Rio Bravo

Last week, we made a special trip to Rio Bravo with the ministry team from Maranatha Church in Palm Beach Gardens, FL. The team brought some great things for the kids - a puppet show, crafts, and a goodie bag full of food for the children to take home, and a brand new pair of shoes for each child. Check out the photos and video from our most recent trip to Rio Bravo.

Maranatha children's' pastors Than and Megan Graffam put on a great puppet show for the kids.






Preparing a nutrition drink as part of breakfast.


















Waiting for breakfast.













Trying to be tough guys. They were all smiles when the camera went away!

Mmmmm...pancakes!

Items from the goodie bags

Brand new croc-style shoes! No more bare feet.

New shoes + a goodie bag = a happy kid.

Jessica's mom helps a little one try on some new shoes.

New shoes

All the extra shoes and clothing that were left at Rio Bravo to be distributed at a later time.








Puppet show!

Happy (day after) Thanksgiving!

We celebrated a wonderful Thanksgiving day at Casa Shalom. With a team from Maranatha Church in Palm Beach Gardens and our friend Bob and Georgette Kornegay, we cooked a traditional Thanksgiving feast, including 7 turkeys, 100 lbs of mashed potatoes, 100 ears of corn, 2 gallons of gravy, watermelon and 12 cake! A big thanks to everyone who worked so hard to make this meal happen. Be watching for photos of the Thanksgiving feast in the coming weeks!
In the meantime, enjoy the photos and video of a great puppet show the children's pastors from Maranatha, Than and Megan Graffam, put on for Casa Shalom's little ones.




Evelyn and her puppet friend



















The toddlers got the chance to learn how to use the puppets.

Christmas 2009

Last week, we had our first Christmas party of the season at Casa Shalom. A team from the Spotsylvania Church of God in Virginia brought sheets and blankets and toys for all the kids of Casa Shalom. The kids had a blast opening their presents and enjoyed a lunch of fried chicken after the gifts. Enjoy the photos and video of the start of Christmas 2009 at Casa Shalom!

Abby is curious to see what her bag contained!

Eduardo thanks Pastor Donald Jones for his gift

The teen boys with Pastor Jones

Maria receives her gift

Little Colim loved her presents

The girls and pastor Jones

The Rayos house

Antonio was all smiles

The Luceros house

Fried chicken lunch!

Even the babies enjoyed the fried chicken

A little musical number by the babies

Volunteer Flor, Edwin, Clara Alicia and Ada do their best tough guy impression!

New baby

There is a brand new baby girl at Casa Shalom! Staff members Walter and Jenny are celebrating the arrival of their daughter, who was born last week. The little girl hasn't been named yet, and at birth weighed 8 lbs and 5 ounces, which is a very big baby here in Guatemala! The baby joins older brother Waltercito, who is three-years-old. Please keep Walter, Jenny, Waltercito and the new baby in your prayers.

Soccer camp

For the past 3 days, there has been a lot of hard work and a lot of play at Casa Shalom! 2 professional soccer trainers from the Guatemalan national league and a professional soccer player from Honduras donated their time to run a 3-day soccer camp for Casa Shalom's kids. The kids studied the fundamentals of soccer, practiced new techniques and finished the camp with a skirmish! What a unique and amazing experience this has been for Casa Shalom's kids.

The kids get warmed up

Stretch!

Windmills

The basics of passing and receiving

The pro player and one of the trainers demonstrate dribbling technique

Rosendo and Martin practice passing

Marvin and Santos practice chest bumps

Gato and Edwin show off!

Dribbling practice

Hector is quite talented!

Sweating!
Working hard

Tough goodbyes

Last week, we at Casa Shalom had to say goodbye to 4 great kids who left the orphanage to live with their families. First Max left to live with his mother, which had been anticipated for some time. But it was a surprise when the courts ordered siblings Celia, Ana and Jose Marcelino back to their mother and father, who they say now have enough income to care for the 3 children. It was an emotional week, and saying goodbye to 4 great kids was tough for everyone. Please pray for Max, Celia, Ana and Jose as they readjust to life outside of Casa Shalom.

Photo: The Rayos house Left: House parents Maby and Josue, back row from left: Jose Alfredo, Marvin, Rolando, Carlos, Martin. Front row from left: Edwin, Obed, Max, Eddy

Celia, Ana and Jose Marcelino right before they left with their parents

Bounce house fun!

Last week, the whole orphanage got to enjoy 3 hours of bounce house fun, thanks to the Sparks family from Tennessee. The Sparks rented two giant inflatable toys, one for the big kids and one for the smaller kids. The kids jumped and slid for 3 hours straight and enjoyed a pizza party after that. They all slept well that night! Enjoy the photos and video from the bounce house party.

The big kids enjoyed a giant inflatable slide






Sarai mid-bounce













Cesar gearing up to slide















The toddlers jumped and jumped in an inflatable castle










Eddy and Maby help some of the youngest babies get in on the jumping action. Monserrat and Abagail were happy to get to play too!













Eduardo helps Jorge navigate the slide















Henry takes a break from jumping













The big kids' slide












Sarai has no fear - she tumbled down the little slide head first!














Eliza and baby Monserrat















Tony played so hard that he fell asleep right on the gym floor















Victor fell asleep at the pizza party








Roland helps Linda Lucerito and Eddy helps Abagail be a part of the bouncing fun!

All our children

This is the most recent photo of all the kids of Casa Shalom - minus the 4 youngest babies. See if you can spot your sponsored child! Click on the photo to enlarge.