Winding Down

It hardly seems possible that the season here at ARV is winding down. Quite a few people have already left the park - either to their Northern homes or to continue a journey around the country. Chaplain Bill and Ali have just returned form a quick 4 day trip to see their new grandson in Colorado. We again had the privilege of having their cat, Charlie, stay with us. As usual, he kept us on our toes with his natural sense of adventure. He learned to open the door on the computer cabinet and jump right in to investigate. His greatest sense of fun was to pull the paper out of my printer as I was printing. No matter where he was, he came running if he heard the printer start up, climb on the desk, wait for the paper to appear, then use his paw to swipe it out of the printer.

Charlie in action

Last year, our park built an air rifle range, which seemed to be very well received. Dave Niccum, who spearheaded this project, sadly passed away last summer. As a result, a resident of the park built a gun case for his gun to be mounted in the gun range in his honor. We were able to be present at the brief ceremony with his wife, Pat.

 

 Pat Niccum accepting the gun case -

in memory of Dave,  mounted in the gun range - the cross you see was the cross he held in his hand as he went to be with the Lord.  

 

 

 

 

We went to the last Fiesta in Reynosa at RIN. The kids were so very excited, as they love to show us the beauty of their culture, not to mention the fact that a wonderful surprise was in store for them as the dinner was baked potatoes with everything !!!

 

 

some of the 4 van loads of Winter Texans ready for the Fiesta to begin

 Paty, giving us a preview of her progress on the guitar that she received for Christmas

 rondolla - a guitar group of RIN children with only 3 weeks of practice under their belt - they were very good

a strange instrument

 the always present pony program, designed for the young girls who love it

 some of these young men had real machetes!

 very impressive

 Kayla, who came to RIN as a very small baby - how she has grown

 Paty and Dan

 this young lady is an intern from Canada, led by God to minister at RIN for 3 months

 dinner of tostadas along with Mexican coke

also the huge baked potato

 what a flower girl

our sweet Carolina - hopefully after this surgery she will be able to walk, something she has never done

 a group of new guitar players

 Paty is doing so well

  

 

Paty gave her testimony which brought tears even to Director Betsy's eyes

no Fiesta is complete without the old drunken men

these girls modeled traditional dress from many of the Mexican states

 dessert - tres leche (3 milk) cake

 mango pie

 

 or chocolate cake

 

 

pinata fun

everyone scrambled for candy after the pinata was broken

us with Paty and Belinda

 time to load the vans and say adios - we had an hour wait at the bridge!!!



Chaplain Bill's sermon this morning regarding the Cosmic Battle (the battle between truth and lies) coincides with our ladies Bible study - Breaking Free. We are all bound by lies - lies that have affected our lives for years sometimes. We need to break those bonds of lies and be free in the knowledge that God loves us and will never leave us. The truth is that there are 3 realities in this life: the world is not what it seems, there is a life and death battle of Christ's love, and it is about us. Lies come from Satan, the world, and the flesh. We need to remember that Salvation is based on the truth of the Word of God. Read you Bible, immerse yourself in the word, and you will know the truth. "If you continue in My Word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free".

John 8:31-32