Come on down!

We have spent the last month preparing our multi-purpose building to house mission teams. When we arrived the building was basically abandoned. After a little initial cleaning we began to have church in the its largest room. Now after a lot of hard work (thanks Shaun and Milciades) the building is repaired, painted, equipped and open for housing mission teams.

One of the bunk rooms

Our first team arrived last week. They came from the High Point COGOP in North Carolina. Because they are sponsoring the children we have at Hogar Ganar, they came ready to minister to the kids in the home. We had a great day last Saturday when they took the kids on a shopping trip, to eat lunch at McDonald's, and to see Ice Age 3. The following day, we had a giant BBQ and the team prepared crafts and sports games for the kids. Sunday evening they coordinated our weekly kids' service and gave an age-appropriate Bible to each of the kids. Their trip here has been a great blessing to us and the children. Thank you, High Point!

Mili, Lujan, Rodi, Kevin, and Gloria enjoying the playground at McDonald's

If you are interested in visiting Paraguay on a mission trip with your local church, please contact us (mortonmissions@gmail.com). We have the facility ready and are waiting for you to come on down!

I would like to thank the Lord for keeping Andres (from House 3) safe during his operation to repair a hernia. The surgery went well, and Andres is healing very nicely. He was able to participate in the activities with the visiting mission team, is back in school, and feeling great.

Andres on the day of his surgery

Another piece of important news concerning the homes is a staff change that will be taking place. Mario and Suni, the house parents in House 1, will be transitioning to another position. They will be moving to House 10 to oversee the gardens, fruit groves, and crops. They have been serving as house parents now for 5 years (they worked here in a previous program) with no break and are ready for a transition. They, along with their two sons, will continue to live on the grounds, but they will be serving in a different way. As you could see in my posts about the garden, Mario loves his work with plants and is extremely talented. He is thrilled about the extra time that he will now have to focus on expanding our garden and planting larger crops.

The replacement for Mario and Suni will be Suni's sister Delia and her husband, Rafael that were both working here already (Rafael in the bakery and in lawn care and Delia in housekeeping). They have already taken care of the children in House 1 on many days and know each of the kids very well. They are frequently out playing sports with the kids and they love their time spent with the children. I feel that the transition will be a smooth one. Please be in prayer that God would prepare Delia and Rafael's hearts for this important transition and that each of the children would accept the change well and be respectful to their new house parents.

Rafael and Delia