Monday, September 19, 2011

Back to School

How was your summer? What did you do? What classes are you taking? Do you like your schedule? Oh this is your first semester, How do you like Cholula? What is your major? Where are you from?

The questions are always the same, its just the answers that make the start of each new school year unique.

New school years always seem to bring with them other "new" people/events/beginnings/things in general, so here are the Top 3 "new" whatever at El Pozo...

New Team Leader: Many of you already know that Nathan and Erin Mcdade (they have been here since El Pozo began in 2007, Nathan as team leader) will be moving to Maryland to work at an amazing church there, which means El Pozo needed a new team leader. Kami Burns accepted the role and has been doing a great job since July when she took over.
Nate and Erin
Elsa and Addie, Erin and Nathan's two sweet girls
Kami Burns, always with a smile
Pray for her as she continues to figure out all here roles, what it all looks like and guides El Pozo into the future, as well as for the McDade's as they make the transition to Maryland.

New Students: As with the start of any new school year, there are tons of new freshman that arrive on campus embarking on a new chapter in their lives. Recently we have had many of them come by the casa verde and make their home here. From drama kids to basketball players, they are all finding a place here within the ministry. Some of the ones I have gotten to know best are a group of 5-6 that are all studying Theater. I met one of them, Baruk, the day before our first cookout of the semester when I was eating lunch with a friend he had just met. Since that day, he has been inviting and inviting. One loves to come early and help setup for the events, another loves tennis and ping pong so after events you can find him hanging out with others at the ping pong table or setting up times to play tennis, another loves serving the community so is always ready when we do projects outside the house. It is so cool to see each one become part of the community here in their own unique way.

Ivonne, Philip, and Sergio
Baruk and Jillian
Sammy, one of the drama kids, and her two friends she brought for the first time
Pamela, Linda and Charisse, some of the basketball girls that have been coming recently
Pray for all our new and old students as they find their place within El Pozo. Pray for them to take steps in God's direction more and more.


New Building: After more than a year of working on our back building, we can finally say that it is a building. It has walls, windows, doors, closets, a stage, and even carpet and tile. All of this has been made possible by friends, family, supporters, golfers at our yearly summer golf tournaments, people who have come down to do manual labor...you each have had a special part in this building that we are now able to use as a resource to reach even more students. We now have our weekly Tuesday night events in the back building. When before there would have been people lined up in the hallway and down the stairs, we now can fit everyone and have room to grow. The blessing this building has been and will be is priceless.

We finally have room for all the band members. Its so big you can't even see the drummer in this picture
We can eat in peace, rain or shine. The front table is full of some more drama kids.
This ping pong table was donated and has been a constant attraction, which we are only able to have because of the space we have in the new building.
Pray for all the lives that will be blessed by what goes on in this new building. For God to get glorified in everything we do, from the ping pong games to weekly events we put one.

Thank you all for your support and love and prayers. Welcome Back! It's gonna be an awesome semester!!!