Happy Thanksgiving...

This past week was a very exciting and blessed time for our school and team. Last Wednesday we were invited to join all the other schools in town and participate in the annual Revolution Day Parade. What an amazing and special day it was. During the months leading up to the parade, our students worked very hard in preparation. We had traditional dances, floats and live music. After marching and performing throughout the streets of Bachiniva, the event concluded in the gym with all the schools gathered. 3 of our groups got to perform in the gym in front of hundreds of cheering family and friends. It was truly a special memorable day that we will not forget.

We also had the opportunity to host a group of teachers and students from Immanuel Christian School in El Paso TX. They did various work projects at the school as well as encouraged our staff and students with their vast knowledge and experience in education. We had a special chapel service on Monday that consisted of a time of music, reading a Psalm and then a science experiment and talk on creation VS evolution. The Psalm reading was extra special as we had it read in 4 different languages, English, Spanish, German and Hebrew (by one of the teachers that came down).

With December upon us this coming Sunday, we will shift our focus to our Christmas activities, including our Christmas Music Program. Since our school has grown so much, we need to rent a hall in town to host this special event. It will be a wonderful evening filled with music, stories, food, coffee, family and friends. The students are very much looking forward to this even as well.

Thank you again to you all for your continuous and faithful prayers, support and financial contributions. We are especially thankful on the eve of Thanksgiving. Grateful for each and everyone of you that continue to help us and our school reach and care for students and their families. May you all have a most wonderful Thanksgiving filled with family, friends, food and football. We are definitely looking forward to that as well… after a work day since in Mexico it will be classes and work as usual

Blessings to you all!

Jason

8 Days In .... WOW!

Last month my family and I celebrated 12 years since taking a step of faith and moving down to Bachiniva Chihuahua Mexico.  We were much younger, a lot less grey, had more energy and our daughter Ayantu was just 2 years old.  How incredible it’s been having the opportunity to work with family and friends to buy 40 acres of land, build a 7500 SQ foot facility that would serve as a children’s home.  To have the opportunity to care for over 65 children at various times for the next 6 years.  And then, after 2 years of waiting and persevering through the pandemic, be a part of a wonderful team to help start a Christian Bilingual School on our campus.

Here we are 8 days into the 3rd year of our new school year and WOW!  That is probably the best word to describe how it’s been going thus far.  Exciting, happy, thrilling, emotional, a blessing, exhausting, challenging.  We started classes on August 26th with an enrollment of 110 students, kindergarten to high school and a staff of 19.  I included the word ‘emotional’ because it indeed has been quite emotional.  Seeing the joy and excitement on the students faces as they come to school everyday (yes, even our 14 high school students are excited).  Seeing the passion, effort, hard-work and love our teachers and staff pour into the lives of these students everyday.  Seeing our school grow, from 53 students our first year, to 90 students last year and now 110 . This morning I woke up to a message from our Director, who happens to be my aunt.  She said this, ‘Thanks for working so hard for this school. In my wildest dreams I couldn’t have dreamt what the Lord is doing with the school. Love you!’

She is absolutely right, who could ever have imagined where we would be at today, and the impact House of Blessing and our school would be having in the lives of children, their families and the surrounding communities in Mexico.  Truly emotional and definitely WOW!

One last thing i’d like to share with you is regarding ways that you could be involved to help financially support a student.  Over the next few months as I begin traveling for our House of Blessing Golf Tournaments, meetings, conferences, speaking at schools and churches, we will be focusing on our Sponsorship Program.  We are praying and hoping to get at least 10-15 more individuals or families that would partner with us on a monthly basis to help financially with a students tuition.  $50-$60 a month will help a student attend our school.  It helps cover the cost for their education, transportation, books & supplies, food and special activities.  There are a number of students in our school that are on full and partial scholarships.  If that is something you would consider and pray about, we would love that.  You can learn more information through our website, www.thehouseofblessing.org or just send me an email, jason@thehouseofblessing.org

Please continue to pray for us, the students, their families and our team.  I will do my best with our admin & marketing team to help keep you all updated with pictures, videos, stories, etc through the school year.  You can get those updates and things through our blog posts or through our facebook page.

Here is a short video with pictures and video from our first week as well as some more information on our sponsorship program. Please take a look. Until next time!

Back To School .... Almost!

T-minus 24 days until yet another school year begins.  That feels a bit strange since it was just 6 weeks ago that we finished our 2nd year.  What an incredible year it was.  After completing the second year of our new Christian Bilingual School, I can definitely and confidently say that God has exceeded any and all expectations we had.  But that should be expected right?  We do indeed serve the Creator and Sustainer of all things who, “…alone does wondrous things” (Psalm 72:18).

This pas school year we saw our enrollment almost double. We went from 53 students (kinder-jr high) to 95 students and had the opportunity to start a high school.  We finished the school year with 88 students as 7 had to leave for various reasons.  We started basketball, soccer & volleyball teams.  How exciting it was to see our students compete against other schools in our town and the surrounding community.  We held ‘clubs’ at our school on Wednesdays for things like music, chess, explorers, dance, history, art, crafters.  We hosted chess and volleyball tournaments a kids fair, science fairs, special family events, concerts, Christmas programs and all sorts of things at our campus for our students, their families and our community.   We saw 5 kiddos graduate from kindergarten, 6 students from elementary school and 5 students from Jr High.

We have seen firsthand and have been blessed to be a part of the impact taking place in the lives of our students.  They are learning how to read, write, excelling in their academics.  They are speaking english through our english program.  They have learned how to play instruments.  And, most importantly, they are learning and understanding about a God who created them, loves them, forgives them and died for them.

Thank you so much for your prayers, your financial support your text messages and emails of encouragement. Please continue to pray for us in the coming weeks, especially as we prepare to start classes on Monday August 26th. We already have an enrollment of over 100 students and a wonderful staff and team of 18 men and woman who are passionate about teaching and caring for children and teens.

On the last day of school, we showed a recap video to our staff and students of all the exciting things that took place over the school year.

Next week we will be sharing about our House of Blessing Golf Tournaments coming up in September as well as ways you can get involved in helping sponsor a students tuition. Blessings to you all and talk to you soon!

Jason