The First Letters
Well, we finally went “live” so to speak. I’ve been waiting for Mary Jo to recover a bit so that we can start writing letters, raising money, etc. I finally sent out letters to about 50 people who I thought might donate to our organization. You’d be surprised how time consuming it is to send out 50 letters, between writing, printing, signing, printing envelopes, sealing and stamping - it takes a while. But, it’s all worth it when someone sends money. After all, we wouldn’t be able to do what we do without our sponsors. God bless all of you - even if they don’t know who you are yet.
Ensenada Mission 2009
I went on a mission trip to Ensenada this past June, to a little community called Fraccionamiento Popular Emialiano Zapata in the hills above 
Ensenada Mexico. This trip was with Valley Community Church of Pleasanton, California, which has been supporting this community for several years. This was my fourth trip, and it was so nice to see the people that I’ve come to know in the community. On this trip, we worked on converting the old church into a teen center, to provide a place where the local kids can hang out and perhaps earn some money selling soft drinks. This project was relatively straightforward, but we also installed countertops, sinks, and even stove-tops in several of the single mom’s homes. Many of these homes are made with old garage doors (you can still see the hardware mounted on the wood), are built on concrete floors, and only have cold running water. Installing sinks and plumbing is a major upgrade. As you may figure out over time, my passion is for the women and children of this world who don’t always get a fair shake. In other countries, women are much more dependent on men, and the poverty of the single moms in this area is astounding. If you would like to see more pictures of this mission trip, see our photo gallery.
