Casa Hogar Mi Familia

The following comes from a volunteer at Casa Hogar la Familia in southern Mexico . . . a home for orphaned or abandoned children that we have supported for many years . . . if you have interest in this type of ministry AUMC will be taking a mission team there in the Spring of 2011:

First of all its been great to have Joe Lupo here from Church of the Redeemer in Greenville, SC, for the last few weeks. He has become our official grandpa and the kids love having him here and sure will miss him a lot.
Each of the weeks Joe was here, he made all the kids sandwiches for school every morning. One morning he noticed that we had peanut butter and jam and offered to make the sandwiches out of this. I agreed -- not wanting to say no -- but secretly I dragged my feet knowing that it was something new and thinking the kids wouldn’t like it. When the kids were heading out the door, they asked what the sandwiches were made of that day. When I told them that Joe had made a special surprise of peanut butter and jelly, I was either responded by silence or a wrinkled up nose. But later when the kids arrived home from school, I have never heard such excitement over sandwiches. They couldn´t stop exclaiming how good the sandwiches were and when could we make them again. They became an immediate hit and we nicknamed them “grandpa Joe´s sandwiches”.
Another thing we were able to do while Joe was here is go to the water park. We got the kids up early Monday morning and I´ve never seen the kids do their chores and make their beds as fast as this morning. Meanwhile in the kitchen we prepared a large pot of beans. By the time the beans were ready, the kids were antsy and ready to leave.
The water park is only about 15 minutes away. It is a gorgeous place with various pools including a shallow pool for little kids, an indoor pool, a water slide, etc. There are picnic tables and chairs and plenty of shade. They even have basketball, soccer and volleyball courts.

Once at the water park, we gave out quick safety instructions and then let the kids loose. The day was bright, but a fresh breeze kept the air cool. However, within ten minutes, the youngest ones were in the water, climbing all over the large play boat, standing under the water sprinklers or riding the artificial alligators and hippos, completely immersed and happy. The older ones started and intense game of soccer. I don´t think we´ve ever had such a heated game as this one. We finished physically very tired from all the running and shouting. In another corner in the shade, we had set up the coffee maker and the adults were in a heated game of Sequence, a board game we all enjoy. Awhile later, when the water slide was turned on, we were all there, even the youngest ones, forming trains of five or six of us -- each one on his belly and grabbing the feet of the next. On the way down, the water tube was FULL of screams as we whipped down the curves, then as we came out into the pool at the bottom, a large jumble of flailing legs and arms.
By the time lunch time came, everyone was ravenous. We had bought fried chicken and rice to go with the beans. The kids couldn´t stop eating! After lunch, they had to wait for an hour to go back into the water. I think it was the longest hour of the day because every five or ten minutes they would ask if it was time yet to go back in. A few of the younger ones sprawled out in the sun on their towels and the rest on the swing sets. Finally after 45 minutes we let them wade up to their ankles and later swim. The rest of the afternoon they spent in the water. We let them spend some time in the indoor heated pool and they loved practicing to swim, jumping off our shoulders or just enjoying the warmth of the water.
At 5:00pm they were still swimming, purple lips and their little bodies trembling with cold, but they wouldn´t leave the water until it was time to go. At 5:30, we called everyone out to shower and change and then we headed home. All slept well that night.
Well, I´ll say goodbye greetings especially to Joe and we miss him lots and thanks for that five weeks.
Love,
Muriel