A Very Wonderful Happy New Year...

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. Our Christmas was very quiet and relaxing. Partly because we were all sick, partly because the final weeks leading up to our school winter break were absolutely crazy. Crazy in a good way, yet still crazy!

December was packed with final preparations for our all school Christmas Program. In the years past, we’ve had 2-3 programs on different evenings to accommodate all the students, their families and friends. This year, we decided to have one big all school Christmas celebration in the town hall. 1 night instead of 3 seemed less stressful. This was a little easier said than done with all the extra preparations that went into it, but thankfully we had an amazing group of volunteers to help decorate, and our staff did an outstanding job.

WOW … what a wonderful and special night it was. One that will always be remembered. Over 300 family members and friends filled the hall to see our 108 students (kinder-high school) share songs, stories, verses, re-enactments, laughter and joy.

After all the students presented, we closed out the evening with some special songs from our staff. We have such a gifted and talented team of men and women. Everyone grabbed an instrument, or bell, shaker, microphone, cajon, and we sang Joy To The World and Feliz Navidad. The crowd was singing, clapping, dancing, a joyous and beautiful celebration.

I am so thankful for the team that God has brought to our school who faithfully, joyfully and sacrificially love on, care for and teacher all of our students. They are a true joy to serve alongside and what a blessing it was to laugh, play games, exchange gifts, eat delicious food, drink coffee and hangout at our staff Christmas party.

As 2024 has now come to an end, my assistant (our beautiful daughter Ayantu) and I have continued working on the year end admin stuff, financials, budgets, donor statements, etc. I do love me some admin work and projects like this, but, at the same time it can be a little daunting and stressful at times. Maybe a bit worrisome. We decided to setup our office in our coffee shop to have more space and of course, be right next to our espresso machine.

This will be my view for the next week or so. I love this painting that my nephew did in our coffee shop. One of my all time favorites and a beautiful and incredible reminder. Some of our students think this is a scary painting because it looks intense or sad. Well, it is intense and sad. It resembles the incredible Love, Sacrifice, Grace, Mercy, Kindness and Forgiveness that was freely given to each and every one of us. It reminds me that God is Love, God is in Control, God will Provide, God will Direct, GOD WILL!

May you greatly remember how much God loves you as you enter into 2025. No matter what it looks like, what awaits, what kind of challenges, hardships or joyous occasions you will incur, GOD LOVES YOU!

Blessings to you all!

Jason

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!