Baja report May

Dearest UR,

Happy Birthday really late! I knew I was going to miss it. It is no excuse, but I battled with a rebellious stomach all week, spending a large part of my time in one bano or another. I rested upon a bag of split beans the better part of each day this week between cooking and class times, just trying to get thru the week! Praise God, my stomach seems to be in submission and the rest of my system is following suite as well.
P. Frank is hovering around behind me saying, "Tell him Happy Birthday and that I love him." There it is. He is also quite covetous of your cherry tree, UR.
My balcony has reached the finished stage for phase 1 and can actually be sat or lain upon! It is magnificent. This morning I drank my coffee on it. The fog was still in and perched in my favorite Hepplewhite I sat above the swirling white mist and praised Yahweh. You are really going to like it and I think it is good enough to be reason for another parousia. It is, however, very high and one should be in command of ALL of their senses while perched upon it. Hopefully Frank will come up with some type of temporary railing till we can finish it. Again , you will really enjoy it.
Today was "Blessing Day", the day of the month that the MCCA blesses us with staples and we in turn give out nice packages to the Indian families that live below and over in the pueblo. Two MORE NEW families came today, they have 18 children combined, I do not have a handle on where what child belongs yet. Frank just finished up giving them an informal message before sending them home laden with eggs, ground meat, oil, cereal , flour, soy milk and blankets this time. The blankets came from Sis. Glenda and Joy Outreach, Clem's group and they were an awesome blessing to these families who have just arrived after 4 long days on an old bus from Oaxaca. New blankets for a double bed cost about $220 pesos or twenty dollars, so a free clean blanket is truly a blessing to these folks.
We celebrated the "Dia del Nino" Thursday. The Day of the Child celebrates children in general in Mexico, with parties and pinatas inschools and churches. Most of our "children" had no party to attend other than ours, as they for the most part do not attend school. The ones that do attend school could not afford the $50 pesos per child quota to attend a school pizza party. Praise God, we were able to give our children who eat lunch with us daily a nice party. I made sloppy joes, beans and rice, cake and ice cream and candy goody bags for 65 kids. Ramon, Marilu, and Marcial helped and everybody had a great time. It was the perfect opportunity for Frank to teach about how our Lord blesses us and enables us to share with them as many were asking how we could afford to do this. Honestly, I CAN NOT figure out HOW we actually did it. We just did, by the grace of Yahweh. The kids loved the sloppy joes, they called them "hamburgers: (the bun I guess.) I want to make them pepperoni pizzas and am looking for something to use as pizza pans. If anyone has a pizza crust recipe I need one.
The ministry is flourishing and there is lots to do which I trust the Lord to give us the wisdom to handle.
On another note entirely, our governor Mr. Osuna Milan announced last night that he is asking the federal government to send 1,000 more soldiers to Baja. On the news last night it was announced that all polarized windows are considered illegal. The gov. associates tinted windows with drugs and guns. Even factory tint must be removed. Our vehicles all have tinted windows , so we need to get that off to avoid any vehicle confiscation. No tickets will be issued, vehicles in violation are to be permanently confiscated. He also announced that a certain type of song is now prohibited. They are "corridos" ballads about real people and real situations, at times referring to cartel members or government officials. They sound like country music to me. Anyway, it was announced that they are now illegal and anyone playing them or listening to them is subject to incarceration, no questions asked.
Seems far fetched, surreal to me but it is NO JOKE and nothing to play with, this guy is very serious and very dangerous in my humble opinion he has crossed the line here....Count your blessings Americans! You can listen to or sing whatever type of music that you prefer with no fear of reprecussions. Praise the lord for the USA..

I see the weather back there is good and it has been two whole years since my last visit there. Time flies. Thursday was the TWELFTH anniversary of our arrival in Mexico! I find it hard to believe. It seems to me like yesterday when we rented that house in Cantu and opened the doors to all who would come....
The owner of the land next to us (church land) showed up yesterday. We asked him if he was interested in selling that lot, he is supposed to get back to us with a price. We believe we should buy it if we can, as I definitely foresee the need to expand. Marcial was recalling a prophecy given 6 years ago that spoke of always keeping the church staffed in order to serve the many people who would come for so many different needs. He says that the prophecy has been fulfilled in that during his time there every day(he stays there from 1pm - 6pm daily) all kinds of people are coming for counsel, for food, clothing and prayer. Praise God! We are now feeding 8 widows/widowers elderly people who can not get out of their homes every day. The very children who come to eat help us deliver these special meals.

I see a huge white old bus is pulling up at the new cuarteria downstairs. Probably bringing more people! I am going to go check it out, will finish later-
Blessings to all have a blessed time tomorrow.
Sis. Detra