After almost a year of hard work, the renovation project on the boys’ houses is complete! The boys moved in this week.

Remodeling the kitchen and dining hall is the next project, scheduled to begin in the new year.
Yesterday huge boxes arrived at La Finca. Children helped unload them from the delivery truck. Late in the afternoon Alonso called everyone to gather in the church. High school-aged youth from a private Christian school in Texas were present to reveal the contents of the large mysterious boxes that had arrived earlier in the day. Their school had purchased and wrapped a present for each child and long-term worker at La Finca. Following an opening song by La Finca Choir, the Texas team served pizza to everyone. Then, they called each person up front by name and presented a gift.

Audrey only has two more days of school with the Horst children before the Horsts travel back to the States for a few weeks. This past week, for a science project, Zack watched bean seeds sprout in a jar. Then, Dwain helped him plant them in the garden.
Throughout the month of December we’ve been using the Jesse Tree to focus our thoughts during Advent. Angelica and Ali drew the tree and colored each symbol we hang on it. The idea of the Jesse Tree comes from Isaiah 11:1-9, where God promises a discouraged nation that the glory they remember from David’s time will come again. They will have another king (Jesus) from Jesse’s family, in whose reign the whole earth will know God. We decorate the Jesse Tree with reminders of how God prepared the world for that kingdom.
Also in December, as an art project, we made ornaments.
And, just for fun, we made gingerbread houses. Each decorative item was wrapped. The children had to open each package to discover the materials they had to work with. Then, the creativity began!
With the help of the children below, Dwain decorated our house with greens from a tree in La Finca. The children thought it looked beautiful, especially with the hanging bananas ripening in the midst of the greenery.
Dwain prepares to sow seeds with the help of eager children.