"O Week"

Last week was Orientation, also known as "O Week", for the interns here on the ranch. This is a very busy week for them and staff alike. Everything on the ranch needs to be rearranged, cleaned, organized, etc. Ron spent the week fixing things, as well as a day helping one of the missionaries, Tom Coles, working on closing up a house that a team built and didn't quite get finished. Kristy helped get the YUGO Store stocked and ready for the summer and began working on making new wooden signs for all the buildings, etc. Brittany and William have been pitching in wherever needed. They've been a tremendous help.

One highlight from last week was that Kristy and the kids spent a day in Ensenada with the interns and summer staff. The interns had to do a scavenger hunt around a few block radius in downtown Ensenada, right off of the harbor. The kids enjoyed helping, while Kristy and Pam, the cook in training, tried not to help - due the fact that they both have some Spanish knowledge, as well as knowledge of the area. The idea was for the interns to learn to use their Spanish in order to ask questions, navigate around town, purchase some small items, etc. It's a good learning tool, and all in all a good cultural day for everyone. While there, we of course had some amazing fish (and shrimp) tacos! They are very well know for their seafood in Ensenada, and this was our first time experiencing it. We also took a short boat ride on the ocean. This was very enjoyable and was the first boat ride on the ocean for all of us. There are a ton of seals along the coast there, as well as covering one entire doc in the harbor. Oh, and walking through the fish market was a rather enjoyable experience!

One of the things we learned more about at the Ensenada Outreach Center while down there, is their "Baskets of Love" ministry.  This is a ministry that Kristy will start up and run at TJOC.  There are several different types of baskets.  Some of them include food baskets, Moses baskets and gift baskets.  The food baskets are mostly given to families when a house it built for them.  Teams purchase the baskets of food and sometimes sponsor that family for a year, giving monthly or bimonthly gifts of food.  The gift baskets are also given to families who receive a house.  The gift basket includes dishes, silverware, bed linens, pillows, etc.  The Moses baskets are for babies, filled with clothes, blankets, etc., and are purchased for families that pastors see are in great need.  We are really excited about beginning this ministry, especially since it sort of coincides with the home building ministry.

This week is our first week of outreaches for the summer, so we'll have an update for you at the end of the week.