A Great Team!

We are coming off of a great week with a group of college students from Washington. Matt, one of the leaders, came for 2 weeks on his own to the Bible Home last fall and fell in love with Roblealto. He organized a team of 21 peers to join him on a missions trip during their spring break and they have been wonderful! We´ve really enjoyed getting to know each of them and sharing about Roblealto´s work in the lives of the children. They´ve done landscaping, painting, building shelves, and (the worst job) pulling nails from the floor boards that Ridgewood´s group took up a month ago! They´ve really brought an energy and youthfulness and bonded with the children. We´ve been thrilled to help them process their experience with them. Today they head to camp with the 80 children from the Bible Home for the weekend. The kids have been counting down for this camp where they´ll play games, hang out with the volunteers and hear the gospel. The theme is related to the World Cup and Jesus being the best coach ever. Mark and I will go for a few hours on Saturday to play games. This is one of the most exciting events of the year for the kids at the Bible Home!

Please continue praying with us in the Los Guido Campaign to raise funds for the new child care center. Last week we sent out almost 30 letters of inquiry/applications for foundations requesting grants for this project. We now will wait and pray that some of the foundations will be interested. We´ve requested over a million dollars in hope that we can raise funds for the first stage ($673,000). Many of these foundations are Christian families and we pray that they will see what God is doing and want to join in His work at Roblealto!

Just an FYI: After praying and talking with our families and our team at Roblealto, we´ve decided to return to MN a month earlier than originally planned, at the end of July. We want to be financially responsible and not have to pay for both our condo and our rent here and we are also eager to find the next step for us. Mark has been looking into churches seeking a pastor and has made a website resume he´s sending out. Please pray for us as we look for where God wants us to serve next!

A Day in Los Guido

It has been a while since we have posted to our blog and we have much to share. First, many of you know that Emily lost her uncle Jay tragically in a plane crash in Virginia last week. Emily flew there to attend the funeral. We appreciate prayers for the Youngquist family in this difficult time.

Before Emily left last week we had a unique opportunity to spend a whole day in the Los Guido community in the southern part of San Jose. As you've read before, this is one of the most desperate communities in this area due to extreme poverty, drugs, gang activity, domestic violence. Families have few options for a better life. Roblealto has plans to build a new child care center right in the midst of Los Guido which would immediately change the lives of 250 children and their families. With their children cared for during the day, mothers could find work and help provide for their families. The vast majority of families in Los Guido are single parent families and so the provision of quality Christian child care would make an enormous difference. Currently Roblealto is launching a campaign to raise the $600,000 necessary for the first stage of the center. You will find details, pictures and video at www.roblealto.org, as well as an opportunity to give.

During our day in Los Guido we visited three homes, listened to their stories of need, and than shared with them the hope that soon the Roblealto child care center could be built. We then prayed with the families holding hands together. What we learned about Los Guido that day will stay with us for a long time and will provide added encouragement for us as we research Christian grants and communicate with Roblealto's partner churches. Here is what we experienced:

• Los Guido has 30,000 people living in poverty and at risk situations.
• Most families are led by a single parent, making employment very difficult.
• The condition of the homes were difficult to see, especially as 3 or 4 families lived together in one small house.
• The people of Los Guido are surrounded by realities such as unemployment, gang violence, domestic abuse, poor sewage and water services, child protitution, and child labor.
• The families are stuck in a cycle of poverty with little hope of getting out.
  
• That being said, we were welcomed into homes with smiles, hospitality, faith and hope.

Emily and I were stuck with a sense of God's presence as we experienced the Los Guido community first hand. It is clear that in some of the darkest places on earth the light of Christ shines strongest. Our prayer is that with the help of donations from many sources, large and small, God will answer the prayers of the people of Los Guido for Roblealto's services. We thank the families for their permission to share their stories and pictures with you and on the Roblealto website.

God bless all of you back in the States and in Canada as the winter season winds down. We look forward to a visit from Joan and Krista in just a few weeks! It will be great to share some time together.