Farm Animals

If you live in or have visited Indiana, chances are you're going to see farm animals, whether by accident or on purpose. Julie and I are fully embracing our life in Indiana, so recently we went to the 4H Fair near us and while we didn't embrace the animals, we did see and appreciate them. We are grateful for farms and farmers. (Oh, and I lost the staring contest with the llama.)

In addition to learning more about farm animals, Julie and I also attended training about Trust Based Relational Intervention, specifically when working with children who have experienced trauma. We also attended coaching training that an be used to coach staff, parents, or whoever we may need to coach. Regarding the Strong Families curriculum, we are beginning the process of converting content into in-class training material. In official terms it's called instructional design. I'm including a link HERE to a Prezi presentation we created for our site directors to update them and describe some of the modules we're creating. (It's 4 minutes or less and has a video.... of us.) We head back to Monterrey and Mazatlan, Mexico for about 3 weeks in Sept/Oct to do more site reviews in preparation for future training.

Nick started his new job in Bloomington, IN last week and starts classes at IU next week. He's excited. Eliza also started a new job at a chiropractic office. She is very interested in holistic and alternative medicine. Nate did extremely well in his first round of pre-nursing classes. He starts his next 9-week cohort next week. 

This month, we're asking you to pray with us for more people to join our support team. We have some ongoing new expenses and other expenses that are far more than we were paying in MX. We know God owns it all and are trusting Him. So we are also inviting you to pray about joining our team if you're not already on it. 

Prayer Opportunities

• Pray that God will raise up more partners to join our support team.
• Please continue to pray for Julie's health. She sees another doctor this week.
• Pray for Eliza and her new job, that it will be fun and fulfilling for her.
• Pray for Nick not get too stressed out as he starts classes and works.
• Continue to pray for Julie and I as we move down this path of identifying the best ways to help the children and families we serve and how to roll out global training.

Humbled & Grateful.
erick & julie

Listening, Learning & Writing

Listening, Learning & Writing

One of the many classes and seminars
at the CAFO conference in Dallas

It started in Dallas at the Christian Alliance for Orphans international conference, and ended at our Back2Back site in Monterrey, MX. After two full weeks of seminars, meetings, and interviews, we returned to Indiana with information-overload and ready to process all we'd learned. So now, we are spending time assimilating information, recalling what we learned on the field about family strengthening, and researching best practices about alternative forms of care for at-risk children.
Research is one of Julie's sweet spots. She loves digging and learning what works and what doesn't. I am more of the process person. So I'm developing the processes for how we will roll out training, and how we will determine the readiness of each site for training. Specifically, we are digging deep into foster care programs, Back2Back's Hope Program, transition care for helping young people transition to independent living, and family strengthening (we call it Strong Families).

We are highly motivated to bring best practices and processes to each of the Back2Back sites, but before that happens, we need to do more listening, learning, and writing. 

The big news with Eliza and Nate is that Nate started nursing school. He is in an accelerated program and believes he's found his passion. Nick's big news is that he got a 4.0 his first semester at IUPUI, and in the fall will transfer to Indiana University in Bloomington. He has a job and a house secured in Bloomington and is excited to start a new semester in September. 

Prayer Opportunities

We just celebrated 31 years together!

Nick recently registered for
classes at Indiana University
Bloomington. He's excited!

• Please continue to pray for Julie's health. While she's stronger, she continues to struggle with consistent good health. 
• Pray for Nate as he pursues nursing.
• Pray for Nick's transition to IU Bloomington.
• Pray for Julie and I as we move down this path of identifying the best ways to help the children and families we serve and how to roll out global training.
• Pray for our newest site in the Dominican Republic, that God will direct Back2Back to the right partners and and clear vision for how best to make an impact in this country. 

Humbled & Grateful.
erick & julie