Preparing

It's hard to believe that in only two days, we'll be on the road to Mexico.  It's so close and yet so far away.  The students are busy cramming for midterms and packing their extra-small duffle bags while the staff are arranging insurance policies, finalizing van rentals and finishing menus for the week.  It's a busy week here at Ferris!

As we're preparing and packing, we're already praying for the three families that we will be directly impacted in Juarez.  They have been waiting and hoping for a real home for so long and we are blessed with the opportunity to go and be the hands and feet of Christ to them and the community around them.  We hope that through us, Christ will be made known and that they will be drawn closer to Him and the awesome gift of salvation He offers to all of us. 

This year, we asked Casas again for information about our families that we will be building for.  We got to see the actual application forms each family filled out, which also meant we got to interpret them as well since everything is in Spanish!  Thankfully, Joe's college Spanish courses aren't too rusty and Google translate helped fill in the rest of the pieces:

Cutberto and his wife Maria, currently live with their daughter, Yarelli in a cardboard and wood dwelling.  Cutberto is a bricklayer, earning less than $60 a week and they have been attending Divino Salvador church for about a year. 

Miguel and Jenni live very close to Cutberto's family and have three children: Evelin, Josue and Danna.  Their current home is made up of cardboard and wood and Miguel is also a bricklayer, earning less than $60 a week.  Miguel and Jenni also attend Divino Salvador church. 

Dolores is a single woman and lives near a church.  Her form was very hard to interpret, and we're guessing a local pastor filled it out for her.  Unfortunately, we don't have any more information or a photo for you yet, but will have some by the end of next week!

Please join us in praying for these families and for all of us as we travel and serve.  There are 38 of us going on the trip from Ferris, Michigan Tech, Michigan State and the His House main office:

His House staff:
Mitch, Joe, Justin, Baleigh and Kate - FSU
Scott, Megan, Brandon and Adam - MTU
Derek - MSU
Michelle - His House main office

Students:
Brittani, Cameron, Cassie, Chelsea, Chris, Danielle, Devon, Emma, Evan, Jordon, Jon, Kelly, Melanie, Mike P, Mike W, Sondra and Stacie - FSU

Carly, Christine, Erin, Hailey, Jacob, Kayla, Kira, Philip, Rachel, Zach and Zhongyu - MTU

Thank you for supporting us financially and with your prayers over the next two weeks. We appreciate you!