Keep Praying!

Here is a picture of the Federal Police getting prepared to enter the center of Oaxaca today. From what I can tell negotiations are still under way to end this peacefully, but the government of Mexico is under pressure to end this issue all together especially since the death of an American journalist on Friday.

APPO is determined to stand it's ground, however, at the barricades. However, there is evidence that other protesters are giving up guarding the barricades and even waving white flags and calling to the police to stop because they are all brothers. Let's hope this continues and there is no more bloodshed.

Our fellow Christians are continuing to pray for the Paz de Oaxaca! Let's keep them and their city in our prayers.

Our Last Days in Oaxaca

This is a pretty good example of what A LOT of the intersections look like in Oaxaca's downtown...VERY beautiful buildings with burned out trucks and buses etc. and graffiti everywhere.

As I write this we have just heard from Elaine Swift that the whole city of Oaxaca (approx. pop. 500,000) is being effectively shut down by APPO (the radical group who joined the teachers demanding the ouster of the Governor). It is a very dangerous situation now. Please be praying! The teachers voted to go back to teaching but are very concerned about their and their school's safety. Some of the students at the missionary school, according to Travis, who is getting some email from the students there, are separated from their parents at the moment. The reason that this can even happen is due to the people running the police out of town earlier this year. We saw VERY LITTLE police presence in the city at all. The governor has left the area and there is no access to the government buildings. It sounds like the media has been effectively shut down as well today. >From what we could tell, the local people should be pretty safe if they just stay where they are and away from the main thoroughfares. Casa Hogar is in a village that is up a hill several blocks from a main road so should be ok.

Also, please pray for Sarah Olla again who is organizing the intercessory prayer event (it was actually supposed to happen tomorrow but things look pretty interesting right now!) (Paul or Elaine do you know anything more about the event?)

Thank you for your prayers!



On Saturday we were able to visit Monte Alban (a Zapotec Indian ruin site to the west of Oaxaca) Until we get our pictures up...you can see some information and pics HERE We had a very good visit that day. It was very cool to start with and then warmed up quite a bit. The site is on a mountain that was leveled almost 2000 years ago. The site is very similar to what you have seen from the Aztecs in movies. Very tall pyramids to climb with very interesting carvings.









Later that day we visited a pottery store where they make a very special form of black pottery. An art that was lost for many years until it was rediscovered by a lady in this village and passed down to her children. This is how they make this pottery: "skilled potters using traditional firing methods and add special fuel to the fire and then seal the kiln. Starving the fire of oxygen produces a thick smoke that chemically combines with the clay to form the black color. Prior to firing, the item is rubbed or burnished with a smooth stone. This burnishing imparts the beautiful patina finish." It really is a beautiful form of pottery. Brian and Kristen from Simply Smiles drove us to this factory.




On Sunday we attended a special service at the church that went until 2:00 or so. Elaine Swift then made awesome tostadas for us. After that we were able to take a trip out to Santa María del Tule, or Santa Maria of the Tule. This is where the western hemisphere's widest tree is located. It is a beautiful village with a very interesting cathedral that is located next to the tree. We had a very good time exploring this area and doing some souvenir shopping. You can read a bit more about this village and the very interesting tree that is over 2000 years old HERE
To think that this tree was alive when Jesus walked the earth was fascinating! We had a very very nice day with the Swifts.



On Monday we spent some time with the kiddos and helped around the home a bit. Then Paul Swift took us downtown to do some souvenir shopping and to visit a very large, beautiful cathedral called Santa Domingo. We were able to walk through the Zocalo area where the teachers were holding their "sit in" strike. It was quite interesting to see how they had blocked all the road ways and were all camped out with their protest signs etc. There was still a flurry of life going on around them, including many little shops selling their wares. We visited a very crowded market and bought a few souvenirs. Needless to say we wanted to get out of there before dark. We were then treated to a meal at a very nice restaurant by Carol and Fran Marin (directors of Casa Hogar) and Brian and Kristen from Simply Smiles. It wasn't the same Mexican food our boys were used to so they had to try some different things. I really enjoyed the food a lot.

On Tuesday we were able to start helping with the tiling of the bathrooms in the dorms for the children. They were painted and plastered but will now have very nice tile on the walls and floors. It was a very interesting job, as it was something I hadn't done much before, and needed to learn how to put some of the tiles on walls that weren't very straight at all. But the results will be well worth it. They have a very skilled construction worker named "Marcello" (sp?) who oversaw all the concrete and tile work. His work is truly awesome. Tuesday evening was another special evening with the church. The focus was on family as it was the Pastor's mother's 87th birthday. It was a very awesome celebration. People gathered in families to pray and many surrounded the orphans to pray for them as well. It was a tear jerker! Then there was a "Mexican Potluck" afterwards. Lots of great food!

Wednesday morning was very difficult. We had to get all our things together, do some cleaning and then finding a way to say good bye. Those kiddos really get in your blood quick! If you would like to see more of what we did and saw please visit our other picture blog at sorensen7pictures.blogspot.com

Oaxaca Update

(L) Here is Tanner and a new friend who had the same shirt as him.

(R) Tanner and Travis having a fun time with the kiddos. (Nice Sax!)

We have been very busy. The first couple days Rick helped Paul build some bookshelves for a lady in the church and paint safety fencing to put around a patio area the kids use for some schooling and playing. (See picture below). Deb and Travis went with Elaine to the grocery store and worked a lot in the kitchen cleaning the cupboards. This is the kitchen they use for the many groups that come here to do work projects. It is in this kitchen where we are able to keep some food for ourselves. We eat breakfast and supper there. We try and eat lunch (dinner) with the kids in their dining room. They eat dinner about 2:00 each day and supper is at 7:30 or 8. That was a bit difficult for us to get used to.

This is Deb with our new friends cooking banana bread. There has been A LOT of fresh bananas donated here recently and they had to be used quickly! Clem is the gal sitting at the table. (short for Clementia) We have gotten to know her very well. She is from England on a language program in which she has to spend a year in a place that speaks Spanish. It is fun to have her around to speak English with (even though our Minnesota accents and her British don't always "jive") Deb has been able to spend a lot of time with her and talking to her about why we are doing what we do. Please pray for Clem as she is so far from home. Deb has been able to jump in many places and assist with what ever is going on. There is ALWAYS something going on here, a constant flurry of activity, although it is difficult for many of the kids with no school right now due to the ongoing teacher strike which has turned more into a political uprising than a strike, calling for the ouster of the governor.

The other boys have been helping a lot with a cement project outside the front of the main building each day. And when they aren't doing that there is a lot of time to spend with the kids. Travis has been able to help organize their library here a bit and will be helping to install adaptive software on the computers for the blind kids.

We got to attend our first church service at the church building that is next to the home on Tuesday evening. It was VERY loud and very lively. But it was fun to be with fellow believers, even though we didn't understand the language much. They have church on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays (Sunday services go for 3 hours)

On Wednesday Rick was able to go with the young people of the church to visit the local public hospital. Hospitals here are a lot different than we are used to. They do not allow family in to visit the sick more than 1 hour a day. So there are sometimes hundreds of people sitting outside the hospital entrance just waiting...like a vigil for their family member. Many have come many miles to get here so they cannot go home. So the church brings them sandwiches and drinks and then prays for the family members outside. I was able to pray for a young gal and her father who were waiting for their mom...her surgery was the next day for cancer. It turns out they were Christians and were very excited that we spent the time with them. In fact the missionary gal from Wisconsin (Sarah Olla) who was with me made a very strong ongoing connection with this gal.

Please pray for Sarah Olla. She is organizing a city wide event of intercessory prayer for young people the first week of November. The week before Billy and Franklin Graham have a crusade here in Mexico. Sarah is on the cutting edge of ministry here in Oaxaca with the young people and is "on fire"...she would be a valuable minister in which to invest your prayer support!

We prayed with some other very difficult circumstances as well at that hospital...as we were about to leave a car drove up with a man laying in the back seat and someone doing CPR on him. Guys from our church had to help carry him into the hospital while we gathered around and prayed for a family member. We later found out that this was a teacher that had been shot in the downtown area by what they are calling "nocturnal death squads"...not sure who is doing it...but it really hit home how "tenuous" the situation is here...It is mostly a problem in the downtown area where most of the streets are blocked off by blocks, burned buses and sandbags...so we are still quite safe in the southern area where we are. But we later found out this man died that night...Please pray for peace in Oaxaca...











Rick and Alehandro (Alex) and Rich. Torrey and kiddos doing puzzles. Tyler helping with the brick project. There are several disabled kids (CP, deaf, blind etc.) We love interacting with them ALL!




This is where we are staying. (2nd floor of main building) We all have picked out a bed in this dorm. The bathroom is to the back of the room to the left. There is no hot water in that bathroom, just cold showers. There is one hot shower down stairs that we can use. It gets very hot here in the middle of the day but cools off a lot in the evening...the only problem is the dogs that bark a lot of the night and VERY early morning rooster calls. But it is quite comfortable.


Even Tanner has been getting "into" the projects...do you think he can lift this?

All the boys have been doing very well getting to know the kids here and learning a lot of their language. Torrey really loves the language interaction.

We have had the opportunity the last couple days to really enjoy some of the beauty of Oaxaca and the surrounding area. I will show some of these pictures later. It is late and we have another day of work tomorrow and some more shopping. We would appreciate your prayers for our return trip home Wednesday, we need a lot of things to come together for it all to work...God still performs miracles! We are all healthy and doing well! They are taking good care of us here.

Our Oaxaca Adventure

This is Travis, Paul Swift, Torrey and Deb sitting outside a pizza "Tiende" Thursday evening. Paul is from Minnesota and is a missionary along with his wife, Elaine at Casa Hogar in Oaxaca. They have been incredible hosts for us and have made us feel welcome and assisted our "transition" into the Oaxacan culture in many, many ways. Paul is incredibly busy trying to keep up with all the maintenance needs of the home, plus assisting people in the church when they have mechanical or other "handy man" type needs and also others in the community. I don't know how he keeps up. Elaine is very busy with coordinating the volunteers, being a liasan between the directors, Francisco and Carol Marin and poeple who want to help at the home. We made it to Oaxaca on Tuesday after being forced to stay in Mexico City due to them cancelling our flight on Monday evening from Mex. City to Oaxaca. It was an interesting culture shock at the airport in Mex City. We stayed at a hotel at the airport and attempted to order a meal at a Mexican McDonalds. It was quite interesting. I know just enough Spanish to be dangerous and not enough to know my big numbers or some of the "different" names for your normal McDonalds meals. We figured out most of it with some help of some clerks who knew a little English. The airport was very modern, clean and professional. We got through customs quite easily and with no questions at all even though we had 2 suitcases full of "interesting" wheelchair parts and other assorted therepeutic items for the home.

After our evening at the hotel we got up with what we thought was plenty of time to catch our flight to Oaxaca but found out it was very confusing where to check in for our flight. We were standing in a long line waiting for our luggage to be inspected with only 45 minutes left before our flight was to leave. We were getting a bit nervous but then we prayed a bit and an attendant asked to see our reservations and then took us to another spot and had our bags specially checked. He entered us into the system and took care of our passports. Then we had another attendant get us quickly through the boarding pass process. But then we discovered it was even more confusing where the departure gate was! We now only had a few minutes left...we were running to where we thought we had to go with hardly any signs to guide us. We tried to ask some people where gate 14 was but they all looked at us funny...(loco Americanos)...we finally found these obscure stairs to the security point and made it quickly through there and quickly to our gate where we finally were hurried onto the "mobile gate" (short for adaptive bus) which then takes you to the "remote gate" (Mexican for "out in the parking lot") and finally made in the air. Mexicana is a very nice airline and they serve snacks and drinks on all their flights.

We arrived at Oaxaca and were greeted by very warm and humid temperatures but a very pretty airport. Palm Trees and Moutains surrounding the whole city. (reminds me alot of Tucson, except for the humidity) We have been busy ever since with work projects and spending time with the kiddos....lots of kiddos!!

I will post some more later about my experience at the local hospital...the church took a visit there to pray with the families, and hand out food and drink...it demonstrates the incredible need still in Oaxaca....Please pray for the paz de Oaxaca....Peace of Oaxaca!! They need a devine intervention very badly...the reason they cancelled our flight was due to all th e turmoil here and very few people coming here now.

Hasta Luego! Until Later

Blessings!

Rick andDeb and Family

Hello Everyone

Hello everyone this is Travis hows it going? Last summer was pretty hectic and now that the school year has officially started and has gotten off the launch pad we look back and wish we were having that summer over again. Isnt it funny how that works? Anyways let me recap our summer. In June I went to Czech republic for a couple of weeks that was alot of fun and I met alot of really cool new people and I am hoping to go again this next year. My parents decided to continue homeschooling us(there pretty dedicated and very brave or just crazy ;) ) Me, Torrey, and Tyler were all in Marching Band thats pretty cool and we did pretty good this year but we will be better next year. The Corn Carnival was fun like it usually is. And the rest of the summer we survived and now were in the school year.....and I have my license (and they spelled my name wrong >_<) Torrey is going to get his permit in 1 week *shudders uncontrolably* everyone who reads this in Cokato or the near vacinity stay off the roads for Torrey is a crazy driver. Coming up is our trip to Mexico and after that Halloween I love that holiday I get alot of candy :D Also Tyler and Tanners Birthdays are coming up Tanner with be 8 and Tyler will be 13*cough 10* Anyways this pretty much concludes me little blurp on this blog of blogging thingers. So hope to see you all soon.

Travis The Not So Cool, Cool Person.

End of Summer and Fall Busyness Begins!

Well finally getting to some blogging! Here's a couple pictures from our end of the Summer activities. The first one is of Taran and Tanner playing egg toss at the Forest City Stockade. This is a restored fort and pioneer day park that has a reunion every August. They play pioneer days games with the kids and serve food made in the style of the 1800's. It is really fun to see all the history preserved there.

The other picture is of Tanner at the State Fair. We try and get to the Fair one day on discount kids day. We had a really good time taking in the shows, rides, food, displays, and much more! Since then we have been really busy getting ready for school. The boys are now very busy with music activities at school and with lessons. Tanner has started piano lessons for the first time this month and is enjoying that a lot.

It has been a little hard for the boys to get the idea that we need to get going on school work but it should come together as we go along.

The boys are busy at the Baptist Church on Wednesdays with clubs and youth group now. Deb is assisting with Tanner's Sunday School class on Sunday mornings.

Travis now has his license! (on 9/11!) He passed his road test with flying colors. He was quite nervous but did very well. It was quite the day for him and me, as we didn't go to the right location and then had to wait, but I think it worked all out for the good. It gave us time to do stuff together. They told him that since we were late that he would be an "on call" person, but he got right in after lunch because some others didn't show. So now we have to get used to the idea of him taking off in the car on his own...quite the different feeling for a parent, as I am sure many of you have gone through!

I appreciate you all thinking of me on my birthday...was a bit tough day, as some of us have been battling colds and allergies, but it was fun to be thought of! Thank you!

As usual, we are also very busy with our business as it continues to grow. We thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers!

End of Summer is on it's Way!

The end of summer is drawing near when it's the Town Pool Party! In the middle of a lite drizzle and temps in the 70s our boys enjoyed this inflatable with many other kids from Cokato, including most of the kids from our neighborhood, which is always fun. They had picnic food and of course played in the pool for 3 hours. We talked later about how blessed these guys are to live in a place where they can enjoy these types of things so much. To be living in a neighborhood with so many kids their age that they can play with all Summer. It truly has been another fun and exciting season for our kids.

Deb is busy planning for the school year, however, and the boys are not looking forward to that. Travis will be doing 2 Post secondary classes from Northwestern College this Fall: Astronomy and a music class. They will force him to be very self motivated. It is pretty awesome that he can do this and have them actually count both for High School AND College. We have also been busy getting our two new homes ready for our clients to move in. It looks like we will have the one full by Sept 1. It is truly amazing to see God work like this. There are more and more opportunities that just keep popping up. We are having the other one repainted and carpeted for the girls to move in. It took a lot of cleaning and attention but it will be a very nice home as well.

Won't be long and everybody will be busy with band and music lessons again. Travis will get his license in September it looks like now. So he may be able to do some driving to his band and music activities. Life just keeps moving a long! We are looking forward to our trip to Oaxaca Mexico in October. Please be praying for all those details of bringing our crew of 7 on this trip! Will be a lot of fun to interact with all those children and the people there. We are really looking forward to getting to share with them. Well, we hope God continues to bless you all!