Pan de Vida

 

     I know that while I had mentioned it to many friends and family back home, there were still some of you that I hadn't gotten to give all the details to. However, basically, God has provided an opportunity for me to help out at a Christian children's home in Queretaro, Mexico. The home is called Pan de Vida, and they have about 40 boys and girls that they help take care of. If you go to Pan de Vida | Children Of Hope and scroll down, you can see a video of Pan de Vida and just some of what they do. I'll leave it up to you to watch that video if you'd like; it is very informative and will give you a much better idea of what the place is like. You can also visit the other web link given at the header of this blog for more information about the home. For those of you who like to be kept up with what is going on and how God is working in and through me and others here, this blog will hopefully help you feel part of it all. Up on the top right of the page, I have included a link to a Google Drive where you can see pictures I upload throughout my time here.

     So, anyway, I left Tuesday morning, and after traveling all day, finally arrived very late at night at Pan de Vida. This morning, I got to meet the boys and eat breakfast with them. (The boys' house and the girls' house are separate buildings on the property.) After breakfast, Enrique (the current director of Pan de Vida who also goes by Kike) and his wife Grace gave me a tour of the property, introduced me to many of the others here at Pan de Vida, and shared more about the ministry.

     One of the many things that is so wonderful about this ministry is their focus on the children's mental health and mindset. Many of the kids come from abusive situations and have a victimized mindset. However, at Pan de Vida, they are shown love from the staff but are also taught responsibility and structure. For instance, the kids work together to complete chores each day such as cleaning up their rooms, preparing meals, cleaning up after meals, etc. In the center of all that the staff do with the kids and teach them, they constantly point the kids to Jesus, a relationship with Him, and a life guided by Biblical principles.

     After spending some time learning more about the ministry, I hung out with the kids in the field where some of us played charades, some played with Legos, others kicked around a soccer ball, etc. (If you look at the pictures, you can see some videos of the kids playing charades.) Soon after that, we had lunch and then many of the boys went swimming in the pool. (The boys and girls switch days when it is their turn to be able to use the pool.) I stayed behind and played Legos with three or four of the boys that didn't go swimming. After swimming, the boys hung out and played until dinner. (I uploaded a few videos and pictures of a couple of the boys playing with bubbles.)

     Overall, it was a good first day getting to know the kids - particularly the boys whom I'll be working with the most. I'm still trying to learn all their names, but they are wonderful kids who are so welcoming (and help me with my Spanish). Talking with Enrique and Grace, I'll be helping out a lot with "los medianos," the middle-school-aged boys. Kris, who is a volunteer who will be leaving for a little while to return to Canada to get married, currently helps take care of this group of boys. I'll be shadowing him and will be helping to fill in while he's away. Also, next Tuesday, the kids and staff will be going on their annual camping trip out in the woods; so I'll be going camping with them next week.

     That's it for now, but please don't forget to check out the pictures and videos through the link on the top right of this blog.  Also, feel free to share this blog with anyone else you think might be interested and feel free to leave questions/comments or contact me.

Blessings,

Derek

Picture taken without changes from: File:Queretaro in Mexico (zoom).svg - Wikimedia Commons