It´s Not Numbers and Government Paperwork

The amount of children that come to our home moves in tides.  Sometimes we have large numbers and are almost overwhelmed with the comings and goings and noise of the children.  Sometimes we have low numbers, and we wonder where the children have gone.  This is one of those times of quiet.  After Sundays with 20-some children attending the kids´ club and 11 or 12 children arriving in the afternoons for their reading classes and play, suddenly the number dropped.  Huejotzingo celebrated three weeks of masses, a fair with rides and game booths, and other activities for the patron saint, San Miguel.  The day after the biggest celebration, the day of San Miguel, only three children attended the Sunday afternoon kids´ club.

And yet, it´s not about numbers.  Certainly we miss the children who didn´t come, and we wonder how they are doing, and we hope to see them again.  However, there is also an advantage with only three children.  One of the three is a young teen who has been attending on Sunday afternoons, on and off, for a long time.  Because there were only three children, she had the opportunity to talk for a long time with Abraham about her struggles in school and at home.  After she had shared her troubles and Abraham counseled her, he prayed with her and assured her of our love and support.

As she talked, the other two girls happily ran in and out of the house, taking pictures and playing with Six and I.  The two girls enjoyed the extra amount of attention we were able to give to them, and they had a fun afternoon.

Aside from continuing with the kids´ activities and taking care of our steadily growing son, we have been embroiled in paperwork.  First, we applied for an appointment to register Abishael as an American citizen and get his American passport.  After applying twice because the first time I had entered one date wrong, we received a confirmation email from the American embassy in Mexico City with an appointment for Oct. 15.  Next, we applied for Abraham and Abishael´s Mexican passports.  We couldn´t get Abishael´s however, because I didn´t have my FM2 visa renewal yet, although we had turned in the paperwork for that in August.

Abraham was able to get his passport, so he applied for an appointment in the U.S. embassy for an interview to see if he would be granted a visa to visit the U.S.  To our surprise, he was able to secure an appointment for the very same week.  He had to go in twice, once for fingerprinting and a photo, and the second time for the interview.  He was granted the visa, and that same day, my dad used miles to buy tickets for us to visit the U.S. in December.

My visa was finally processed, and Abraham scheduled an appointment for us to get Abi´s Mexican passport.  Once we go to Mexico City to register Abi and get his U.S. passport, we will finally be done with paperwork for awhile.

Thank you for your prayers.  We know that Abraham´s visa and the other various government processes went smoothly because of those prayers.  Please continue to pray for the neighborhood kids, that they and their parents would see Christ through us.  Pray as we finish paperwork and prepare for our first visit to the U.S. as a family.  There are many of you that we are looking forward to seeing in December!