Sonshine Hacienda - February 2013 - Fundraisers and Blessings

UPDATE ON JORGE

We want to thank all of you for all your prayers for Jorge. We are happy to report that Jorge's health situation is much improved. We took Jorge to Mexicali to see the kidney specialist last month and he too was very pleased to see how well he was doing. The amount of medication that he is taking is 50% less than what he began with in November, 2012. The doctor also has told us that we can reduce his visits to once every three months. Continue to pray for Jorge.

Paul & Donna Korneluissen's Visit

What a blessing it was to have a visit from our former Administrators, Paul and Donna Korneluissen in February. Eventhough Donna had to return to Washington to work, Paul extended his visit in order to help us with many projects that we had hoped he could accomplish while he was here. The picture above is one of my favorite projects that Paul completed. It is a beautiful storage cabinet and shelves for our great room. This is being used to store all our games, puzzles, books, legos, coloring books, crayons, etc.. What a blessing! Paul also built new Back Pack storage units and a wonderful bicycle rack for all those new bicycles. That is not to mention all the little repair jobs that he did while he was here. A big thanks to Paul and Donna for their continued dedication to our kids. THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT PAUL IS RETURNING THIS MONTH TO HELP OUT WITH MORE PROJECTS!! WHAT A BLESSING!

Prayer Requests

Pray that we will receive more children soon. We feel we are ready & are waiting patiently on God and DIF to send a few more children to us.
Pray for the school system here in Mexico. The new President is proposing radical changes that are of great concern to lower income families.
We are so excited that we are going to begin a Spanish service at Mission San Felipe, our non-denominational church. We have had a large number of Spanish speaking people attending our services and we are trying to fill a need.
Pray for God's guidance in our search for Assistant Administrators for Sonshine Hacienda.

FEBRUARY...A MONTH OF FUNDRAISERS AND BLESSINGS

For the past few years, the month of February has been a very busy month for fundraisers for Sonshine Hacienda by many of our local clubs and organizations here in San Felipe. The reason for this is that the weather is great (usually) and the "Snow Bird" population is at its peak. We look forward to February each year because we are able to have some fun, laugh with our friends and share the latest news about Sonshine Hacienda. This year was special because of the blustery wind conditions at the outdoor events. But in spite of very high winds...we carried on and had a fantastic time!!

AN EVENING WITH SAM

Sam Grubb is a very special man. He has a very philanthropic heart...and his heart is the size of Texas!! Sam has reached out to many of the organizations in San Felipe that help the needy, elderly and children of San Felipe. He does this is a variety of ways. One talent of Sam's is that he sings and writes poetry. He used his special and unique talent on February 15th, by holding a concert/poetry reading at Rumors restaurant. This night he donated all of the proceeds to Sonshine Hacienda. Next time, Sam will select another worthy organization that could use a little financial help. Rumors was packed and people certainly enjoyed listening to Sam's creative tunes and poetry. We all laughed until we cried at some of the poems...funny does not explain it!! What a special talent you are Sam. We all appreciate you and love you. Thank you so much for a wonderful evening!!

SCORPIONS FUN DAY

It was a blustery day...it was so windy that people were afraid to use the "porta potties" for fear they would tip over while in use!! But we are a hearty group!! In spite of the heavy winds, a faithful number of us showed up in the desert for the annual Scorpions Fun Day. The Scorpions Club is a group of people who all have 4x4 vehicles which are equipped with 2 way radios. We do have a great time going on runs in the desert. But we are also a search and rescue group. For the last five years, the Scorpions have donated the profits of their Fun Day to Sonshine Hacienda. In addition to enjoying the different challenges on the different "runs" that had been set up for all of the participants, they also had a GPS event. Gary went out on this run with a friend and had a great time. The food was fantastic, the Silent Auction was a huge success, and the raffle of fantastic items was a great money raiser. Thanks again to the Scorpions Club for another great Fun Day! We look forward to next year!

MISSION SAN FELIPE YARD SALE

February 28th & March 1st was the date for the annual Yard sale to benefit Sonshine Hacienda. This was the sixth year for the sale and it was a fantastic experience as usual. It is amazing to see the huge number of church members that come to help sort, arrange, help people find that "special item" they are looking for. I don't think that I have ever worked at an event where EVERYONE shows up to work their shift and even offers to stay and work longer if needed...could it be the lure of the donuts and coffee in the mornings??? We sold tons of "stuff" for the two days that we held the sale. Once again we need to thank John and Bonnie Gilbert for their generous use of 99plus1 Ministries for our sale. It is the perfect place...right across the street from a large school. Not only do they loan us their place, but they work with us the entire two plus days. A big thank you to all the members of Missions San Felipe who volunteered their time.

THE GRAND TOTAL FOR FEBRUARY FUND RAISERS

The grand total for the February fundraisers was $4,718.23 The plan for this money is to work on projects that have been in the planning stages for quite some time. We will be purchasing and installing shade screen in our playground area, continue working on our athletic field (including a basketball court) and working on our new garden area. A big thanks to all of our San Felipe friends and organizations that helped to make these events such a fantastic success. God bless you.

NEW MAILING ADDRESS FOR MARKETPLACE MISSIONS & SONSHINE HACIENDA

PMB 41
PO BOX 9011
CALEXICO, CA 92232-9011

FYI: WE ALSO HAVE PAYPAL

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL YOUR HELP! WE COULD NOT ACCOMPLISH OUR WORK WITHOUT YOU!!

BIG PLANS IN THE WORKS FOR A "GARDEN OF EDEN"

The picture above shows the beginning stages of a dream of many of us, but the person with the gardening knowledge is Roberta, our Missionary from the east (Virginia and Maine). For the past few months she has been growing various vegetables in containers, awaiting the time when she could transplant her plants into the plot of land that we are getting ready for our little "Eden". We are not too sure if anyone has ever had the courage to try to plant and grow vegetables in the desert...but we are going to give it a try!!

ANOTHER YEAR OLDER

It was so wonderful to watch Joaquin's eyes "dance" as he saw his presents placed before him. He turned 5 years old in March. He is such a delight. As many of you know, Joaquin has a speech disability, but that never slows him down...he chatters like a little Magpie. Maria celebrated her 7th birthday in March. I always think she is older due to her tallness. She is a lovely young girl...quiet and sweet. We always enjoy cake and a Piñata on Birthday Day...lots of fun!!