Nine Missioners Signed Up for July 9 - 16, 2009

After send out an appeal to everyone in our database, the Lord has blessed us thus far with a commitment from nine missioners to travel with us to get the new Casa Hogar La Familia in Palmarito ready for the children to move into their new home.

Praise the Lord for this blessing. What appeared at first to be a disaster is now only a bump in the road we had to navagate around.

While the airfares have increased to $435 roundtrip, we still have time to make air reservations for anyone who would like to travel with us to Mexico in July.

For more information, please telephone Bill Lee: 864-303-8366 (Mobile) or email Blee3paris@aol.com.

Call for Missioners: July 9 - 16, 2009

The US New Media has dealt a solid blow to our mission trips to Mexico scheduled for this summer.

1. Swine Flu was blown completely out of proportion to sell newspapers, but in doing so the media did a good enough job of spreading fear of death for anyone traveling to Mexico that 100% of our mission teams were motivated to cancel for this summer.

FACT: My contacts in Mexico report that there's not been one case of Swine Flu in the State of Puebla where we travel to work at La Familia.

FACT: I have consulted with physicians in both the US and Canada and they have told me that they are not even testing for Swine Flu any more unless a person is really badly sick.

FACT: A physician from Greenville has volunteered to join our team in July.

FACT: 36,000 Americans die annually from the flu in the US.

2. The news media is also reporting widely that the drug cartels have taken over Mexico to the point that the Mexican Government is close to collapse.

FACT: While the border regions between the US and Mexico are definitely dangerous, the towns we travel to are as safe as towns in the US. I am in Mexico 6 to 8 times a year and have never once experienced any fear nor have any members of our teams.

Emergency Mission Team
July 9 - 16, 2009

The construction of the new casa hogar in Palmarito is on schedule for completion in late June and will ready for occupancy in early July. We desperately need to put together a team to travel to Palmarito on July 9 to assist with the move. We will spend evenings in a nice hotel in Tacamachalco, a 20-minute drive from Palmarito.

The decision has been made to add a second floor to the main building. There are two reasons for this decision:

First, it is more cost effective than building a second building which we don't have the funds for right now.

Secondly, the second floor will enable us to accept an additional 15 orphaned and abandoned children almost immediately after things settle down following the move.

*** We need additional capital funds for this unanticipated expense. If anyone has any money left in their giving account, please send a check to Embrace the Dream Foundation, Inc. and designate the funds for the La Familia Project. All donations are tax deductable.

PLEASE PRAYERFULLY CONSIDER JOINING US ON A MISSION TRIP DEPARTING ON JULY 9 AND RETURNING ON JULY 16.

Call Bill Lee at 864-303-8366 or send me an email.

In Christ,

Bill Lee

Swine Flu Avoids La Familia Thus Far

The Swine Flu the US press is covering so broadly has thus far avoided Casa Hogar La Familia in Tehuacan. Please pray that the Lord will continue to protect the children there.

Keep in mind also, that as of Thursday of this week, April 30, the World Health Organization has confirmed only 97 cases in the entire country of Mexico where approximately 106 million people live.

I spoke with Robert Sawyer today and he reported that there have only been four cases reported in Colima and all four have been released from the hospital.

I will keep everyone posted each time I speak with someone who is in communication with La Familia.

Several mission teams have canceled their planned mission trips to La Familia. Just two days ago, a large team of 30 missioners postponed their trip to La Familia until 2010.

While the odds are quite low that anyone would be infected, I can totally understand why teams are erring on the side of caution.

With so few mission teams, La Familia is going to be sorely lacking in both workers to help put the finishing touches on the new hogar in Palmarito as well as love offerings for the directors and staff. Please pray that this health scare will end soon and that the children and the home itself will not be too adversly affected as a result of so few mission teams.