It's time to leave already!?!

Well my time in Juarez, Mexico is coming to an end. It's been an amazing, crazy, and wonderful time. I know someday I'll be back which makes leaving less hard...but it's hard to know that some of the kids I have grown to love SO MUCH might not be here on my next visit. I pray that those that get to go back to their families or are adopted by new parents will be loved and cherished with all their parent's hearts and that God would continue to guide their hearts to long for Him. And I already know that the children that continue to live at Rivers of Mercy are well loved and taught the love of God everyday! Thank you Kristin, Emmis, Martha, Adrianna, Lili, and Bere for loving these children, taking care of them, and giving me an amazing experience!
Thank you everyone at Home that has prayed for me and supported me through my stay.
I'll miss everyone at Rivers of Mercy and can't wait to come back down! :)
~Andrea.
ps. I can't post pictures right now but I hope to get some up later on.

Why there!? Why Juarez?

• You do know that's the murder capital of the WORLD right now right?
• Just don't die ok?
• Don't come back in a pine wood box?
• You couldn't go somewhere else in Mexico?
• There are kids here in the US to help and witness to why must you leave the country and put yourself in danger?

All these questions have been asked many times, some teasing, some out of fear for me, and some trying to check if I lost my mind.

I have decided to post a blog and try and answer these questions.

Well here it goes...Why Juarez?

 To be honest I am not sure the exact reason that this orphanage touched my heart, but in reading River's of Mercy's blog, looking at the pictures, remembering Kristin from when I was younger, and maybe to a degree the fact that there was danger and people told me not to, I felt strongly that this is where God wanted me to spend my fall for 2010.  If God lays something on your heart it´s not our place to say no because of danger, fear, warnings from others, ect.

My life is no longer my own. I am God's servant and when He calls me I am to answer.
Act 5:29
'...we ought to obey God rather than man...'

1 Corinthians 2:5

'That your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.'

1 Corinthians 6:20
'For you were bought at a price therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's'

Mathew 28:19

'Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations..'

Mark 16:15
'And he said to them 'Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature''.

Galatians 2:20
'...it is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me...'

And though it might be dangerous and seems scary I find my strength and courage in Christ and not in the power and protection of walls and men and that if something were to happen it's God's will and this is not my eternal home.

1 Corinthians 16:13
'Watch standfast in the faith, be brave, be strong.'

Mathew 28:20

'...and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age'

Philippians 3:20
'for our citizenship is in heaven, from which we will also eagerly wait for the savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.'

Philippians 4:6-7

'be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.'

Colossians 1:13

'He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us unto the kingdom of the Son of His love.'

Psalms 118:6 and 8

'the Lord is on my side I will not fear. What can man do to me?'
'It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.'


I  also feel that even for those of us who are not called to missions full time we cannot abandon those who have been.

Galatians 6: 9-10
And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not loose heart. Therefore, as we have opportunity let us do good to all especially to those who are of the household of faith.

Philipains 2:4

'let each of you look out not only for his own interests but also for the interests of others'

Here are some pictures to show some reasons for why I came down, why I stayed longer, why I am coming back after Thanksgiving, and why, Lord willing, I will come back again.

Hope you enjoy :)


Maxi :) Please pray that she is loved and
 well taken care of! I miss her so much!



Everything the kids have drawn
 for me so far...it continues to grow :)

Ismeal, Emmanuel, and I...please pray for Ismeal as well, He's Maxi's six year old brother and just as cute and sweet!

 

Emmanuel!!! :) He is the cutest little 5 year old and if there
 was anyway in the world he would be coming home with me!



Emmanuel :)

Danny and Anaye.

Yari and I <3




Joel and Danny!
These little boys are so cute and awesome! :)



Emmanuel and Joel reading :)

Emmis and Itzel.

Kristin, Yari, and Itzel.



Fun at the Park!

Hey everyone,
Sorry I haven't posted in a while.
Hope you enjoy the pictures and post of the kids at the parks!


 On Saturday and also today Emmis took all the kids to the park to play. I went along to help keep an eye on the toddlers and enjoy getting outside. :)
 Here are some of the many pictures I took on our little park adventure. Hope you enjoy!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2089713&id=1298147591&l=8795fcd2ba

Brother and sister: Raul and Yari

Mayte

Emmanuel, Ismael, and I

Yari :)

Samuel

They sat and watched the tractor across the street for a long time!

Maxi

Danny

:)

Diana

Sarahi

Jose

Adolfo

Alfonzo

:)

Mayte

cute brothers and sister :)

Maria

who I am and what I can now do ;)

Hero of the Plunger.
      *Saved many little boys and girls from the dreadful flood of an overflowing toilet on many occasions

'Amazing' Chef.
      *making meals out of whatever I can find....amazing is used extremely loosely ;)

Best Fake Spanish Accent Ever!
      *Joel laughs when I try and read in Spanish....I think he thinks I am joking : /

Mastered the Art of Fruit and Veggie Chopping
       *When they come beat up chopping and freezing is important

Expert Diaper Changer.
      *Four toddlers in one room ...can't count how many times they've all needed it at once!

Possible Kidnapper of Little Children.
      *Emmanuel is so cute it's hard to resist!

Dish washing...
      * No problem! I can get the toughest stuff now...(you should see these muscles! ;)...Just kidding I still don't have any.

Get a Crying Baby in a Car to go to Sleep?
      * Check!





I could make June Beaver proud in my Sunday best cooking and cleaning ;)



Please Pray.

Hey Everyone,
Sorry I haven´t posted in forever. I would like to ask for a prayer request on this post though. A couple days ago we found out that Mary, a full time volunteer who has been on vacation, was in a car accident. What they knew at the time was that she broke almost all her ribs, punctured a lung, and has a huge cut across her neck from the seat belt. We haven´t heard anything new but if you could please pray that her recovery is quick that would be awesome!
When I hear more I'll let you know!
Thanks,
=Andrea

A day in the life of a carrot!

Hey Everyone,

On Wednesday Kristin and I drove into the USA and got donations for a produce place in El Paso and then Thursday we drove over to Las Cruses to get donations from a food bank there. Well in Las Cruses I also got the chance to meet both sets of her grandparents. It was really fun to get to meet them and have Olive Garden J.

  Rivers of Mercy was blessed with a TON of donations from both places so Kristin and I have been busy chopping, bagging, and freezing veggies.  

Here is the adventure of the carrots J

Our Carrot arrives in a rather large and heavy bag with his fellow carrots

After being removed from his former home he is then washed....

and prepared to be peeled

once his gross outer layer is removed....

and is discarded...

our carrot, depending on his size, rejoins 2-4 of his fellow carrots and is prepared to be chopped

the awesome huge knife does his job well

once chopped our carrot is once again reunited with he fellow carrots, from the world of the rather large heavy bag, to be boiled, cooled, bagged, frozen, and at a later time consumed.

The big picture

One orange hand, two hours later, tons of bags of carrots to be frozen and later consumed.....all in a days work ;)

SOCCER!

Hey everyone,
Saturday October 2nd was rather exciting as all the kids, Roberto, Martha, Filipe, and I loaded up in the van and went to a soccer game! It was my first real soccer game and was pretty cool (although I had no idea which team I was supposed to be cheering for 'cause the crowed acted the exact same when each team scored a goal :).) The pictures didn't come out the best but i'll upload some anyways :) And once again here is a link to my facebook album if you would like to see more pictures.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2089709&id=1298147591&l=0d96c657eb

Have a wonderful week!

~Andrea