Starting Point

We hosted a Starting Point class in the Peñasco barrios a few days ago. We had about 40 people come learn how they can plug into something bigger than themselves and how they can own the future welfare of their community. We had very positive responses and we should be hosting one a month starting in October.

Mission Sites

A local church has numerous mission sites throughout the barrios. I had the awesome opportunity to preach at one this morning. I've been on the programming team of this church for a month now and have gotten to see a lot of the inner workings of the church.

It was great to meet the mission site leaders and to participate in the work they are doing.

They are doing a great job of providing people with food and drink - physical and spiritual.

Every Saturday there are 4 mission sites that preach the word to the parents, have a program for the kids, and provide all who attend with something to eat, usually hot dogs, pancakes, or sandwiches.

We are happy to partner with the local church in these areas to help them, help their communities.

Movie Night

We had our first movie night last night. We hosted about 100 people at our community center and watched Night at the Museum. It was a lot of fun and everyone that came is really excited for our next movie night in two weeks.

Starting last night every other Friday we are setting up the projector to watch movies. In the barrios, where there is no electricity, a 9x12 foot screen showing a movie and a loud sound system really stands out. We're glad to be able to offer the community something fun and free to do with their Friday nights.

If you're ever in the area and need something to do on a Friday night, come watch movies with us!

Neighbors and Friends

This week we built 6 houses and tomorrow one more starts making our Spring Break 2010 total 7 homes for families. That alone is a pretty successful venture, but let me tell you about something that participants don't necessarily get to see when they come down.

Yesterday Gold Canyon Community Church finished a house for Pablo, Yolanda, and their family. After they finished the house we all gathered outside for a group picture. After which everyone hugs, says their goodbyes, and gets in the car to drive back home. Usually these hugs take place between the volunteers and the locals. This particular time I saw Yolanda hug one of her neighbors, Alma Rosa. Yolanda told Alma Rosa how awesome it was to meet her and get to know her this weekend and then she thanked her for helping build her house.

These were two neighbors that didn't know each other at all before. I know I've written about this before so this is obviously something that gets me excited. Every time it happens so tangibly and visibly it completely confirms our mission here and encourages us to keep going. Thats only two neighbors. How many of these interactions do we not get to see?

Thank you to Gold Canyon and all the other churches and groups that came down to help build more hope in a hopeless part of Puerto Penasco.