Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!
Christmas at the mission was beautiful. The children preformed a little play before Christmas Eve mass. Many of the kids here have gone to stay with relatives for the week. There are still about 50 children here and we have been enjoying the vacation from school with ball games and trips to the beach.
This past week 600 sick and elderly people came to the mission for a special mass for the sick. The older boys helped these old men and woman up and down the stairs of the church. To see the priests give them all the anointing of the sick during mass was very moving as they all had made a big effort to come to the mission, arriving in taxis, trucks, and buses. The people were served lunch (which we had the pleasure to help make the night before) and were given a bag of donated clothes and fruit. They were so happy and kept coming up to me to thank me. I felt a little awkward as I was just an observer and was being thanked, but I enjoyed talking to them all and shaking their hands.
Since I work with the smaller children here, I pulled some strings and got Santa Clause to visit for an afternoon. When he entered the room with the children he asked, "Do you know who I am?" In unison they all replied "Jim!" It was quite funny. I think they enjoyed the cookies and the chocolate then seeing "Papa noel."

It's beginning to look a lot like.....

As the days draw closer to Christmas, there are many things happening at the mission. This past week we bought some gifts for the 29 small children here. What did we buy? Underwear and towels. This is what they told us they needed most. The pictures are above.

Yesterday we went to a water park about an hour away with 150 of the kids here. A family from Guayaquil (the city) rented the park for the day and two buses to transport all the kids. The kids were so excited just to be on a bus and when they got to the park they ran around to all the slides and pools until it was time to go. It didn't matter that it was cloudy and a bit cold. The kids loved every bit of it.

A special "Thank you" to all the members who have donated to the mission through the website. Your contributions really make a difference in these children's lives. I hope you are are well.

Jim

First Week Back

I finally arrived to the mission last Sunday. It is great to be back here. I am helping in the kindergarten in the mornings and in the afternoons I am with 29 very young kids who live about 10 minutes from the base. It has been quite cool here and cloudy, which is a Godsend, since soon their summer will begin and it will be very hot.

A few interesting things I have noticed. The kids seem very peaceful and happy here. In particular, there is a boy in the kindergarten who, when I was here in May, was very aggresive (hitting and fighting with the other children) and was constantly a problem for the teacher. Six months later he has shown considerable improvement-he is much more peaceful and does the work with no problems. The missionaries told me that he improved on account of the missionary who cares for him and his two brothers. The other day, he found me before the class started and wanted to come up to the church with me while I said my prayers. While I was reading, he asked me, "When is my Dad coming?" What does one say to that? I told him I didn't know. These are the kids that are cared for at the mission and I am continually impressed with the people here.

Hope you are all well.

Jim

Back to the mission

Hello Everyone,

I am now on my way back to the mission. It has been great being home and I am very excited about the foundation we have created to assist our friends at the mission. Please visit the website: www.missionsantmaria.com.

Already people have showed their support and have committed to helping the children of the mission. Thank you to all our generous sponsors. I will post pictures and stories from the mission once I am there. I hope you are well.

Jim