It's nice to celebrate!

Dear family and friends,

This month was a big one for birthday Celebrations. Simon and Alex over a period of just three days had invites to five parties. There were a few more spread out in the month as well. The most important celebration for us was Alex's 11th birthday.

It doesn't seem that long ago that he was 4 and we officially adopted him, nor that since he was 22 months old under Katrina's care when he arrived to the ministry with Sarita (his biological half sister) and Juanita (soon a good friend). It is good to look back and see how blessed we have been by God to have him as part of our lives. We celebrate to see him growing into a young man of God. He enjoyed his Birthday celebration with a trip to the movies with friends.

Sarita, Juanita and Alex

Sarita, Alex and Juanita

Juanita, Alex and Sarita

Alex, Sarita and Juanita

Apart from birthdays, there have been other celebrations. September is the official month of love and friendship in Colombia. At work and in school everyone plays the game of angels or secret friend. Today we had a special lunch and exchange of token gifts among the staff. It was good to have a fun time as a team. There are 6 foreign volunteers who finish their time of service with us in the next two months so we were able to farewell the first of them also. It is always sad to say goodbyes and at times it seems to be a constant part of missionary life. Then the other side is the many hellos. Our home group is made up of most of the volunteers who are leaving so that will be coming to a natural end. We will see if there is a need for it next year with new volunteers. We enjoyed hosting and getting to know our coworkers more.

Children are the main headlines this week. Colombia as a whole is grieving and reflecting on how it treats its children. Today an 11 month old baby that was kidnapped was found dead. This has especially impacted the country as it appears that the baby's father is the one that committed these crimes so as not to pay food allowance for his son. It is hard to believe that someone would do that. Sadness and grieve have been present in our local church as well with two unexpected deaths. One was a lady that was very involved in the life of the church. She died suddenly from an illness and the other was a 22 year old who was hit by a motorbike. As the church body and Colombia goes through a time of grieving please remember us in your prayers.

In our ministry work this month there has been a lot of reading of laws and requirements and we still have a lot more to do. We are getting ready to apply to the family welfare department to accept our family based method of working with children as an official model. The main difference between us and the government institutions, apart from the smaller number of kids, are that in one house we mix the ages and gender of the children just like in a family. However, this doesn't meet current government requirements. We firmly belief that God created the family model and that is the best way for these children to be healed and also in experiencing a healthy family life they will have a good example to follow when they themselves are parents. We have to present a written proposal as to why the government should consider this method of working. Hence the reading. As a part of this process we have to train our coworkers, on the latest laws. Carlos did the first workshop with them. It was well received and most were very happy to have things explained in easy to understand language.

Prayer requests

• Gabriela- Prayer for her as her back molars are painfully coming through. Continue to pray that she would sleep through the night
• Simon- Thank the Lord that he is happy at school and has some special friends. Both Simon and Alex enjoy going to soccer practice which they started this term.
• Alex- pray for his school work and understanding of it. He needs to start to be more independent in his work and especially remember to hand his homework in. He is working really hard, next week they have a week's holiday which he is looking forward to.
• Katrina -has the usual prayer request for wisdom as she balances family life and ministry responsibilities.
• Carlos -was able to finish the translation of the book he was working on at the beginning of the month. He has also done some translation for the local church that we attend here. This all happen before his computer died. Please pray for God's provision for a new one as this is an essential tool for us.
• Also as we mentioned in the last month's update the main fund raising project that we had been working on will be presented in the next few days to a grant giving agency. Please keep this in your prayers.
• Our project of buying a car is in need of many funds. Thank God for the use of Carlos's mothers car. This has been a real blessing for us.
• Pray for God's protection over us all and safety as we go about our daily activities. We are currently on a high alert for bomb attacks especially in public places and public transport. Some buses have been burned in the city and some businesses blown up as the owners are refusing to pay extortion.
  

Thank you for your prayers and support

Until next month!
with love,
Paez family