The Orchard at Emmanuel Ministries Juarez, Mexico

Group Picture as we left

Wow, what a great trip!  With a little more than a day to reflect on the time spent in Juarez, it is obvious that God’s hand is on Emmanuel Ministries in both the lives of the staff and the kids.  Our group arrived in Juarez as individual families, each with slightly different experience, agenda’s, and expectations.  We returned as a tightly knit group, unified in our desire for a special blessing for Emmanuel Ministries, and sad to part from our daily lives together alongside the staff and kids in Juarez.  I’m almost envious of the people we left behind in Juarez – they will continue to experience the emotional highs of the various groups bringing God’s love and compassion.  By necessity, they will continue to trust in God’s providence to provide them with all they need, both here and for all eternity.  I (presumably we), on the other hand, am already settling in to the daily routine I was accustomed to prior to the trip.  While there is absolutely nothing wrong with my daily life (hey, I slept in a comfortable bed (without earplugs), swallowed a little of the water from brushing my teeth and actually flushed toilet paper J), it is just a little less satisfying right now.  I hope that feeling never leaves…

Cory

We are now back home safely in Arlington Heights. It was terrific sleeping in my own bed with my wife again. I also enjoyed not having to use earplugs to keep the snoring and barking dogs’ from waking me up. What a simple pleasure to be able to use the water from a faucet and not have to be concerned about following-up with hand sanitizer, or rinsing my toothbrush with bottled water. I also had a salad with rinsed lettuce without any concerns.

Despite my enjoyment of the many simple comforts we have in America, serving at Emmanuel Ministries children’s home was truly a pleasure. The kids were fun to either play with, or just spending time trying to communicate in their language. I wish I would have studied harder in those Spanish classes many years ago. The simple joys of a safe fenced-in playground and a soccer ball to kick, was what these kids enjoyed.

The experiences I will always remember are:

Church services - kids waving flags, terrific songs being sung in Spanish, such as “How great is our God”, laying hands on the kids and praying for them.

Military presence in this city - The comfort of frequent sightings of two or more military vehicles with 5-6 soldiers on board with large machine guns.

Terrific soccer players! The kids play all day and night and they are good!

These kids are tough. I saw many of them get hit by soccer balls or fall hard on the pavement - very few shed a tear. They would just pick themselves up and keep going.

Letting kids, simply be kids. Some have experienced things no one should have to endure. This is a safe haven for those children.

God’s presence throughout the ministry - both in the school and the orphanage, the kids have an opportunity to come to know Jesus.

Daily devotions with another family. This was a rich experience to discuss significant issues with other families and grow closer.

Competitive card games - the usual suspects played Euchre or Hearts, a bit too late into the evenings.

Hike to the cross on a nearby mountain. Wonderful views of Juarez, El Paso and other mountains in the distance.

Dodge ball in the dorm room - the kids made a craft of a small bean bag. They improvised and used them to play dodge ball in their rooms. It was a blast watching them have that kind of fun.

Saying good by - warm hugs and sadness at leaving our new friends.

It is nice hearing my kids say how much they wished they could stay at the home. I was unsure of their reaction to leaving most of their comforts back in Arlington Heights. The result is an expectation for the next opportunity to serve those in this easily overlooked place.

Thank you for your support during this past week. It will be an experience each of us will never forget.

The Lord is very good!

Paul K

Well after two good nights of sleep in my own bed I am starting to feel like myself again. We got back from Emmanuel Ministries in Juarez, Mexico on Sunday afternoon, after waiting for two hours for the mechanics to fixes the hydraulics in the airplanes wing. Other than that and the hotel shuttle driver not showing up Sunday morning to take us to the airport the trip went without a significant problem. Thanks to your prays and the Lords blessing on us; we had a very productive and fruitful trip. Who was the us, the team was made of up 30 members with eleven of them being under the age of fifteen.

At one of the planning meetings for the trip someone, who had gone before, compared going to Emmanuel Ministries as being in heaven and another person said so heaven is going to have bugs and dirt. Well I don’t know if heaven is going to have bugs and dirt, (I only experienced dirt at Emmanuel, thanks to pesticides), but I can say yes going to Emmanuel Ministry is like a little heaven on this side of eternity as you are working for someone else and expecting nothing in return and working with and for some of the most loving people every and the dirt and bugs don’t matter. What really matters is the love and caring for others and each other. As the team leader on this trip I got a different prospective then I have had on my two previous trips to Emmanuel. With eleven children under the age of fifteen, I was a little worried that we might have some problems keep the children engaged in meaningful activities, thanks to Lori and Lydia who helped in making sure the children were meaningfully engaged we had no issues.

One of my rolls as team leaders was to go with the Angel or Aaron to get supplies for our projects. I traveled to several areas of Juarez and despite all the news I never felt in any danger. Angel and Aaron both told me stories that reinforced that Juarez has a serious drug problem. Due to the increased presents of the Mexico military in the area it has help to improved the security in the city, please continue to be in prayer about this as a significant portion of the problem is caused by the demand for drugs here in the States, in addition the improvements in Colombia has moved some of the drug cartels to Mexico and there has been a fight for power between the drug cartels. Yes, Mexicans have increased their own security and every Mexican I talked to about the military present were glad to see it as it has put the drug cartels on notice and are not nearly as brazen. I would not let our news stop me from going again, yes the world is a dangers place and whether it is the Southside of Chicago, Juarez, some remote part of United States or some other remote part of the world, you need to go trusting the Lord and with the guidance of the someone who knows the area.

I can clearly say that the trip was very productive as we went with one major objective and that was to encourage the children and staff of Emmanuel Ministry (ie. to be God’s hands and feet) any way we could. We accomplished quite a bite (maybe we had a “tasks master” as a leader); we started some tooth decay (we passed out several pounds of candy, it ‘s a good thing they have a dental client), did crafts with the children in the school, cut several heads of hair, painted several toe nails (as they cannot have painted finger nails in school), painted the boy’s dorm rooms, painted the boy’s beds, yellow washed the playground walls and bleachers, stripped half of the playground of the painted lines, painted lines on for hand ball, tiled a hallway, bought a new tile saw for them, baby sit some of the staffs children during the day so they did not have to worry about their children, helped with showers and put the little children to bed, helped with the cooking, got their internet working, cleaned up and labeled some of the network cabling, held some wrestling and Ti Quan Do classes for the boys, miscellaneous electrical, Dr Dave spent numerous hours in their client doing chiropractic work (he lost count of the number of people he saw over the five days), took the whole home both children and staff to Peter Piper Pizza on Wednesday night (Peter Piper is a Chuck e Cheese type place, they never get to go out unless a group takes them out, which might be about 3 times a year. Last year they went to a pool a couple of time and out to eat another), Wednesday was a Teacher’s Institute Day so they came to us at noon on Tuesday and asked us to have classes for the school children of the home, so Lori arranged a rotating schedule with crafts, dance/stretching, English, movies, and gym. In addition we have an ice cream party for the children who did not go home for the weekend on Friday afternoon (most of the children who did not go home on the weekend did not have a home to go home to, about 30 children) and yes we played with the children and we played with the children and played with the children. I would have to say the most important thing we did was play with the children. As with 90 children and a small staff the personal time each children get very small even though that staff is very loving and put the children first they get spread very thin. Yes, I believe everyone left feeling very blessed as we think we had done something significant for a week and all would have stayed longer if life was not calling them home. One additional, thing we did was to coordinate with the Naperville EFC team who was arriving as we left to hand off some of our knowledge on the electrical and computer network so they could push those projects farther.

I would like to thank all of our supports for the financial support and prayers as we would have not been able to go without your support. In addition, I want to thank the team for their support, flexibility and patience with me as their team leader. Most important I want to thank Betel , Wendy and the rest of the staff at Emmanuel Ministry for all they did for us before and while we were there, from cooking, coordinating, answering our questions, being our taxis drivers, and the numerous other thing they did for us.

God has literally placed Emmanuel Ministry on top of a hill in Juarez, Mexico where it is being the light God has asked it to be, thanks to the Lopez family’s vision and perseverance for the last 45 years it is making a difference one child at a time giving them the opportunity to be children again as many have see and experienced thing no person should experience rather long a child. If you would like to know more about Emmanuel Ministry you can get more information on their website at www.emmanuelgo.org. If you would like to know more about our trip you have two ways of finding our more information, the first is checking out our trip blog at gmckee.com/Mexico2009/ and if you live in the Arlington Heights area you can come to our trip report meeting Sunday, April 26^th at 6:15 at the The Orchard EFC church, where the team will share some of our pictures, our experiences and how the Lord has impacted us through the trip.

Once again, I want to thank you for your support and prayers.

Gary

New Best Friends

Angel and Cory

Scott and some of the boys

This is my mom

Cindy giving Amy a haircut (Amy is an intern)

Please sign my shirt

Saying Good Bye

First of all I acknowledge the Lord our God for all the blessings He provided me, my family and the entire team.  Wow – what a week!   This was my 3^rd visit to Emmanuel ministries and I’ve never been more moved as we said our goodbyes to the staff and especially the children.  I shed more than a few tears.  

On Saturday, we packed, cleaned and left Emmanuel at about 10:30am.  We visited the market on our way out of town, purchased a few trinkets and ate a sack lunch in our vehicles.  It took about 2 hours to cross the border.  We spent Saturday night at a LaQuinta Inn near the El Paso airport.   After we checked in, Gary, Glenn, Neal and Russ Haraf (Russ came in Thursday direct from a business trip in Europe) returned to the airport to meet the Naperville group & Dave Gruthesen at the airport.  Neal and Glean (Whiz #1 & Whiz #2) “handed off’ their computer networking / internet access project to the Naperville EFC team.  It’s amazing to observe how vital Internet access has become to the basic day to day activities of the orphanage and school.  I would dare to say it is as important as maintaining the buildings, plumbing and electrical services. 

We all woke up early Sunday morning to catch the 5:15am hotel shuttle to the airport.  Unfortunately, the shuttle never arrived.  Actually, it was the driver for the shuttle that never arrived. After some scurrying, several taxis were arranged by the hotel and we all made it to the airport – on time, but not with that much extra time to spare.   We left the gate, only to return a few minutes later as the pilot observed a hydraulic fluid leak.  Praise God that the leak was observed before we took off!  Two hours later, the leak was repaired and we took off from the El Paso airport.  Thank you for all the prayers for safety! Your prayers were answered.

I could write several pages regarding the impact of this trip.  But if I had to pick one experience that was an “ah ha” moment for me it was during the first night at Emmanuel.   Betel was giving a presentation on the history and overview of the ministry.    One of Emmanuel’s guiding verses is James 1:27:  “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress…..”  This verse has really registered deeply in my soul.  

God Bless,  Paul Henkels  

Matt at the Market

Leaving the market, a musician hopped in our bus & sang us a song.

How does this place do this to me?? I just never want to leave. Ever. Ever. Ever.  I remember these feelings from two years ago when we were down here last.  For some reason this place just makes you feel so attached.  A large part is the kids.  The kids here are the most adorable, sweet, kind, and loving kids you could ever meet.  After spending a week with them, hearing their backgrounds, seeing them worship, playing tag, drawing, and endless hours of soccer, I find myself wondering, “When can I come back next?? Two years is way too long.”  These kids are so joyful- you can see God in their lives.  It’s amazing.

Today was quite an eventful day.  In the morning we climbed the mountain with a cross at the top.  Extremely beautiful. Then the kids had a handball tournament. So cute!! Then, they had the kids that left today to go back to relatives if they have any for the weekend come say goodbye.  Ahhhh, I was like a fountain.  They had the all the kids say “Thank You!” in English, which just melted my heart.  Even though most of the kids I became closest with didn’t leave today, in a sense it was a pre-goodbye to tomorrow.  All day kids have been saying to us “Te extronare” which means I will miss you.  Once again, just melted my heart.  I know tomorrow will be even more emotional, but I have a comfort knowing I can write them and send them pictures.  Hopefully I’ll come back here soon.

Amor por Juarez,

Beth Henkels

Many of us climbed up this hill to the cross today (Friday) - Including Lori!

Our kids with Aaron on top of the hill.

A view of a home on our journey up the the hill

Father (Cory) and Son (Levi) tiling

Gary was tossing candy out during our goodbye. The kids LOVE Candy! (BTW - Jim is lifting a child up, not going after the candy himself.)

Beth with some of her young amigo friends.

I’m going to have to back track in this entry to an “ah-ha” moment I had yesterday (Wednesday), during Teacher Institute Day (see Lori’s entry below!).  I had made a last-minute switch from the craft station to the classroom where my Mom and sister Amy were teaching English lessons, and found myself in a position of having to impromptu engage a group of 5^th and 6^th graders.  Not knowing what they would want to learn in English, I decided to ask them some questions in (my very broken) Spanish to gage interest.  So I asked them “¿Qué es tu restaurante favorito?” (“What is your favorite restaurant?).

Blank stares.

“McDonald’s?  Pizza Hut?”

Nothing.

These kids don’t get out much.  They don’t have the luxury to go out to dinner whenever someone in the house doesn’t feel like making something.  Later, after English class was over (my Mom recovered very well by creating a game for them), I thought about how often I go out to eat, go out for treats with friends, go to movies and go shopping.  I thought about indulgence. 

These kids are smart, talented, and have incredible gifts for the world… I do not pity them at all.  But the truth is that yesterday when we took the kids to Peter Piper’s Pizza, it was one of maybe three times those kids will go out to dinner all year. 

So I guess what I’m trying to write is that this trip has been less about swooping in and ‘helping these poor children’ as it has been about me reflecting on the way I’ve been living my life.  And the results are devastating. 

These kids are teaching me more than they will ever know…

-Emily Henkels

Dios te bendiga.  God bless you in Espanol!  On this trip, God has blessed the children and US also in so many ways.  When we arrived I believed that it would be more of a one way street with us doing most of the helping and sharing of our time and love. These children are so loving and open in sharing a hug, smile, or a pelota(ball)!  Tonight we went to a church service that the kids ran.  It was amazing and something not to be forgotten.  One of the girls, Lucia, preached about faith and shared a great biblical perspective on what faith is, and how God has done amazing things in her life.  She spoke about the Christian movie “Facing the Giants” and wove the movie’s message into her sermon on faith. Her brother also spoke and shared a great faith in our creator as well.  If you knew even what I do about her terrible family history you could not conceive how this beautiful, fifteen year old women, could be so joyful and put together.  There is only one way and that is because she has been touched by Jesus Christ.

 This was the second service that we have attended and they are marked by people sharing their testimony, much singing, dancing, and people that need prayer coming up to the front.  This is followed by a call to come pray for these people.  Our, group and people helping at the orphanage now almost sprint up to the front to pray over these people.  Kids and adults are moved to tears as we pray to our father for them and slip in a few prayers for us- mostly that we can be like these children in their faith.  I will tell you this.  I could stay in this church forever.  It is a different kind of fellowship and is so real.  I forgot to mention, the whole service I was being hugged by my new best friend, Alberto, who would not let go of me and I believe called me “papa” by accident on the playground after the service.

What a fantastic experience this has been for all the adults and kids in our group.  We are all a little tired after working in the hot sun all week but are amazed and in awe of the teachers and workers here at the orphanage.  They know what true hard, yet fulfilling work is like. What tremendous role models they are for the children.  My prayer for all of you reading this and for the rest of my family that did not come here, is that you visit this children’s home and experience this heaven on earth.  Before this week, I thought that “heaven” could maybe be found on some lush South Seas island.  It truly resides however, in Juarez, Mexico where God reaches down and makes himself powerfully known every day. If for some reason you cannot come here it is OK.  I have learned even more now than ever that with the simple, yet powerful faith of the children of Emmanuel Ministries -Arlington Heights or anywhere can be heaven on earth and a chance to connect deeply with our maker.  God bless you!  Dios te bendiga!

-Scott Seafield

Carson!

Edith, new amiga signing Emily M. shirt

Busy Dr. Dave attended to patients every day, all day long .

Play TIme!

Brothers!

A number of our hosts cleaning up in their living area last night.

Brent and Nathan Zuercher having 'fun' painting in one of the boys rooms..

Hello, when you lead a group of 30 people and a lot of them you barely know and the group has 11 children under the age of 15 to a children home like Emmanuel Ministry you never know how the group is going to work together.  This group has come together as one group pulling for one another and I believe we are being God’s hands and feet here at Emmanuel Ministry.  Yes, sometimes it is like herding cats however it is a pleasure to work with this group.  We are accomplishing a fair amount of work and at the same time interacting with the children; we came with our prayer being that we would be able to encourage Emmanuel Ministry’s staff and children.  I believe we are doing that by lifting their burden of raising 90 children, image if your house had 90 children living in it and how long the honey-do-list would be and how much time you would be able to spend with each child.  We have been able to help reduce the list a little, but more important we have been able to tell each child and staff member what is going on here at Emmanuel is very important and in God’s will.  Remember God told us true religion was taking care of widows and orphans and that is what Emmanuel Ministry is doing, so all that partner with Emmanuel are doing God’s work.

What has been a typical day been like for the team here at Emmanuel;  devotional starts at about 7:30, 8:30 breakfast, a small group does crafts with the children in their classrooms from 9:00 – 10:30, 9:30 – 1:15 work on projects, lunch at 1:30 (big meal of the day), 2:00-5:30 more project work with a team playing with the children, dinner at 6:30; then more play with children, with a daily wrap up meeting sometime in the evening with the favorite activity being “I Spy” (I saw someone doing something good),  with some playing cards/games and some going to bed. 

As we prepared to come to Emmanuel, I gave the group really only one promise and that was that we would need to be flexible and there would be change and yes we have had to adjust our plans several times as we found something more important or as we uncovered what was the real issue/need. 

Before we came there was a lot of concern about safety here.  Yes, they have a serious problem here in Juarez, but with the military presents, our hosts and knowing God’s hand is on this trip, I have been able to travel around Juarez going to get supplies at several different stores without a single concern for safety.  Thank you for your continued prayer support.

With only two more days left before we head home please pray that God will continue to keep us health and productive.  Please pray that we are able to finish strong. 

Thanks, Gary

Mere words cannot describe the day-challenging, exhausting, daunting-awesome!!  Today was a government required teacher institute day.  We were asked to take the children who attend the school (thru 6^th grade), 64 of them in all, from 9a.m. until 1:30p.m.  Mrs. Henkels and Mr. Seafield rallied the troops and set up a rotation of 5 stations, sending each grade through once.  We now know firsthand the challenges these teachers face-children with little boundaries, direction or love. They seemed to enjoy learning English, dancing, watching movies, playing games and doing crafts. We taught kids that do not know English nor do we know Spanish! It was a day outside our comfort zone but that is what God asks of each of us – to step outside our comfort zone and depend on Him instead! It was challenging but incredibly rewarding. For dinner, we took the kids to Peter Piper Pizza, a Mexican version of Chuck-e-Cheese. These kids were in heaven. Someone was giving them a treat that we in the US take for granted. They get so few opportunities to enjoy things we consider as “no big deal”. Their joy and excitement was the highlight of the day! These kids have so little yet have such joy. We are learning so much from them. We find it funny that we came here to help the kids by being Jesus’ hands and feet but instead God is using them to impact us.

– Neal and Lisa Mrstik

Hola and Buenas Noches!  It is now nearing 10pm here and I have just been killed in a nasty game of Mafia .  J  Therefore, as I await to find out my assassin, I decided to blog.

To those who have supported us and have been praying for us….THANK YOU! We have been blessed by being here and have most certainly felt the prayer.

Our trip here has been safe for those who had expressed concern. Our trip here has been eventful. Between playing with children who speak little English, working  hard in the home on a multitude of projects and just finishing up a “field trip” with 60 children, we are thankful to a loving God who has enriched our lives.

I have read all of our team’s blogs so far and wonder if, by reading them, you are able to truly get an idea of our experience here. (Perhaps you will need to make this visit sometime! J).  I must admit that I am exhausted and am about to fall asleep so I will end with thanks to my Lord and Savior for allowing me the eyes to see children in need, a heart wanting to reach out to them, a mind to discover ways to enrich their lives and see you more, a body still able to move to serve you and a humble soul that is grateful to serve.

Good night and  may God bless,

Lori Henkels

Emily H. Teaching English

Elizabeth Esquivel with Lots of TIckets!

We Love Pizza!

Miguel

Paul Serving the Kids Pizza!

Brianna with her Amiga Sandra

HOLA!!!!!  Juarez is amazing all the kids are super nice.  We accomplished a lot today. We painted a lot outside. Mr. Masters led tiling the floors and made a lot of progress.  We are very excited to take the kids to Peter Pipers pizza tomorrow (Wednesday) evening. They have been talking about it all day the “fiesta”.  All the kids are very obsessed with candy all they say when you talk to them is “mucho candy”!  The home is awesome.  Juarez is a lot safer than I thought it would be.  Tomorrow,  me, Ben, Amy, and Mrs. Henkles are going to teach English to the kids.  It will be hard but fun.  All the kids will be very sad when we leave and I will definitely miss them also.  Please continue to pray for us and all the kids.                                    

                        Matt Seafield

Estupido!!! My new favorite word, you can probably see that it is stupid in Spanish.  Estupido, no, no comprendo, and I carumba are mostly the only words in Spanish that I know.  To me a conversations here sound like adsfhklfanada  What?? Kjadiuuv;kjna wha? ;jahgiuvn;kdiu, Ben?? hahahaha .  Well I have learned a lot here:

1. The Americanos are the worst soccer players ever,

2. Paint makes a great face tattoo (hahaha Hannah),

3. Paint fights are very fun (I hope Gary never finds that paint on the back of his head)

4. (Now the serious stuff) a lot of people can get a big job done

5. We can be friends with people who don’t speak our language

6. Never play Batman Uno or Mafia with Mrs. Henkels when trying to be calm or serious

7. Don’t take a bag of candy outside if you are claustraphobic

8. Mexican Food is soooooo good

9. If you want to be popular in Mexico just say “mucho candy”

10. Don’t go shopping for the orphans if you are on a budget

Ben Kangas

MEXICOOOOO!  I love this place soooo much, mainly because of the kids that we are with at os ninos de la hogar Emanuel.  One thing for sure I have both needed and learned is having patience with everyone around me, especially the younger children who take away most of my energy.  I find that they are sometimes difficult to work with because they have an attention span of two or three seconds.  However, I am getting better being with them.  A key aspect to success, or not being overwhelmed with the kids, is to use the word ‘no’. 

 The children are very loveable.  When I need to be doing work or be someplace else, I find it tough to say ‘I have to go’ and just leave them wherever they are.  I have noticed one very interesting thing btw (by the way).   I have noticed that the children are attached to you pretty much no matter what you are doing.  You could be doing crafts, talking for three seconds (or trying) in a foreign language, losing to their mad soccer skills, or just saying HOLA! and giving a high-five and fist-bumps.   A little thing goes a long way and oddly enough, something as simple as a smile is incredibly addictive and it passes from everyone to others. 

 Also, I have been working with the middle age and younger kids with wrestling.  The kids are just there to have fun. It’s great! However the really younger kids I couldn’t work with. They were non-listeners and they were committing all sorts of atrocities.  Well not quite, but they were kicking me, punching me, and also pulling down my shorts (a manner of which is very inappropriate).  So that was not working out too well.  However, the middle age kids listened and I let them all wrestle me.  They all went for the victory….. but, never succeeding in the two sessions (I pinned them all!).  I wonder what else God may teach me during this…adventure/journey/vacation/learning experience/etc…

Michael Corrin / Marcelo Corkill = J 

Lisa & Team Leading Crafts

"The Painters" - Melissa, Hannah & Rachel

Emily & Beth Sorting Clothes

The Kids make New Friends!

Buenas Noches from Juarez. WOW – it has been so awesome to be here!!!! What a blessing. God is so good and He is in control. I have been struck by the love and mercy all around the Emmanuel Home. When the children smile at you, their faces completely light up and your heart just melts. And – they smile all the time. I have been in tears so many times because of the beauty of the kids and the love shown to them by those who work here year round. We had a tour of the entire facility today, including the school. I was amazed and in awe of how God has used this home and the people he has placed here. Most importantly, the children here are safe and loved and learning about Jesus’ love for them. The facility is clean and warm and welcoming and loving. The children share dorms, but it is not at all institutional. They have cute shower curtains and each room is painted in kid-friendly colors with matching blankets on their beds. Today lots of work projects began. I was blessed to be able to be part of the “spa.” Cindy cut hair, while Lori washed the kids’ feet and then Haley and I painted their toes. What fun!! Lots of painting and tiling was started today as well as helping the school principal with their computer network. Of course – we all got some time to play with the kids and show them love. We are so looking forward to seeing what the Lord has in store for us the rest of the week. We pray that we can be a blessing to those here - because we have been tremendously blessed by them.
Lots of love to all, Lydia Masters

This was our first encounter of the kid’s school. We woke up to a beautifully cool and bright morning. During the morning meeting Gary began talking about signing up for jobs with Mrs. Henkels. My Dad and I signed up for painting duty while my little sister Melissa took babysitting and putting kids to bed. For most of the morning and afternoon I painted with a few kids and my dad. I painted metal beds a dark blue and the room next door a sunny yellow. Around four o clock Mike one of the kids and Scott Seafield taught some of the kids’ tie Kwan do and wrestling while I sat and watch. After was dinner, and now we can goof off before bed. I hope tomorrow is as great as this one.
Brianna Pollina

Today was our first full day in Juarez and it was very cool! Most of us woke up early to the sound of roosters, much before the sun was inclined to rise. The night’s sleep was accompanied by an interesting chorus of snorts and wheezes from the room of 17 fellas blended with the melodious sounds of neighborhood dogs communicating their presence. However, the early rise gave us more of a chance to socialize in our community room, which was very nice.
We spent much of the morning on the playground with the kids as they got ready for church – I think the kids had Sunday School before we went to the church at noon. The church service was performed mostly in Spanish, although several of the songs had familiar tunes that we were familiar with. We spent a great deal of time singing praises, and then the pastor opened the microphone to allow participants to share their stories of how God was working in their lives. We heard from a woman whose husband’s prison sentence was recently commuted, another woman who suffered from epileptic seizures and still another woman whose relative was just diagnosed with cancer. It was interesting to hear the stories in Spanish, and then hear the English summary.
I have been struck with the ambivalence the locals have with the living conditions. As we look over the neighborhood, we see some extreme poverty, poor housing and less-than-perfect infrastructure. The kids we see are coming from some pretty scary conditions. However, in spite of this, we all seem to be able to look past the conditions and appreciate the real blessings; friendship, camaraderie, nice weather and a God that is obviously smiling on this little part of Juarez. The final highlight for me was the free-for-all play with the kids following their soccer/futbol tournament.
The first full day put into tangible evidence that which we already suspected – we put too much value on our possessions and comforts at home.
Cory Masters

Today we went to the church service at Emmanuel Ministries. I enjoyed the service because everyone participated in singing songs and we got to hear how God was answering prayers in the community. We learned from God’s word in Isaiah 61 and we learned that we have to have sorrow and suffering in order to receive comfort and blessing from God. After the church service, there was a little league soccer tournament where all the children got to play soccer. During the games, the other children were taking pictures and videos on all of our digital cameras. I was playing catch with a little boy named Samuel and he was so adorable. He was about one or two years old and could only understand a bit of Spanish. God is really blessing me this week by giving me opportunities to show His love to the children here and also giving me opportunities to serve the people around me. I look forward to the rest of the week and all of the ways I can serve the ministry and the other people on this trip.
Thank you so much for all of your prayers and support for this trip. Please continue to pray for us this week as we serve in various ways at Emmanuel Ministries.
Amy Henkels

We Made it!

Hola, from Ciudad de Juarez, Mexico! The hardest part is over – packing the vehicles with what looked like an impossible amount of stuff. We pray the fishes and loaves parable in reverse. Crossing the border and making it to Emmanuel Ministries was safe and uneventful, other than having the entire bus unloaded and checked by the border patrol. One of our other vehicles was stopped by the military to be checked as well. Many people were concerned about our going due to the violence that has been prevalent in the news as of late. In fact, one of my younger daughters came in to my room teary eyed the night before we left concerned about our travels. I explained to her that we are in God’s hands and he will not call us home one second before it is our time. I told her the story of General Stonewall Jackson and how his men asked him how he could remain so calm in the midst of a battle. He replied that the Lord could just as easily take him in his bed as he could in the battlefield, and therefore he had no fear. This city is a place of violence, but the level of danger is low. We are blessed to see old familiar faces from previous trips: Wendy, Betel, Angel, Aaron, and many children. The Orchard Family Mission Trip group has been the first group to visit the home this year. The children have been eagerly anticipating our arrival, and their smiling faces are an encouragement and fill our hearts with joy. We all look forward to being the hands and feet of Jesus during the coming week. Our group will be painting, tiling, plumbing, doing electrical work, and having fun with the kids. We’ll do crafts, cut hair, play games and sports with the children as well.
We are thankful for your prayers, and ask that you continue to pray for God to be glorified, for patience and endurance, and health and safety for all. And so our next duty is to get a good night’s rest. Tomorrow we have church, and the children have a soccer tournament in the afternoon. We pray for the families back home as there are many single parent families right now, because the other parent is with us. May you feel God’s tangible presence as He blesses you in our absence. Shadrach, be a good boy! (inside joke to my wife)
In the hands of a loving God, Dave and Hannah Fiedler.

Day 1 in Juarez!
Hola from Mexico! We finally made it. After flying into El Paso, we took a trip to Walmart where we purchased enough sheets, blankets and supplies to fill a bus, a Suburban, and a full sized van. The soldiers at the crossing looked at us curiously, even asking us to all get out of the bus and unpack it completely before letting us all through! God was truly watching over us! We didn’t even have to show our passports to get into Mexico. After arriving at the children’s home, we unpacked and brought out soccer balls, basketballs, jump ropes, and sidewalk chalk. It didn’t take long before the playground was full of kids! In talking with our hosts, we found that there are usually 90 kids at the home during the week but 60 of them get to go home to various relatives on the weekends. The 30 kids that were here didn’t have anywhere to go! Our hearts just fell! We need to show Jesus’ love to these kids! So for the entire afternoon and into the night, we just played with and talked with the kids. What a great day!
Many people have been concerned about the safety. We haven’t felt threatened at all. The soldiers patrol the streets in trucks, but they are there for everyone’s safety. They even waved and said “Hola” as they slowly drove by. The locals have given us advice on how to stay safe and we plan on heeding it. Please continue to pray for our safety.
Seeing these kids makes this all worthwhile. They need to see God’s love and we feel God has put us here to carry out his will. May He be glorified through our service. We have already been blessed more than we can imagine!
In Christ, Neal, Lisa, Emily and Haley Mrstik

“It seems like camp”
After a number of days and nights concerned about our safety, we made a short drive through the check point into Mexico. My boys thought it was “pretty cool” seeing the guns the soldiers were carrying as they searched our vans just after we crossed the border. Personally I appreciate seeing the military on the streets after reading about the issues going on in this part of the country.
This first day has been very nice. The kids here at the orphanage accepted us immediately. When the balls came out, games of soccer and basketball quickly began and have not stopped all day. My older boy Ben mentioned to me that “it seems like camp” with all the kids playing together and having fun. Two children made an impact on me right away – one is named Jose’ who is 9 yrs old. He has been playing basketball with our kids from the start. He works very hard and loves to compete with all the boys. He is very good, but has the tendency to double-dribble. Fortunately there are no referees and the kids on the opposing team don’t want to stop the play. I think he feels like Michael Jordan when he smiles after making a shot.
The other child that has made an impact is a cute little girl who reminds me of my daughter Evie at home. This girl’s name is Rosalie and she is 6yrs old. She sat down next to me on a step and we began to try and communicate. She is very pretty so I quickly named her Bonita Rosalie. It made her smile. All of a sudden she stood up behind me and put her arms around my neck. She motioned for me to stand up so I could give her a piggy-back ride. It was very fun for both of us.
This first day has been a wonderful start to what will hopefully be a very meaningful time of growing closer to the Lord as well as to one another. We will begin doing some work around the orphanage in the next couple days. It will be nice to see how we can contribute to making this a special place for these kids.
We miss all of you! Paul, Ben and Luke Kangas

As many of you know I leave tomorrow to lead a team of 30 people for Emmanuel Ministries in Juarez, Mexico. Emmanuel Ministries is a children home and school for about 100 children, more information can be found on their website (www.emmanuelgo.org). This trip is a family trip which means everyone except the leader has at least one immediate family member on the team so have the whole family going, the leader was exempted as my family already had plans for spring break. Some in the group this is their first mission trip and others this is our third time going to Emmanuel Ministries. Some of us are a little anxious about what we hear in the news about Juarez, but we go trusting the Lord and our hosts. But as my oldest daughter reminded me yesterday life is short and precious as she called last night telling us one of her friends at MSU that was only one year older then her was killed in a car accident yesterday, so please pray for his friends and family as they deal with their grief.

Tomorrow we fly down to El Paso, TX and stay in a hotel for the evening and go to Emmanuel Ministries on Saturday morning after we go to Wal-Mart to stock up on supplies (i.e., linens, pillows, blankets, toiletries and playgroup equipment). We go planning to do some painting, electrical work, general maintenance, along with working with the children. You can see Emmanuel Ministries location by clicking on this link. You can track our activities and happenings by checking in on our blog at http://gmckee.com/Mexico2009/.  The following Saturday we return to El Paso and stay in a hotel and catch an early 6:55 AM flight home on Sunday, March 29th.

I want to thank the teams over 100 supports who have given prayer and money so we can go on this trip. We ask you to continue to pray for us this coming week as we are at Emmanuel Ministries. Pray that we will have good health, safe travels, that we are productive, that we as a group all grow and that the Lord uses us to bless Emmanuel ministries staff and children.  Please check back at our blog daily as we expect to update it every day.

Thanks,

Gary