Ministry blog, "Real Change"
The End of Another Year! - Eirene Ministries Bi-Monthly Report May/June 2010 Education Center
· In May, we celebrated Mother’s Day with a special program for the mothers in the education center. The students shared a skit, songs, poems and other written pieces with their parents. This was followed by some interactive games done by the teachers and a time of eating together.
· In June, the students made some special items to give to their fathers for Father’s Day. One of these items was a written favorite memory of their father and the other was a bookmark with their picture on it.
· The tenth and eleventh (and final) teacher training courses were presented. The last two topics covered were “Quality of Life,” shared by one of the teachers, Horte, and the other topic was, “Motivational Development,” shared by Kati, our first grade teacher.
· We were blessed by a visit from students and teachers from Heritage Christian School located in Indianapolis, Indiana. They shared time with the students, presented them with new toys for their outdoor play, built a new play gym and built a shed to hold all of the outdoor toys.
· Kennedy School came again this year to visit and presented the Education center with a gift of $4,200 MN to help buy textbooks and other necessary material for the coming year. They were able to spend some time with the children as well and the history and purpose of the Education center were shared with them.
· We now have the first set of textbooks for working with the INEA system and we will begin working with two of our students next year. One of the students will be starting the second level (equivalent to fifth grade) and the other will be beginning the third level (sixth grade). Upon completion of the third level, this student will be able to take his exam and receive his diploma.
· July 8 th was the last day of classes for the students. They and their parents were presented with their final grades and diplomas were presented to the children that graduated from kindergarten into first grade. July 8 th was also the farewell for the children and various games were planned for them and they were able to watch a couple of movies projected for them.
· The Education center will open again on August 23rd and classes will begin for students on the August 30th.
· The final number of students we had in the Education center this year was 47. Submitted by: GUSTAVO MÉNDEZ RUBIO
 Singing for the moms. Presenting the mothers with their gifts. Playing games with the moms. More fun with the moms! Receiving their certificates and passing along to first grade! More proud parents and happy students! Enjoying the movie!
Posted by Jonathan Cummings on 16th July, 2010 | Comments | Trackbacks | Permalink
Tags: Education Center A New Kitchen!! - Eirene Ministry Foster Home Report May/June 2010
It has been quite busy here these past two months. God has sent much help for construction and we have people scheduled throughout the rest of the summer too.
CONSTRUCTION - This past Saturday our church from Guadalajara, Cristo Redentor, came for a work day. There were over 30 people who came and they finished five projects in six hours! It was great. The front patio was poured, some beams were sanded and painted, sand was put under the swing set, all of the tile was moved to the roof, and the giant basket of mismatched socks got sorted (the job that never ends). They also started sanding the pillars so that they can be sealed and weeded the new vegetable gardens (also a never ending job, especially during this time of year, rainy season). The garden is growing very well.
INTERNS/VOLUNTEERS/VISITORS – Our nine month intern left but she’ll be back! She was a great help with anything and everything. An intern from last year came back for two months! Two ladies came down for a week and did much schoolwork with the big kids and planted our vegetable gardens. We are growing green beans, peas, carrots, sweet corn, cucumbers and squash at home and the fields hold maiz colorado (colored field corn) and regular field corn. During that same week a family from Illinois came too. They helped with lots of smaller projects which is always a huge help! They also sanded, painted and moved the swing set. Which was an incredible accomplishment considering its size! We hosted a team from Pennsylvania who built lower cabinets for the kitchen in four days! It is fabulous to have a place to put things now! They worked from 7 a.m. to midnight. We were kind of tired when they left but it was that great kind of tired. This month a young teacher, from New Jersey, came down to help teach the younger children. They seemed to do very well with her. There was also more help from a team of a father and his two teenage sons from NJ who came down for a week and helped Chuy with construction and farming, which is a never-ending job.
The children are doing very well. They are growing like weeds and doing really well in their schoolwork. It is so great to see them healthy and happy! We are praying for a full time teacher for this upcoming fall as they need structure. If we are blessed with a full time teacher and a helper for other various household duties, taking in more children will be a stronger possibility once the new bedroom is finished.
 The kitchen before... Working on the cabintets, all hours of the day and night... The project is complete!!! Working on the playground. Enjoying the swings! One of the two new gardens planted. The reason why we do all we do! Look at their smiles!!!
Posted by Jonathan Cummings on 14th July, 2010 | Comments | Trackbacks | Permalink
Tags: Foster Home Dental Ministry reaching new communities – EIRENE MINISTRIES BI-MONTHLY DENTAL REPORT – MARCH/APRIL 2010
In order to better utilize the opportunities for service with our mobile dental unit and to seek to fulfill our mission statement, starting in March, we have begun to take the dental services to various communities of need. The idea is to provide services in communities where there is no dentist or to persons who otherwise could not afford the service.
During March, I went and worked at a Baptist church called “The Good Shepherd.” This church is located in the community of Santa Margarita in Zapopan. The pastor of the church, Jesús Hernandez, worked alongside of me in lining up patients and taking care of providing for anything I needed while operating the clinic. The clinic was available for anyone in the community and it was open for five days. During these five days, I was able to perform extractions, cleanings, fillings, as well as, other services.
During April, because of the two weeks off from school for Holy Weeks, we did not seek out a community to serve in. The clinic was open for normal service in Santa Ana, but because of vacations, the clinic saw fewer patients.
Submitted by: Dr. Magda Barreto
 Seeing a patient with help from an aprentice! Hard at work! The new mobile unit in use. Magda and her helper.
Posted by Jonathan Cummings on 19th May, 2010 | Comments | Trackbacks | Permalink
Tags: Dental Clinic Celebrating the children – Eirene Ministries Monthly Report April 2010 Education Center
· Children’s Day was celebrated during the end of April. The students enjoyed a clown show, various games, as well as, a candy bag and present to take home.
· The ninth teacher’s class was given on the theme, “The Culture.” This class was given by Ana, our education center secretary.
· The children have been studying about various important dates that have taken place over the last month. The themes include Labor Day, The Battle of Puebla, Benito Jaurez Birthday, Children’s Day and Mother’s Day. The children now have a better understanding as to the reasons why we celebrate each of the days that we do.
· To date, the amount of students in the Education center is as follows:
Three Year Olds: 15 Four Year Olds: 10 Kindergarten: 10 First: 8 Second: 4 Fourth: 2 Total: 49
Submitted by: GUSTAVO MÉNDEZ RUBIO
 Children presenting their Easter program. Serving food after the program. Captive audience for the clown on Children's Day. Children participating... Getting the little ones involved... All out fun!
Posted by Jonathan Cummings on 19th May, 2010 | Comments | Trackbacks | Permalink
Tags: Education Center Eirene Ministry Monthly Report March/April 2010 - Foster Home
Things are really starting to heat up here! Literally. We are now coming into the hottest month of the year. The kids don’t seem to mind much though, they love playing on the new swing set no matter how hot it is outside.
A small but very productive team came down in March for one week. It was a team of only three people but they got the same amount of work done as a normal size team. Due to their hard work, the first story roof is now finished and the floor is poured in the new extended room. Since then Chuy has been working on laying the pipes for the new bathroom, but progress is slow because he is very busy.
Also in March, another volunteer named Arely arrived! She is from our church in Guadalajara and is teaching the older little kids in Spanish from Sunday to Thursday. Her grandparents thought she was coming to live in a convent in the middle of the desert. We actually live in a beautiful valley. And we are not a convent. But that is still what they think. Too funny!
This month we got our first sponsor for the Sponsor a Child program! This program recently started and is set up so that people can send a monthly donation to help one specific child from the Shelter. This donation helps provide their books, food, clothing, shoes, medicine, and whatever else they need. The sponsors receive information on their child and will be updated specifically on their growth and progress. It is very fun for the children as well as their sponsors. If you are interested in being a part of this new program, please contact us. Quite a few sponsors are still needed!
 Helping the work team... Enjoying a break after working hard... Loving the new swingset A beautiful sunset here in the valley
Posted by Jonathan Cummings on 4th May, 2010 | Comments | Trackbacks | Permalink
Tags: Foster Home
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