The Lord provides for His children!  Here at Pan de Vida we daily witness this biblical truth, but never more so than at Christmas time.  Once again, God has moved the hearts of local businesses and neighbors to bless our orphanage kids with special Christmas gifts. 

My heart is full of thanksgiving to Bodega Aurrera, workers of Caja Popular, and DIF Corregidora, who all gave of themselves to purchase beautiful presents for each child at the orphanage.  From the littlest, like Raul, who received a complete train set, to the oldest, like Velia who received a very cool sweater-jean set, each was glowing with joy and amazement at their beautiful gifts!  Little Ana Laura even received a bicycle! 

Though the orphanage does not have funds to purchase gifts for the children, the Lord takes care of each of them in a special way. These blessings remind us that even the other needs the children still have (of shoes, jeans, bath products, underwear and more), HE will provide.

        The kids of Pan de Vida enjoyed a special treat this holiday season: a CIRCUS, right in our own auditorium!  Loving employees from the local business, Grupo Perc, prepared a circus show for our children to add joy to their long, and often boring, vacation weeks.  It was impressive, and very complete!- a ring leader, clown show, elephant act (with employees dressed as elephants),animal orchestra, and more.  The whole event had children laughing and participating.  They even received popcorn and cotton-candy, as if they were the audience of a real circus performance!

        The children continued to be blessed by Grupo Perc even after the show: each children received a bag of candy, supply of bath products, and a pair of jeans (which we really needed for the kids). 

        Praise the Lord for this event and these special employees of Grupo Perc, who came with hearts of service. Not only did they perform the circus, they also prepared the props, served the snacks, and cleaned up after the event.  Their disposition to serve blessed the children and also the orphanage staff with this fun event!

The Christmas season is not complete without holiday decorations, and Pan de Vida is no exception.  Here at the home, everyone does their part to create a festive atmosphere. The older girls worked together to make Christmas cut-outs to cover the walls of the dining room; the leaders of the boys’ and girls’ dorms organized their groups to hang lights around the house exteriors; the girls crafted their own decorations for their rooms and doors; Paco and I led the youth to hang garland and lights in the auditorium.   Pan de Vida is already filled with Christmas cheer for the holidays!

Even though Thanksgiving is not a Mexican holiday, at Pan de Vida Orphanage we have LOTS of reasons to give thanks, and therefore, could not pass up the opportunity to have an official time of thanksgiving! 

On Thanksgiving Thursday, we enjoyed a big “family” dinner (our orphanage family!).   Besides our full-time volunteer staff and children, we also invited local orphanage supporters to join us as a visible expression of our thanks for all that they have done for the home during the last year.  As a non-profit organization, Pan de Vida exists solely by God’s gracious provision through these local, as well as international, donators.  Our thanks to them, and especially to the Lord, are too great for mere words!

The evening was very special!  The home director (the “Tio”) shared a biblical message, we sang worship songs of thanks, and heard the testimonies of thanks from youth and supporters alike.  My eyes teared to hear many of the orphanage youth, with such difficult pasts, express such sincere thanks for God’s love, plan, and provision for their lives!  Though we did not serve the traditional turkey or mashed potatoes, there were no complaints about the almond chicken and pasta that our volunteer kitchen staff lovingly prepared for the occasion!

This Thanksgiving with family and friends and the Lord’s continual blessing was truly a memory to be treasured! 

A newly-established local ice rink invited the whole orphanage for a morning of skating fun! 

Not only did the owners reserve the entire rink solely for Pan de Vida and provide skates for all of us, but also arranged to have the hockey and figure-skating teams on hand to assist our young, inexperienced skaters.  It was fabulous!  From the littlest kids to the biggest teens, everyone had an experienced skater guiding and caring for them so no one would get hurt and all would have fun!  The middle boys were all wanted to be pulled at top speed by the hockey boys, while our teenage girls swooned to be guided by the older skating guys.  Little Rosita (5 yrs old) enjoyed herself more than anyone even though her feet never touched the ice- she spent the whole morning on the shoulders or in the arms of other skaters!

The blessings continued when the rink owners announced their offer of free skating lessons to any of our Pan de Vida kids who were interested- either in hockey or figure skating!  What an opportunity! 

The event was definitely the perfect way for the kids to bring in the winter season! 

A Saturday night movie- with Ramen noodles and soda- is a favorite for our youth group, and also a great way to initiate discussion about our Biblical truth of the week.

This weekend, we enjoyed the movie “Beautiful Mind”- the story of Nobel prize-winning mathematician, John Nash, and his struggles with schizophrenia, which cause him to interact with situations outside of reality and destroy his life. After the movie, we reflected on how sinners, like schizophrenics, cannot distinguish reality from imagination.  They fool themselves into believing that they are free without Christ, but are blinded to the reality of the chains of sin and condemnation which enslave them.  We discussed how Christ is our only “medication” to allow us to see the reality of our sinful, condemned state, and experience the freedom to live abundantly.

Our Lord is paradoxical- just and yet merciful, far and yet near, judge and yet lawyer, divine and yet human in Christ.  These paradoxes can be difficult concepts for teenagers who struggle to understand God. 

To illustrate the idea of a paradox and how it describes our God, our youth group had a “Paradox Party!”  The youth came in pairs dressed as opposites: a sick person with a doctor, a country boy with a city girl, a rich and poor man, a black and white man, etc.  Kika and Vanesa stole the show with their baby-old lady duo!  Continuing with the paradoxes, the youth watched old silent movies with Charlie Chaplin- and laughed and laughed, amazed that silent films could be so fun!  Even our snack was a paradox: root-beer floats (a novel idea in Mexico)- both a beverage and dessert in one!

With these paradoxical illustrations, the youth were prepped for Kike’s Bible message of the paradoxical personality of God, and his paradoxical call to our lives “Whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” says Christ in Matthew 10:39. 

In Mexico, a girl’s 15^th birthday marks her transition from childhood to womanhood- and therefore deserves to be celebrated with a huge event, known as a “quinceañera” party.  These celebrations are comparable to weddings!- with elaborate dresses, ceremony, and reception!

As you can imagine, these quinceñeras can be quite costly, and obviously financially imposible for our orphanage to provide for our girls- but nothing is imposible for our GREAT GOD!  Margarita, Maria Rosa, Ines, Ana Velia, and Vanesa all had the quinceanera of their dreams- the dress, the make-up and nails, the jewelry, the cake, the dance, the loving guests, and more!  We thank all of the supporters who contributed to make this event possible for them- from the people who sponsored the dresses, to those who baked the cakes, and those who purchased the softdrinks, etc. 

The ceremony was especially meaningful this year, as each of the 5 girls took the microphone to express their personal thanks to the Lord for His abundant blessings.  This elaborate event is really a landmark in their lives serving to remind them of God’s love and care for them, even with their painful pasts.  Mago shared a Bible verse that summarized her feelings: “Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me”(Psalm 27:10).  What a privilege it is to serve these kids as the Lord works His plan in their lives!

 Mariana is a remarkable young woman living in Queretaro who was born with  different physical abilities.  She cannot walk  and is limited in her motor skills.   However, her handicap has not stopped her from  achieving her dreams!   

 With the amazing support of her family, she learned to talk, as well as type on a keyboard with her nose, in order to communicate, and read.  After special education programs during her elementary years, she was incorporated into the normal school system.  Though the school board refused to accredit her studies, due to her handicap, she did not stop there!  Without the support of the school district, she finished her middle school and even high school studies.  Now, she is just a few months away from graduating as a bachelor in psychology, with the dream of opening a counseling practice for handicapped children.

Mariana visited Pan de Vida this month to share her amazing testimony with the adolescents and youth of the orphanage.  Our kids come from very difficult family situations, often with very limited education, and tend to resign themselves to lives of mediocrity believing that their pasts limit their future.  However, Mariana’s message revealed that God can do great things through their lives, no matter what limitations they may see!   Many of the youth had tears in their lives as they thanked Mariana for her life and testimony, and shared how her example had encouraged them to strive for their dreams even when they seem impossible.  Praise God for the life of Mariana and her family!

         September marked the beginning of another school semester at Pan de Vida School for all grade levels- kindergarten through college- level courses.   Each school year is a step of faith at Pan de Vida as we are often short-staffed at the start of new semesters (because all the teachers are volunteers who do not receive a salary).  We experienced a teacher shortage again this month- which meant that kindergarten was twice the size it should have been, first and second-graders were sharing a single teacher, and that the fourth grade substitute was actually a kitchen volunteer filling in as a teacher until another could be found.   It was a stressful situation. 

But, within the month, the Lord provided for our need just as we had prayed!!  A kindergarten, 1^st grade, and 4^th grade teachers arrived the work at Pan de Vida School!  I was left opened-mouthed in amazement at God’s faithful and exact provision yet again for the orphanage needs.

I am very pleased to be the upper level math teacher for the school this semester, teaching  one middle school, 2 high school, and one college math classes.  In my few years of teaching, I have decided not only that math is my favorite subject to teach, but also identified a great need for math skills and confidence among all the students.   My class sizes are varied- with 13 students in a high school class, and only 1 student in my college class- but I praise God that I am already forming relationships with many of my students.