La Huerta- The Garden.

Last Sunday we had a great service with the kids. A friend and evangelist, Saul, visited the home and spoke to the kids. It was also our Sunday designated for recitation of the last four scriptures that were memorized. Eight children recited all four scriptures nearly perfectly and several others knew three of the four. I am so proud of the kids for working hard to memorize scripture. They are such intelligent children. I was especially proud of Miguel Paredes who normally has serious stage fright- he volunteered to come up as one of the first and spoke out every single scripture in a loud and clear voice. I wanted to cry with joy. The reward for those that recited all perfectly was a trip with us to the local ice cream parlor. This time, because the scriptures were longer, the kids were able to get FOUR scoops of ice cream. Honestly I did not think they would be able to finish their bowls, but I was wrong! So you can get an idea of how hard the kids work at memorization, I will put the scriptures below (I will put them in English, but of course they memorized the Spanish version):

• Jesus replied: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. Matthew 22:37-39
• Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Philippians 4:6
• This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. 1 John 4:9
• Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. Psalm 119:105

We are so excited that these children are not only receiving a safe home with plenty of food, but that they are also receiving the bread of life. Thanks to each of you for your prayers that make our ministries here a reality.

As a second part to this blog, I would like to recognize Mario, our house parent from House 1 for all of his hard work in our garden. Our garden is growing and has so many things growing in it that I don't even know what they all are. We have strawberries, lettuce, medicinal herbs, broccoli, cauliflower, onions, green onions, cabbage, carrots, parsley, radishes, tomatoes, beets, and a bunch of other things that I could not find a translation for in the dictionary. Eventually we hope for the food grown in the garden to not only be for our own consumption, but to also be a way of blessing our community and generating some revenue. See the pictures below to get a better idea of how beautiful the garden is.

Here is a view of the strawberry plants in a small portion of the garden.

This is Mario working in the garden with his son, Rodi.