The Mexican Hat dance and all this going on in the "palapa" across from our camping spot!!

Mexico is beautiful, and fun, and we are glad to be here to tell as many as possible of our Savior who loves them also, and wants to have a relationship with them!

Of course, there were beautiful dancers dressed in their traditional dresses!

At the campground we are staying at in Puerto Vallarta, the owner put on a fabulous Mexican Fiesta, with dancing horses, rope tricks, Mahirachi (?) singers, and so much more! It was a super treat for all of us!

We are trying to figure this craft out for ourselves, so we can show it to the children! There was an emergency, where the craft teacher had to rush her husband to the hospital, so we were in charge!! This cute little girl is showing her final project! It is such a JOY to work with these children, and they are so polite, and appreciate ALL that we do for them! When they see us on the street, or when we are about to leave, they come up to us and give us hugs, and try to tell us in English: "Thank you very much!" This goes to each of YOU back home, who are praying for us, and who have made this trip possible.

The picture of the unfinished bldg. is the amount of progress which has been made since last year at this time! They were only putting in the foundation last year, and now the bldg. has stopped - due to no available funds. They are renting the place where we work now, but they would appreciate your prayers, so that the bldg. would start up again, and soon they will have a place of their own to hold all the classes, and Church services that they provide for the neighborhood.

Carole was "acting out" her part of the story of David and Goliath from the bi-lingual children's book she brought for the smaller kids. They loved it, and we realized that next year we could use SO much more of this type of material!

Gerardo & his wife, Judith are so faithful each day to serve a meal to the children, and to teach them from God's Word.

By the time we crossed for the third time, it was fully dark, and all lights were turned on for the rest of the journey home! It was alittle scary, but exciting and lots of fun! The 6 kids will have lots to tell their friends about, to say nothing of Peter & me! We thanked God for safety and a chance to "bond" with our dear friends, and for a fun day!

We weren't able to stay too long in Agua Jote, because the sun was starting to go down, and we needed to be off that mountain before dark! So, Charlie chose the quickest way back - through the river - which we had to cross THREE times!!! Peter was the leader, and gave everyone confidence that this could be done! It wasn't too deep, but the river was lined with big rocks, and the current was wanting to pull us downstream.

When we arrived In Agua Jote, we were greeted by Dencia (in middle), and her husband, who had caught lots of fresh fish and huge "shrimp" -sort of like crawfish. We only had to get the chicken off the table we were about to eat on, and chase the pigs & "boney" dogs out of the way, and we were all set to enjoy a most delicious meal with fresh tortillas! There was no silverware or napkins, so we ate with our fingers, and I used a tortilla to wipe my sticky fingers on! But we had a blast, great conversation, and lots of hugs & kisses!

The truck broke down half-way up the mountain, so while we were waiting for "help" to arrive, I decided to feed these 10 hungry & thirsty people with a cake I had made, and juice I brought. The only "knife" I could find, was Charlie's machete in his truck, so I wiped it off & cut the cake!

The views from the Mt. road are just incredible! When you see God's creation almost "untouched" by man, you just start thanking Him for the beauty and provision He has made for these poor people! This other picture is the dust flying as Peter drives his quad up the mt. road, while we follow in the truck (thus, the need for the bandanas)!

Who is this masked driver?? Why PETER, of course! Our friends invited us for a day off to drive his three "quads" up into the mountains to the village of Agua Jote-(a two hour ride over the mountains). We have been there before, and even had a "church service" by the side of the river where we had camped. This time we joined their family & 3 extra kids who wanted to get in on the fun - totalling 10!! The rest of us drove behind in a small pick-up truck.

These are pictures at Casa Infantil, where we brought the two laptop computers that a friend of ours donated, and a sewing machine that our Church-Relevant (RHCC), in Lake Wylie donated. We and the children are so thankful for each of you who had a part of these special gifts, which will be used right away in their various ministries. They were all shouting, "Thank You"!!!

At Casa Infantil, the children heard the Bible story of Baalam & his talking donkey, then made hand puppets to take home! They have a great outreach in their neighborhood, with feeding programs, crafts, and much more for the children and their families.

Our puppy is a big hit with the children wherever we go! This is at the Salvation Army, right after they made Valentines for their parents.

Every day a hot balanced meal is served to the children. The volunteers, like us, help prepare

the food, Carole is helping to serve the children, and Peter is scraping the plates & helps wash dishes. Before the kids eat, they sing a Christian song, have a short Bible story, and pray. After the meal, the kids are given vitamins, and all of them brush their teeth!

It's alot of work, but many hands make it easier and lots of enjoyment to see the smiles on their faces, and the thanks & hugs we get from them make it all worthwhile!!

This Salvation Army has a great outreach to their community! All these donations of school supplies came in for the new school year starting in August. They also have English classes, computer classes, fun dance classes, sports, Church on Sundays, help with their homework, and so much more!!

I thought I'd give you an idea of what some of the "houses" look like in this area, just outside of Puerto Vallarta. When people hang their clothes out, by the time they are dry, they are full of dust! This other house is across the street from The Salvation Army. The houses are made with whatever materials they can find at the dump or on the streets. (Thus, the name: children of the dump has evolved!)

Since we have arrived here, we have been to the Salvation Army building to help with food distribution, etc. for the children. The new "Captain", is in the front, our friends from Ct. are on the left, with their grandsons, and more volunteers. (The headquarters in Mex. City are constantly changing locations of their officers, so it's hard to have proper consistency in these areas). But the group in charge this year are strong Christians, with alot of enthusiasm, so it's fun to work with them.

As we traveled up the coast from Barra de Navidad to Puerto Vallarta, we stopped at a typical taco stand along the way. The food is inexpensive, and very good! When we were only about 30 minutes from our destination in P.V., we saw smoke coming from the back of the trailer, and Peter knew immediately that we had broken a spring on the most awful roads and pot holes you've ever seen!! God was with us, because a couple of policemen stopped to help us get off of the road, and there was a long dirt driveway for us to pull into. I asked them to call a mechanic for us, and the one policeman called his son, who came in about 10 minutes! Since Peter tries to have the right tools & extra "parts" for emergencies, he had the exact spring in his large tool chest! A couple hours later, we were back on the road again. Perhaps God just wanted the two men who helped us, to receive a copy of God's Word, along with some extra money for their families.

Can you believe I actually talked Peter into buying this hat to protect his head & face in the hot sun - both here & as he mows the lawn in
S. C.!
We gave this brother & sister the one Bible we had left & she asked if we had another one. I always ask them to please READ it, to know what God wants them to know & do. So, we returned later in the day with another one!

When we got back to our campsite, Jose (the one with the machete), cut some YELLOW cocoanuts for us and our neighbor, & sliced off a "spoon" from the cocoanut to eat it with! It was very different from the other cocoanuts we've eaten, and very sweet, nourishing, & delicious! It's so much fun to help others, and they are so gracious and thankful!

We met one of the workers at our campground in Barra de Navidad, and he fit perfectly into the LAST pair of men's shoes, and his daughter fit into the last pair of children's shoes! He asked if we would follow him to his house so his wife and neighbors could try on the last of the women's shoes. So we rode our "scooter" behind him and arrived in a very poor section of town. Most of the people were working, but we were able to fit his wife and three other women, and give them a N. T. as well. (We still have about 4 pairs left)

The lady sitting down was struggling for about 5 minutes to jam her foot into a pair of dress boots, and you should have seen her face when she got both on! I think she'll need a special tool to get her feet back out of them!

Yesterday we were thankful to arrive safely at our new destination. The "6 hour" drive was 8 hours, because of intensive road work, and many sss

turns through the mountains! It was tedious, but beautiful to see God's handiwork on the way up the coast!

Today we did errands, laundry, and caught the end of "market day". These two little Indian children were showing us their "metal fish" they were selling. We gave out a couple of Bibles, and returned to our quiet campground.