The Welcome Home blog has been quiet too long. . . but that certainly doesn’t mean that the WHO staff has been idle.  It’s high time we share all the exciting things that we’ve been involved in over the past months and the new developments that are keeping life interesting.

LAS AVES COMMUNITY

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For more than a year now, the Welcome Home staff have been doing weekly outreach ministry in the residential community known as Las Aves, which is located just to the northwest of the town of Zapata. This outreach was initiated in February 2011 when we began meeting in the house of a woman named Teresa. Adults and children come together for a time of worship and praise led by our Casa Hogar Bienvenidos guardaria (daycare) director Brigida Merino Flores, followed by an adult Bible study led by Welcome Home staff associate, Neri Omar Maya, and children’s program under Brigida’s leadership. Typical attendance runs about 15-20 adults and 30-40 children, but we have had as many as 90-100 in attendance some evenings.  The worship and study are followed each night with drink and snack time.

 

In October our wonderful partners from First Reformed Church/Medi-Mex, Inc., of Lansing, Illinois, built a house for the family of one of our Las Aves Bible study group, a woman named Irma.

Following Irma’s house build, our Monday night ministry moved to her larger house for the weekly meetings. During the winter months, the adult Bible study met in her new house and the children’s program used the family’s previous dwelling, a pallet and plastic structure with a dirt floor. Both new and old houses are without electricity which means that we bring in a generator every week to provide light in the dark winter evenings.

The brothers from Illinois were deeply moved by the work at Las Aves and their concern and vision for the ministry there set off a  chain of events that snowballed over the course of the past months. They excitedly began envisioning a larger place where we would be able to meet in comfort, with electricity and bathrooms and possibly even heat! And they asked the Welcome Home staff to think and pray about what this might look like.  As Steve, Jackie, Neri and Brigida prayed and talked about these ideas, it became clear to us that what our Illinois brothers were proposing sounded very much like planting a church, which was not our goal. Our goal has always been to simply and consistently  share God’s Word and the love of Jesus. Building, maintaining, operating a church doesn’t fit into the scope of Welcome Home’s ministry.

BUT we did understand that God had a plan for the people of Las Aves and was already at work.  We were aware that: 1) Iglesia La Mision (the “big church” in Vicente Guerrero) had been given four or five lots in Las Aves to develop; and 2) Welcome Home was one of several other Christian agencies doing ministry in Las Aves.  We asked ourselves, “How about joining forces and working together to build the Kingdom?”  What a concept!

A meeting in December brought together representatives from Iglesia La Mision, IDT, Hero Holiday, Erma Fennell Foundation and Welcome Home to discuss the possibilities.  With Dr. Ramon Avitia and the staff of Iglesia La Mision graciously open to the idea of developing their Las Aves property for use by other agencies, a plan unfolded and very rapidly things started happening! Plans for the property were laid out and Welcome Home director, Steve Scott, consented to be the “general overseer” for the initial two phases of the development.  The first planned building would be a community center that would serve as a guardaria (daycare) operated by La Mision, as well as a venue for church services, Bible studies, medical/dental clinics and other purposes.

Almost immediately, a Canadian group working with IDT stepped forward and committed to build this first structure, with Welcome Home committing to preparing the foundation and floor for the 28′x50′ building. We contacted our Illinois partners and asked if they would be able to fund the foundation/floor, and they responded affirmatively.  Praise the Lord, we were off and running!

In February our Welcome Home construction crew (Jose Luis [Colores], Neri, Mateo and Steve), along with a concrete crew from IDT headed by Roberto, readied the foundation and floor. Then the Canadian team arrived to quickly and efficiently erect the community center building. They also provided funds for kitchen and bathroom cabinets to be built by our friend Carlos Acedo Delgado which were soon completed and installed by our crew.

 

 

 

By March, La Mision Church had temporary staff in place to begin a daycare for the families of Las Aves. Furnishings and toys for the daycare have come via various donations, and former Welcome Home employees, Abel and Rosa Hurtado, are currently overseeing the daycare on behalf of La Mision.  On Monday nights, our outreach group still meets together in the home of our hermana (sister) Irma; then the children are dismissed to the community center for their program. Other group meetings are being held in the center throughout the week, and we have hosted at least one medical clinic there as well.

Phase two of the development  at Las Aves  was the construction of a fosa — a septic system — adjacent to the community center.  The 10′x24′x8′ deep hole was dug by Hero Holiday. The concrete work was done by our Welcome Home staff, with funding and extra labor provided by our team from Cornwall Church (Bellingham, WA) in March. The eco-friendly fosa is in place and operating as the septic system for the community center; eventually, other buildings on the property will be plumbed into it as well.

Phase three of the development is the construction of 24′x32′  home for a pastor/caretaker of the property.  A Welcome Home team from Lynchwood Church of God, Portland, OR, will be providing funding and labor for the foundation and floor of this house the week of May 21st. Then, Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church of Portland, OR, will build the house in late June.

This cooperative venture of God’s people is a true testimony of how the Body of Christ should be working together in harmony. We praise God for His love and for the people who are responding to His voice!

DISTRIBUTION MINISTRY

God has is really opening doors for an expanded distribution ministry. In recent months, Welcome Home Board members and friends, along with director Steve Scott, have had the opportunity and blessing of receiving huge amounts of donated items and getting them across the border into the hands of needy families and ministries in the Baja.

Donations have ranged from hundreds of mattresses out of Princess Cruise Line ships to medical equipment and supplies, surplus foods from Trader Joe’s stores, building materials, clothing and so much more. Using the Tecate border crossing, we have been very blessed to be able to transport the donated items across the border without importation fees.

Much of the donations we’ve recently received has come through the auspices of River’s Edge Church in Rancho Cucamonga, CA. River’s Edge has a tremendous ministry of receiving and distributing donated goods. Their 18,000 sf warehouse is a beehive of activity, with donations coming and going constantly. WHO Board president Manny DeLeon  introduced River’s Edge pastor Dave Hernandez to Welcome Home on a recent trip to Vicente Guerrero. A number of ministry leaders in our community gathered together to meet with Pastor Hernandez, who encouraged us to dream big! A spark was ignited that has led to another cooperative effort — the establishment of a community warehouse group (Bodega Grupo) where donations can be housed and distributed to the various ministries as needs arise.

We are praying about how this Bodega Grupo might evolve. We hope to identify people who are willing to pick up and haul donations, as well as warehouse space in our valley where we can receive/sort/distribute the donations. Please pray with us about this new extension of ministry. It will be exciting to see how God leads!

RECENT GROUPS

We want to be sure to acknowledge and thank the teams who have visited and worked with us at Welcome Home so far this year.

In February we welcome an “advance” team from Gateway Community Church (Hammond, OR) who were exploring the territory in preparation for their 35-person group who will be coming to Welcome Home in late July.  Thanks to Pastor Chris Schauermann and team leader Tim Lewis for the opportunity to host your team this year!

Our Partner church, Cornwall (Bellingham, WA) sent a team of four to us in March, led by Floyd Roorda. Small but mighty, this team poured a floor for a house build, did a roof repair, and provided funding as well as labor for the Las Aves fosa described above.    A special, unexpected blessing came when team member Kristin offered to paint the kitchen cabinets and walls in the Scotts’ apartment. What a treat!  Thank you to Floyd Roorda, Kristin and Lexi Engermann, and Kate Cochran for your hard work and new friendships forged. We’ll look for you again soon — maybe a whale watching excursion in our future?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a real pleasure to welcome back our friends from Peninsula Baptist Church (Ocean Park, WA) for a week in early April. Team leaders Claude and Connie Noyes brought along some “old” and some “new” team members, and we had a great time together. “Old” friends included Connie’s daughter, Stevie Lindsley, who served with us as an intern in 2011… some people just can’t stay away . Another return visitor was Neal Kandoll; this time around, Neal brought along his wife Marla and daughters Brenna, Meleah and Darla, and they were a fabulous addition. We love to see families ministering together! The team did a fantastic job building a house for the family of one of our daycare boys,  Estevan.

 

 

Following the Peninsula Baptist team, we welcomed back Pastor Elmer Goodeill (Centralia Community Church of God, Centralia, WA) and his medical team, a combined group of professionals from the Centralia  area and students of the New York College of Podiatric Medicine under the leadership of Dr. Sharon Barlizo. These folks served at the medical clinic of Cristo por su Mundo orphanage, as well as offering a clinic in the Las Aves Community Center two afternoons and in the city park in the community of Colonet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In late April, a Calvary Chapel East Anaheim (CA) group came for a weekend visit. Andrew Calderon led this team once again as they worked at the elder care facility, Casa del Buen Samaritano, where they painted the recreation room, hung and painted screen doors, and loved on the seniors; served dinner to the gentlemen at Casa del Sembrador rehab center; and worked with Neri Maya and the youth from Calvary Chapel Vicente Guerrero in door-to-door evangelism. This CCEA group visits Welcome Home several weekends each year and always manages to accomplish a great deal in a short amount of time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WELCOME HOME STAFF and BOARD UPDATES

The beautiful coastal setting of Las Gaviotas in Rosarito was the backdrop as the staff of Welcome Home/Casa Hogar Bienvenidos and the U.S. and Mexican Boards met together for our annual retreat in mid-April. Having the opportunity to spend extended time together in worship, fellowship, relaxation and laughter is a true blessing for each of us individually, as well as collectively.  What a tremendous, dedicated group of people… We are so blessed!

 

Just a quick note about some staff changes at Welcome Home. At the end of December, we said good-bye to Abel Hurtado who had served so faithfully and capably for many years.  Taking over the bus transportation assignment for the daycare is Mateo Gomez. Some of you will recognize Mateo as the husband of our lovely babies’ class teacher, Genoveva (Geno). We are so glad to have Mateo as part of our staff.

Also new to our teaching staff during the past year are Alma Carrasco Flores and Sonia Merino Ramirez.

We were sad to say good-bye to our English teacher, Meghan Scott, but wish her and her fiancee, Adam Lindsley, all the best as they are married this June and establish their home in Portland, OR.

 

AND MISCELLANEOUS ODDS AND ENDS

You may be interested to know that Welcome Home personnel are involved in all kinds of activities and service outside the walls of WHO.

• We find that God keeps directing us to people in need. Lately, we have been involved in helping connect patients to our friend Angel Baeza for prosthetics. In March, Steve visited at the home of Pastor Marianna at the Church of God in Colonet. He found that her husband, Jose, had just a few months prior lost one of his legs due to diabetes. Knowing that the Centralia (WA) Church of God had a long-standing relationship with the Colonet church, Steve got in touch with Pastor Elmer Goodeill to see if the church might be able to help with the cost of a prosthetic for Jose. The church’s quick, positive response made it possible for Angel to work with Jose and fabricate the new leg in a matter of weeks. Praise God!
• We know of two other persons in need of prostheses and are hoping to be able to help them as well. One is a five-year old boy, David, who lost his leg when he was run over by a dump truck; he is a child from our own daycare. The other is a man by the name of Jacob who is a diabetic.  Please pray with us about these concerns and that God would provide the funds needed for the prostheses.
• Our staff members Brigida Merino and Neri Maya are serving on the Board of Directors of a newly established transition residence for women called New Beginnings Women’s Association. It’s a place where young girls and women who have successfully completed drug and/or alcohol rehabilitation have a place to make a fresh start without having to return to their previous, often dysfunctional environments. New Beginnings opened its doors this Spring in the area known as Zarahembla, under the direction of our friend Dorothy Greatrex. Check out http://newbeginningsbaja.org for more information.
• Steve Scott is serving as an on-call critical care ambulance driver, assisting Hannibal Reyes in this important ministry. He has made many trips taking patients to Ensenada and even to San Diego, when necessary. His favorite assignment, though, is manning the ambulance for the Baja off-road races!

 

 

 

We are happy to announce the winner of our 2011 T-Shirt Design Contest. Congratulations to Stevie Lindsley for her winning entry!

Stevie served as an intern at Welcome Home from August to December 2010 and became an integral part of our team. During her stay with us, Stevie worked alongside visiting teams on construction projects, did mountains of dishes, and fell in love with our daycare ninos. Her winning shirt design was one of several she submitted. She recently returned to collect her reward: a free week’s stay at Welcome Home — plus a t-shirt, of course!

The front of the t-shirt displays the Casa Hogar Bienvenidos name and location in a creative cross-shaped design. A scripture passage, I John 3:18, graces the reverse side of the shirt.

T-shirts are available in adults sizes S, M, L, XL at $15 each. For those who can’t make it to Welcome Home this year, t-shirts may be ordered for mailing at a cost of $20 each. Contact Jackie Scott to order. (Email: steve_jackie_scott@yahoo.com)

The Welcome Home daycare classroom building is at maximum capacity, and work has now begun on building an additional classroom space adjacent to the present building.

The new classroom foundation and floor were laid in mid-March with the help of funding and labor from the Cedars Christian School (Prince George, British Columbia) team. Block work will begin the first week of April with help from Centralia (WA) Community Church of God team.

So far, about $5,200 has been committed to the project, but cost for the basic 24′ x 30′ classroom unit is estimated at $15,000. Then, to get it ready for children, we will need additional money for finishes and furnishings.

We are seeking partners in this project and are praying that God will provide the necessary funds and workers to complete the classroom in 2011. If you, your family, your church or other group are interested in helping Welcome Home complete the classroom project, please contact us at steve_jackie_scott@yahoo.com.

We are believing God for the resources. Please pray about how you might be able to help. Muchas gracias!

We have been privileged to host several short-term missions teams at Welcome Home over the winter months. Here’s a look at what’s been going on. . .

FIRST REFORMED/MEDI-MEX

It is always a blessing to welcome our good friends and Welcome Home Partners, First Reformed Church (Lansing, IL). In late November we hosted a team of eight stalwart folks from this Chicago-area church. Seven of the eight team members are “regular” Welcome Home guests, including Don Tiemens who brought along his new bride, Barb, for her first Mexico missions adventure.

The team funded and built a mechanic shop for local pastor David Mendez. Pastor Mendez is the overseer of more than twenty churches in the local area, plus a few congregations located in the southern Mexico state of Oaxaca. He is also a master mechanic who is using the new shop as a mechanic training facility.

Some members of this Lansing team are also involved in a ministry called Medi-Mex which has worked in Mexico for a couple of decades. For many years Medi-Mex funded a children’s breakfast feeding program in Reynoso, MX, just across the Texas border. But recent escalating violence in the Reynoso area forced them to discontinue the program. Medi-Mex officers, Ken Vanderhye, Jerry Cassity and John VanDrunen, came to Welcome Home this trip to discuss the possibility of diverting the Reynoso ministry funds to Baja work. We were delighted to be able to offer a proposal which was accepted by the Medi-Mex Board and is now being implemented.

Each month, Medi-Mex will disburse funds to Welcome Home to use in three major areas: 1) assistance to Saturday breakfast program called Mision Vino Nuevo administered by Cesar Aguiar Martinez and located in the Triqui village; 2) a scholarship/helps fund for children and families of Casa Hogar Bienvenidos; and 3) a food pantry and emergency fund for community members in need.

We are so grateful for this wonderful new source of funds so that we will be able to serve and help more needy people in the Vicente Guerrero area. Thank you, Medi-Mex! You are helping us serve as God’s hands in this community.

CALVARY CHAPEL MADISON COUNTY

If we gave a prize for the most-miles-traveled by a visiting team, it would have to go to Calvary Chapel Madison County (Huntsville, Alabama) who traveled over 2,200 miles to Welcome Home in early December. Under the guidance of Pastor Don and Lori Hawkins, this team was led by the Hawkins’ son-in-law, Andrew Calderon, a California resident who regularly leads missions teams from Calvary Chapel East Anaheim into Mexico.

This team worked directly with Pastor Ken and Rita Marr of Capilla Calvario Vicente Guerrero. One of the things the CCMC team did was provide and serve very special Christmas dinner party for the women of Capilla Calvario. What a blessing this beautiful night this was for the women of the church.

Another great gift was the presentation of a Nissan Pathfinder [which they had driven from Alabama] to Pastor Ken and Rita who, in turn, passed on the gift to Welcome Home’s Neri Maya. God’s blessings just keep flowing!

Thank you, CCMC, for coming to Baja to minister with us. We hope to see you again soon!

CALVARY CHAPEL EAST ANAHEIM

Andrew Calderon brought a team from Calvary Chapel East Anaheim to Welcome Home in mid-February. This weekend team of sixteen persons brought funds to do a roof repair for a family in Triqui. Unfortunately, when the Saturday morning of the roof job arrived, it was pouring rain so the job had to be postponed.

But, the CCEA team did provide and serve a lovely Saturday evening dinner for couples of the Capilla Calvario Vicente Guerrero. Great job, Anaheim!

Although the CCEA team was not able to do the roof project themselves, the money was left so that the job could be finished. The following weekend a group of students from Calvary Chapel’s Bible school in Ensenada came to join young people from Calvary Chapel Vicente Guerrero in completing the roof work, under the supervision of WHO crew members, Jose Luis (Colores) Santiago Bautista and Neri Maya. A great example of teamwork and unity in the body of Christ.

LIFE PREP ACADEMY

Leaders from Life Prep Academy (Newport, WA) wisely plan their annual missions trip to Mexico for mid-February, as the winter snows continue to pile up in their home driveways. The Baja sun thaws them, even though the evenings here can be cold and damp.

Under the leadership of Rory Axel and Buddy & Michelle Moody, the eighteen-member team eagerly came to tackle a house build in Playitas for the seven-member family of Alberto and Maria de los Angeles who, along with three other relatives, had been living in a makeshift cardboard and plastic structure. The contrast of the old next to the new house is striking!

This team also helped the neighbors of their house-build family. The wooden house next door was experiencing a lot of wind through the cracks in the walls. So Life Prep folks purchased some additional materials to insulate and stucco two-and-a-half sides of this neighbor’s house for added protection from the winds.

The Life Prep group included DarLynn Petrie, an EMT trainer, who worked along with local friend of Welcome Home, Hannibal Reyes, to present a 3-day training for EMT workers. Together, DarLynn and Rory Axel, also brought a large donation of firefighter gear for local bomberos (firemen).

We have to give huge props to Michelle Moody for spearheading some amazing fundraising efforts for this team ~ including a bridal fair! In addition to the $3500 house construction funds raised, the group brought $1000 for outreach. This money was used to purchase a large amount of food to prepare dispensas (family food packs) distributed in Bella Vista camp, plus forty dispensas for the Welcome Home emergency pantry and additional bulk food provided for several other area ministries.

Life Prep, you were such a great blessing to us at Welcome Home, to the family of Alberto and Maria and their neighbors, to the people of Bella Vista and the community of Vicente Guerrero. We thank God for your willing hands and hearts!

CEDARS CHRISTIAN SCHOOL (Prince George, B.C.)

Okay, and IF we gave out prizes, our second prize for the most miles traveled would go to Cedars Christian School of Prince George, B.C., Canada who traveled just over 2,000 miles to reach Welcome Home in mid-March. This was a second visit of Cedars students and teachers to Welcome Home, and we are grateful to Shane Nelson and Dave Brown for leading this return trip.

But, then, it is no wonder the Canadians want to come to Baja this time of year. Shane told us that when he left Prince George, the shoveled snow bordering his driveway was well over his 6-foot height! That global warming rearing its ugly head again!

This group of students from Cedars Christian raised and provided funds to help start the new classroom building for the Casa Hogar Bienvenidos (Welcome Home) guardaria (daycare). They worked on the foundation and floor for the classroom project. Work on this project will continue as God supplies the funds and labor over the course of this year.

The team’s young, strong muscles were also used to help our Welcome Home crew dig and prepare a foundation for a family house to be built by the next team.

Cedars students came with a long list of things they wanted to do while in Vicente Guerrero. In addition to their construction work, students spent time having fun with our daycare children every day.

They also planned and implemented a three-day soccer event in the Santa Fe community, working with local leader Hannibal Reyes. The soccer camp culminated with a Saturday tournament involving about 10 teams of youngsters who had a ball (literally)!

Another sport these teens got involved with was a little pick-up basketball at the new community basketball venue which is just a block away from Welcome Home. They went to watch some city league games in progress and ended up playing some late-night b-ball with the locals. It was a split: Canadians 1 win, Mexicans 1 win.

The students were also interested in connecting with some local young people, so we were able to connect them with the jovenes (youth) group of Calvary Chapel Vicente Guerrero. On Saturday evening they joined together to worship and share testimonies with people their own age. Thanks to Pastor Joel and Pastor Neri of CCVG for making this happen.

All in all, it was truly a blessing for us to have these great young people with us at Welcome Home. They are a super group of kids who are devoted to serving God and whose hearts are tender with God’s love for people. In their own words, two Cedars students describe what the Mexico experience meant to them:

Karley Goertzen writes: Wow, what an experience of a lifetime. How Mexico has changed my view on life is incredible. The interactions that we had with the people in Mexico were so amazing. I loved every part of the trip, the tacos, that never seemed to run out, the kids, the hard work, the sun and everything else. Working for God is one of the most amazing feelings one could have. Trusting God in everything we do is key. Some highlights for me this trip were hanging out with the kids. Both at the daycare and at the soccer camp. The language barrier was difficult at first, but you learn to just live with it and discover other ways of communication. Love and smiles are the same in every language. Giving a hug, a high five or a pound it, seems to put a smile on anyone’s face. The kids were so outgoing to us as strangers, they didn’t care about what we looked like, or what we were saying in English, they just wanted to be around us, to play, to go on the swings, to give piggy backs etc. They were so content to just be around us. I was very content to be around them as well.

And Keaton Gairns reflects: This trip, in retrospect, has been truly one of the most eye-opening experiences of my life. I have seen poverty before, but not through the same eyes that I saw it this time. I have been blessed with opportunities to see many different countries in the world before this trip, but there is a difference when you go with God at the forefront of your team. I believe that we have much to learn from the Mexican people, and that yes, they may have material poverty – but in actuality, it is us – Canadians, Americans, or whoever happens to rest in the top 20% of the world’s rich – that have spiritual poverty. This is not true in all cases, but when I take the things I saw and witnessed in Mexico and compare them to things I see and witness and am a part of here – it becomes apparent that we have a lot of work to do.

Now, would anyone want to argue that a short-term missions trip doesn’t have an impact on young people? We positively know that God uses missions trip to change the hearts of people of any age!

Cedars School and parents, we thank you for sending your young people on this trip. It has already made an eternal difference.

CORNWALL CHURCH (Bellingham, WA)

Cornwall Church in Bellingham, Washington, is one of our strong Welcome Home Partner churches. Not only does this great congregation partner with Welcome Home by being a consistent financial supporter, but Cornwall also regularly sends teams to work alongside our WHO staff.

In late March, Jenny Redmond led a stalwart team of four to spend a week at Welcome Home, to build a house, to connect with old friends here in Vicente Guerrero, and to make new friends of the staff and children here at Welcome Home. Jenny has visited Vicente Guerrero on numerous occasions over the past years, so she has a lot of friends in the San Quintin valley – but this was her first visit to Welcome Home. It was great to connect with her, as well as with the other team members, Art & Lynn Zawicki and Sean Depner (a returnee to Welcome Home).

Even though the team was small in number, they were mighty in spirit and “heart” and were a great blessing to us and to many others in the area. The house they built was for a single mother of one of our daycare children, Josue Oliver. Josue, his mother Janel and her other children are now enjoying their brand new casa here in Vicente Guerrero. It should be noted that a team of four would have difficulty completing a block house during their week with us, but our WHO construction crew worked hard to have the job far enough along so that the Cornwall team could see the job completed and dedicated before they left. And it was done!

The Cornwall team also visited and helped in our outreach ministry in Las Aves. And they were introduced to several other ministries in the Vicente Guerrero area.

We are looking forward to welcoming another team from Cornwall in July when youth pastor Kevin Stamper brings his students to Vicente Guerrero for a second year.

CENTRALIA COMMUNITY CHURCH OF GOD (Centralia, WA)
and NEW YORK COLLEGE OF PODIATRIC MEDICINE

Yes, we do love our Partners! And another of our great Partners is Centralia Community Church of God (Centralia, WA). Pastor Elmer Goodeill has built a strong cooperative team of doctors and students who come to Vicente Guerrero each spring to minister and serve. Orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Justin Sherfey, and general practitioner, Dr. Chris Yarter, and their families lead this medical team that has for the past three years also included Dr. Sharon Barlizo and a team of students from New York College of Podiatric Medicine. What a terrific team they make!

During their time in Vicente Guerrero, all of the doctors spend time serving in the clinic of Foundation for His Ministry under the supervision of clinic administrator Dr. Heber Avitia. In their three full days at the clinic, they saw several hundred patients.

But the doctors also split into teams to work out in the field as well. The doctors worked in the elder care home, Casa del Buen Samaritano, with Juan Vazquez; they held clinics in the community center of Dias Ordaz, in the city park in the town of Colonet, and in our Welcome Home outreach site of Las Aves. All in all, it was a very busy but productive week for this energetic team.

We want to give special recognition to Gabby Anaya for coming with the Centralia/NY group to serve as translator. Gabby is a high school senior from Chehalis, WA, who has accompanied the Centralia team several times (along with her father Pastor Tony Anaya) to help with translation. With her sweet spirit and servant heart, Gabby is a tremendous asset and we are always delighted to welcome her back to Welcome Home.

The Centralia/NY group provided funds to buy bulk foods to help people in need. We were able to distribute despensas to the families in the Las Aves community, as well as stocking our emergency food pantry to assist families throughout the month. Food was also provided to our sister ministries in the Vicente Guerrero community.

The Centralia church will be sending their youth group to Welcome Home this summer as well. We look forward to working with youth pastor Jon Geyer and his students in August.

AND MORE GUESTS . . .
In addition to the missions teams who have visited Welcome Home over the past several months, we want to acknowledge various individual friends who have spent time with us:

> Darryl Brown of Saskatchewan
> Nick & Linda Molatore of Portland, OR
> Nate and Lisa Nelson of Portland, OR
> Marie Stuart of Portland, OR
> Marcus Dorsey of Portland, OR
> Adam Lindsley of Bellevue, WA
> Stevie Lindsley of Long Beach, WA

We are abundantly blessed by visits from friends! If you would like a personal introduction to the work at Welcome Home, or if you just want to visit us in Mexico for a little R&R, feel free to contact us for more information. Email the Scotts at Steve_jackie_scott@yahoo.com.

Over the past five seasons hosting short-term missions teams at Welcome Home — and assisted by the very generous hearts and hands of our visiting teams — we have been able to reach out to many, many individuals and families with food, clothing, shoes, and other gifts. Most importantly, we have shared the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Many of you will recall these blessed times of sharing with people of very little means.

Still, as we have continued to grow and learn about serving God in Mexico, we have struggled with how best to reach people in our community and surrounding farm camps for Christ. We have been praying about how we can be more effective and consistent in this outreach ministry. We believe that God is leading us in a somewhat different direction in this year, and we want to make you aware of changes that will affect our visiting short-term missions teams.

Our desire is to be more intentional about building relationships within an area (camp or community) and towards that end, we are establishing a weekly, consistent presence in one location. We want to become more personally involved in peoples’ lives rather than doing the sort-of shotgun efforts we’ve done in the past. We want to build credibility and trust. Rather than training the camp people to know they’re going to “get” something when they see the big vans driving in, we want them to learn that we will be there on a consistent basis to be their friends, to model the love of Jesus, and to teach and disciple them in walking with Him.

We recognize that God’s hand has been bringing together the right team at Welcome Home to implement this new approach. Neri Maya (*see note below ), a recent Bible institute graduate, is now a full-time staff person with Welcome Home. As Outreach Pastor, Neri’s testimony, his passion for sharing God’s Word and his Spanish language fluency make him the right person to lead our teaching and discipleship efforts with adults. Neri will be joined by Richard Stevens (of FFHM) in teaching the adults. Other staff persons who will be directly involved in working with children will be Brigida Merino (WHO daycare director) and Meghan Scott (WHO English teacher). The idea is that the lessons for adults and children will run concurrently and will mesh so that families will be learning together about who God is, about His love for them, about God’s Word, and how to live as children of God.

A community called Las Aves (“birds”), located in the rolling hills east of Zapata, has been identified for this work. In late February we started meeting with a small group of precious people in the home of a Christian couple named Pedro and Teresa.

But this new outreach ministry has another facet: We receive needy people at the door of Welcome Home nearly every day, as well. They come asking for food, clothing and/or money for emergency needs. We always want to help families, as well as other Christian ministries when they are struggling, but we can only do so as we have the resources. Therefore, our desire is that as funds are provided by visiting teams we will establish a food pantry at Welcome Home, as well as an emergency fund for special needs that come to our attention.

So how will this new outreach program affect your short-term missions experience at Welcome Home?
1) Since we will be visiting the same site consistently every week, we will not be doing food bag and/or clothing distributions every week. We will choose to do distributions on an occasional basis.
2) We are asking that outreach money raised and provided by your team be used to help fund our food pantry and emergency fund. Teams may occasionally want to cook and serve a meal to the people at Las Aves.
3) As we involve your team in the weekly outreach, we encourage your team members to be willing to fully engage in the activities with the people. We will play together, worship together, learn together, pray together. We encourage you to think about what your team may be able to share in terms of preaching and/or testimonies, music, skits, children’s lessons, crafts (or other ideas you have). This may mean that the outreach session will be longer than in the past. And, yes, your dinner hour may be later – but we know you can handle it!

Please pray with us as we move forward in this exciting new venture for the Kingdom.

*FUNDING NEEDED: Our normal staffing budget does not allow for this position, and so we are praying for funding support of $200 per month for Neri’s position as Outreach Pastor at Welcome Home. Those of you who have worked with Neri over the past several years know his heart for evangelism and what an asset he is to our ministry in a variety of ways. Please pray about how you might be involved in his support, and contact steve_jackie_scott@yahoo.com when you are ready to make a one-time gift or a pledge of monthly support for Neri. Gracias!