BLESSINGS FROM CANADA

Greetings from the Island of Isla Mujeres:

Once again 6 months slipped by and here we are trying to catch you up to date.   Many shoes have gone out to the kids here since March with one special family standing out.  They are our friends from Canada and such a blessing to us as friends and to the ministry as well.  The Holdens come to the Island on a regular basis and never visit empty handed.  This past trip they came with 30+ pairs of new soccer shoes and enough jerseys to give 7 teams matching tops.  They do not have sponsors for the teams here so they just show up in anything they have that might resemble a soccer uniform and have fun.  Soccer shoes, tennis shoes, barefoot, long pants, shorts pants.  Nobody cares because they have come to play soccer and have fun.  No fashion statements to be made, so when the Holden family handed out the jerseys on this night, smiles from both kids and parents were plentiful.  They all look like Professionals running around chasing one another and sometimes the ball as well.  We are blessed beyond measure and continue to reach out to these wonderful folks that allow us to live on this Island of beauty.  Along with the soccer shoes, we have handed out over 400 pairs of shoes since March and more keep showing up from folks visiting the Island on vacation and dropping off their donations.  We do not get to meet a lot of these kind donors but are so grateful for them to keep supplying the

shoes that allow us to go and love on these precious kids.  Thanks to all of you.

Off and Running for 2014

March is half over and that also makes 2014 almost 1/4 of the way done.  Time sure seems to be moving along at a very fast pace these days as we get ready to celebrate our Granddaughters 1st birthday next month.   Watching your Grand kids grow up from abroad really hits you every once in awhile but we continue to trust in our heavenly Father to guide us and take care of us here on Isla Mujeres.  Since our big Christmas party, we have gone and handed out shoes with some very loving folks in a different area on the Island at some friends house. One of the photos shows a Mother with her 6 kids.  5 boys plus her baby girl and was she ever thankful for us being able to give all of them a new pair of shoes. Trying to get buy on 7-10 dollars a day as a family, that was a big load off of Mom and Dad and their budget.  It is so great to see people get right in their and love on these little kids in a genuine fashion and they can't wait to come back next year and do it again.  We just had some folks contact us here that are getting ready to head back up North for the summer and wanted us to come by and meet some other couples.  Once there, they blessed us with money to go buy boys shoes and one of our new friends had done a painting of a place here on the Island which was bought and she gave us the money from the proceeds.  Her desire is to paint and then take all the proceeds and donate it to charitable groups.  Pretty neat stuff that is happening out their in this world and God keeps guiding folks our way to bless our efforts in His grand plan.  Hoping everyone is ready for some warm springtime weather and that your year is starting off with a bang.  Thanks to all

who are praying for us here and all who have supported our desire to love on these kids in the name of Jesus.  Blessings from Greg and Natalie.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Greetings, as we head off into 2014 looking for new opportunities to love on the kids here and provide shoes for them.  Our annual Christmas party was over the top this year for the kids as God brought to us some pretty amazing donors to bless them with a party they are still talking about.   From folks that gave 1 pair, to the biggest of over 100 pairs, all of you totally rocked the hearts of the children we got to bless this year.  We were encouraged by a dear friend to plan and pray since we were not sure if we were going to have the party as of the 1st of December.  Usually we have plenty by then but our bank was almost empty of shoes and gifts.  Natalie shared on the internet and God did the rest.   Folks from all over started showing up with goodies for the party and by the time we got ready to go........ well the photos speak for themselves.  Our little house was wall to wall with gifts and shoes.   Riding back on the ferry yesterday, I saw a lady we know and chatted for awhile to get caught up with her life and events.  She shared that folks were talking about the party on the Island and the one thing that stood out to her was, for the first time, kids thought it was pretty cool to live in Guadalapana.  Cool to live in a tar paper shack community with no electricity and running water?  It brought tears to our eyes to think that a gift, a pair of shoes, and a hot meal would impact someone like that.  Skateboards,dolls,action figures, soccer balls, and a whole lot more were handed out to over 400 kids this year and you all made it possible by going the extra mile and supporting our ministry.  We returned from the party with many extra shoes and two days later were able to sit in our doorway and hand out shoes for 2.5 hours to the kids that are living here in our new neighborhood where we are renting now on Isla Mujeres.  We are praying already for next December and planning our next shoe drop soon.  God has been so good to us over the last 6 years and we are ready to jump into 2014 as He leads us to new feet and opportunities to share His greatness.  Thanks everyone for giving and helping us put a smile on so many faces over the years.  Blessings and may you go impact your world in 2014.