Dear Friends & Family,

Time to once again to bring you up to date on our activities.

October was a busy month for us. As you recall we finally arrived home on Sept. 9^th. in Puerto Vallarta after three months & 11,688 miles on our car.  I am sure you all remember what a relief it is to finally stop living out of a suitcase and relax in your own home and familiar surroundings. The Lord is good and gave us three weeks to relax before we started our normal school schedule. Boy, did I need it. I have decided that as much as I like driving, that was a bit much and I am sure you would agree.

Well, the Lord started the month off with a bang. First our dear missionary friends, JD & Nirvana Rodriguez and their two precious daughters Ame & Espirit arrived from Albuquerque, N.M. for a short 4 day stay (Oct 1 to 4) and helped us teach at Casa Maranatha.

Then on Oct. 5^th, David & Luann Zude arrived to provide a health clinic. David is a Captain of Paramedics in Denver, Colorado and Luann a medical technician. They taught many simple health rules that we take for granted but are mostly unknown here among the poor i.e. washing hands, brushing teeth, bathing frequently, combing hair etc. Remember, that until the local outreach opened these families and especially the children didn’t even know what a sink, toilet or shower looked like or how they were used. Their daily existence is a pan to wash dishes outside, a hole in the ground to relieve themselves, and a mom pouring water over their heads and occasionally bathing them. So David & Luann teaching especially to the moms was not only a great treat but also in some cases life saving in its simplest form. David asked me during the class what else I thought was important for hygiene. I told him we must teach the mothers the need to rid their children of head lice and then advised them the steps necessary. The mothers reality is that all kids get head lice and it is normal. But because of prior teaching some of the mothers have been very successful in ridding the home and children of this pest which can cause other diseases. Recently the local outreach discovered a 5 year old child with not only lice but maggots that were feeding on the sores caused by the lice and constant scratching by the child. That child was taken by the local outreach to a doctor who had to completely shave this little girls head and treat the wounds and pick maggots from her scalp. I hope I haven’t shocked you but want you to know that the simplest health education by David & Luann make a big difference here. Thank God for volunteers from all walks of life.

Then during that same time frame we met a new couple which was also an answer to our prayers for additional teachers. Ray & Patt were referred by our old friend Don regarding the work being done with the children here in PV. Mind you this couple was on a much deserved vacation. But saw fit to contact us and almost every day help us teach at both the local outreach & Casa Maranatha.  What a gifted couple of typical loving grandparents. You see all the Lord requires is for you to be available and He does the rest. In that short two weeks, they not only impacted the kids but us as well.  Guess what, they went home and cancelled a trip they had planned for January. Instead they have notified us they are coming back to help us for 4 months. God is good all the time.

Then on October 15^th I then drove back to the U.S.A. Covina, California to once again try to get the donated 1997 Dodge van across the border. You recall it was donated by my church, First Presbyterian Church of Hayward/Castro Valley. The church member donated and filled it to the brim with clothes, school supplies etc. which included the wonderful gift of a 6 month supply of chewable vitamins from our dear friends Ed & Sharon Glennen of Alameda, Ca. Our dear friend Michael Chiasson provided the ride back to Covina which helped share the driving. Pastor Gerardo of Casa Maranatha accompanied me to help with the Customs officials at the border. I guess the Lord really wanted the supplies to reach these mission schools because the trip took us only five days of driving. I know I wasn’t going to drive any more long distances but I have to listen to my boss, in Heaven.  Plus not only did we have Michael as one of our angels but when we arrived in Covina another group of angels took over. Our dear friends, Randy and Dodie Costales once again provided us with a roof and food and we left the next morning for the return trip without Michael.  We spent the first day driving through California and Arizona, got a hotel to rest and hit the border the next morning.

We spent 5 hours attempting to get the van legalized.  At a cost of $550 we were finally able to succeed legalizing the van.  Then we had to face the Mexican Customs two red lights which if received you have to stop and empty the contents of your vehicle for a search. Let me give you a description of the van. This van is a 15 passenger van, full from top to bottom and front to rear with big black bags of clothes, boxes of school supplies, a generator, a barbecue, vitamins and on and on and on.  To load it the first time, it took Randy’s men’s bible group of 5 about 1 hour or more to complete. So as you can imagine this prospect in the hot desert heat by two old men was making us pray very hard for two green lights. The first light had no other vehicles in line and we got a very rapid green light. Then we faced the next and worst red light where the custom officials relish an opportunity to rip everything out of your vehicle if you don’t offer them a bribe. It turns out we were fourth in line behind the red light. I told Pastor Gerardo that if one of those other vehicles were to receive a red light we would be ok. Oh, Lord I exclaimed, each car had received a green light and our odds had diminished greatly. You guessed it, the Lord protected us and we got the green light. I bet you thought I was going to say we got the red light. Fooled you, Hehe. Now we had a three day drive facing us but we were so happy the time just flew by and we arrived home safely. God is good all the time.

This was definitely a month for miracles as Pastor Sunhee & her Living Hope Christian Center Church mission group arrived from Emeryville, Ca.  What a team of five that blessed all with whom they came in contact.  They stayed in our home sharing crowded spaces & one bathroom. Some on the one extra bed and three on the floor. What uncomplaining troopers.  Every morning we were blessed with worship praises and songs to our Lord. They cleaned off an overgrown lot at the local ministry discovering some of Mexico’s flora & fauna i.e. huge spiders, scorpions, red biting ants etc. all in the very hot sun and heat & dust & pollens. Pastor Sunhee’s allergies were causing big sneezes from a very small nose. Poor Maura got bit by a spider and had a terrible big blue bruise on her arm but nary a whimper from anyone. We were so humbled by this group. But 4 days was not enough as we want them back to show others how a Christ like mission team should behave. They were able to not only visit each family in front of the dump but also give out large bags of groceries. They also did this to the Pastor's neighbors. And both the local outreach and His Will, His Way Ministries thank them for their wonderful love and donations of time, energy & resources.

The rest of the month was different as Pastor Gerardo needed to close Casa Maranatha to take his wife Judith to Guadalajara for an operation.  So we continued to teach at the local outreach where we can start to really see the children learning English. Faye & I are so proud of our classes. Faye’s class of preschoolers is learning to count in English and sing the ABC song and learn colors. Faye says she has some very bright children.  My 9 children who are in regular public school are now starting to form sentences, greet me and each other in English. I am very proud of them as they are starting to make huge strides.  Remember, these are the poorest of the poor. What is also encouraging is that we are starting to witness the mothers taking a more active part in ensuring their children get educated. That is so very important.