Bob has been working hard on the second floor of TEC. Sometimes Chevo has been helping with the insulation and wall board. Bob has been teaching him how to put on spackling. What a fun job!
Here is a photo of the stairs Bob built for the school. He put them up himself as Chevo did not show up for work that day. He used ezstair brackets which use lots and lots of screws with the brackets, but you do not have to cut into the stringers. They make one set of very secure stairs. We still need to put the railing, but these stairs such beat climbing a ladder!!
Bob will also be moving the plumbing for the rotoplas. He just hasn't gotten that far yet.
Stay tuned for more photos to come soon. Have you checked out youtube lately? We have videos on using the cement rocket stove, Christmas and a rocket stove that Bob built with an oven.
Inside the Upstairs of TEC
Bob has been working hard at getting the second floor of TEC finished. He has been working on our apartment side as the old motorhome does not hold heat at all and he needs a warmer place to stay.
The photos show that insulation and wallboard are going up. He is extra insulating to keep heat in during the winter and out during the summer. Also, the insulation in the seperating wall between our living quarters and the school room will help with sounds travelling from room to room.
We continue to praise God for all His goodness in supplying for our needs.
Christmas Celebration 2009
Yesterday, Saturday, December 19th, was our annual Christmas celebration. We thank God for all the food and gifts that were donated. We had plenty for the large crowd.
In all, we fed 150 adults and children. The lunch included cupcakes donated by St. Paul Lutheran Church. Sandwiches of chicken salad, lovingly prepared by Bunny, a winter Texas from Tropical Valley Acres. Other winter Texans served chips and punch.
After lunch, we held a worship service which included two dramas. The first drama was by the Sunday School kids with Elizabeth, their teacher. Their skit was about Jesus visiting but the homemaker turned away people that needed help. The second drama was a video drama called Lifehouse's Everything skit. We were blessed to have found this video on Youtube and then purchased the dvd from the group in Tennessee. This drama has only music and is powerful. Here is the link to check it out for yourself:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyheJ480LYA
We also presented the first week of the 40 week dare plan. This plan has a dare, Bible verse, and laminated handout for each week. The central theme is applying Christ to your life. Each family was given the dare card with their gifts. Please pray for this plan as God reaches out to the lost in the colonias.
Before the gift giving, we held a raffle for 2 televisions, 3 coffee makers, and a Christmas tree. All were donations and excited the crowd as they awaited the possiblity of their number being called.
The gifts, of course, brought many, many smiles. Over 330 gifts were given to babies, boys, girls, teens, moms and dads. Goodie bags with small toys and candy which were packed by the winter Texans were handed out as the families left the celebration.
We have two Youtube videos about the celebration. One is a montage of photos and the other is Elizabeth's drama, explained with English subtitles.
May you all have a Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year!
Making Christmas Decorations
The day after Thanksgiving was spent making salt dough for Christmas decorations. The cookie cutters the kids used were sent by Bonnie's mom. The crew had not used cookie cutters before and enjoyed pushing them into the dough and making shapes.
The shapes were then put onto cardboard storage boards and left to dry for a week.
Yesterday, the kids painted the dried dough ornaments. We will tie ribbons onto them and use the ornaments for gifts. The kids can wrap them up for their families.
Elizabeth also helped paint them. She had spent the day with us helping with all the hungry kids after a week of cold, drizzly weather. We fed 21 kids for lunch. She then took the kids into the Sunday School room for an early class. Before lunch she spent time practricing a drama for our Christmas celebration.
Thanksgiving 2009
Thanksgiving this year was spent in Mexico. We purchased a 17 pound turkey and stuffing makings. A big grill served as our oven. The kids could not believe the size of the turkey. They had not seen one like it. Here is a photo of the finished product.
Dinner was yams, corn, tortillas, turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce. The yams were not well liked. I guess you need to acquire a taste for them. The rest of dinner was a big hit. While the crew ate, they enjoyed watching a movie.
After dinner, the kids volunteered to clean off the bones. Norma "won" the upper carcass and then was embarassed when I took her photo. Even thru her embarassment, she throughly enjoyed the bone picking.
Barrel Windmill
Over the Thanksgiving break, we were able to get the roof onto the deck enterance for the second floor of the school. This meant that the barrel windmill that Bob had constructed could be installed.
The boys, Adan and Enrique, helped with roof and then with getting the barrel windmill into place. Bob now needs to spend time installing a pulley and old treadmill motor. This will hopefully spin with the wind and charge batteries.
Our goal is to find a system that could be made for $80. This will mean that families in the colonia can then afford to put a system at their homes. We would be able to teach them how to construct one and how to use it for power. They could hopefully have power for lights, a small tv, and a fan (needed during the hot weather).
We posted a short video on YouTube.com about the installation and will add more videos as Bob works on getting it to generate power.
New Direction...Prayer needed!
We ask for prayer for the new direction that Movie night and evangelism has taken.
First we began showing Christian movies the first weekends of the month. August was "Facing the Giants" and September was "Fireproof". The response was encouraging and many that came really were listening to the gospel message in the movies. The September movie had many disturbances generated by satan which showed us that these Christian movies are a threat. Hence, we have ordered more Christian movies to show on the monthly movie night.
After "Fireproof" one of the teens said that he could use a 40 day plan. What a revelation! We had been praying for God's direction for months and here it was.
We began praying about how to go about a 40 day plan and feel God has directed us to presenting a 40 week plan. Once a week a new dare will be placed on a neon lite sign (like the menu specials sign at restaurants)that we will make and a laminated card with Bible verse and Christian cartoon to explain the dare. We are in the midst of praying about the topics for each week and would appreciate you covering this project with prayer.
God is so good!!!!
More work on TEC is accomplished!
Thank you for your donations that enabled us to purchased the 22 foot ladder we needed to begin more work on TEC.
This past Saturday, Luis and Enrique worked six hours to enclose the soffits. This way the first floor should remain warmer and we are able to keep birds and insects out of the second floor. We used painted plywood and aluminum we already had to complete the project.
We continue to pray for the finances for windows and sheetrock.
In the meantime, Bob has been working on a windmill with barrels that maybe replicated for families in the colonia. He has more work to do on it and testing, but it looks promising.
Here are two photos of TEC and the property from the toll road (autopista) looking across the fields.
New book to check out
Harold J. Weiss, Bonnie's dad, has written a book about Capt. Bill McDonald, a Texas Ranger. Here is a link to Amazon if you would like to check it out more.
Click on the link here and if you order, we receive a percentage of the sale. Every little bit helps the ministry!
We are on YouTube!
Hey everyone, We have started a channel on Youtube. Here we will be putting videos of green energy ideas and interesting things going on in the lives of the people.
Just go to youtube.com and in the search box type: sbhministry. Our videos should come up.
If you subscribe to our channel, you will recieve email notifications of new videos.
Leave us some comments. We love to hear from you!
Have fun...see the kids...share in our unique green ideas!
Finally, after weeks of waiting for the weather and Luis' schedule to coincide, the Air X marine windmill is up. The photo gallery gives you 14 views of the whole process.
What is really neat is that the windmill is charging the batteries on this cold dreary day. There has been no sun today and the solar panels are not charging. We just love standing there watching the blades spin around at the wind speed of 12 mph!
God has been so generous and this is one example of His blessings. Thank you, Father God!
Use this search box and earn money for SBH!
Take a look at a Ministry book
Glenn Tompkins (Bob's father) has written and published a book with many helpful ideas for those in ministry. He began by emailing updates on his book and now here is a link for information on the printed version and you also may purchase it through clicking on this link.
We need your help!
Here is a list of items needed at this time:
20" bike tires AND TUBES for kids' bikes
Shoes for children, men, and women
Baby strollers
Over the counter medicines for adults (cold, cough, aches & pains)
Over the counter medicines for children (cold, cough, fever, pain)
Pots and pans
Silverware
Dishes and cups
Bedding (sheets, pillows)
DVD that Spanish can be chosen as a spoken language and not rated R
Credit Card donation
We can receive donations through your credit card by using PayPal. By clicking on the "make a donation" button you will be sent to the PayPal site where you can make a donation of any size.
Buy a DVD, Support SBH Ministry
Fred Dunn, former mission team member, created "Regarding Chickens" DVD for those of you that are interested in raising chickens.
He has graciously offered to donate to SBH Ministry 100% of the proceeds!
This DVD has received a 5 star rating on Amazon.com. Reading the customers' comments shows what an excellent DVD Fred has created.
Fred's directions for ordering are: When ordering, just send a note with the purchase that simply says SBH. www.Amazon.com is the cheapest purchase price and the buyer has an option to send a note to the seller with their purchase.. again "sbh" is all that needs to be added to that purchase.
CHECK IT OUT! Wouldn't this be a great gift for someone you know?? Don't forget to mention SBH Ministry when ordering.
Like to check out Fred's website? www.FredsFineFowl.com
Donate in a unique way!
Quick update: So far, people using GoodSearch in the ministry's name have earned over $5.00 in about a month. Every little bit helps! I have used this search engine and been pleased with the results!Along with writing grant proposals, we have been searching for ways to reach out to all the ministry's supporters through the internet. The button below is one way to do just that. When you use GoodSearch you earn money for God's work in Mexico...building the Vocational Training School, Christmas celebration, music outreach, movie night, baby ministry, school supplies...On GoodSearch you can also shop through GoodShop that has many, many national retailers, but a donation is given to Serve & Build Hope Ministry when you shop through their window. I hope I am explaining it right. Check it out...I think you may be happy...and it helps the ministry.
If I did the "computer stuff" right, you can now access the Handbook by clicking the link above.
We have developed a handbook to help teams prepare spiritually and solidify as a team. The handbook also contains information concerning challenges that may be experienced in Mexico during the week. All necessary paperwork is found in the back of the handbook.
To receive a hard copy, you can contact us by phone, mail, or email. The handbook is free to a team who has booked a week with us in Mexico. The cost is $5.00 for postage and handling if you have not booked a mission week
Want to send a group?
What is the first step to sending a group for a short-term mission trip? PRAY! Listen to God's will on where He wants you to serve.
Interested in bringing a mission team? Have questions about what it really means to bring a team? Here are few keys points to keep in mind:
1. Most open dates are during June and July. We work to pay our bills and these months are the “vacation” months. 2. We house mission teams in Mexico and try to give some type of colonia living experience. We do not have air conditioning or refrigeration. 12-volt power and outhouses are used . 3. The cost per person is $525 which does not include your travel to Southern Texas. Once here, the fee covers travel from the airports, tolls, housing, food for the week, material for the projects, tools, some VBS materials, and pay for women to cook and do laundry for the group.
We offer a week of serving Christ in Mexico, as well as a time for spiritual growth. Devotions and reflections each night help in letting the Holy Spirit work in your life.
For more details, see costs and details in the left navigation bar.
Info on the web page tool bars
Please note that the top tool bar with churches, etc. listed is from the website host, not from Serve & Build Hope Ministry.
We offer the left and right navigation bar and some of the links. The message and links on the left bar are also from the website host.
Site-specific content Copyright (c) 2000 FaithSite.com or Used by Permission All other content Copyright (c) 2000 FaithSites, Inc. All rights reserved. Use of this site is subject to Terms of Service and to our Privacy Policy.
If you are offended by anything on this page, click here.
