This week in Mexico 8-21-26
It’s back-to-school time for our kid in Mexico. We’re finishing the bathroom for Menita and beginning our next project with Rubi. I know a lot of you have been praying for her along with us for a long time, and we are so excited for this blessing for her!
Quick links to the other parts this week:
Happy weekend, GTF fam! 
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On to our weekly update! It’s always such a joy for me to get to share these pics with you each week! What a blessing! Here in Mexico, we are trying to help the kids enjoy their last bit of summer break and get them ready for the new school year! Some of our kids have already begun school with early orientation classes. But most have their first day of school on the 31st. We’re almost down to the last week!
Back to school
I had a couple of questions about getting the kids ready for school, and how we do it for so many kids! It is a challenge, but we’ve gotten good at compiling the lists and organizing the best we can. We’ve been combing over all the supplies lists from all the kids (each grade and school has its own) and checking uniforms and sizes for all the kids. Uniforms are usually the biggest stress for families (and for us!) during back-to-school time because kids are growing, and some are going into their first year of middle and high school, so most will need new uniforms. So while they can reuse some things from last year, uniforms are almost always the biggest need for families down here. So uniforms are always our first focus.
And then, we look into helping with all the numerous consumable school supplies, the notebooks, pens, pencils, etc. I think something has changed with school funding, because this year the kids also have classroom-specific items on each child’s list, such as toilet paper, reams of printer paper, hand sanitizer, etc. We’re going to see if we can donate supplies directly to teachers instead of making each child responsible for so many extra items. None of these families can afford the items already on the lists, let alone the extra items.
Project Menita
We are finishing up the last details for this sweetest-ever grandma! She has her cast off, and is feeling stronger and better each day. Aidan has the railing all ready and is just finishing up the grate. You can see a bit of the grate in the third pic below. It was done and placed, but then one of the guys thought it could be stolen pretty easily! So Aidan is welding metal tabs on the underside so it can be bolted into the ramp.
He also included one of the plates Mena’s daughter made for him. They’re constantly bringing the guys snacks and meals, and any time Aidan was there alone, he was trying to navigate how to politely decline food from a Mexican grandma. Which is an impossible task 😉 (You can see more on this project here, and our last update with her new bathroom here.)
Railing and path:
This is from the road, going into her gate and along her new ramp. The orange is the metal primer.
And here, first coat of paint! You can see her grate for rain drainage in this pic, that will soon be bolted into the concrete.
Inside her gate going down to her home:
Food she makes to thank the workers!
Menaita’s Bathroom
There will be a few details to do next week. We’re putting up a solar light on the side of the bathroom to light the new path. And a little touch-up paint. But her bathroom is ready to use now! The window guy got a bit behind, and there was a delay, but it’s in. Her water is connected. And Mena has her first-ever running water bathroom! She can shower. She can flush the toilet without a 5-gallon bucket! I am so grateful we were able to do this for her!
Project Rubi
Introducing our next project! This has been on my prayer list for years! This widowed mom of five deserves a page dedicated to her and her story, and the ways she has been taken advantage of and how she has stayed close to the Lord and become even more generous instead of bitter because of it. She is so precious and deserving, and I’m incredibly grateful. Many of you have been praying for her as well, and I’m so excited to get started!
Making a plan
In the first picture below, you can see the door into her sewing room. She closed in the back porch that butts up against the building behind her. The building’s owner was a very kind man who gave her permission to use his wall and attach the roof directly to it. So all she had to do after that was close in the two ends. He sold the property to his brother-in-law, who is very upset by this and has demanded that she remove all attachments to this wall immediately. This was when we got involved, trying to see how we could help build her another wall inside the current one.
You can see the inside of her sewing room in the second pic. The wall on the right-hand side is his wall. Her house is very small, and this space is also where two of her kids sleep each night. So to begin building the new wall, she would lose the place she works, and two of her kids would lose the place they sleep. So we began praying for another solution. I had already been praying for years and years for the ability to help build her a small sewing room on the front of her house, giving room to move all her stuff into and a place for the kids to sleep while we fix the back wall. And I hoped this was God’s solution too!
The Lord provided enough to get started, and we stepped forward in faith! We’ve gotten to know Rubi more and more over the years, and the more we knew, the more we wanted to help. She’s so open-hearted and generous, and that has been taken advantage of in large and small ways all through her life. And when I ask her about it, she just says, the Lord provides for widows and the fatherless so I know He’ll take care of us.
I’m over the moon grateful we can begin this project, and please pray with us for protection and provision for this.
In the pic above, this is the front patio, which is the top of her septic tank. This is where her new sewing room will go. It’s hard to take a good pic to help orient you to the space because it’s such tight quarters. The pic below with the chainlink fence is taken from the street from the property next door. The front is where the room will go. The entrance to her current sewing room is along the right side of the building, right behind it.
Getting started
The raised area in the front is almost the size we need for her room. So the first task is digging down to pour footers for the slab. We are so excited to begin!
Groceries for refugees
We brought groceries to the refugees and, as always, snacks for the kids!
Our kids group – escuelita
We’ve been trying to keep the mood fun, even as everyone focuses on back-to-school prep!
Playing at the park
Water Balloons!
It’s been hot, so we’re helping the kids cool off and make some fun memories with water balloons before summer is over!
God is doing amazing things here, and I’m so grateful for your prayers and support that make it possible. Thank you so much for praying with us for those we serve together! ♥
Quick links to the other parts this week:
Thank you for your love, and your prayers for those we serve around the world! It’s absolutely amazing what happens when we come together and follow the Lord’s leading. I’m beyond grateful for you all!
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Thank you for keeping us, this ministry, and our outreaches in prayer, and thank you for your support! We couldn’t do any of this without you.
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God bless you!
♥ Samantha