Making Friends and Sharing God's Love

April was a full and blessed month with hosting two mission trips and celebrating Easter. We had the opportunity to pray with the people of La Colonia (a poor neighborhood in town), celebrate Mass, and host a convivio (potluck); these gatherings have led to ongoing ministry in La Colonia. Additionally, we visited and prayed with the people in several of the ranchos (villages) surrounding General Cepeda. We participated in home visits to some of the elderly people in the community. The main work project that was targeted during these trips was putting in the concrete floor for the San Juan Bosco Gym here in General Cepeda; we will share a future post about the gym.

Our family on Easter

Home visit during a mission trip

The boys getting their feet washed during the Holy Thursday celebration

Simon taking a turn swinging at the piñata during the celebration night at the end of a mission trip

Jaylyn serving at Mass in the chapel at La Colonia

Lisa visiting during the convivio

At the end of April, a lady named G.H. came to us in need of roof repairs. She said her roof leaks and she was hoping for it to be repaired before the rainiest month of June (May is also a rainy month here). Jeremy contacted Pancho, a local handyman here and brother of one of the local missionaries, and together they were able to repair her roof in May. While on G.H.'s roof, they looked out at her neighbor's roofs and noted many appearing to need repair. Additionally, we visited La Noria the beginning of May just following a rain and found a woman trying to sweep a significant amount of water out of her house. Jeremy was able to help her complete the task this time, but we plan to repair her roof in the future. Repairing leaky mud roofs with a thin layer of concrete appears to be a need of many in General Cepeda and the surrounding areas, and we plan to continue to address this need. The process in repairing these roofs is replacing murillos (rafters), then placing wood platforms across, covering with a sheet of plastic, then a layer of dirt, and finally sealing with a thin layer of concrete. The concrete is mixed by hand on the ground and then manually carried up a ladder to the top of the roof in buckets.

A partially completed roof with two areas of dirt left to be sealed with concrete

A layer of concrete was added to seal leaks in the roof of G.H.'s house

Looking out at the neighborhood from G.H.'s house

The boys helping make concrete in front of G.H.'s house

Lincoln working on a roof

Jeremy and Jaylyn working on a roof; the murillos are being covered with a wood platform

A woman sweeping water out of her house

The interior of a typical roof; made of twigs and mud

Buckets to catch the leaks when it rains

Prayer and Bible Study at La Noria de la Sabina

Raul, one of the local missionaries here, suggested modifying the Friday night men's group to include a convivio (potluck) with families one time per month. We hosted the first convivio this past Friday; it was also a great opportunity to invite other women and families from the community to participate in prayer and fellowship with us.

Gathering for prayer and reflections before the convivio

We have been blessed by great friendships with two other families here. The dads and older kids had the opportunity to open air camp on their family's ranch. This was a first experience for our kids (Jaylyn, Lincoln and Zane), and they are looking forward to doing it again.

Most still asleep around the campfire after a night of open air camping

Getting to ride our friends' animals has been a highlight for our kids

We've also been blessed to meet another group of local ranch and rodeo cowboys and hope to journey more closely with them in the future.

Zane and Simon saying hi to a horse

Lisa at 39+ weeks pregnant

Thank you for your support, both prayer and financial, that makes this ministry possible. If there are questions you have or other information you would like to see, please let us know.

God bless you!