A New Smile for Adela

 Many of you may have met Adela either through this blog or if you've come down to serve with us. But if you haven't, she is the youngest (4 yrs.) of Oti's six daughters. Most people who have had the chance to meet Adela in person quickly learn that she loves to give hugs and to be held. Bottom line....she's adorable and fun-loving.

If you've seen pictures of her, you've probably seen some black and rotted teeth in front of her smile. There were also a couple more rotted molars. Some of the challenges faced when working with impoverished families where survival is the highest priority, are bad habits like not brushing teeth (what's flossing?) and eating too many sugary foods. This is true with Adela, in addition to the fact that until just recently, she was still going to bed with a bottle. So we began looking into dental options for Adela and the rest of her siblings. God arranged for a divine appointment and we met a dentist who coordinates other dentists and specialists to do this kind of work - helping the poor. Long story short, he introduced us to Dr. Genoveva Quinones who is a pediatric dentist....and what a gift she has with kids. We then scheduled four visits for Adela to get all her work done. First visit fill several cavities. Second visit fill more cavities and do some other work. Third visit get an impression of her mouth to make her dentures. Fourth visit pull six rotten teeth, including the four in the front and put in the dentures for the front teeth. Fifth visit check the dentures.




So, although Adela's toothless smile was adorable, she was sometimes ashamed of it, and her teeth were rotting. Now she has temporary teeth (until her adult ones grow in) and an even more beautiful smile. These dentures, if cared for, will help protect the holes where the previous teeth were, and allow the new ones to grow in properly. 

Please pray with us that Oti and Adela will be responsible to clean the dentures regularly, and will also begin to reduce the amount of sugary foods that all the kids eat. We are regularly trying to educate Oti about healthy eating and hygiene habits, but it's hard. Changing old  habits for anyone, including Oti is an uphill battle.

(Special thanks to a generous donor who is making dental care possible for Oti's kids.)

Building Bridges....relational, spiritual, and physical

The swinging bridge at San Jose

 This week we presented our new VBS called "Sky," to three families, at Casa Hogar San Jose and at the CAT. The theme for the VBS is based on Mark 10:27: todo es posible con Dios -- Everything is possible with God. For many of these kids, this is perhaps a new truth and a very important message. We continue to build bridges with the kids and the staff at the CAT (government shelter for abused and neglected children), as God continues to show favor on this relationship. We will be doing VBS all summer with the teams that come to serve for our ministry partners. 

In addition to doing the VBS, we built a swinging bridge at San Jose, repaired a swingset, hung fans and deloused some kids' hair at the CAT, and poured another section of the roof over Pastor Victor's church in Tres Reyes.

Crosses the kids made at the CAT, that say:
"Todo es posible con Dios."

Lizy teaching the kids about the Roman Centurion
who went to Jesus to heal his sick servant.

It was a great week in which we built relationships with kids, ministry partners, staff and one another. As our Back2Back staff reflected this morning on the week past and the week ahead, we were amazed at God's blessings and favor on the work we're doing. We look forward to seeing many of you this summer when we return to the U.S. and sharing more stories of how God is working here in Cancun!

A First Visit to the Dentist for Oti's Six Girls

Adela

Last week Julie and I along with Mauricio and Lizy (Back2Back Staff) met with a local dentist, Dr. Roberto Carlos Gonzalez Lopez, to introduce him to Back2Back and discuss partnering with us to help our kids with their teeth. If you haven't noticed some of them, especially Oti's, have pretty bad teeth, so we knew it was going to be a big undertaking. 

Trying to keep them occupied in the waiting room.
Reading and coloring with them.

Paty

Well, God had already gone before us. This dentist is awesome! At first I was a little nervous, not knowing how he would respond to the fact that we're a Christian organization, so I was praying for God's favor while Mauricio an Lizy were talking with him. As the conversation progressed, we found out that not only would he help, but he could help coordinate other dentists and specialists to help. He was on board from the start! In addition to helping Oti's kids, he is also open to possibly do a mobile clinic in Tres Reyes, Rancho Viejo and other places we serve. God is so good!


So Wednesday, about a week after our initial visit, we picked up Oti's six girls and took them to his clinic so he could assess their teeth, determine what work needs done and let us know which girls need to go first based on the severity of their issues. He told us that he already spoke to some of the dentists he works with, and that they will discount their work by 50%!! So we are now simply waiting to receive the details about the costs associated with the work, including time and supplies. 

Yasmin

Marisol

The dentist told us that dental supplies in Mexico are imported and therefore very expensive. He suggested we see if we can get supplies from the U.S.to help keep costs down. We have already had a generous donation from a dentist in West Michigan to help get the work started. If you are interested in being part of this work, please contact the Back2Back home office (513.754.0300)

Our good friend Marilin read "Those Icky Sticky Smelly Cavity-
Causing but....Invisible Germs" to the girls on the way to the
dentist. They liked it so much we read it again on the way home.

Mobile Education Resource Center - MERC has arrived!

Jorge (9) from Casa Hogar San Jose practicing reading aloud.

This month we rolled out MERC...our Mobile Education Resource Center.  We are so excited to see the kids participating in this program and are slowly building our library of books through contributions and gifts. We would also like to add other resources to the program, including educational games, manipulatives and laptops. Laptops would allow us to use educational software as another teaching tool, and to teach the kids computer skills.

Beti (9) was so excited  about the new books that she couldn't
decide which she wanted to check out.

Years and years of taking Eliza and Nick to the library and checking out tons of books is paying off in really neat ways.  Lending libraries are very rare in Mexico, and we do not have any in this area. We've been collecting books for the past few months and I really didn't know how the kids would respond, but they love it!

A team member reading to Beti

In addition to allowing them to check out 2-3 books at a time, we also have read-aloud times, both one-on-one and in a large group. In addition to helping the kids learn to read and learn to enjoy good stories, it's also a great time for teams to interact with the kids on a more personal level.

Sandy (14) is reading Loco Amor (Crazy Love) by Fancis Chan.....
how awesome is that!

We are very excited about adding more resources to the MERC to expand the program. If you are interested in helping build our library, please contact the Back2Back home office.

Grumpy isn't good...but God is!

It was Tuesday morning and the team still had three days of work left. I woke up grumpy because I was dreading the day ahead. We had scheduled two cement projects two days in a row, and this was the second one. The first cement day took a lot longer and was much harder than we anticipated. In addition we were short-staffed and were planning to divide the team; some to work on the cement and the others to do a medical outreach. On this day, the cement project would be even harder since we had to lift buckets full of cement up to the beam at Pastor Victor's church (La Hermosa). So with an already tired team, fewer people to do the cement work, and a baking hot day, I felt my grumpy attitude was justified.
















Erick woke up feeling overwhelmed, anxious and worried....for all the same reasons. The combination of my grumpy and his anxious could have been the deathblow.....BUT, God, yet again, surprised us! More cement than the day before, fewer hands (both staff and team), and a tired group of people, and yet we finished earlier than the day before AND ran a medical clinic. We also got to pray for Pastor Victor and one of families in his church, both of whom helped us all day. Here is a pictorial look at this surprising day. To God be the glory!

Matt Marvin saw 28 patients from Tres Reyes.
Anna Conrad (Back2Back staff) translated.

Children Loving Children



Oti



Before we moved to Mexico, while we were raising support, we were invited to speak at Whiteford Wesleyan Church in East Michigan.  The morning we spoke, Bernice Heidelberg, the Director of Growing Tree Preschool at Whiteford, approached me about having their pre-school children do a mission project, which would include learning more about our work with orphans, more about Mexico, and possibly raising some money to send to some of the children we work with. I told her we would love to be part of that and asked her to contact me after we moved down.

Fast-forward 2 months.....

The Old Tables

I received an email from Bernice and she told me that after speaking with the board of directors and staff of Growing Tree, and most importantly with the children, they were excited about this new partnership. She told me that the kids were excited to get to know Oti's family and raise money to help them. So we sent them pictures and information about each of the 8 kids.

Fast-forward 5 months.....

We were preparing to host a team who would do some work on Oti's house. During the previous 5 months, Bernice's kids were raising money to give to Oti. We didn't know how much or whthe plans we made for projects at Oti's house didn't include any money from the Whiteford children. BUT, on the day we were heading out with the team (just last week) I received word that the money had just come in and had been transferred down to our director; so it was available. I was excited but wasn't sure how or when we'd use it. As it turned out when we got to Oti's house two things we hadn't planned to do that day - because we didn't have the money - rose to the top of the project list.

 

The New Table

With the money from the Growing Tree pre-school kids, we were able to buy wood and build Oti a new and much needed table where she prepares meals for her family. Additionally, as we were getting ready to head home at the end of the workday, I was told that Oti had no groceries and that her kids hadn't eaten, and probably wouldn't eat that day. So I said, "Hey, I still have money left from the Whiteford kids, let's use that to buy groceries." So we sent out a few people to the local store and bought some necessities for Oti's family.

God's timing and God's people, reaching out to those in need, thousands of miles away. Kids in East Michigan helping kids in Southern Mexico. Now THAT is a cool story of how God uses children to love children. Thanks Whiteford  Wesleyan and Growing Tree Preschool!!

"And the King will say, 'I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!'

GLORIA'S GENEROSITY...a great example of faith & trust

Recently I was so challenged by the generosity displayed by one of the widow's we work with in Tres Reyes.  Her name is Gloria.  She is such a hard worker and doing the best that she can to keep her family together.  She's been living in a cement block house (formerly a thatched palapa) with her 5 children and one year old grand-daughter.  The "windows" don't have glass (yet) and of the back entrance doesn't have a door.  Her kitchen is outside where she cooks over a wood fire on a make-shift fire pit using wood she splits herself.  Our project on this day was to even out the dirt floors so we could pour cement in the main room, bedroom, and bathroom of her home.

We arrived with our team of about 25 people. As we always do, we packed our own lunches before we left for Glorias. But when we got there we realized that Gloria was planning to make lunch for and feed EVERYONE!  I'll back up just a little bit and say that on our way to her house, we bought Gloria groceries; just the basic's....potatoes, boxed milk, rice, beans, tomatoes, corn tortillas, and a few other items. Because she doesn't have a fridge, we only bought Gloria a couple packs of meat, which she had to cook right away so it wouldn't spoil.  So when we got there the team unloaded all of the groceries and started to work... and so did Gloria. Some of us started leveling off the floor, some started mixing the cement by hand. And Gloria started to cook. I was able to help Gloria with the food. With the potatoes we bought her and some of her own, she made potato crouquettes stuffed with cheese. She used EVERYTHING she had to make this lunch for our team.  She also made homemade salsa, beans and rice.  She even used the tortilla's we brought for her family. Her generosity overwhelmed me to the point that I had to ask myself....am I that generous? Would I be willing to cook up most of my food for a group of people, some of whom I barely know? The other thing that spoke so loudly to me was Gloria's faith and trust that God would provide! What a great example Gloria was, challenging us to live life giving our all.