CVE Life

Christmas Party #... ?

2011-12-17T10:40:00.001-07:00

The Christmas parties have begun and are in full swing at CVE. Last night the kids had their official "school" christmas part that started at 7:00pm and ended at 10:00 for the little kids, and at midnight for the older ones! Here are a few pictures & videos of the fun & memories we made last night. Enjoy!

Wrestling was a common game last night. Karla tried taking Jodi down. If i remember right, it didn't turn out like she wanted. :-] One day Karlota, one day.

A little later on in the evening...

Lobo vs. Leman

It was quite the match...

Quite intense, wouldn't you say? The match provided us with a good amount of laughter for a few minutes.

Fede was giving Belinda a piggy back right..

and then Belem thought it necessary to jump on board as well!

He's so strong! haha

Then Jaqui showed up but 3 girls was too many already so they switched games.

After a devotional involving a kid eat honey, syrup, and sugar all mixed together (yes, he almost threw up and it was almost very disgusting) the big games began!

All the kids lined up... this picture didn't quite to justice to how many kiddos there were at the party.

Here's a better one. Lined up by size biggest to smallest. That's a lot of little bodies! :-] And we're super thankful for each one that God has brought through our doors!

Tadeo having a ball in his walker that one of our awesome shop guys welded for him.

LeoB had a fun evening "showing" Tommy off to everyone.

Game #1 of the evening: Fútbol de Cangrejo (crab soccer)

At one point the soccer ball got stuck in the roof!

Have no fear; Todd & Juantan with a football to the rescue!

Check out the videos!

Next game on the agenda: Colchones y Tiburones! (Mattresses & Sharks!)

And the 3rd game of the fiesta: crack the whip with a side of capture the flag

Little Keyla was so chilly she needed some gloves to keep her warm!

Hope you all had a wonderful week serving our amazing God! Keep shining for HIM!

Feliz Christmas.. wait.. Merry Navidad.. Oh, you know what we mean!

2011-12-16T09:48:00.000-07:00

Last day of school before Christmas Break = fiesta time! Enjoy their costumes!

Feliz Christmas!

2011 Staff Christmas Breakfast

2011-12-13T14:32:00.000-07:00

Every year for the last... 4 (??? - not sure how many now..) we've had a "Staff Christmas Breakfast" out at the girl's house hosted by Keith and Emily.

Well, since they're gone this year it was moved into the comedor y cocina.

Thanks to the Rinks for pulling everything together!

Here's a few pics of the morning...

The little kiddos who don't go to school get to come... Jorge, Darilis, Tadeo, Keyla, and Mili.

"Look at me, I'm so adorable!"

this how we Tadeo eats a cinnamon roll..

close up shot - just grab it and shove! gotta love it!

Blessings in the Christmas Season to all!

p.s. Keith Y Em - no fue igual sin ustedes...!

2011 CVE Family Pics

2011-12-08T19:16:00.001-07:00

well here they are! after a short wait, the official 2011 CVE family pictures.

enjoy!

We're kind of divided into households here with those we are not in direct childcare in the back.

La Casa Rota Part I - Jenna & Heidi

Kiddos: (back row) Belinda, Perla, Mariela & Belem (front row) Fernanda holding Mili, Leobardo & Tadeo

La Casa Rota Part II - Jodi

Kiddos: Jorge, Osmara & Keyla

Everyone in La Casa Rota (with house assistant Geo)

Los Arcoverdes - JuanTan (Jonathan) & Bere

Kiddos: (back row) Alexia (front row) José, Nere holding Luisa, Ramses & Gloria

The Girl's House take 1...

And Girl's House take 2... Pau, Kali & Sarah

Young Ladies: (back row) Jaqui (front row) Tania, Karla, Yaneli & Lupita

Los Rinks - Joel & Steph

Kiddos: (back row) Marcos (front row) Diego, Candi & Aron

Los Limones - Limón (Joel) holding Beni & Kristi holding Soraya with house assistant Pablo (Zach)

Young Men: (back row) Jose (front row) Angel, Eddi & Isaac

Los Mallers - MamaD (Denise) & JoeMama (Joe)

Kiddos: Fede, Alicia, Gisel & Joel

Las Muchachas - Nicole & Chelly (Michelle)

Los Schicks - Bill & Joan

Kiddos: Lilly, Ben, Julissa, Estephania, Uriel, Katie, Jazany

And a few of the sibling groups took pictures together as well.

Sibling group #1: Lupita & José

Sibling group #2: Tania & Karla

Sibling group #3: Angel & Chelly (Michelle)

Sibling group #4: Osmara & Keyla

Sibling group #5: Joel, Gisel & Alicia

Sibling group #6: Fede, Daniela holding Darilis, Jaqui, Belem & Belinda

Sibling group #7: Las Gemelas Geo & Pau

Raquel & Carissa

the ladies from Casa Rota take #1...

and take #2 :-]

We would like to thank each one of you who have been praying for us -- we can feel it. Please continue praying for God's light to shine through the darkness and for His Spirit to lead us in raising the children He has brought to our hands.

Thank you!

behind the scenes & good news!

2011-11-30T14:02:00.001-07:00

well november has finally arrived and most likely will have left by the time you read this post. :-] happy december everyone!

last week we took our annual family pictures with this guy..

thanks ry for being a trooper and taking our family pics!

here are a few "behind the scenes shots" to give you an idea just how crazy it is when you have 66 people in the family picture!

taking naps...

swinging..

putting head bands on the boys..

trying out lip gloss..

camera man in action..

throwing the kiddos around in the blankets

tackling them...

almost face planting it but knowing that seth won't let you fall..

dog piling..

a lot of work goes into these pictures.

but it's alllllll worth it.

once we get the edited ones back from our photographer, we'll post them up here. :-]

and as for our good news.. introducing..

the future Mr. & Mrs. Jonathan Sauder!

this past weekend Kali Zobrist and Jonathan Sauder announced their engagement and we are SUPER excited for them! please pray for kali and jonathan as they begin their new journey in life.

PJ Day & Fun Day at School!

2011-11-10T06:19:00.001-07:00

It's a good thing pictures a worth a thousand words.

Enjoy the mini slide show!

Some new faces here. Adam Leman from Bluffton and Jason Grassi from Peoria. Jason is here volunteer for a few months and Adam has committed to a year. We're thankful to have them here!

Gloria's pants getting pulled up for her.. which is pretty normal.

Let the games begin!

Couldn't you just eat her? :-] Don't worry -- we won't.

Would you fall into these arms?

The bystanders checking out the falls.

The kiddos enjoyed a relaxed day at school followed up by going to 8 different stations of activities. It was a great day to just have FUN! Thanks be to Jesus!

no words...

2011-11-03T12:25:00.004-07:00

can describe the love that flows from our hearts as we serve as His hands and feet for these little blessings.

(tadeo lost a tooth!)

Mismatching, Crazy Hair, Party Time Birthday

2011-10-20T12:13:00.000-07:00

Typically birthdays around here involve 3 things:

1. you get to choose your "birthday meal" for lunch or supper

2. a cake [and being sang to of course]

3. and the favorite, una mordita - aka having your face smashed in your cake (and yes, even the work teams have to do this one!)

Well, today someone turned 29.

And he tends to be a favorite among the kiddos because he's a teacher.

He's actually rather well known for his crazy outfits that he sports on Fridays. [see below for examples]

SO in honor of his birthday...

the kiddos dressed up in crazy outfits!

Enjoy the show - some of them are quite hysterical!

Osmara

Jose the Mime and Sarah

Some of the chicas

Eddi came as Stitch!

Chelly and Karla

A few of the hairstyles...

Karla with rollers and a miss-muffin hat

And Yaneli -- well, I don't know what happened to her. Apparently Jaqui "helped" her with her hair -- the crazier, the better I suppose.

Here the birthday guy is teaching the kids how to make a "good pose" for pictures....kinda like the one below...

This is the older kid line up

A few of the crazier dressers

Yup, zoom in on this one because Angel got braces on yesterday! He said they were hurting him a little bit this morning, but he was mostly just disappointed because he can't eat a bunch of his favorite foods (*cough*candy*cough*)

Can you guess who the follow kids are?

who would wear a Belle dress...

got a guess...?

Yup, Daniel. :-]

Kid #2

Nice mismatching going on here!

Any guesses?

Chelly!

Striking some "Todd Poses"

I'm not sure who is having more fun on Todd's birthday - him or the kids!

house & gator

2011-10-13T13:26:00.001-07:00

here are a few quick shots of the new house! it's getting closer....

back porch

view off the back porch

living room

sorry it's a little fuzzy - it was locked so all the pictures had to be take through the windows... a bedroom and bathroom

the front all beautiful and blue!

what do you do when you're too young to drive the gator and they take the keys away?

put 'er in neutral and push it of course!

the update of all updates... it's gonna be a long one folks!

2011-10-08T11:38:00.000-07:00

Hola faithful blog readers!

We haven't been very faithful in updating this for the last... oh 4 months or so. You'll understand why shortly. Enjoy the update - it's not being done in timeline order because honestly so much has changed in such a short amount of time that I can't remember what happened when! :-]

Daniela and Geo in the escuelita after a long day of teaching. Daniela is our "new"official CONAFE teacher this year for the secundaria kids (junior high age.) This year we have tried to bring a few more kids in from the community to our school, so it's really expanded. We're super thankful to have both of these great ladies teaching in the school.

Carissa is teaching the kindergarden kids. Kid line up: Angel (from town), Candi (Joel and Steph's), and Julian (Eunice's).

Then we have Ely who is our CONAFE teacher of the primaria (1st - 5th grade) kids. She has 2 other teachers who assist her, Eunice and Patricia.
In other news...

Jaqui got braces...

Lupita got her braces off, which was a wonderful day for her!

Limon and Kristi's clan - Kristi's not the only girl now! YAY! They welcomed Soraya Grace into the family on June 21st. Their house is currently looking pretty good. We will try to get some updated pictures up here soon so you all can see the progress. For those of you in construction, if I tell you the drywall is up, I think that's a decent update. If you don't know anything about construction, that detail probably doesn't mean much to you, so just check back next week for the pictures. :-] Boy line up: Isaac, Angel, Daniel, Jose, and Limon holding Beni.

Jodi with her kiddos. Line up back to front: Estephania, Jorge (who is a whole different story), Keyla, Osmara, and Eddi (aka the 11 year old "Man of the House.")

Jorge arrived at CVE in February a very scared little boy with a very badly broken leg. With God's awesome planning and divine intervention, Jorge was able to go to IL and was going to have surgery for free to fix his leg. After getting him to IL, the doctors discovered his leg was healed. That is the power of our God! PRAISE HIS NAME! These kiddos prayed for God to heal his leg daily - and God answered those prayers. Oh, how He loves us!

Don't recognize anyone in this picture? :-] Maybe you can remember Joe and Denise from several years ago? Also known as "Joe Mama" and "Mama D" served here back in 2005 - 2007 and have come back to stay again! We are so thankful for their servant hearts and are excited to have them back here with us again. Joe Mama and Mama D will be caring for these 3 kids and Federico as well. The kids in this picture are also new so please pray for everyone's transition. The kid line up: Joel, Arisel, Itzel.

A few of the girl staff got away for a weekend of rest. Line up: Nicole, Carissa, Geo, Raquel, and Pau.

The Girls House. What is the same there? Well... Kali and that's about it! A few months ago Keith and Emily moved back to Indiana with their girls, leaving Kali as the main house parent. Pau moved out as well, so now they are a dou taking care of the 5 girls here. Sarah Frank also moved down over the summer and is teaching English at school, and is an assistant house parent. Line up: Lupita, Yaneli, Karla, Pau, Sarah, Tania, Jaqui, and Kali.

Keith, Brielle, Jaqui, Kaleigh, and Emily at Jaqui's quinceñera (15th birthday party.)
We've had quite a few quinceñeras this summer... here are a few more pictures from the festivities!

Daniela and Darilis with Jaqui (and I think her Grandma...?)

Lupita turned 15 too. This is a picture of all the girls who used to live in the Girl's House about 3 years ago. Hard to believe, isn't it!? Line up: Blanca, Magda, Yaneli, Karla, Lupita, Lilly, Chelly, Jaqui, and Tania.

The Cake - which was quite a HUGE deal, and a HUGE disaster. If i'm not mistaken, a few people stayed up very late into the night to get this thing made because the 1st one was a HUGE flop... :-|

The Schick Clan with Lupita. Line up: Bill, Joan, Jazany, Lupita, Juli/Julissa, Lilly, Katie, and Ben (minus Uriel... not sure where he ran off to.)
And since the Schicks are in the picture, an update on them... Lilly and Uriel's adoption was official in the beginning of 2011. Since then Bill and Joan have began the adoption process for Lilly's nieces, Jazany and Julissa. Praise God the adoption is official in Mexico and now they are working on making it official in the United States. Please pray for the rest of the process to go smoothly and quickly as they work with the government.

Face plant in the cake! It's not a birthday in Mexico without a mordita!
Next quinceñera?
Karla!

We had an outside party and it was a great evening for it!

Singing to her at the table...

House with no picture to prove it: Nicole and Chelly. (Chelly o Nicolasa, tienes una que me puedes mandar?)

The Rink House. Joel and Steph got married in June! They are living in the "Boys Dorm" that was being remodeled by all of the work teams. As of right now it's the Rink Household. Who knows what the future holds! Joel and Steph have also announced that they are in the process of adopting the kids they are caring for! Please pray for their adoption process. Kid line up: Marcos, Candi, Diego, and Aron. OH! And there will be a Baby Rinkenberger coming sometime in March 2012!

Jenna moved from being in charge of the kitchen back into childcare with Heidi Krueger as her side-kick. Heidi was summer staff this year and just never left. :-] We're SUPER thankful that God worked in her heart and to have her as a part of our family. They are in charge of all these kiddos - all new kiddos as well! Back row line up: Heidi, Mariela, Belem, Fernanda, Jenna with Baby Mili.

Front row line up: Tadeo, Belinda, Leo-B, and Perla.

And last but not least The Arcoverde House aka Los Aupperles. Juantan and Bere are the houseparents for this sibling group of 6 kiddos! Baby Luisa came to us right before Joel and Steph got married this past summer and has been a heart stealer ever since! Kid line up: Ramses, Alexia holding Gloria, Nere, Bere, Juantan holding Luisa, and Jose.

And here are just some random pictures throughout the summer...

We know that there are people who lift us up daily in prayers, and for this we thank you. We ask that you would please continue to send prayers to the Creator and Sustainer on our behalf. Satan is working, but Our God is stronger and the war is already won, Praise Him!

Prayer Requests:

for wisdom for staff, patience, for God to reveal truth and replace the lies Satan has planted, for our children to trust us and to reach for their salvation, for the town of Magdalena, and for the powers of darkness to be replaced with the Light!

PE

2011-06-07T13:16:00.007-07:00

Even though it's not exactly cool outside today, the kiddos had their PE class and were playing kickball.

Check out the picks below!

A New Little One and a Broken Toe!

2011-05-30T16:42:00.016-07:00

Meet our newest little one to come through the doors of CVE!

Introducing Luisa!

the "I'm wiped out" look...

the "I'm sooooooo relaxed" look...

the "I can't believe you're taking my picture right after I woke up" look...

and the pulling hair picture. Apparently she's "found" her hair, but hasn't figured out that pulling it inflicts pain - thus resulting in a screaming 2 month old with a SUPER strong grip on her own hair pulling :-]

Please pray for Luisa and Jenna who is currently caring for her. Pray for patience and wisdom in raising this little daughter of the King.
And Lupita is trying out a new look these days...

with crutches!

She broken her pinky toe on her right foot playing some game with the team (Phoenix) on Sunday night. The doctor says 2 weeks on these and then possibly switching to a splint... we'll see.
Also, please be prayerful for all the people coming in this week, as this weekend is the wedding of Joel and Steph.

Thanks and Blessings!

Updates

2011-05-19T15:23:00.001-07:00

Well, I'm not going to even give an excuse for why no one has updated this blog. :-]

I'll just tell you that we're sorry and be done with it.

Update on la casa de los Limones:

Here it is... wall, windows, and doors!

And something else right there through the door, but I have no idea what it is :-]

It's nice enough out here [insert: for right now, give it a few more weeks and it will be hot] that we were thinking they could just move in now and have a HUGE sky light for the roof... good idea, right!?

Next on the update list: the Boys Dorm

{for any staff reading this, I think we should reconsider this name since it's a house now}

Here is there wonderful front porch!

No, this picture isn't mislabeled.... it's not the shop, it really is the front porch. Pretty huh?

I think a good portion of that mess is due to these 2 amazing gentlemen here, Dave & Kyle Mueller. Jenna's dad and brother are here right now working in serious overtime on the dorm!

Master closet/bathroom

Beautiful, detailed master bedroom :-]

looking into the kitchen...

Joel working [which is becoming more rare since he is so highly distracted - see picture below] on the closets off of the sala

All of Joel's wonderful new distractions

Back view of the porch

We tried to take some pictures of Osmara, Candi, their babies, and Rito...

attempt #1

attempt #2

attempt #3

And then finally it was decided that perhaps a picture without Rito would be better...

You don't need to tell them how cute they are because they already know!

Jose and Beni hanging out in the truck waiting on Limon to come back.

It's kind of a big deal...

2011-04-24T16:45:00.001-07:00

when people get engaged around here!!

Check out ----> HERE to find out who!!

p.s. we do plan on updating this thing sooner or later... most likely the latter of the 2 however

Tremont Work Team

2011-04-01T19:18:00.000-07:00

The Tremont team just left us this afternoon and what a hardworking group they were! Thanks for everything you guys! Praise God, they also had 2 team members give their lives to Jesus while here! Please pray for many more!

Bluffton Seniors Work Team

2011-03-29T11:40:00.000-07:00

Last week we had the privilege of hosting the Bluffton Seniors Work Team! We had a great week with them - especially since 3 of our staff are from Bluffton! Thanks for ALL your hard work guys! Enjoy the slide show!

The Lord will be victorious....

2011-03-23T09:23:00.001-07:00

Against our enemy.

I think that's been a common theme/motto going through most of our heads at this point. We want to thank you for all your prayers through the last couple of weeks. If we've learned anything through all this, it's that God is bigger, and we truly are n.o.t.h.i.n.g. without him! Praise God for that!

Please continue to pray that God would bring forth light into the darkness, that we would be humbled, feel His mercy and love, and for Christ name to be glorified above all else.

In other news... I failed to blog about our newest staff member with the last update (my apologies Zach!)

Zach Knobloch from Peoria, IL has joined our family at CVE and we are so thankful to have him! He was here this past summer and served as a summer volunteer (you may remember the picture of him below from that..)

So it's great to have you Zach! Please pray for Zach as he transitions to "home" being in Mexico and for his relationships and trust to grow with the kids.

And to follow with a few more "kid profiles" up next are the kiddos from La Casa Rota. Steph cares for this munchkin-sibling group of 4. We'll switch up the order a little bit this time and go youngest to oldest! Here are the questions we asked them:

1. How old are you?

2. Do you have siblings?

3. When is your birthday?

4. What is your favorite game?

5. What is your favorite food?

6. What is your favorite color?

7. What do you want to be when you’re older?

8. If you could meet anyone, dead or alive, who would it be and why?

First up & the baby of the family: Candi -- short for Candelaria

1. 4 years

2. yes, 3 brothers

3. February 10th

4. dolls

5. pizza

6. red

7. fireman - or should i say fire"woman"

8. Jesus

Second to youngest: Diego

1. 6

2. yes

3. April 1st

4. memory

And for some reason the other questions didn't get answered... who knows haha

Next in line: Aaron/Ruben

1. 9

2. yes, 3 siblings

3. December 10th

4. Game Boy and soccer

5. carne asada aka tacos with steak cut up into small pieces

6. red

7. fireman

8. the President of Japan because I've never met him and I'd like to

And the oldest of the family: Marcos

1. 10

2. yes, 3

3. August 3rd

4. soccer

5. pizza

6. blue

7. a construction worker

8. nobody

Please pray for this family -- for their salvation, for their hearts to not harden to the gospel, and for their futures to be in God's hands and for His guidance through everything.

Blessings!

4 New Kiddos, ISU, and Other Updates

2011-03-14T18:08:00.002-07:00

It's funny how with the simple answer of the phone saying "Buenas tardes, Casa Vida y Esperanza" your world can be turned upside down.

Praise God HE IS IN CONTROL!

In the last 3 weeks, God has added 4 new kiddos to our clan!

That brings our kids on campus total to: 31 niños¡¡ WOW¡¡

On February 16th, Ana came to join our family...

Ana is 12 and currently being cared for by Jodi and is doing well. Please pray that God would show Himself to her and she would learn to accept His love.

Next up: Jorge

Jorge is 2 and as you can see, he has a broken leg. When he arrived he was a scared little boy, but after a few days he has really warmed up to people and we can see his personality blossoming. Please pray that God would work in his little heart and one day Jorge would be an amazing man of God.

Last but not least, the sister duo!

To the left in the purple is Osmara - she's the older sister, 5, and doesn't seem to scare too easily. She was here for about 30 minutes and had already fallen off the monkey bars and out the swing. She laughed, got right back up and went right back at it again!

To the right is Keyla (Kayla) and she's 2. Definitely a little more timid than her spunky older sister, but has a face of gold.

Please pray for God's healing hand in these girls' lives and for their caregivers.

Next on the update list: Boys Dorm Remodel

Someone emailed us and wanted updated pictures on how the boys dorm remodel was coming.

So, here's what it looks like right now...

This will be a kitchen - use your imagination :-]

And this will be the "sala" or the living room. Again, use that imagination God blessed you with!

Bedroom/bathroom #1

To-be-laundry room currently serving as a mini storage room.

Bathroom #2

There are a few other bedrooms/bathrooms but they weren't really "picture" proofed sooooo :-]

Front porch...

Side look - the orange is the addition

And the back porch.

ISU Slideshow...

And finally our prayer request update.

We sincerely want to thank each and every one of you who offered up prayers and praise on our behalf to our Awesome God. Rest assured, they have been felt!

We ask that you please continue to pray that God would overcome this darkness that we are battling. The battle truly is HIS, and we are thankful for that.

Please pray for wisdom and direction for staff

Please pray for a weakening of self and a realization that God is the only one who can overcome

Please pray for demonic strongholds to broken and God's truth proclaimed

Please pray for our new children as they adapt into our family

Pray for the staff who will be caring for them and for the salvation of these littles ones that God has brought to us.

Storm the Gates

2011-03-04T08:21:00.000-07:00

By now, many of you have heard that we are engaged in a spiritual struggle. It is very real and present, and we covet and appreciate your prayers. We are so humbled by the prayers that have been offered on our behalf. We can see the strength of darkness weakening when confronted by our Almighty God. We need you to press on with us.

Revelation 19:11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
Matthew 16:18 ... and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Gridley

2011-02-18T20:55:00.000-07:00

The Gridley work team just left us today! Check out their slideshow!

Thanks for all your hard work guys!!

Kid Profiles!

2011-02-16T15:14:00.001-07:00

We're going to try and commit to doing kid profiles.

Notice the emphasis on try. :-]

We asked all the kids this series of questions:

1. How old are you?

2. Do you have siblings?

3. When is your birthday?

4. What is your favorite game?

5. What is your favorite food?

6. What is your favorite color?

7. What do you want to be when you’re older?

8. If you could meet anyone, dead or alive, who would it be and why?

Here are their answers....

First up we have the Arcoverde Kids!

They are cared for by Juantan (Jonathan Aupperle) and his wife Bere.

Oldest child: Alexia

1. 12

2. yes

3. May 3rd

4. basketball and volleyball

5. pizza

6. yello and green

7. veterinarian, ballerina, and travel around the world

8. Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato because I'm interested in their lives and because they are very pretty.

2nd in line: Ramses

1.10

2. yes

3. April 14th

4. flags

5. pizza

6. blue

7. firefighter

8. Pharaoh because his name is the same as mine.

3rd in line: Nereida or Nere

1. 9

2. yes, I have 4

3. January 8th

4. all of them!

5. everything but cheese!

6. blue

7. a singer and a nurse

8. I want to meet my dad because he died.

4th in line: Jose

1. 7

2. yes

3. January 22nd

4. the Wii

5. chocolate

6. blue

7. a firefighter

8. My dad, because he died.

And the baby of the family: Gloria or Glori

1. 3

2. yes

3. May 3rd

and she can't really answer any of the other questions! :-]
Please pray for each of these children.
Pray for God's hand to be upon, for their salvation, and for their hearts to be soften.
Ask God to provide wisdom, love, and patience for Juantan and Bere as they raise up soldiers for Him!
Thank you and Blessings!

FREEZING!

2011-02-11T10:24:00.001-07:00

Last week it was cold here.

Yeah, we know, most of you are saying "cold!? riiiiight come to IL/IN/OH"

Well, it was BELOW FREEZING HERE!

Here's Daniel showing off his many layers that he wore to keep warm.

The kids actually didn't have school because it was so cold!

David showing us how to stay warm by the fire - we are SO thankful for this and fire wood! :-]

And since it was freezing outside (literally) staff decided it would be a good idea to try and make an ice skating rink on the basketball court...

It was interesting to say the least!

The beginnings..

Waiting for it to freeze - we had a problem with it evaporating before it would freeze because the air is so dry down here!

Well, we had it all set up and it was freezing when some kids thought they'd try it out without permission - thus breaking the ice that was frozen and ruining the rest.

So that evening we thought we would try to re-freeze a smaller section of the original.

Limon with his non-fuctioning hose.

It was so cold the whole thing froze!

So then we made an assembly line to try and break the ice so we could have running water again.

It didn't work and we ended up cracking the hose in half and ruining in.

Oops. :-]

What do you get..

2011-02-02T23:44:00.000-07:00

when you have:

2 teenage boys + 3:30(ish)am + wet kitchen towels ?

Any guessers?

OUCH!

Just an FYI, we don't ever keep our kids up this late! Over Christmas Break in December we had a "Lock-In" for a prize from their school work... amazingly enough, almost all of us made it until about 7:30am - even "los viejos!" (the old people!)

Cissna Park, Babysitting Night & "Los Hambrientes"

2011-02-01T13:28:00.000-07:00

Check out the Cissna Park slideshow below!

Thanks for all your hard work guys! We can't wait for you to come back next year!
Next on the agenda:
"Los Hambrientes" or the Hungarians!
We've been blessed to have 4 Hungarians visiting us for the last 2 1/2 weeks, and boy do they know how to work! It's amazing what they have accomplished!

Suzi, Lupita, and Sabina getting ready to bake up some potato biscuits.

Yummy dough!

Today (Tuesday) the project is filling in all the wholes in the walls, re-drywalling a portion of the ceiling, and painting the dining room/ kitchen in "La Casa Rota" or the "Broken House."

Samuel and his brother David working hard!

Sorry about the dust specks - a shot of a few of the wholes filled in! yay!

Samuel, David, and Samuel's wife, Sabina

Looks fun, doesn't it?!

Here's the kitchen before as well.... after pictures to follow :-]

Last weekend we hosted a "Babysitting Night" in the comedor for all the couples! They came, dropped their kiddos off, and had a "date night" to be alone. I'm sure they were thankful for the breather!

We did a variety of activities...

Bingo...

Games outside...

Someone's looking a little mischievous here, isn't he?

And this kid is just looking goofy - who's is she anyways??? ;-]

Crawling around tagging each other outside...

The kids who got out - a little bit of pouting going on there perhaps? haha

And we also did our famous personal pan pizzas - they were a hit again!

And a quick video of the balloon game we played - poor Jaqui was the only girl left and those boys wouldn't give her a break! She was a great sport about it though!

It's January...

2011-01-22T23:42:00.000-07:00

and we have yet to make a serious blog post this year!

WOW how the time just gets away from us here!

So far this year we've 3 work teams, one from Fairbury and one from Forrest, and one from Cissna Park with us. Needless to say, we've been a little bit busy since the New Year rang in!

I was going to try and post the slideshows on here from all the work teams for this year.. however, after having a few difficulties, I was able to upload the Fairbury slideshow, but it doesn't have any sound :-]

At any rate, you can enjoy the pictures!

After Fairbury left, the Forrest team arrived.
Hopefully their video has music. :-]

And then after Forrest left, Cissna Park came!

And while all that was going on, we were blessed with the arrival of Samuel (below) his wife, his wife's best friend, and his brother! More pictures of them to come!

Blessings!

Summer Volunteers!

2011-01-10T15:26:00.001-07:00

It's getting to be that time again - and we can hardly believe it!

Spring is just around the corner, and we are currently accepting applications to fill our summer staff positions of 2011!

If you have any questions, please email us at cvemexico@gmail.com

Click Here to see the application if you're interested in applying! Fill it out and email us at the above address!

Thanks and blessings!

¡Los Animales y Las Tamales!

2010-12-16T13:26:00.001-07:00

In the past months, more specifically weeks, our animal collection at CVE has been growing at a rather rapid pace!

Below are some, but not all, of our fuzzy furry farm friends!

Lilly with the 2 horses...

3 new pigs - they get all the table scraps EXCEPT meat products (right Limon??)

awww que guapito, no? don't you just wanna take him home with you!? HA

Tania, who I can only assume was helping take all the pictures..

Franki and one of the horses...

Franki and Tommy (the girls' dog)

In case you're not keeping track here's a tally for you:

2 horses

3 pigs

1 family dog

las borregas - aka the sheep, even though they look like goat. there are 10 adults.

I was also just informed that last night we 2 babies born and this morning we had another baby born!

so now we're up to 10 adults and 3 babies!

steer, or cows, or heifers - basically this big animal that goes MOOO (I did not grow up on a farm, so I have no clue what they really are... sorry to all you Beer's reading this having a COW that I didn't call them by the right name... :-])

we have 5 of these, and 3 are pregnant right now.

Current tally:

2 horses

3 pigs

1 family dog

10 adult sheep

3 baby sheep

5 animals that go "moo" with 3 on the way...

chickens - I'm going to guess that we have around 40 of these...

This is Osa - she's the dog that guards the stables and chicken coop. Daniel takes care of her, but she stays tied up most of the time I believe.

Random picture of Kaleigh and Jaqui - they must have been helping take pictures as well...

Jose working at the stables.

This doesn't include pictures of the other household dogs, Rito & Mac.

So as of TODAY (like I said, we've been increasing in numbers at a very rapid pace lately) our current furry fuzzy farm friend count is:

40 chickens

10 adult sheep

5 animals that go "moo" with 3 on the way...

3 baby sheep

3 pigs

3 family dog

2 horses

AND..

and a partridge in a pear tree! :-]

On Thursday we had several ladies from church come to CVE to help us make tamales!

They're a very traditional dish here in Mexico, and this year we wanted to make them and then serve them for lunch on Sunday after church services! Check all these amazing hardworking women!

Some of the kids were able to come help during school because today was their last day before Christmas break!

Hilda & Lilly

Ruth prepping the papas

Franki looks like he's hungry - I guess that's typical for every 15 year old boy, right? ;-]

All the stuff that goes in the middle: a variety of veggies & meat! yummy!

Lilly & Michele sorting out frijoles (aka beans)

We ask that you would please continue to pray for the safety of our staff as they prepare to fly home to be with family over the Christmas Holiday!

Thank you in advance for your prayers!
Blessings!

Thanksgiving, (for) Baptisms and Adoptions!

2010-12-14T19:56:00.002-07:00

The weekend before Thanksgiving we were blessed with the opportunity to have baptisms at CVE!

Praise be to God, we welcomed Ben Schick and Jaqui into our Family of God!

Here is a picture of Jaqui (left) and her sister Daniela (right). Please pray for both of these girls - Daniela began walking with the Lord a couple months ago and has a 1 year old daughter, Darilis.

The next weekend we had a HUGE Thanksgiving meal that included the Denver/Morris/Altadena group of 80 people, normal CVE staff & kids, and about 300 other mouths from town!

Here are a few pictures of the supper...

The serving lines...

patiently waiting for their meal..

We also have some other GREAT news to share....

Bill and Joan Schick have completed the adoption of Uriel and Lilly!

Praise be to God, after almost 2 years of filling out paperwork, going to the Judge, and waiting, the kids are officially Schicks!

Here's a picture of the kids with Bill & Joan when the papers were official!

These are all the Schicks who currently live in Magdalena.
Back: Katie, Uriel, Bill,
Front: Lilly, Jazany, Julissa, Joan, and Ben

Bill & Joan have just recently began the adoption process again with 2 more of our kids - Jazany and Julissa. Please be prayerful for this adoption - that it would be a speedier process this time, and that both the girls could adjust to living with Bill & Joan well. Also please pray for God's hand to be upon the rest of the Schick family as their family has increased by 4 new children, and 2 fiancées!

Please pray for the health of our kids and of the staff - we have had a flu bug sweeping through campus.

Also, with the holidays coming, please pray for the safe travels and good weather of our staff. Several members will be traveling home to spending Christmas with their families.

Many Blessings to You in this Christmas Season!

New Family Pictures!

2010-12-03T20:42:00.001-07:00

While we had the Denver Group here (pictures to come) an amazing group member took our family pictures again this year!

Thank you Mr. Cox!

"The Boys Dorm"

Front Row: Fede, Franki, Todd Stoller

Back Row: Seth Gerber, Michel, Joel Rink

"The Girls House"

Front: Emily & Keith Schambach with baby Brielle & Kaleigh

Back: Jaqui, Karla, Michele, Kali Zobrist, Lupita, Tania, & Yaneli

the Whole Gang (minus Tami)

"La Casa Rota"

Aaron, Diego, Steph, Candi, Jodi, Jenna, Darilis, Eduardo, & Daniela

The Schick Clan

Front: Lilly & Oliver (her dog), Jazany, Julissa, Joan & Ben

Back: Katie, Uriel & Bill

"All the Single Ladies"

Front: Katie Schick, Kali Zobrist, Carissa Schlipf, Jodi Beer, Daniela

Back: Jarrin (Raquel) Rabe, Steph Bahr, Elizabeth Martinez, Jenna, Nicole Knobloch, & Pau

Steph's Kiddos

Aaron, Diego, Candi, Marcos & Steph

"Los Limones"

Joel & Kristi Leman along with Beni

Issac, Angel, Daniel & Jose

We are so thankful that the kids are growing and maturing. It's such a blessing to see God change them!

Please keep our kids in your prayers - that they would all fall at the feet of Jesus and realize their need for Him!

Thank you for your prayers!

Blessings!

this is how we do pizza mexican style!

2010-11-22T17:55:00.000-07:00

On Friday night we had a pizza night at CVE!

It included the following:

LOTS of pizza dough

rolling out your own pizza dough - or in jazany, yaneli, and tania's case, putting 3 dough balls together to make a "bigger" pizza

and a whole lot of Schicks (and "to- be" Schicks) serving all the toppings!

start at the beginning and work through the assembly line!

Daniel showing off his pizza

Jose getting ready to load his pizza with veggies! yum!

oh, well, how'd this cut little guy get in here?! oh well, he's too cute to erase! (but don't tell him that!)

the final products waiting to get topped with cheese and put in the oven.

everyone make their own, and then writes their name on the paper. as the pizzas are cooked, we basically do role call and the kids come get their pizzas! works like a charm! :-]

the crazy kitchen line!

the kids found some - ok, well to be honest, i totally forget what these things are even called! WOW that either shows 1 of 2 things:

a. i'm getting older and losing my memory... OR

b. i'm showing how young i am because i played video games growing up instead of playing on one of these...

if you know what this thing is called, leave a comment and let me know!

Milford Work Team and a Little Bonus...

2010-11-18T13:12:00.001-07:00

Last week we had the pleasure of hosting a work team from Milford, Indiana!

It was such a blessings to have them here!

THANKS for ALL your work! Here are a few pictures from their week!

This mexican couple from Milford was kind enough to share their testimony with our church in Magdalena. It was a very powerful day for the church because it was the first time a mexican couple has ever spoke to our church here. What a blessings for them to speak to our church and show God's faithfulness!

Once again, Milford, thank you for your labors of love!

And for an added bonus...

Yaneli and Karla (who refused to be in the picture) put ponytails all over Franki's head!

I told him "if your hair is long enough for ponytails, it's time to cut it."

He disagreed though.

Las Borregas

2010-11-05T09:44:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a good day for our borregas!

You might ask why?

Well, they got shots!

We all remember those days - the dreaded doctor visits, the screaming, the kicking, the hitting...

it really is quite a pleasurable experience, is it not? :-]

Turns out Fede's borregas have a respiratory infection (or something that can turn into pneumonia) so they all got shots yesterday!

Surprisingly enough, they walked away and didn't seem to upset about the situation... funny how some of us have TERRIBLE childhood memories of such events...

Here's Eddi checking out what's going on.

I think his exact expression when he walked up and realized what they were doing to the borregas was something along the lines of "OOOOOOOOOH no" in a VERY concerned tone. It was cute.

Limon did the lasso-ing.

Down for the count...

And right as we were leaving the 'show' the Coughlin's walked up with Kaeb and Gloria!

Jenna pointed out that Kabe's got the white bread and Glori's got the wheat bread!

Haha

Blessings!

a little friend and the farm!

2010-11-04T16:32:00.000-07:00

The Secundaria kids are doing a farming project for school.

Here are a few pics of Lupita, Jaqui, Franki, and their teacher Pau working in the field!

While walking to the escuelita this afternoon I heard a loud ruckus of girls screaming and boys yelling in front of the Big House. Here's what I found...

Julissa on all 4's ready to get it - nevermind the fact that she was screaming just as much as Jazany!

Finally, caught in the mop bucket!

And yes, even Raquel screamed once!

Hey, you would too if a lizard that big tried to climb on your foot! haha

A Few Randoms..

2010-10-19T13:38:00.003-07:00

Here are a few random pictures for your enjoyment!

Can you name the kids?

Picture #1...

Picture #2 with chocolate frosting teeth...

Picture #3 Joel Rinkenberger's Mom Jeanne with a happy young man...

Ann Wulf with our spanish teacher, Maria. She's here to help these poor gringos learn spanish a little bit better! She's planning on staying through December.

Lastly we'd like to show you our circus of dogs minus one (Osa, Daniel's dog).

Perhaps the next blog entry we make will be devoted to all the animals we have at CVE...?

Meet Tommy - Tommy lives at the girls house with Keith and Emily Schambach and Kali Zobrist. Tommy's got 6 girls to take him on walks and then little Kaleigh and Brielle to watch over!

Next in line is Rito who makes his home with Steph and her kids at 'la casa grande.' Rito has 4 kiddos to keep him busy all the time.

And lastly we have Mac who abides with 'Los Limones' or the Leman's. He has 4 big boys to play with him and little Beni to watch out for!

And sometimes when they all get together, it turns out to be an interesting time...

Shortly after this picture we had a lovely "playful" dog fight - eventually getting Rito back to his house, and Tommy back in the small little hands of Yaneli, things were cooled down and back to normal! haha

In other news....

BENI IS WALKING NOW!
and...

Daniel is trying to master a flip flop.... too funny!
Blessings to you all!

A New Little One!!

2010-10-07T08:54:00.001-07:00

Introducing to all our blog followers...

Brielle Elise Schambach (Keith and Emily Schambach)

Born: October 6th 2010 12:20pm

6 lbs 13 oz 20 1/2''

Baby and Mommy are all doing well and healthy!

Praise God!

When Your Camera Gets Highjacked

2010-10-01T22:40:00.000-07:00

this is what happens...

Good lookin' bunch of kids, aren't they?

Prayer Request

2010-09-22T17:17:00.000-07:00

The month of October is right around the corner and we can hardly believe it! The kids are in full swing in school and things are rolling smoothly (fingers crossed :-]) as of right now.

Starting this weekend through the first week or so of October we would really appreciate your prayers for the town of Magdalena as well as for our kids. It's the time of year where people will travel (usually walking, sometimes great distances) to Magdalena in order to fulfill a manda (promise or offering) to Saint Francisco. A large festival is then held in his honor. It's a time where idolatry is thought to be "the way to heaven" and sin is rampant. Crime rates and vandalism typically sky rocket, and it's just a dark, oppressive time for Christians.

We would covet your prayers through this time for the staff here as well as for the kids.

Please pray that through this darkness:

- God's name would be glorified

- God would triumph over the evil

- Staff would be able to shine brightly for Christ and show how HIS sacrifice is sufficient

- That our kids would be protected from Satan and any plans that he might have would be destroyed

- For protection of our campus as well as for any traveling that we will have to do

Thank you in advance for you prayers...

Many Blessings to You All!

Staff and Kiddos @ CVE

¡Viva México! 200 Años!

2010-09-16T19:06:00.000-07:00

This year, Mexico celebrated their 200th year of freedom!

To celebrate the kids did a play for us at school!

Here's a few videos from their performances...

So our trivia question for this post is:

Can you guess which kids are which animals?! Leave us a comment on your guesses!

Below are a few pictures from Thursday and our activities for the day. The kids dressed in red, green, and white (for the most part) as modeled by Gloria and Beni below...

She was slightly tired.... as if you can't tell by her facial expression... :-]

And Beni rocking out his new hair cut! He looks so much older without his curls!

The Secondaria (Junior High) kids did a wall mural of all the famous men and women from their history class.

A few of our cooks for supper! Nicole, Carissa, and Rohde

We had super colorful/festive food to eat!

Eli filling up the glasses of drink: jamica, orchata, and green limonada

Yummy jello dessert...

Fruits and veggies...

And what's a meal in Mexico without a little salsa to boot!?

All in all we had a wonderful family day and we are thankful that God's provided us opportunities to be here raising these children of His.

It came... And it went...

2010-09-14T14:48:00.000-07:00

We're talking about summer of course!

We are very thankful that God provided for us through this past summer.

We all had some amazing memories made and lots of laughter and fun with the kids! Praise God!

There was swimming,

and reading,

A family day,

trips for ice cream,

awesome summer staff,

VBS,

and a few great work teams thrown in there too!

Now that we've said good bye to summer, we're saying bring on the school year! :-]

Praise God, this year we are teaching ALL of our kids on campus! God provided us with a few new teachers since we've added so many kids to our program this year, but so far, things have gone great! We would ask that you continue to pray for the transition of the kids - going from public school to school on campus is quite different for them. Also please pray for our teachers as they get back into the groove of the school year as well.

And in other news, THE NEW HOUSE IS NOW A NEW HOME!

We are VERY happy to let you know that Dan and Tami are currently turning the green house into a green home! "La Casa Verde" is now the home of Alexia, Ramses, Nere, Jose, Gloria, Dan, Tami, and little Kaeb! Please pray for this family - they've gone from a family of 3 to a family of 8 literally overnight! Pray for God to work in the hearts of the kids and that they can wholeheartedly trust Dan and Tami. Also for Dan and Tami to be sustained by HIS strength in guiding and raising the children He's entrusted to their care.

The past 2 weeks God has really been working in hearts in our church here. We've had several people acknowledge a need for Christ, and begin walking with him. Please pray that those who have decided to follow Christ could continue in His footsteps and that any plans that Satan has for them would be destroyed in the name of Jesus!

Update on the New House!!!

2010-08-19T14:47:00.001-07:00

We thought since there are quite a few of you who have worked on the house that maybe you'd like to see some current pictures of it! Enjoy!

Also, just so we can see how many hands have helped in building this house, if you were here and helped, leave us a comment telling us where you worked (if you remember) and which work team you came on!

Let's see how many hands God has used so far!

Dan and Tami Coughlin (along with Kaeb) will be moving in to the house al beginning with the sibling group of 5 before the end of August! Praise God!

Mr. Kaeb Coughlin campin' out in his new living room!

Too cute, we know! ;-]

The to-be-bedroom of Alexia and Nere.

Purple room with a lime green bathroom

The blue room of Jose and Ramses.

Along with a red bathroom

Study room/computer room

Master bedroom

Master bathroom

Part of the master closet

Hallway leading to Gloria's room, Kaeb's room, and their bathroom

Kaeb's room

Gloria's room

Shared bathroom with a tub for the little ones! Yay!

Utility room/laundry room

Storage room one...

Extra, not near finished bathroom 1...

Storage room two...

Looking into the kitchen/living room

From the far end of the kitchen

The awesome outside lime green with sweet blue trim!

Another shot of the front porch.

Although the house isn't finished, we want to thank every one of you in advance who have helped us make another home for our children.

May you continue being His Hands and Feet!

Many Blessings,

CVE Kiddos and Staff :-]

VBS 2010 - Daniel Confiando en Dios

2010-08-11T09:09:00.003-07:00

Last week we were once again given the opportunity to bring stories of the Bible to life for the people from Magdalena. God was definitely present last week while we spread His word. Our theme for the week was Daniel taking confidence in God. It was wonderful to be able to share the Word with so many new, hungry souls!

Below are a few pictures of our week!

We had some awesome artists who helped make human sized drawings for our week (see the 3 following pics)

The Church full of over 400 kids

Next we have all the tables where the kids are to report, give us their names, how old they are, and try to recite their memory verse for the day. It gets quite chaotic sometimes with kids running around everywhere, thus we have several people per table. :-]

The Green Table for 5 & 6 year olds: Katie, Raquel, and Jodi, along helper Ann Wulf (not pictured)

The Blue Table for 9-11 year old boys: Dan, Juantan, and Fede(register helper) (and Todd not pictured)

The Pink Table for 9-11 year old girls: Michelle (register helper), Miranda and Jenna (and Carissa, not pictured)

The Brown Table for 7 & 8 year old boys: Steph, Karla (register helper), and Zach (and Nicole, no pictured)

The Purple Table for 7 & 8 year old girls: Laura, Bere, and Kali

The Orange Table for 3 & 4 year olds: Joan, Andrea, and Emily

And finally the Red Table: Keith, Ryan (classroom helper), and Jaqui (register helper) (and Joel not pictured)

When the kids come, they tell the staff how old they are, and the kids then receive a piece of yarn tied to their wrist, which corresponds with what table/class they're supposed to go to. Above, Diego and Jose are modeling their green yarn because they go to the 5 & 6 year old classes.

Tania and Alexia waiting for classes to begin...

Julissa and Nere are reading while waiting for classes to start...

Isaac, Candi, a very shy Marcos, and Diego all sitting patiently in anticipation of class to begin!

One of the many classes - 5 &6 year olds.

After the lesson of the day, the kids were given a work book that has pictures and games that correlate to the bible story for that day. Here they are coloring and waiting for their snacks.

We want to thank all of you who prayed for our week of VBS.

It was a huge blessing!

This year we were able to touch 512 lives with the Word of God!

HOW EXCITING IS THAT!?!?

May God's hand be upon you in the coming week!

VBS and Good byes

2010-07-31T15:49:00.001-07:00

This past week was a whirlwind of emotions for us at CVE.

We have had 2 works teams here including a team from Chicago, IL and a team from Detroit, MI.

We want to thank the teams for all the work that they accomplished and praise God for His protection over the group as they worked.

(Pictures to come from the work teams!)

In sadness and in joy, we also said good bye to the Zobrist family as they have felt the Lord's Hand in guiding them back to central IL.

Zobrists, we were truly blessed to have had you with us and you all will be missed!

Before the Zobrists left, we sang a song and I feel it's only appropriate to post the lyrics...

Dios Puede Salvar

Todos necesitan

Amor que nunca falla

Tu gracia-y compasión

Todos necesitan,

Perdón y esperanza,

De-un Dios que salva.

Cristo, puede mover montes,

Solo Dios puede salvar,

Mi Dios puede salvar,

Por siempre,

Autor de salvación

Jesús la muerte venció

El la muerte venció.

Aun con mis temores,

Sé que me aceptas,

Una y otra vez.

Mi-vida-entera-ofrezco,

Para-seguir Tus pasos,

A Ti me rindo

En la tierra,

Tu luz brillará, Cantamos

Por la gloria,

De Tu majestad

Los queremos un montón!

Please pray for the Zobrist family as they transition back into life in the states, as well as for Kali.

She has stayed with us at CVE.

Kali has been a house assistant to Keith and Emily Schambach with the older girls for quite sometime now. Here she is with the girls.

L to R: Lupita, Jaqui and her niece (Darilis), Yaneli, Kali, Michelle, Karla, Tania, and Kaleigh (Keith and Emily's little girl)

Also in the coming week, please be prayerful for our VBS. We typically have between 250-300 kids from town come and we have the privilege of teaching them about the power of Jesus Christ and His blood. Please pray for the following things:

- safety as we drive a LOT of kids to and from their houses for VBS

- that God's message and power would be proclaimed

- that staff could have patience with all the kids

- that the kids would be obedient

- for the church of Magdalena to grow after VBS 2010

- and that above all, God's name would be Glorified among us.

Thank you for your prayers!

Summer Time = C.r.A.zY. Time!

2010-07-15T17:06:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack-age of postings lately.

The kiddos are out of school and so the summer fun has begun, which also means there is a SERIOUS lack of time for blogging! Sorry, we will try to do better in the future... :-]

The kids are enjoying a number of summer activities ranging from swimming, the summer reading program, cook outs and camp outs, to summer school!

And I'll stop you there to let you know that YES, they like our summer school! haha

I'm sure part of the reason they like summer school so much is because we have some AWESOME summer volunteers here this year to teach some of the classes! This year we have Sarah Frank, Zach Knobloch, Ryan Eisenmann, and Laura Tucker with us and it's been a blessing so far. We are super thankful for them!

Summer school involves several fun classes and other normal classes. The kids have art classes, reading class, cooking class, math classes, music, english, and fun stuff in the shop for the older boys. It's quite the set up and the kids love it!

We also have a summer reading program (also known as Reading Around the World or Leyendo Alrededor Del Mundo). The kids set personal goals and as the reach those goals, they get prizes - which of course is a huge deal! There's a few pictures of the kiddos reading...

In some cases it's necessary to use both chairs and pillows to be comfortable...

At other times just one pillow will do.

Ramses all curled up and shoe-less!

And for the kids that don't read yet, they get story time!

In other news...

IT ACTUALLY RAINED HERE!

2 DAYS IN A ROW!

Check out our playing in the rain pictures below...

Playing in the HUGE puddle, which was more like a water whole after the rain!

Yaneli during soccer

Michel being the goalie while it's raining cats and dogs haha

And for your viewing pleasure..

A short film by yours truely :-]

Enjoy!

It Was Just a Typical Sunday...

2010-06-14T10:14:00.000-07:00

The kiddos played a few board games..

Some of them played some frisbee..

The looked at the old work team scrapbooks...

And some of them even climbed on the roof!

As few of the boys were starting the grill...

A few of the ladies were working on the fries.

We enjoyed an amazing supper, followed by the Schicks washing the dishes...

And some lovely evening chats.

And that is what we call a typical Sunday.

May God bless you in the coming week!

The Princeville Group is Here!

2010-06-08T23:55:00.001-07:00

Our bags were packed and our passports were safely tucked away. Myself, along with around 31 teenagers and about 15 adults, most from Prinveville Apostolic Christian Church, were ready for our long awaited mission trip to Magdalena Mexico!

After an eventful flight filled with laughter,snacks,and quite a few naps, we arrived in Mesa, Arizona where we met Joel Rinkenberger and Jonathan Aupperle who fearlessly led us across the border and to our destination..Casa Vida y Esperanza! Our sleepy group arrived around 10:30 pm on June 4th 2010. Praise Jesus!

The staff here at Casa Vida y Esperanza was surprised to see us up at five thirty am the next morning, but due to the time change we were awake and ready to be put to work. We had an amazing breakfast followed by orientation. Joel gave us a tour of the campus and then put us to work. The women worked on various projects such a washing windows and light fixtures, organizing several different areas in the kitchen, and cleaning the entire storage building. Suzie Zobrist and Joan Schick were our courageous leaders, directing us while several of the woman and girls went through boxes of the children's clothing. That evening we met most of the children and the rest of the staff. We spent most of our night playing some spirited volleyball and basketball games. A few playful water fights also occurred.

Hanging out with the girls

Sunday we ate another wonderful breakfast and then proceeded to all climb aboard the school bus and ride into town. We drove around for an hour or so and picked up anyone who wanted to come to church with us. We then attended church, enjoying a morning of worship and praise to our God. After church many snuck off to their rooms to catch a few z's while the rest of us chatted and played with the kids. That evening the men played more than a few intense games of basketball while the women chatted over the sounds of volleyballs being smacked across the net and while the children's giggles filled the air.

Monday morning we woke up extra early. Breakfast was served at seven thirty and devotions followed. We were set to work on many different projects. While a few ladies organized the pantry, most of the men worked on pouring cement and working on electrical work at the new house. Several of us kids worked on clearing brush and helping out wherever we could. We retired early to clean up and head into town for a great mexican dinner, ice cream, and shopping. After our trip to town several of us gathered in the church for a prayer meeting. We started out with some praise and worship, followed by Bill sharing some Bible verses about the power of prayer. We broke up into groups of 4 or so and poured our hearts out to our Father. Monday evening was a huge blessing in more ways than one.

Today we're back to work! We nearly finished pouring cement in the loft in the shop, brush is being cleared and trees are being cut down. The pantry is almost one hundred percent organized. Many of us girls are being taught the "tricks of the trade" by our amazing cook, Coyo.

The tree cutting team :)

Organizing with labeling - gotta love it!

A few faithful team members working in the new house

All in all, God has majorly blessed this trip. Although our main goal was to complete many of the projects here, we have been blessed to build not only houses, but relationships. These relationships with each other, the staff and children, and most importantly our Father, have been strengthened in a way that only God can do.

God is doing work here. He is changing the hearts of many.

Continue to passionately pray for the people here. The children, the staff, the work teams, and the town. Our God is mighty to save.

Princeville Apostolic Christian Bible Class (June 4th-12th)

Summer Staff and a Few Randoms...

2010-06-02T16:38:00.000-07:00

We would like to welcome some of summer staffers here! Sarah Frank and Zach Knobloch arrived last week and will be volunteering the summer here at CVE. We are super thankful to have them here with us! Welcome to the fam guys!

Sarah, "mystery kid", and Zach

Here's a flying air shot of our "mystery kid"

Got any guesses for who it is? Leave a comment and tell us who you think! ;-]

Jaqui, Yaneli,and Michelle doing the dishes.

Last night a few of us staff were sitting in the kitchen and talking when all the sudden we saw all these kids and costumes go running through the dinning room. Slightly confused, we shrugged it off and thought they were just being silly, and moved on with our conversation. Later on, the kids came back along with the adults dressed up in costumes too! Turns out that Jodi and Jenna had an educative evening for their kids about what it would be like to live in a foreign country where Christians are being persecuted today. They all dressed up as people from Sudan, had an authentic Sudan/Mexican dinner (which means they ate their meal on the floor) and then proceeded to sneak out in the dark of the night to meet together and worship Christ together. How powerful, right!?

All of them dressed up.

And now, for your viewing pleasure, a lovely video of Gloria beginning to talk!

Yes, our children really are oh so humble. :-]

A quick translation for those of you who don't know what they're saying here..

Guapo: Handsome

Fuerte: Strong

Like I said, our kids really are humble :-]

New Family Pictures and a Video!

2010-05-24T20:17:00.002-07:00

So between staff getting married, new kids coming, and new staff coming, we've had a few changes around here lately! Thanks be to God that everything has transitioned smoothly!

Here are our currently families.

Now, keep in mind - as soon as I push the "Publish Post" button, things will probably change and these will be once again considered 'old.' :-]

Living in the "Casa Grande" we have the following 2 families.

Care Givers: Jodi Beer and Jenna Mueller

Kids Top: Jazany and Alexia

Kids Bottom: Eduardo/Eddie, Ramses/Ram, Gloria/Glori, and Julissa/Juli

(we're fans of nicknames around here if you can't tell)

And the 2nd family in the "Casa Grande"

Care Giver: Steph Bahr

Kids Left to Right: Diego, Marcos (formerly known as Poncho), Aaron, Candi, Jose, and Nere

Living in the Boys Dorm
Care Giver: Seth Gerber
Kids Left to Right: Michael, Franki, and Fede

Living in the New House
Care Givers: Keith and Emily Schambach, along with Kali Zobrist as a house assistant (not in picture)
Kids Left to Right: Jaqui, Yaneli, Tania, Michelle/Chelly, Karla, Lupita

And last but not least, "Los Limones y Limoncitos" (a.k.a. Joel and Kristi Leman) living in the... well old boys dorm/old girls dorm way back in the day.

Kids Left to Right: the baby Beni, Isaac, Daniel, Angel, and Jose

Here's a video put together by a staff member of all the kiddos saying their names.
We ask that you continue to pray for the salvation of our kids as well as those of the church here in Magdalena. Satan is always working here, but no matter what happens, we know that God can overcome.

Giving thanks to the Maker and Giver of Life...

Staff and Kids at CVE

Mother's Day and a little bit other action!

2010-05-13T15:03:00.002-07:00

On Sunday we had a Mother's Day Celebration for all our Moms!

It was a great afternoon. The guys all helped out in the kitchen and cooked an incredible meal.

And they did ALL the dishes! :-]

Below are a few pictures from our meal.

All the Moms sat up in front at a special table decorated by some of the kids. We went around and applauded for each one of them. We are so thankful for them and wish God's graces to them as well!

And for other news...

For those of you who have been here...

Does this look a little funny to you...?

How about this one?

As you can see, there was a little mishap on campus.

On Tuesday afternoon a mini tornado/wind storm whirled up on campus somewhere behind the chicken coop. It headed toward the cancha and tore off part of the roof from the volleyball court!

Thankfully no one was hurt - although there were a few staff members sitting outside talking, they got out of the cancha in time. :-]

Check out the pics below!

Some damage from the roof going up and over, landing on the other side of the roof...

View from in front of the kitchen...

View from the side of the volleyball court/in front of the dining room

The extra pieces you see on the roof there flew from all the way on the left. If you look closely, you can see a portion of the roof still hanging there - that's where it all came from!

As you can also tell, the sky is perfectly blue and no clouds in sight.

Just goes to show how BIG of a God we have, and how He can do ANYTHING whenever He wants!

Mi Dios es tan grande, tan fuerte, poderoso,

No hay nada que no pueda hacer!

Mi Dios es tan grande, tan fuerte, poderoso,

No hay nada que no pueda hacer!

Las montañas son suyas, los ríos son suyos, las estrellas son suyas también!

And They Lived Happily Ever After...

2010-05-01T22:42:00.000-07:00

Well it's been awhile, once again - our apologies. :-]

Current news for Magdalena includes...

Juantan and Bere getting married on April 25th in Ixtlán, Michoacán!!

The happily married couple, Bere and Juantan, at the wedding reception!

The couple had wonderful wedding weekend, with great weather, and a host of family and friends at the wedding!

Thankfully, a few staff and the older kids from CVE were also able to travel the 20+ hour car drive to join in the wedding festivities. It was a blessed weekend to be able to share with Juantan and Bere and it was also the first wedding that many of the kids had ever seen! How powerful for them to see such good, christian examples that they look up to, marry in God's House!

Here are a few pictures from the weekend...

The "guapo niños" before the wedding. I think in the beginning of the day they liked the whole "tie and white shirt" thing... by the end of the reception, however... that was a different story! :-]

[left to right: Ben, Uriel, Franki, and Fede]

The ladies after the church ceremony.

[left to right: Laura, Lupita, Lilly, Michelle, Geo, Rohde, Pau, Karla, Raquel, Jaqui, Maggie, and Katie]

Pic of the Bridal Party
[girls - bottom to top: Claudia, Ana, Nicole, Gloria, and Carissa]
[boys - bottom to top: Chino, Derek, Regg, Clayton, and Limón]

Guy Shot...

And a Girl Shot..

One of the "CVE Tables"

And the 2nd "CVE Table"

The Bride and Groom and the cutting of the cake.

[In case you are wondering, they were nice and didn't smash the cake in each other's faces. haha]

The wedding was wonderful and we are so thankful that God has provided for Juantan and Bere. We are excited to have another solid couple here at CVE, where God can continue to use them as examples, to our kids and church, according to what His Word says a "marriage" should be.

On the way home, we made a minor pit stop in Mazatlan to see the sunset on the beach.

Here's a shot of the kids enjoying the quick stop.

[left to right: Jaqui, Lupita, Karla, Michele, Fede, and Franki]

So all in all it was a wonderful weekend, and God's name was Glorified!

Praise Him!

Thank you for your continued prayers for us and the kids!

All the Changes on Campus...

2010-04-07T14:27:00.000-07:00

So after our last post, we realized that there were no pictures of the final products for what the groups did while they were here.... So, after running around campus and snapping pics, I have some before and afters of the boys dorm, as well as after pictures of a few of the projects that were worked on.

ENJOY! :-]

BOY DORM REMODEL

After Jonathan and Bere were announced to get married, we made plans to remodel the old "Boys Dorm" (also, formerly known as the old "Girls Dorm" waaaaaay back in the day) and "School Room," into more of a home setting with a kitchen and living quarters for some house parents. Here are the before and after pictures.

picture looking towards the entrance...

picture looking towards the old school room...

new picure looking towards the entrance...

dining area for eating (towards the old school room)

new kitchen! :-]

old bedrooms...

new living room...

shot # 1 of the old school room...

and shot # 2 of the old school room...

shot # 1 of new living quarters for our house parents Limon (aka Joel) and Kristi Leman

and shot # 2 of new living quarters for Limon and Kristi

This is Benny's nursery right off of Limon and Kristi's bedroom.

The bathroom off of the master bedroom. This whole part was added on from the front patio.

Right about where you see Michael standing there is where the bathroom is now...

The old boys bathroom...

And the new boys bathroom! Much calmer, wouldn't you say? :-]

The old clothes bodega where we kept all the donated clothes. This is right off of the boys' bedroom.

And the new closet for just the boys. They shortened the bodega up and repainted shelving in here. This is now just for the current boys living there, and the rest of the donated clothing has been moved to a different place on campus.

So that sums up the Boys Dorm Remodel.

Now for the other projects that were worked on...

Painting the office...

Working on the new group home...

Note: When our teams started coming in January i believe all we had done on this was a few outside walls. The teams put on the drivit, the roof, and lots of other things inside. They did a TON of work on this building for us! :-]

front of the house shot # 1...

shot of the house # 2...

inside towards the left...

inside towards the right...
Another BIG project that the teams worked on was this fence that was put in all the way around campus.

Now it might look harmless above, but below you can see it's razor wire!
Many hours of sweat and blood (literally!) went into this project!

Here are the footings from the fence as well.

And here are just a few other random projects that were done. I know that there were a LOT of things done that I don't have pictures, so sorry for not capturing all of the work on camera!

Some shelving that was put together for our office storage room.

Desks were painted for our escuelita...

And I'm sure all the boys (big and small) on campus would say that this might be the most important thing that was accomplished with the work teams... a full size basketball court!
Yes, the boys love it... and even a few of the girls like to get out there and shoot a hoop or two!
So we want to take this opportunity to thank each every one of your who gave of your time and of your self to come and sever us here in Magdalena. We are very humbled that so many of you were willing to come and spend a week with us helping out where ever needed. May God bless each and every one of you for what you did - you deeds of love will be appreciated for years to come.
Gracias de todos los niños y los trabajadores tambien!
Dios les Bendiga!

The Catch-All Post!

2010-04-01T14:42:00.002-07:00

So here are all the pictures from all of our work teams in March! WOW! My apologies for the lack of posts lately. Enjoy the photo shoot!

Jaqui had her 14th birthday on March 30th, but we celebrated it a little bit early on Sunday – here she is after having her face shoved in her cake! All smiles as you can see :-]

The current group here with us now is from Roanoke, IL. Here are a few of the ladies working in our front garden! Watch out for those cactus ladies!

A group shot of Roanoke! What a blessing to have them with us!

Everybody loves cleaning windows, right? Time for spring cleaning in the church!

Uriel is supervising the cement crew – looks like he’s got things pretty well under control :-]

Working on… well to be honest I’m not quite sure… But I’m sure it was something very important… :-]

These guys are working on drivit outside the church.

Beautiful smiles from ladies cooking and baking in the kitchen!

Making some shop improvements and hanging up beams!

And now on to the Bluffton Group!

What a good lookin’ bunch of Bluffton-ites!

Doing fence working

The Bluffton guys plus Zach Zobrist the night they went out for tacos.

Hmmm what’s better? Green or red….?

The ladies from Bluffton during church on Sunday – aren’t they just bright and colorful!?

Ray and Gladys Slagel came along with the team from Purdue and Athens, AL!

Diego and Aaron with one of the girls from the Purdue group.

Ruth and one of the Sisters from Purdue spending some time together.

One of the projects that the groups have been working on is a fence all the way around the property with razor wire at the top. The Purdue team was “lucky” enough to get the job of putting up the razor wire! Oh yeah! It was very hard work, and I’m not exaggerating when I say, they’re sweat and BLOOD went into the work on that fence! Thanks guys and gals for all you did!

Hmmm break time…

Pose time…

Tough time…?

I’m really unsure what this picture is all about…

Working in the new house

Jose spending “pop break” with one of the guys from the ISU team.

Posing outside the new house.

Oh, I also forgot to post the announcement of Bro. Tyler Schick to Sis. Sara Maher. Tyler would be Bill and Joan’s son – and Sarah is the girl in the middle of this pic.

Putting an addition on to our sidewalk as well as pouring cement for additional sidewalks.

A few of the ladies from the ISU group…

Riding the bus route for picking up and dropping people off to church on Sunday

ISU group shot!

Putting up the basketball hoops – this was quite a big deal for the boys (both little and BIG) so we were thankful that we had the man power to install it!

So… wow that’s a lot of pictures!

Hopefully in the future we can be a little bit better about updating this. Sorry for the long delays.

A few more updates about what’s going on around campus…

We received word today that Josias had surgery yesterday. It was successful and they were able to place a splint on his brain to drain the fluid. He’s been gaining weight as well, so praise God for that! Thank you for praying for him and please continue to do so!

The kids are on Spring Break right now which has been nice having a group here. The Roanoke group has been able to spend more time playing with the kids, and just hanging out. It’s been nice seeing the kids interact with other people and making relationships.

Also around the end of February, Sis. Jodi Beer from Milford, IN made Magdalena her home! We are super thankful to have her with us here! Please pray that she could continue to adjust to being here, as well as for her family back in the States, as I’m sure it’s an adjustment for them not having her there.

We want to Praise God for all that He’s done in Magdalena lately. There have been so many times where we can see His hand working, and we are very thankful for that.

We want to thank you sincerely for your prayers. I think that all of us would agree that if it weren’t for the prayers of the faithful Brothers and Sisters in our Faith, we wouldn’t be here!

So until next time (which hopefully won’t be a month from now!) may you feel God’s presence in your life as you walk here, for His Glory!

Groups and Baby Update

2010-03-21T22:32:00.000-07:00

First of all, we want to thank you for all your prayers in the past few weeks. We can honestly say that they were and still are being felt. So thank you.

Update on our preemie baby: Well first off, we named him Josias (Josiah.) We had him here for a total of 16 days before we decided it was best of him to go to the hospital. He began having problems sucking from the bottle, and eventually got too weak to suck at all. He also was vomiting quite a bit of what he drank, so after many tears and many prayers, staff took him to a hospital in a city 2 hours from here. Another DIF (kind of like DCFS in the states) has taken over his case and we will most likely never see him again. We have heard that he has a feeding tube now, and they anticipate him to have a month long hospital stay before being adopted out. It's amazing how such a little boy can have such a huge impact on us. He may have only been here for 16 days, but he has definitely made an impression on many of our hearts. As said by one of the staff members, we are humbled to have been entrusted with his care for the short time that he was with us. He is missed by many of our staff, so we would ask that you pray for our healing hearts as God mends where we are broken.

Since our last blog, we have had 2 groups here, with a third one here now!

YIKES!

Sorry for the lack of pictures... but we were super blessed to have a group from ISU here as well as a group from Purdue/Athens, Al. Currently we have a group from Bluffton here now, and would ask that you pray for their safety as they work throughout the week, as well as God to work in their hearts for His kingdom's Glory!

URGENT PRAYER REQUEST!

2010-03-05T22:39:00.000-07:00

Today we accepted a 5 day old preemie that is in urgent need of prayers.

Here are a few pictures of him.

Please pray that God would provide us grace and wisdom in caring for this little child of His.

Also that he could gain health and strength as the days go on.

Thank you for your prayers.

Summer Staff and a New Addition to Our Family!

2010-03-03T15:11:00.002-07:00

Each summer, June to early August, we offer the opportunity for single brothers and sisters to volunteer here at Casa Vida y Esperanza to help with various duties that include teaching, helping in the kitchen, working on site, or many other activities. It is a great way for young people to experience missions and make relationships with the children and staff here. Our summer volunteers are invaluable to us and we are very thankful for those that the Lord directs our way each year.

We are asking that you share this opportunity with anyone that would be interested and to contact us at cvemexico@gmail.com. We can then email you an application. All applications must be received by Monday, March 15, 2010.

As we look to the future, we are also looking for those that would be willing to make a longer commitment in serving here in a number of areas including but not limited to brothers caring for young boys and sisters caring for young girls, as well couples caring for children as well. We ask that each of the brothers and sisters pray about this opportunity also.
We also want to take the opportunity to thank God for providing a new healthy baby boy to Daniel and Tamra Coughlin! Introducing Kaeb William Coughlin!
Mom had a great delivery and everyone is healthy and doing well! Thank you for your prayers!

Science Experiment and Progress with Congeville-Eureka Team

2010-02-10T10:55:00.007-07:00

Apologies - this was started last week and didn't get posted... enjoy it though!
Here are a few updated pictures of what the current team is doing and a video of a few of the kids doing a science experiment. Currently, we teach the secondaria kids on site, as well as the kids who were having issues in school. In the video are Todd, Fede, and Karla.

basket ball court crew..

bathroom progress on the old boys dorm..

piping going up to the bathroom..

sidewalk going from the dorms/school room/office/apartments to the kitchen...

half finished basketball court...

Central IL Workteam

2010-02-09T11:29:00.007-07:00

Right now we have a team from Congerville and Eureka here helping us.
(Some of the girls started the blog and then another staff member finished the blog, so the writing style and persons change. Sorry about that :-])
We have had an awesome time so far and hope to continue to. The latest activities has been the building of a basketball court, security fence around the property, add-ons, demolishing, drivitting, and cleaning out. In our spare time we have played volleyball, soccer, kickball, and card games with the orphans. The weather has been sunny and breezy and at the end of the day we all look like lobsters. Here are some pictures of the recent activities in Magdalena.
Basketball court...

A few team members scooping rock into buckets. Look at them muscles!
Driving the tractor (probably one of the more fun jobs!) that is helping move the rocks for the cement mixers.
This is the cement mixing crew on Tuesday. They are hard at work scooping rocks and sand into buckets for the mixers and getting very dusty.
Thankfully we brought along an experienced mason :-) Here he's leveling the cement slabs for the basketball court! He is one of the many workers.

Working on the welder

Here's a team working on the new group home. Right now they're putting drivit on the walls. They need to put up a tarp so the mud doesn't drive too fast from the sun!

A little insight on what is going on in the following pictures...
Since the engagement of Juantan and Bere, Joel [aka Limon] and Kristi are stepping in to take care of the boys and our little guy Beny, and a few of the other mentors are having the children they take care of changed as well. [Please pray that God will help us with all these changesa nd transitions.] Currently, we don't have any living spaces for a married couple, so we're making some additions onto the old boys dorm where Juantan and his boys lived. We're doing some interior work that includes adding a kitchen, making a living room area, and adding a bathroom for the couple who lives there.

Here the guys are pouring the cement for the beginnings of the bathroom floor. This is on the front of the boys dorm where the porch used to be.

And this is on the inside of the boys dorm.
So as you can see we have quite the amount of projects going on here!
We want to Praise God for giving us safe travels here and ask for your prayers of safety as we finish out our week here! May God get the Glory for all that's being done!