After lunch, at 12:30, my four youngest students return for Science. Then to end our day we all join together once more for either P.E., Art or Music. I must tell the truth and say that this is my most favorite part of the school day. It is always great to step away from the books and be in a different element with the kids.

The kids seem to be getting use to and adjusting well to their new school environment. We are all having to learn each others personalities and what works well and what pushes buttons. We are in very tight quarters.
I am praying that through this experience we learn how to love each other better and that that love will spill out of us. I also hope to help instill in each child a love for learning as God has called us all to be learners. Learners from those younger and older. Learners from books, experiences, people and Him. Learners of hard things and easy things. Learners of things of interest and things we feel no need for knowledge of.

THE RAIN CAME TUMBLING DOWN

Rancho Casitas has a new look to it. On and off for 4 days it poured buckets of rain. Every dry creek became an overflowing roaring rapid. They grew to be 8+ feet deep and wide in areas. Each family was trapped in their own home…no way to cross by car or by foot. God again had his hand of protection over us all and the ranch. There was damage, but nothing that can’t be fixed or replaced. The men worked hard with the tractor to fix the roads so we can continue to have visitors.
If you haven’t heard already, there were also great benefits to the rain. I was able to do boogie boarding and boat racing for P.E.. Also the hills are now a glowing green and beginning to bloom with flowers. It is a beautiful sight!
My prayers during this time were really for the people in the communities and continue to be as so many homes were flooded or washed away.

LOFTHOUSE LOVE
It was an incredible Valentines gift to have a group of dear friends and family come to the ranch and give my lofthouse a little TLC (tender loving care). We did not complete the projects we set out to do, but the time of fellowship and laughter was what I was in need of most anyways.

The electrical was ran for someday when I get a generator. Insulation and paneling was put in place downstairs. But there is still a floor to be laid, ceiling panels to go up, and trim to finish it all off on the downstairs. The upstairs has yet to be touched. I think one more weekend and we can knock it all out.

Also, I am excited to say that a nearby shower house is being completed as well. The pipes and copper tubing were worked on and again will probably be wrapped up in a weekend. I think that weekend is just around the corner. My home church is sending a group down to do a build in the community and some have volunteered to hang back to help me finish up my lofthouse projects. I am stoked!

THE NEWEST ADDITION TO THE RANCH
Over Christmas break I rescued a 3 month old little lab mix from the Redlands Animal Shelter. Her name is Revy.
She actually chose me. As my dear friend and I brought her into a play pen to see if we would be compatible, she ran around like crazy but then jumped up only in my lap. I had no choice but to take her home.

She is fitting right in at the ranch chasing cows and scaring off horses. During the day she sits on the step of the school house and waits for me. At night she snuggles down at my feet, but by morning she is up around my head. She is a big snuggle bug! And can you say spoiled?

For Financial Support : Hands of Mercy
P.O. Box 7818 Redlands, Ca 92375 (Please put #008 on memo line)
For Personal Letters or Care Packages : 633 Garfield Way Redlands, Ca 92373 (Mail will be delivered to me every month)

There really are no words to describe the fire that was relit inside me. I learned so much about our creator, myself and relationships…my relationship with God, family, friends, and the HoM team. We called it “camp on steroids”.

Five days a week from 9 till 4 we were in class learning  and practicing the tools to help prepare us for longevity in the field…embracing rest and silence and solitude, healthy conflict resolution, building community, facing cultural  differences, managing stress, healthy hellos and goodbyes, and the power of prayer!

One of many stories:

Before I left for training I sent a friend a text saying, “Pray that I will come out of my shell.” I tend to be quite on the shy side around a large and new group of people. The first week of training I took a test to determine my conflict style and guess what animal I was? A turtle. God has a great sense of humor! (God exceeded all my expectations and took me out of my shell from the moment I landed in Colorado.) God is good! God is faithful! God is God!

Mexico…Here I Come

I am ecstatic! I am off to Mexico October 30th. I will be coming home for Thanksgiving and Christmas, so it will start out with a few weeks there and a few weeks here. We will be kicking off with a staff development weekend. Our focus…conflict styles and resolution. I feel well prepared thanks to MTI.                       

Then transition begins by setting up my temporary home, a 1985 motor home, that was so graciously donated. I will be working alongside the moms with their current home schooling schedules and learning the ropes, before bringing them all to the Little Red School House. (It is currently storage, so that will be another project.) Also there will be several loft house builds taking place on the weekends so there will be many opportunities to cook and serve meals and manage projects (painting, roofing, installing windows) that take place on a build site.

Helping Hands

So this last weekend I rounded up some friends and we headed to Mexico to give Southwest Community Church a helping hand. They prebuilt 6 loft houses, but only had enough hands to complete 4 or 5.

Saturday morning we met them for breakfast at Estero Beach and then headed out to our build site with a team of unfamiliar faces. After a few pant     splitting and hair raising events we were quite connected. (Read “Ripped Jeans & A Bee Sting” on my blog.)

The day was spent   working shoulder to shoulder sharing our stories of where we have been and where God has brought us to now. And the quote that I often hear from the HoM guys, “We are not a medicine for Mexico, Mexico is the medicine for us” rang so true.

Every trip I make, my heart expands more and more either because of God’s truth that is poured into me by those I am building alongside of or the receiving family that is overflowing with joy from things we would look right over and their contentment with the simple life.

God’s Protection Over Rancho Casitas

As many of you know, a few weeks back, there was a fire on the Hands of Mercy Ranch. The fire lasted for almost 2 weeks and burned over a 100,000 acres.

God, the all powerful one, did one miracle after another from sending 30 Mexican firefighters and 80 military fire team members that no one ever knew existed to changing the direction of the wind minutes before it would have destroyed one of the missionaries homes.

Everything but the top of a pipe went untouched. As I heard said, “It looks like God took his finger and drew a line in the sand around the ranch” and I would add, “And He said to the fire…don’t go there!”

What an incredible confirmation that God is pleased with what the missionaries are doing and that HoM is still under God’s will.

Through all of the struggles and chaos of those 2 weeks there came so many opportunities for the HoM missionaries to minister and love on people and be loved on back.

5 of the 6 Bibles the  missionaries put out on the table, where they were feeding the men meals, were taken and later 2 men were seen reading them. It gives me goose bumps.

Prayer:

• Of praise that God protected the ranch from the fire
• For a connection with Cade, Colton, Josiah, Micah, Lindsey, and Corbin as I begin building relationships with them
• For opportunities to be around natives and be forced to speak and learn the Spanish language
• For family and friends

Check out my Blog:     www.red-schoolhouse.blogspot.com

C O N T A C T I N F O R M A T IO N

God is doing great things! He is providing prayer partners. He is stirring up hearts to come along side me in this journey and financially support me. I have raised over half my support! Thank you again because you are ones who are helping me to live out this burning desire and passion to SERVE. Serve in a ministry that is changing hearts and lives one at a time including the hearts and lives of the missionaries themselves. The greatest thing God is doing in my heart right now is helping me to see beyond my own understanding. I had a plan, but I have surrendered that to Him and am allowing His plan, one that is so much greater than my own.

Office Work
September 2nd I began working in the Hands of Mercy office in downtown Redlands. I am excited to continue building relationships with the men and women that take care of the essential parts of the ministry on the states side. I am researching health insurance options, making PowerPoint presentations, running errands, updating the HOM website, etc. Building great communication now will help when I am miles away and in another country where communication is a little trickier.

Training
Only a few days now till I will be on a plane to Colorado Springs, Co for my three weeks of missionary training. I am staying right on the grounds of the Missionary Training International facility. Training is Monday through Friday from 9-4, so evenings and weekends are free to continue studies from the day, build relationships and explore the area. The training consists of large group sessions and small group time that will focus on developing skills and character in these 6 areas: Spiritual, Personal, Lifestyle, Interpersonal, Cultural, and Endurance.

Prayer Requests
Thank you for being my prayer warriors! Many of you are aware that for 10 weeks now I have been battling some form of hives. The cause is still unknown. By patch testing we ruled out it being anything that is contacting my skin such as lotion or detergents. I am now going through more blood work to rule out Lupus. After that the next step will be allergy testing, but this is like finding a needle in a haystack and very costly. I continue to be in good spirits and just take one day at a time, but pray for an answer so the doctors can treat it properly.
This leads to another huge prayer request and that is health insurance. Right now I’m able to get most work done at a clinic in town and have also been graciously blessed with a few doctors and dermatologists that have provided their services at no cost. When in Mexico I will need to be covered. Coverage costs vary from $80-$450 a month, quite a big difference. So my prayer is that, despite my pre-existing health issues, I would be accepted by an agency that provides the coverage I need but is reasonable.
Then there are always little things that I know God will provide in His time…a vehicle that will withstand the 9 mile rugged dirt road.

Yours in Christ,

Jennifer Dahlin