Our Teams!

This is Robin's team that he works with every day in the National Office: Robin, Lori, Vania, Barry, Kelly, David and "Davidcito"

Robin is receiving his first year staff training by the National Campus Director, David Bedolla. He has been a really fun guy for him to get to know and has encouraged him a lot!

This is the team that Kim works with each day. Faby (the accountant) Charo and Kim (Human Resources), Claudia, Martha and Carlos (Operations) and Brenda (Office Manager). Kim has really loved getting to know each one of them more personally!

Distributing Clothes...

The clothes that the building team from Ohio left behind were received by the families in the community where we were helping to build the well. They were so thankful and appreciative! Thanks for blessing them in that way!

Robin met a "little guy" from the community and was able to "hang out" for awhile between work breaks.

Unexpected Encounter... Friend from Boulder

(Zane in middle)
It is always amazing how little the world actually is. As we waited for the team leader for the "well" project to give us the directions for the day, Robin unexpectedly got picked up and shaken by someone. Thinking that it was just "one of the guys" he bounced up and down playfully. To his surprise, it wasn't one of the students but Zane from Boulder, Colorado who came with three other men from his church to work on the "well" project. Robin had spent several months working on remodeling Zane's house! We could not believe it! We had no idea that Zane was going to be in Puebla and that we would get to work on this same project together! What a small small world!

Dreams of running water!

7:30 am we left for the 1 1/2 drive to a small community to help the locals build up the walls on their newly dug out wells. This will be the first time that this community will have water pumped through gravity lines up the steep hill by their homes. Several teams from Mexico and the US have helped provide the materials and man power to make this dream become a reality for the more than 40 families.

Our team of 12 people helped by hauling rocks, cement and block to the work site. The men did the laborious job of jauling the 125 lb. cement bags and over 80 cinder blocks down the steep hill to where the second of three wells were being worked on. The women helped by finding rocks by the river bank that would serve to build up a wall on the inside of the well.

We enjoyed lunch time where we got a taste of some good home style cooking from the locals!

You never know how God is going to work...

Vania, Adassa and I have been going on campus on Tuesdays to meet students, develop relationships and to have spiritual conversations. Two weeks ago we met three law students and talked for about two hours about the needs that they see in student's lives. One of which was building a good spiritual base (values and morals). I asked them if they felt that this need was being met as they study law. All three said no. Two of the students had to leave, which left us talking with Martha. Martha expressed a desire to understand more about the bible so we met again this past week to discuss what it meant to have a personal relationship with Christ. She did not agree 100% with what we said but we just showed her what the Bible says and openly talked about her doubts. She shared that she wants to learn more. I look forward to studying more in depth with her on Tuesdays at 11:30am! You never know what God will do in her heart!

Which brings me to the story of Marco. 4 1/2 years ago, Heather and I, went on campus everyday in Xalapa. Weekly we saw Marco and we always ended up having spiritual conversations with him. He openly expressed that he was not ready to consider God personally in his life yet. I remember hours and hours talking to him and getting to know him. He was always so nice and he had great questions about God but never really wanted to go much deeper than that. To my surprise he was also at this year's fall retreat and said, "Kim (and Heather), thanks so much for taking time to talk to me about God. He (God) has helped me so much in my life and I am a different person now!" You just never know when or how God is going to work. We spent probably two years getting to know Marco as a friend and sharing about God with him. God always knows our heart and when we will respond to HIM.

I am so thankful to be able to just talk to students about something that really does change lives!

Long Lasting Friendships!!

I was so thankful to get to see and spend time with one of my really great friends from my time in Xalapa! Susan(on the left side) who I disicpled, has graduated and is now teaching full-time in her home town of Cordoba. She is in the process of joining staff. She returned home to be with her family just months before her dad passed away. It was so good to get to connect heart to heart with her!

I also am developing a fun relationship with Sandra, from Oaxaca, as I mentor her while she raises her financial support! She has been such a joy to get to know and I look forward to deepening our friendship!



I also got to spend time with Ninfa and Karem who I also discipled while I was in Xalapa. I met Ninfa when she was in high school and now she is close to finishing her degree! Wow!! How fun to see her walk with God over so many years.

It was such a fun surprise to see Karem also. She accepted Christ with a friend and I began to go through follow-up with her to study the bible. I had not seen or heard from her since I left Mexico in 2005! I was so excited to hear what God has done in her life!

God is so faithful and that which He has begun in us- He brings to completion! I see this to be so true in each of these women's lives!

Videos to be posted on website

Robin has a new video partner! Barry Warren arrived to Puebla at the end of August and he and Robin have been working on video projects together and at the fall retreat they filmed nine students sharing about how Christ has changed their lives. These testimonies will be published on the spanish version of Everystudent.com. (Cadaestudiante.com)

Once again, Robin gets to work on vidoes with his good friend, "Magic" (Edgar) from Xalapa! You should see them work or should I say, PLAY? They make a great team!

Studying Ephesians and building sand castles!!

Studying Ephesians and building sand castles!! It doesn't get any better than this!! We were refreshed and challenged as we spent two days on the east coast with 60 other staff and students to seek God. Carlos de la Garza (National Operations Director) shared with us from the book of Ephesians. We were challenged to examine how God has made as his Master Pieces with a purpose and plan.


Robin's sand castle building team got the prize for most "sand" used! What a creative category! They were not impressed. They wanted to win the best sand castle. O-well.


We especially enjoyed the last night that we heard from Carlos by the bomb fire. Kim was motivated to stay up extra late to get a taste of some toasted marshmallows!

Women's Time- at fall retreat.

One of my favorite times at this year's fall retreat was the two hours that the women spent together reflecting on the importance of developing deep friendships. We laughed a lot, shared our hearts and were encouraged by God's promises to us!

Grand Palace-Bangkok

Pictures at the Grand Palace in Bangkok.

A look at Bangkok

The Guinness Book of World Records has certified that the true name for Bangkok (Krung-thep-nakorn-boworn-ratant-kosin-mahintar-
ayudhya-amaha-dilok-pop-nopa-ratana-rajthani-burirom-udom-
rajniwes-mahasatarn-amorn-pimarn-avatar-satit-sakattiya-visanukam)
is the longest place name in the world.
Bangkok is the largest city in Thailand, as well as being it's capital and main port. It is the cultural, educational, political and economic center of Thailand, as well as being the only metropolis.
The population of Bangkok is close to 9 million people.

Thailand represented

I love being immersed in the culture... We had the opportunity to go to a Thai Show where they represented the various regions from north to south of Thailand. It was very informational and a beautiful representation of the Thai dance! I also got up close and personal with an elephant after the cultural show!

HR director from Spain helping Mexican ministry

It was so encouraging to connect with HR directors from other countries who are helping us to develop the policies and systems that we need here in Mexico. Someone that we have been able to work with is Tere, from Spain. We are using some of the resources that they have already developed!

As I was saying before, each culture has its own unique customs and traditions and FOOD. The hotel provided us with some of Thai's finest delicacies... fried frog's (complete from head to toe), fried grasshoppers, and I think three different types of worms from long and skinny to white and robust. I passed on this delicacy. Other's had a ball trying them for the first time! YIKES!

Open Air Market in Thailand

The day after my arrival to Thailand a group of us ventured out to the 30+ acre open air market. I think we might have covered 3 acres during the four hour shopping experience. My first interaction was with a blind man, covered with tattoos, he used a loud speaker to draw people to his table of goods. I briefly talked to him and helped him get a knot out of the strings to the patch that he wears over his left eye. It was quite surprising to see how kind he was in comparison to his harsh outer appearance.


I was impressed by the variety of transportation used in Thailand. All over the place you would see mopeds, people on bicycles, three wheel taxi's, and these little bus looking cars. They moved around quite efficiently amidst the market crowd.

NEW experiences...

Well, Each trip offers new experiences. It is amazing that from driving to using the bathroom, each culture can be so unique. Here is a picture a toilet in the women's bathroom. I have often heard of this being called the "squatty potty"


In Thailand they drove on the right hand side of the road and as you can see, the driver is on the same side in the car! Could you imagine not only learning a new culture and language but also how to drive on the opposite side of the car and road! It was better to leave it to the natives in this time!

Layover in Japan and arrival to Thailand

Mexico City to LA to Japan... I was pretty exhuasted by the time I arrived to Japan. I had already travelled more than 21 hours. I was thankful to sit by a guy from Japan that was willing to orientate me for the first time about the Asian culture. He informed me that I would probably not like Thai food so much being that it is so spicy. He was right for the most part! As a person traveling by themself, it is always a huge blessing to connect with others who are willing to help. In the Japanese airport I met a very friendly couple from Thailand who later helped me get through the Thai airport at midnight, pay for my taxi and send me off to my hotel. She later called me at the hotel to make sure that I made it OK. That was just the first of many acts of kindness from the Thai people.