You may be asking, "What kind of a game day is that?" Well, not quite...Today was exciting in that I actually got to finally work on 2 things I've been wanting to do with the girls, yet haven't been able to work on or towards much at all: establishing a practice budget with monopoly money, and facilitating an English club.

For the budget, I had some time the other day to put together a list of normal household items where we incur regular costs here at Casa Aleluya, so today I was able to take the list to Papi to get the actual figures. He also helped me figure out how to divide the figures so as to come up with an accurate per person or per dorm amount, depending on the budget item. The girls are going to be pretty surprised when they get to see, in a more personal way, the everyday costs here at Casa.
The idea behind this budget plan is to introduce them to the concept of keeping a budget, based on the real numbers of the costs that currently pertain to their everyday lives, while also teaching them about what to expect as normal costs once they make the transition to life beyond Casa Aleluya. We will use Monopoly money so the girls have the chance to be responsibly for their own accounts, yet without the real risk of loss should they misplace it. It also enables us to familiarize them with the real numbers, without having to have that kind of real money floating around. Please pray with me as I prepare this program. Humbly, I'd like to ask for your prayers that we're able to get it established before I head our for a month in the States at the end of November (only 5 weeks away now! Yikes!)

The English club is a little rougher of an idea, although its essence allows for a format that follows suit. At this point, it looks like that will mean it sort of develops as it goes. Given the limited time I've been finding lately stretching between my different commitments, I'm ok with that looser planning scheme. Today we didn't get too into it yet, but it's the first start in that direction. While I was in the States for a weekend at the beginning of the month (had to renew my visa, aka, spend at least 72 hours out of Guatemala, and Spirit Airlines had a cheap flight...anyways...) I was able to hunt down some great language-building games (mostly vocabulary) to bring home. Today, I finally took them out of the wrapping and took Boggle upstairs to see if I could find any takers.
Many of the girls, as well as a few from outside our dorm, have been asking about me teaching English. While I'm not sure where to start with formal lessons, the English Club idea formed out of this demand. Please pray with me that we will be able to organize it more formally to hold a club that will actually be helpful to those wanting to increase their English skills (or gain any at all.) I'm also praying to get this project off the ground before heading to the States this time, so please join me here--I'd love to know I have your prayer support!
For today at least, Ludy, Vilma, and I enjoyed a few rounds of Boggle, trying it in both English and Spanish, and leaving me with the impression that I need to brush up on my own English vocab!

On another note, the Pueblo de la Verdad (Village of Truth, aka Angelitos/Baby Dorm Church) leaders have been busy organize their first fundraiser, with the hope of becoming better equipped to give a more effective program to the little ones on Sunday mornings. They decided we could tackle the attention deficit by giving the kids a snack beforehand, which the leaders saw as effective with the Mississippi team's VBS program. Since the animal cracker at the end for good behavior was a motivator they wanted to keep in place, the leaders decided to fund raise.
I am so proud of them for the initiative and ownership they've taken in this project. They drew up a plan to present to Papi and invited him to our last meeting to share their idea. He offered to fund the snacks until the leaders raise the money to purchase out of our own Pueblo account. Additionally, he approved the rest of their plan, so yesterday I took a group of the leaders with me to shop for food, which they started cooking last night (and will continue tonight/tomorrow early afternoon) to sell to the parents and families tomorrow afternoon during visitation. Let me tell you that it was a trip keeping an eye on a few of them through the aisles of the supermarkets! Half of them were very good shoppers though, and we got a good start last night. Most of them chipped in towards our initial costs, although it definitely amounted to much more than what they imagined. Still, if they sell everything for the prices we discussed last night, they should be able to double what we put in initially, which would be a wonderful start. They're planning to use the profit towards a weekly lower-key selling venture to the rest of the Casa kids, to keep up the funds bank, as well as towards the purchase of the Sunday morning snacks. Please keep lifting up the children's church program as well, that the leaders would continue stepping up into leadership, and that we'd be able to give the little ones a program that will truly bless and lead them well. Katie Parker has also joined our ranks and has already been a blessing to me in helping out, for which I am so thankful. Please pray for wisdom for us in training up the leaders.

Well, they just rang the dinner bell, so I'm off to enjoy the bean sandwiches...gotta love 'em! You all take care, and may He bless you richly in all you love and do. May your desires mirror His. Thanks be being part of our Casa team!

Ginny and the young ladies :)