautiful smile!

Jessica

This is Jessica. She was brought to Casa de Fe by her mother because she could not take care of her. Jessica is such a sweet girl and gives the best hugs! She has moved out of the orphanage and into Patti Sue's house (with Jeniffer). She is very motherly and helps Patti Sue a lot with the babies (she says it is her favorite thing to do). She is also an amazing athlete and is really involved in weight-lifting. She is SO strong! Please pray that her heart grows stronger and stronger for Jesus. She is going to make quite the leader some day!

Angel

This is Angel... the ONLY boy in my class... bless his heart! He is 12 years old (I think) and recently moved out of the orphanage to live with his weightlifting coach. He is always very helpful and it great with the younger boys... they really look up to him. He is a little behind in school, but he is an eager learned.... I can't wait to see what God has planned for him! Please pray that he will learns what it means to be a man of God and pursue Jesus with all of his heart.

Jeniffer

This is Jeniffer. She will turn 11 years old on the 30th of this month. She is such an angel. Not only is she a good student, but she is so kind to all her other classmates and I never catch her whining about anything. And as you will see in my upcoming art pictures... she is quite the artist too!

Jeniffer came to Casa de Fe because her mother is not in the picture anymore and her dad cannot care for her the way he wants to. She has 4 older brothers and her dad works long hours to keep food on the table for the family. Her dad still loves her very much and continues to visit her, but he is scared to leave her at home while he is gone at work all day... not because of what her brothers would do to her but what her brothers' friends would do. So precious little Jenny has moved in with Patti Sue and enjoys the day to day chores and many blessings of having a "home life".

She is a strong girl and God has blessed her with such a sweet spirit. Please pray that as she continues to grow up, that she would continue to pursue Jesus and live for him.

Mi Casita

I know I promised to get individual pictures of my students up here with their stories.. and I will! It was a busy weekend and I am still working on learning their pasts... but I haven't forgotten! The pictures I am posting now are of my cute little house that I share with the two other Casa de Fe teachers. I know most of you probably don't care to see them, but I told my parents I would :). We are learning this week that God created us in His image... please pray that these kids grasp that.. its such an amazing testament that God loves us... he made us like him! Hope everyone has a great week... love you immensely!

My Precious!

Well I survived my first week of school, Praise Jesus! It went really well, and I find myself saying all the time "I LOVE my job." My classroom no longer has a tarp for walls... they put up boards so we have a cozy little room. My students are catching on to the rules and they are even telling me when another students deserves to get a "star" on their chart (they get stars for being a leader). God is really teaching me, through them, that DISCIPLINE actually is LOVE.... I really dont think I ever wrapped my head around that completely until now. I have to remind myself all the time "my acceptance comes from Christ, not from these kids"... because as much as I just want to love on them and hug them and let them do what they want, God reminds me that they NEED the discipline.. they need the security of the rules in the classroom and someone having expectations of them. That is why we are emphasizing that each one of them has a "leader in me". They each drew a picture of themselves this week and filled out 7 questions about themselves... and the one we focused on the most was what they dream to be when they grow up... I want these kids to have DREAMS! They are SO smart and I cant wait for God to do big things through them.... actually he already is.. in my life. So I am going to post a picture of all 7 students in front of their "Leader in Me" wall.. and then I am going to try and post each individual kids' picture and their story. I LOVE Y'ALL SO MUCH!!!! Thanks for being such wonderful friends and family and supporting me with your love!

The Simple Life.

Well, I have officially moved into my new house in Shell. Both of my new housemates, the 2 other teachers, are here and we have turned this place into quite the home! There are a few things we are getting used to ... like the running water going out randomly, not being able to put toilet paper in the toilet, crushing our own coffee caveman style, and presently having no mirrors whatsoever in the house (going on day 5.. we hope to change that today). Its really been fun getting settled in though and meeting everyone in this cute little jungle town... everyone here is so sweet. It has that "everybody knows everybody" feel.

I have met all my students except for one. I will have 6 girls and 1 boy... and the boy, Angel, is the only one I have yet to meet. The girls are adorable.. and so excited for school to start next week. I just charged my camera last night so I will take pictures of each one of them soon and tell you their stories. I am excited to have them as students! On Monday and Tuesday we will have in-service days and then Wednesday or Thursday classes will begin. I'll let you know how things go! Please write me and let me know the things happening in your lives! I miss everyone so much!