Yeah...

Yeah, says, Simon, Yeah says Alex, school holidays are nearly over! Amen says Mum and Dad.

More than two months holiday while Mum and Dad continue to work has not been much fun for the boys. School starts in just over a week. And they are looking forward to getting back to their friends. We attempted to go away for a few days but so far it hasn't happened.

Last week the boys were invited to an amusement park but only Alex was able to go. Simon had received a vaccination the day before and reacted to it. 48 hours later he still wasn't moving his arm much and soon after that the fever, the rash and the swelling went down. He is very happy that he has finished the required vaccinations and can attend school. By Colombian law kids who are not up to date are not allowed to attend school.

There have not been many majors in the last month. Family wise the biggest and saddest thing was Gabriela needing to have one of her front teeth removed. This was a result from the impact of a swing that broke her two front teeth back in February. Reoccurring infections that were threating to damage the permanent tooth resulted in all dentists consulted saying there was no other option but to remove the tooth. She is healing slowly and only time will tell if she has a lasting phobia for dentists. Her parents have to wait for a year until she gets her second back molars in before they are not constantly reminded of the pain and trauma she suffered—every time she smiles you see the big hole. Hopefully she will let a false front tooth be made and be attached to the molars.

Ministry wise:

There were no teams visiting us in the month of July but we did welcome a family from Holland and a girl from the USA who joined our team. Carlos spent quite a few hours getting the family settled, they have young children so we were able to share some of our experiences here to back their transition smoother.

Our non-24 hour programs shut down for a couple of weeks of holiday. Since they have started back up, they have more children attending from the local area. A few children that had attended the drop in center before their slum was bulldozed traveled 60 blocks ( I believe on foot) to visit the center. This was encouraging as it showed the impact the center's staff had had on the children's lives.

The ministry has been going through a very lean time financially. Carlos has been doing studies to attempt to minimize expenses, and some recommendations have been put into practice. God has been answering prayers as we saw the telephone company lower their charges for us just by a phone call and not the mountain of paperwork they usually require. The lady Carlos was speaking to on the phone was very helpful and even wanted to become a volunteer.

We have started an English speaking home group with coworkers. It is been good to be able to share more in depth with others about Christianity in general and not just work conversations. We are reading a book on Authentic Christianity by B Hybels.

The 20th of July is Colombia's independence day. This year the date was used to ask for liberty of all of the hostages that are in captivity in Colombia. There were a couple of million people who marched all around the country . In Bogota about 85% of the people wore white shirts as a symbol of peace. It was amazing to see so much unity in the cry of the people for peace.

Prayer Points:

• Thank God for his faithfulness
• For complete healing of Gabriela's gum and that her permanent tooth would not have any damage to it.
• Thank God for the paid translation work that Carlos has and that he would be able to finish the book next week.
• That the boys would have a good relationship with their teachers for this school year and would settle back into the school routine easily.
• Please pray for Carlos as he will continue to be teaching Alex maths in the house, especially for creativity and patience.

We want to thank you all so much for all your love, friendship and support. You are all partners with us and we couldn't do it without you.

Love,

Carlos and Katrina