Christmas Opportunities At The Orphanage...

I imagine most of you are planning and prepping for Thanksgiving this week and the holiday season. We too are getting excited for Thanksgiving and for Christmas (especially the children).

Our team has also been working hard on preparations for Christmas. Each year we try to do something a little different for both our children and our staff. I am especially excited for this Christmas season because we are doing some new and exciting things.

This Christmas we will be having our first ever Christmas Program here at the orphanage. We will be inviting all the moms and families of our kids to come to the orphanage for an evening of food, desserts, entertainment and gifts. The kids will be working on Christmas songs this week to perform for their families, both in Spanish and English. Jenna Borrelli who is here serving with us from Oregon has been teaching the weekly English classes. She will be coordinating the program.

Also, this will be the first time that all of our kids will be spending Christmas with either their family or a family from our church here in town. One of our focuses this year has been working directly with the parents to help them to be more involved in the lives of their children. One of those ways is by helping the parents be able to spend some of the holidays and vacations with them. This is usually difficult for parents because of finances, getting time off work, transportation or honestly, just a lack of desire.

This year, we are hoping to not only bless our children but also their moms and families. We will be putting together care baskets containing items such as food, toiletries and a few gifts. This will help those who don’t have a lot of money for neither food nor presents. We will also be helping financially for bus fares, transportation, etc for the parents to come for the Christmas program and to get their children for vacation.

We are hoping to raise $1200 over the next 3 weeks to help cover the Christmas costs this year. The money raised will help with the costs of…

- presents and stockings for the kids

- the Christmas Program

- food and present baskets for the families

- transportation costs and other expenses for the children spending time with their families.

If you and your family would like to help us this year and donate, please let me know. You can either email me, jason@thehouseofblessing.org, or text, 915.316.9496. If you would like to purchase a present or stocking stuffers and mail it to our address in El Paso, please let me know as well.

Thank you very much and Happy Holidays!

Jason and the Casa de Bendicion family

English Class Update...

We wanted to take a moment to update you all on the exciting things that have been taking place during our Thursday night English classes.  If you recall, we started classes here about 2 months ago for our kids to begin to immerse them in English.  Kim and Jenna have been doing a wonderful job teaching and helping them.  One of the rules that they have during the class is that the children can only speak English.  No Spanish allowed.  

I asked Jenna to write a bit about what’s been going on.  Check it out.

For those of you who do not know me, my name is Jenna Borrelli. I am originally from Oregon, but am currently serving here at Casa De Bendicion for a year. While I am here, I am doing a variety of different things to help serve the orphanage and community. One of those things has been teaching English classes at the orphanage.

In July of 2018, I received my TEFL/ESL (Teaching English Foreign Language) certificate. Meaning I am certified to teach English to non-native English speakers. So coming here and being able to teach these kids has been an absolute dream. I’ve been teaming up with Kim Vargas, who is the administrator here at the orphanage, to help with the classes.

We have been teaching all the basics of English.  So far the kids have learned how to ask each other questions, such as “What is your name? How old are you? Where are you from? What is your favorite food? etc.”  They have learned the colors, fruits, numbers, family, and some animals.  In each lesson, they also learn songs in English and play fun activities to help them remember what they previously learned. The songs are great because the kids continue to sing them outside of class as well. It brings me so much joy when we are eating meals together, and the kids start asking each other questions in English. They are so intelligent and are learning very quickly.  I have no doubt they will be bilingual in the future. 

It is also exciting to see the kids using English in their daily activities. Whether they are playing, cleaning, helping in the kitchen or just hanging out, they are either full of questions about English or are eager to learn more words and phrases.

I count it a blessing to have this opportunity to be here and not only teach, but to speak truth into their precious lives and help them see themselves the way that our Lord Jesus sees them, and to love them with an unconditional love that has been gifted to me from Christ. The good work the Lord is doing here will only continue as we continue to seek Him. I humbly ask for prayers for the English classes, myself, the staff and volunteers, and every single kid that has walked through these doors of Casa De Bendicion.



Farewell Morales Family...

Many of you who have come to visit the orphanage have had the wonderful opportunity to serve alongside Carlos (aka Pelon or Baldy). Carlos has been working at the House of Blessing since August of 2012. That is when we first purchased the 40 acres and began building the orphanage. A few years later, a young woman named Reyna came from San Vicente Mexico to serve at the orphanage. Who would ever of thought that these two wonderful individuals would fall in love, get married and continue serving faithfully with us.. They lived on sight here at the orphanage with Jackie and I to help take care of the children. During that time they had 2 beautiful daughters and are expecting a 3rd girl.

Carlos is one of the hardest workers I have ever met. I call him the Mexico MacGyver. This guy can build anything, fix anything, come up with anything when needed.

A few months ago, Carlos shared with our board and staff that he felt like his time at the orphanage was coming to an end and that the Lord was leading he and his family into the next chapter in their lives. They will be moving in a few weeks to San Vicente to serve at another wonderful ministry called “Casa del Pastor.” Casa del Pastor is a home in Baja California, Mexico for women and their children who are abandoned and abused. Reyna actually grew up at Casa del Pastor.

We are definitely sad to see them leave, but thankful for the time that we had with them and are VERY excited to see the new opportunities that the Lord brings their way. Please pray for them as they begin packing and preparing for the 24 hour car trip to their new home. Please also pray for the transition into their new life. Muchas Gracias!