Harvest

This school year has been a greatly blessed one. I’ve been able to see the El Pozo community
grow in faith as well as in number.

This year we had 30 students in our leadership group, which we call “el Núcleo”.
It’s been a challenge having so many people for Bible studies, but we’ve also been
able to see more and more their desire to know about Jesus.

From that group, five girls decided to follow Jesus for the rest of their lives and declared

it through baptism.

I’d like to talk about three them:

Diana and Dinorah participated actively on this last semester, got involved in the

Núlceo and demonstrated leadership and admiration in the group.

They both graduated this semester and won’t be at El Pozo any more.

That is exactly why it’s been so important that they made this decision before leaving.

I’m really happy with all that they could learn and share with everyone else because

they are people that I’m sure will impact the world.

Diana was a soccer player in the UDLAP and she’s been accepted in one of the best

teams in Mexico to play professionally.

Dinorah, on the other hand, is making her professional practices in the international relations

secretary office in Mexico. She is planning to go to En Vivo as an intern in Salamanca, Spain.

Right now she is support raising, I’m sure her leadership can influence

more young students in Spain as it did here.

I’m also sure the decision they both made to participate,

learn, share and obey Jesus through baptism, showing their faith to others,

will help them in their projects and future relationships, and it’ll push people around

them to live like Jesus has taught them.

Finally, Marina, a student that participated in every activity at the Núcleo and became a

great leader everyone respected and followed. Her story before Casa Verde, however,

was totally different. At her baptism she wanted to share her testimony and said she had

thought of commiting suicide several times, and she was actually determined do it one day,

but God had a better plan. In that moment, one her best friends talked to her and invited her to

El Pozo.

She somehow decided to set her plans apart and go with her to that place.

From day one she attended an ‘en vivo’ event she has never again had suicidal thoughts and

she has turned into a respected and admired leader at the Núcleo. What an amazing blessing!

God decided to use our ministry to give hope back to her live and he definitely has an enormous

plan for her. I’m thrilled to keep working by her side next semester and see

God’s wonders through her life.

I am really happy with that because it’s a reflection of the love, care and patience we’ve

worked hard to give every student that knows Casa Verde. It’s the result of our teamwork,

not only this semester but throughout the years, trying to never lose the point, talk about

Jesus’ love,

be intentional in our relationships and showing them the meaning of community.

Every day that goes by I can see how God works in leaders as well as students,

creating an atmosphere that gets closer and closer to what the Church is.

We made two trips this year, too. One to the mountain, the other one to the beach.

Each one of them united our students in a special way.

We’ve seen friendships begin and grow, and be there for each other.

It’s great to see how they’ve understood the meaning of living in community and loving

one another.

We also went on our first Casas por Cristo international trip to Guatemala,

where we built a house for a family. This trip was one of great lessons for all

of us who went there,

as we had the opportunity to realize how many blessings we have.

The family we could bless with a house in Guatemala worked selling pyrotechnics.

They’d had a terrible accident and the father passed away in the explosion.

People in that community was really affected, especially this man’s family,

whom we could help by covering the basic need of having a roof over their heads.

It was a moment to meditate about everything that we have, and that there are people

that need our support. We went out of our everyday life and saw a bit of the big work that

is ahead to do, and that God wants to keep blessing more people though what we have and

through

our gifts.

In short, it’s been a blessed and at the same time hard year. However,

I think that complexity has brought good results, as being only a few in the staff made each of us

stronger in praying, in compromise and responsibility. We had bigger challenges and that pushed

us out of our comfort zone constantly, which no doubt helped us grow in a special way personally,

spirituality and in our teamwork. That is a great blessing because God demonstrates his power,

and the glory and honor were directed all the time to Him, being united and putting our

confidence

and strength in Him in every goal we wanted to achieve.

I love working for the Lord, but getting the economic support is getting more and more complicated. I still need around $300 per month, so I would like you to be praying that I can get there for 2018 and keep serving God much longer.

Thank you so much for all of the support and encouragement that you have given me throughout all this time!  If you would like to support me even more, here are a few ways:

FINANCIAL

One of the ways you can help is by deciding to support me financially (online or check)

Online: 

simply clicking on the following link DONATE. 

A page will appear like this one, there’s a bit about my story and a green button below my photo which says “Give”.  On the ¨Give¨ page you can

decide if you want to make a monthly, or a one-time

donation (for this online giving you will need to use your credit card).

By Check: 

Fill out your information on the back, tear off the bottom portion, and make check payable and mail to: CMF International, PO Box 501020 Indianapolis, IN 46250

PRAYER

But above all, the greatest way you can support me is in prayer. I definitely need your prayers while I am still here in Puebla.  Please pray for my team and for our students and for all the is ahead of us in the coming semester.

My email is karlaalejandreolivares@gmail.com