ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY

May 4th, 2012, we opened our doors at Sonshine Hacienda and welcomed our first 6 children to our home. One year later, those same 6 children are still with us, along with other kiddos that have been added to our family during the year. We celebrated the anniversary day by having a traditional piñata... with a bit of a twist. "The twist" was that the staff members all took turns trying to "bust" the Piñata... it was fun but not easy. We also celebrated with cake and ice cream. We loved our first year party. It was just our staff and our children....just family!!

RAISING THE FLAG

What a precious moment it was for me as I observed Papa Rafael explaining to the children the proper care and raising of the Mexican flag. The children listened carefully, helped with the flag raising and then did the salute to the Mexican flag. They brought me to tears when they all stood at attention and sang the Mexican National Anthem. A special moment.

INTERN VISITS SONSHINE IN MAY

Abbey Zavala is a new friend to Sonshine Hacienda. She came to stay with us for a few weeks to experience life on the mission field and to also research living in a cross cultural environment. Abbey is a delightful young woman who will be graduating in December, 2013 from California Baptist University. Abbey worked with the children daily while here. We certainly enjoyed our time with her and hope that one day she will return again to check on how the kids are doing. Thanks for all your help, Abbey.

GROWING GARDENS FOR LIFE

Recently we met with Jon Stevens from Growing Gardens For Life, an organization that teaches orphans and at risk children how to raise food and helps them put in gardens and orchards. Jon believes that if you give a kid a cabbage a day they'll eat for a day. Teach a kid to grow cabbages and they'll feed their village the rest of their lives. Wow! We definitely are interested in getting involved in growing our own garden...so we are on board to learn, and get our hands dirty!! So the next step is that Jon will be back this fall to teach the adult leaders here a series of classes about soils, seeds, plants, trees, garden design and food safety. Then in turn, we will teach the same classes to the children here at Sonshine. Later in the fall, our Master Gardner, Mama Roberta Grover, will work with Jon to begin designing and planting our own garden. The wonderful part about "Growing Gardens For Life" is that they pay for all expenses except for water and electricity. WHAT A DEAL!! The children will be taught right along with the adults. This is their future...something they can use the rest of their lives. Roberta is traveling this weekend to a large orphanage in the Tecate area of Baja to observe a fully producing garden. We will keep you posted on the progress of the Sonshine garden.

THE KORNELIUSSEN'S RETURN TO SONSHINE

Paul & Donna Korneliussen are such a faithful friends to Sonshine Hacienda. For the third time this year, they have come to help us with projects that Paul has planned and completed. This recent visit was to complete the final phase on our SAIL CLOTH SHADE COVERING for our playground area. Donna helped with the children, who she loves so spend time with. Without the shade covering the kids could not play on the equipment. It is just too hot. Our plan is to put one more rectangular shade up for additional covering. We need to check the budget and see if and when that will be possible.

PRAYER REQUESTS

Please pray for our 3 children who are seeing a psychologist every Friday. Pray for wisdom for the doctor.
Pray for Francisco who is having an EEG of his brain this Friday. Pray that they can find a reason for his increasing violent behavior.
Pray for our 4 siblings that DIF is making decisions about... if they will stay with us or leave to return to an unstable home. Pray for wisdom.

TRYING TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE

If you have ever traveled into Mexico, you will notice that they are behind in educating people about the need to keep the environment clean whenever possible. The streets and beaches have recently improved, but things could still be better...especially in the areas outside of town like where Sonshine Hacienda is located. So recently we began walking around our property and streets surrounding Sonshine Hacienda with the children every Saturday morning. We take large garbage bags and our goal is to not come back until they are all full. The kids love it! I am amazed at how much they enjoy doing this work. They never cease to amaze me!!

THANK YOU FOR THINKING OF SONSHINE HACIENDA

MAIL YOUR GIFT TO
SONSHINE HACIENDA
PMB 41, P.O. BOX 9011
CALEXICO, CA 92232-9011

PERSONAL CONTACT: MISSIONARIES2@YAHOO.COM

Alexa is our oldest child at Sonshine Hacienda. School has never been easy for her. Probably because she was the caregiver for her three sisters, even at her young age. She tries so hard in school and was quite proud of this project that she did for her math class. She tells us that she would like to be a teacher. What a wonderful goal!!