Whatcha' reading?

Right now I am reading a book called The Book Whisperer. It is a book about getting kids to love reading. The book is non-fiction and I usually dont enjoy non-fiction that much. However, I cant put this book down! I love it! The author believes that if you give kids time, free choice and great books they will learn to become life long readers. That is what I want for you. I love to read. Sometimes I read so much I dont do anything else. As a teacher and a mom that is bad :)

Tell me what you are reading....

Why do you like it?

Got Joy?

Can you make out the words on this house? (click the photo for a larger view). It says "Got Joy?" This is a 12 x 12' house with a small loft, known as a bird house. Not much by our standards. After spending a week with our 64-person team in Ensenada, I've got joy! What an amazing and fulfilling experience!

It's hard to believe that, after months of planning and prayer, we're back from Ensenada. Team 4 was honored to build a home for the Morales family (Juan, Cristina, Kayla (2) and a new baby coming in 5 months). They are a special family, and it will be a long time before I forget their smiles and joy. We had a great team, and I am especially proud of my brother Mike who, though riddled with health problems the past 7 months, was determined to serve God and this family on this trip. I am also proud of the teenage boys on our team, who did most of the heavy lifting on our site, without complaining and rarely stopping--even to get a drink of water. Our women (Heidi, Susie, Kelly, Jen and Katy) both worked hard on the home, and did a great job reaching out to and connecting with the family and neighborhood kids. Andy was a huge asset to our project, and because of him, I now know and will never forget that, where house current is concerned, black is negative!!

Great job team! Praise God for a great week, a mission accomplished, new friends, and the privilege of serving Him and His people!

Houses are going up

So we had intended to post more frequently, but the schedule has been busy the last couple of nights. Team Ohio met in San Diego and all 64 of us caravaned down to Ensenada. It is a beautiful drive along the coast. The team arrived safely and settled into our new digs on Sunday night. After unpacking, we are able to meet the families that we are building houses for, which was really nice. The churches where the families attend made an authentic Mexican meal for us, and we enjoyed that with the families. Afterward, we spent time getting to know the family members, where they live, what they do for a living, children's names and ages, etc. It was great to build the relationship up front.

Monday, we headed out to the houses and started building. This year we are building 5 houses, since we have 64 people on Team Ohio. Each house has a house leader that has built these "casitas" before. Most of us have no idea what we are doing, but these guys are good! When we arrived on the building site, we were divided into 3 teams, cutting, framing, and painting. After a long day of work, we were able to get the frame of the house and the painted siding up in one day. Some teams got further, and some not as far, but in general, that was the stopping point for the day. After work we stopped at the "tienda" and bought Cokes and treats. Ah! That tasted so good!!! After work we headed back to the YUGO compound for a shower (5 minute limit) and dinner, but not necessarily in that order.

Here is a picture of the family, the Lopezes, that Team Ohio house 5 is building for.

Monday night was a good night at YUGO. There is a lot of fun and games and relationship building happening around the compound. The food is OK, mostly American fare, but they have been incorporating some Mexican food, too, which is nice.

On Tuesday we got up for breakfast, got ready, and headed back out to the houses to work again. Tuesday was all about electrical, roof framing, and drywall. It was really hot, and sunburns and overheating were common. Even though they tell you to drink a lot of water, it's hard to understand how much until you are out there. The houses are really coming together. Some of the families are working directly with the work crews, so relationships are being built and hearts are being changed. This is a great part of the experience.

Tuesday night was a real treat. The local taco stand came in and served authentic carne asada tacos and the all the trimmings. They were sooooo delicious.

Today (Wednesday) is more of the same with building and moving further along in the house building. The kids are making friends playing soccer and coloring and all kinds of other things. It's fun watching them communicate without a common language. It is amazing how well they do.

One of the families, Brian and Kara Deffet and their 3 kids, Will, Jacob, and Claire, went to an orphanage Tuesday and Wednesday to take care of kids and laundry giving respite to the house family. The Deffets lived in Mexico for a few years and are all fluent in Spanish. They had prayed for an opportunity to work at an orphanage, and YUGO asked if anyone was interested, so they did. How cool is that! God is good!!!

Tonight, most of the groups have gone to church service with the families they are building the house with. Some of also went to the Grace Bretheren church here in Ensenada last night. The church is called lirio de los Valles, the Lily of the Valley. It is really awesome to experience a Mexican church service. There is so much passion and a real sense of the Holy Spirit there. We are excited that Lily of the Valley is working to partner to with Yugo in the future!

Tomorrow we plan to finish the houses and hand the keys to the houses over to the families. It's an "Extreme Makeover, Mexican Edition" kind of moment. Hopefully we have time to post photos for that tomorrow.

YUGO Blog of Families we are building houses for

With only a few days before we arrive as a team, YUGO has given us a special gift. We can learn about the families we are building homes for by watching a video on their blog. Follow the link to see about our trip specifically. It's so great to get to know the families and know that they will greatly appreciate the work we are doing.

The team is ready to go!

We are less than 1 week away from our trip to Ensenada Mexico where we'll be building homes for local families in need. What an exciting trip! We are Team Ohio, which is comprised of families (yes that's right, families) from 3 churches in 2 cities (Dublin and Toledo). On Sunday 6/22 65 of us will be meeting in San Diego, California to travel South to Ensenada.

Five years ago this trip began as a dream of the Feusses and the Buchans , 2 families that wanted to have a vacation with a purpose, doing missions work with their children over summer break. After some research, the families found YUGO , an organization that works with youth and families to help less fortunate Mexican families by connecting with local churches, much like Habitat for Humanity here in the US. YUGO provides all the housing, food, and materials to build homes in about 1 week. Last year after expanding the team to include a few other families, the group decided to open it up to their churches. The response has been overwhelming! This year we plan to build 5 homes and help to furnish them and provide food for the families. Praise God!!!

The picture above is of the Northwest Chapel team plus Dave Buchan, who happened to be at Northwest Chapel helping with a fund raiser meal that Sunday.

Please pray for us this week as we prepare, pack, and travel to San Diego. We'll try to update the site with our progress on the trip and any specific prayer requests we might have. Feel free to post comments, especially encouraging words that we can share with the team.