At the campground where we are staying, the owner owns alot of highly bred show horses, and each year he seems to add more to his collection. A week ago, this little colt was born, and I just fell in love with him! The owner saw my interest, and told me I could NAME the colt for him! I was so excited! The mother & father of this colt are a "smokey white" color, and are from Spain, & are trained to do special dances and moves for competition events, etc. He told me this cute little black colt will also change colors, and when he is a few years old, you will no longer see the "diamond". So, I chose the name: English: "Majestic Diamond" & Spanish: "Majestuoso Diamante".

We went with our Christian friends to a market to find some gifts for their family before they leave Mexico next week. We were able to witness to several people, and one man told us how his wife was having a hard time because when she had her last baby, the Dr. gave her a shot that hit her nerve, & it paralyzed her right leg and foot, and she is in much pain & has to wear a special shoe to walk. It was a moving experience as we joined hands to pray for his wife, Wendy. He was so thankful, and we told him we would ask others to pray for her, that God would help them in this situation.

After this, a little 3 yr. old boy was helping his mother sell toys & more to help her earn money. He was so cute, that we couldn't resist him! He started piling all of the things from his basket onto our table, & just kept saying "vente"- which meant that he wanted us to pay about $2.00 for each toy. We had some fun with him, and had other opportunities to give out N.T.'s.

We'd like to thank all of you who have been praying for us, and especially for our specific requests! God answered prayer this past Tuesday, when I got a call from Sandra, & she told me she was bringing her future son-in-law over to see us! Remember I told you to pray for Samantha's fiance? Well, Sandra was so happy that her two daughters asked Jesus into their hearts, that she wanted to have "Rene" come to talk to us about Jesus. After much explanation & interpretation, Rene told us he wanted to pray to receive Jesus into his heart as well! PRAISE GOD!! Thank all of you who are following our journey with us, and are praying! Our friend, Sandra, wants her WHOLE family to make a commitment to Jesus, and this reminds us of "Andrew" & others in God's Word who had an encounter with Jesus, & brought others to meet HIM as well! (Read John 1:41&42). This is a picture of Rene & Samantha. Please pray for them as they seek to follow God's way in their relationship.

Luke 15:10-"...there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over ONE sinner who repents."

We are praising God for the TWO daughters of our very good friends, who invited Jesus into their lives this past Thursday!! Their Mother brought them to our camper so we could talk to them. Please continue to pray for Samantha, & Jasmine as they grow in their new life in Christ! Samantha's fiance needs to have Jesus also, so please pray with us for his salvation as well.

This day started out super for us, because we invited friends to go with us to Rincon Guayabitos to reserve our reservation to come there in two weeks after we leave PV. Things change so rapidly here, so we drive an hour up there & things get accomplished better face to face! When the owner saw Peter, he gave him a big welcome (we were there last year), and told us that he would definitely save us a nice place in two weeks, & didn't even want a deposit! Then when we went to a restaurant for lunch, we gave the waitress a Gideon N.T., and she just "lit up" with excitement, thanked us, and rushed to show the cook & another waitress her special gift! WOW!

We gave two more N.T.'s to them, and took this picture so you can pray for "Janeth" & her co-workers & also the two who prayed with me that evening. KEEP UP THOSE PRAYERS, you dear friends, because God is doing a great work in the areas He sends us to!

This week, we worked at both "feeding programs", and really enjoyed the children. Peter & the Director of Casa Infantil were having a great time going over the bi-lingual N.T. he gave him. It will help him improve his english & he liked the translation (NIV). Who says we can't have a fun time serving the Lord!

These are the girls!

We have had very unusual weather here in PV. It has never rained in this area during the month of Feb. in the several years we have been here, but for 4 days in a row, it has rained, & left very muddy roads & mess everywhere! But it doesn't hinder our work with the children! These little girls, from the Salvation Army got into some make-up while the workers were busy in the kitchen, so I took a picture before their moms made them wash their faces!

I went to the childrens work at the Casa Infatil a couple of blocks from the Salvation Army. This is another work that feeds the children in Mojonaras. I brought the remainder of dental supplies that my dentist had donated, and I hadn't counted them, but thought I'd have enough for the 32 children who came that morning. I helped with a craft, and listened to the Bible story, & was asked to wait till it was over to give them the toothbrushes & dental floss. As I was about to hand them out, another group of kids came walking in from morning school just in time for lunch, & I didn't know how I would explain that I didn't think I had enough for each child - but God had it all planned out! As I prayed to the Lord, I had now counted 63 kids! I felt like I was serving out the bread & fishes that Jesus multiplied, because there were actually 3 toothbrushes left over! Thank God for Dr. Faucette in Charlotte who had given so generously to cover one orphanage & this group as well!

Today we visited the orphanage in PV. It's the nicest orphanage we know of, because the tourists have all been made aware of the situation, and many have given lots of help. But there is always room for more hands & laps to hold these precious little ones! This little girl is 3 years old, and can't stand or speak. She is very limp, but we got her to smile! The older kids were moved to another facility, that we don't know the location of. Things seem to change every year, but we do our best to adjust to the changes. Many children come to get help for malnutrition and other serious needs.

After we serve the children their food, we help clean up, wash & dry dishes, etc., and most of the children run off to attend their afternoon session of school. Unfortunately, there are some children whose parents won't allow them to go to school, so the Salvation Army does their best to educate the kids in this situation.

Todays food was deep fried tortolinis stuffed with mashed potatoes, salad, soup, and fresh oranges.

While we prepare the lunch meal for the children, the children are listening to a Bible lesson and singing lots of special songs that have motions with them, and the children sing their hearts out!

When Peter & I got to Puerto Vallarta, we got all set up, and bought supplies at Wal Mart & started to settle in for spending four weeks here. Our main work here is at the Salvation Army, where we prepare the food & feed the children in a very poor section outside of P.V. We were greeted with open arms, hugs & kisses by the Captain (who is a wonderful Christian), and her co-workers. We also go to another Christian work to help in any way we can, and Carole often helps teach English to the children. We met up with friends from Connecticut who brought two of thier grandaughters to help for a few days & see the work we do. First, our friend took the girls across the street to meet an elderly lady she had established a friendship with at her very humble house.

When more children came than we had toys for, I told them they had to call out a number from one to ten that I was thinking of & that person got one of the prizes. When that got worn out, I just started throwing the toys in different directions to break up the pressing crowd!! When we closed up the truck, & said goodbye to the people, I walked over to the school fence & handed the teacher a N.T. She was really being a good sport, to let the kids come over to us. I told her that next year, we would try to have MORE shoes for the children! Peter & I had never seen such dirty little children, with runny noses, unkept hair, filthy hands & faces, etc. I felt like sticking them all in a tub of bubbly fresh water, & scrubbing them! It really humbled us, to see the little ones this way. We pray that many would come to Christ by reading the tracts that were given out.

One mom caught a toy, and one little boy was happy with the empty box!

Peter's job was to take pictures, pass out Christian tracts, and try to keep the children from crawling all over me!When we ran out of shoes, I started tearing out about 10 coloring book pages & handing them out with 5 crayons that I had put in little "snack"size baggies.

We drove around until we found the school that the migrant children attend, and the park next door. That's where we stopped & just started to take out all the remaining shoes, and the little toys. The moms & little children came when I waved them over, and at first there was a nice calm group, following directions, and trying on shoes. Then many more children joined us, and to my surprise, the school children were climbing over the 10 foot fence to get out, as their teacher tried to contain them & finally gave up!

A neighbor of ours here at the RV park told me about a tiny village back in the interior that houses migrants who work the fields of assorted crops. She had some coloring books, markers, and a few toys left over from Christmas, and gave them to us when she heard about the work we do. I asked her for directions to this place, and we decided to check it out with the few shoes we had left, and more coloring books & crayons, etc. Just wanted you all to see the living conditions of these families.

We are now in Barra de Navidad - our last stop before we take off to Puerto Vallarta tomorrow.We will miss the small villages, and the "cowboys" riding in the streets.

On this difficult part of the trip, we absolutely cannot go over 20 miles per hour. We only went 68 miles in 3 hours. About half-way, we came to an RV park that looked like an oasis, so we stopped for the day, walked and sat on the beach, and RESTED! We didn't realize how tired we were until we slowed down. We thanked God for this opportunity, and even ate at their palapa restaurant, so we didn't have to cook. We were the only campers there, and the place was ours to fully enjoy!

Thank you Lord for your goodness!

On Monday morning, we left Playa Azul to head for Puerto Vallarta. We asked Pastor Matt for prayer specifically for safety, as this stretch of the journey is a very dangerous one. It's a treacherous road that goes through the mountains, with hairpin curves and has no guard rails. We gave God thanks, as we came upon this overturned truck. We could have been part of this fatal wreck. Only one other truck had stopped, and a covering was over what looked like a dead body. No emergency vehicles had arrived yet, and we knew how close we had come to possibly being a part of this.

On our last day in Playa Azul,we had a wonderful time with Pastor Marciano & his wife, Norma. They invited us to dinner at their home, and treated us with cerviche and shrimp with garlic, and fresh veggies! Later on, they came to our camper, and we had hot chocolate and biscotti. We invited them to visit us in SC, and Marciano was so anxious to meet Pastor Matt and the people at Relevant who have been praying for us, and for HIM and their little Church! They will let us know if this is possible. Norma said she hasn't had a vacation in 7 years. It was sad to say "goodbye" to these dear friends, and this special village we have come to love.
If God lays this on your heart, please pray for the ministry of Pastor Marciano, that he may be encouraged as people come to the Savior! God's Word promises in James 5:16b, "...the earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results." THANK YOU!