2012 Pictures
––Update: November 18––
As we prepare for Thanksgiving week, one of the many things we are thankful for are the work teams that we and our partners get to host each year. We are especially grateful for all the progress made on House #2 of the Children's Home. The panoramic pictures below show where things stand after this year's final team, and our four workers will continue to keep things going until our next team arrives in February.
As we prepare for Thanksgiving week, one of the many things we are thankful for are the work teams that we and our partners get to host each year. We are especially grateful for all the progress made on House #2 of the Children's Home. The panoramic pictures below show where things stand after this year's final team, and our four workers will continue to keep things going until our next team arrives in February.
––March––
Our first team of the year was coordinated by First United Methodist in Birmingham, Michigan, although it featured folks from all over the state. These "snow birds" did two great weeks of work, and they're always a lot of fun to be around. The first week was spent at the Faro del Este church northeast of San Jose, a church this team had actually built years ago. They painted and did some minor repairs, as well as made progress on the new parsonage. The second week was spent at the Children's Home, where they kept up good spirits during some strenuous ditch-digging and concrete work. We're grateful to have started the year off with this great team.
Our first team of the year was coordinated by First United Methodist in Birmingham, Michigan, although it featured folks from all over the state. These "snow birds" did two great weeks of work, and they're always a lot of fun to be around. The first week was spent at the Faro del Este church northeast of San Jose, a church this team had actually built years ago. They painted and did some minor repairs, as well as made progress on the new parsonage. The second week was spent at the Children's Home, where they kept up good spirits during some strenuous ditch-digging and concrete work. We're grateful to have started the year off with this great team.
––May––
Our first team of the summer was from a wonderful returning church, FUMC Lucedale, MS. For the fourth year in a row, this group came to work on the Children's Home, and this year they were accompanied by some of the interns working this summer with our partners, the Zirkels. The team did great work on the second house, as well as fun VBS activities with the kids at the Home, and also with children in Platanares and Los Guido.
––June––
June began with a small team from Gulfport, Mississippi. The team leader had come twice in the past with First Methodist Gulfport, and this year he brought along four new team members as well as the pastor from Mississippi City UMC. This hard-working team did some much-needed painting and small repairs on the Home's office building, both inside and out. They also did an activity with the kids at the Home, who really enjoyed decorating their own t-shirts.
––July––
During the first half of July we hosted two wonderful teams from our home churches: St. Paul UMC from Ocean Springs, Mississippi, and Christ Community Church from Columbus, Georgia. We're always glad for visits from "home," and we love the chance to see old friends and make new ones. Each team worked with a lot of energy and spirit, and by the middle of the month the below-ground part of the second house was completed! The teams also did wonderful VBS activities for the kids at the Home and in local churches, including an activity for the neighborhood around the Home.
––August––
Our final team of the year was a first-time group from FUMC Panama City, Florida. After having contacted us "out of the blue" at the end of last year, they got a team together and made their first foreign mission trip in many years. They were a great team, very hard-working and easy-going, and we thanked God for such a great group of folks to end the year with. We look forward to seeing them and all the other teams back again in 2013!
––End-of-the-year bonus video!––
This video is of a service in Llano Grande, a little church that you can learn more about on the "Llano Grande" tab at the top of this page. The video shows the team from Panama City in an impromptu dance with the church members, something that happens more often than not when teams visit. Given the pure joy and loving fellowship that it shows, we thought it was a good way to summarize our entire 2012 team season. Enjoy!