Central Asia Update April 3, 2008

Things are going well- yesterday Bill and Kori got their luggage! Which was a great addition to our team! On Monday we got to go visit an orphanage that CARD (the humanitarian agency that we support) has an employee with. The babies (ages a few months to 4 or 5) were SO cute. They had beautiful brown eyes and brown hair and were eager to be held and played with. I think we should adopt them all :)

On Tuesday we painted a large room at the psychiatric clinic that was certainly in need of a new paint job. We had white paint and pink dye- but we ran into a little shade problem as we mixed it throughout the day. All in all, the room looks way better and brighter though! The woman's ward that we painted was pretty rough. We even had to burn some 'woodlice' off the walls before we painted! Which made us a little uncomfortable :) It is hard to imagine that these precious women live in this place every day, many actually rarely leave the room. The CARD work here is very important and seems to be really, really helping a lot of people.

On Wednesday we started helping with some English classes and teaching a cooking class with students at the vo-tech school CARD works with. It was very fun and we all enjoyed the interaction with the young students. Marilene and Kori got to visit a believer who has been confined to her house by her husband and mother-in-law and that sometimes only gets this one visit a week! They had a sweet time of talking about her life and worries and spent a good time in prayer with her.

Today, Thursday, the women on the trip had the immense pleasure of getting to spend a couple of hours painting the nails of the women at the psychiatric clinic. It was SO wonderful! They were really excited and I personally really enjoyed getting to rub their hands and touch them- it made them seem like real people to me- and minimized the differences in our lives. We also brought some little bags of shampoo and lotions and things and gave them to the women- which they really liked. The CARD worker thought it would be good to write their names on the bags so that the psychiatric workers didn't steal them from the women. This sounds horrible and is, but apparently a lot of this sort of corruption happens often here- as the majority of people are poor. Please pray for the women in the clinic- that they would know God, and of his mercy- that the workers would know Him as well and have compassion on the patients- for His goodness to flow in such a dark and horrid place. And that those who are able would leave the clinic and live with their families or elsewhere.

Then this afternoon we got to go to the children's orphanage were the CARD workers are rarely allowed in by the matron who runs it and got to interact with a few of the kids a little. Please pray for the children as well, as they are not really treated very well there- and for the workers to gain compassion and God's love. And for families to adopt the beautiful children!

Tomorrow we are going to go to the workers' weekly house church here and are very excited! Thanks for caring and praying- we can't wait to be home and tell everyone more details!

Christy

Monterrey, Mexico update April 2, 2008

As far as construction at the seminary, we were given three tasks to accomplish this week. Their priority is painting the exterior of the builing. For this we have rented two lifts (that go up to 40 feet). Wayne, David, Rex, and myself have been up there painting. We hope to be done by Friday. The second task was to install a projection screen and new lighting in the media room (Juan Wesley room). Earl, Rex, and Les worked on this project and it has been completed. The last project is finishing up the dorm room in the second floor. Everybody has been helping on this, even Amy has done some work on this room.

As far as working with the kids, we have been going to a new church. This is a pentacostal church located in a very poor area of Monterrey. This church has never been visisted by an American group before so it was fun for them and for us. On the first day we were expecting about 40 kids, but ended up having 115. It was amazing and Jan did a great job handling this surprise. Yesterday, it was Esther Jean`s birthday and the kids prepared a great party for her; after "decorating" Esther Jean with sticky notes with bible pasagges, a mariachi singer arrived and sang to her. It was a great experience (Esther Gene said she has never celebrated her birthday that way). We have been invited to attend a worship service at this church on Thurday night. Wayne has volunteered to give the message (I will translate for him).

Well, this is all for now. Please continue to pray for us.
Santiago Ruiz

Central Asia update March 31, 2008

Greetings from Central Asia! After many hours of traveling we have finally made it to our destination. We had dinner with our local friends and debriefed about the week. Our week is shaping up to be full, but very fun. Check back later for more detailed updates! Amy Malnar