The Kemps in Mexico

This weekend we had the honor of taking the familyout and building a home for a family in Ensenada. Joining us was also Sam's brother Chris, His wife Shan, and thier sister Becca.

Our family was the Hernandez Mora family. Salvador, Patricia, with thier kids; Evelin, Perla & Braulio, have never had their own home. They always rented. A bit over a year ago they bought some land. They now have a small home there, they went to move there soon after buying it, because they couldn't keep paying the rent and the land payments at the same time. Their current home is in very bad conditions. It is very old, the roof now doesn't work and it has been very badly damaged by the rain.

For Salvador it is very difficult to build a better home, because he is still paying off the land. He is the only one in the famiyl who works. His salary is quite small and is not enough to cover all their expenses

It was a great privilege to see my kids workng together, and to be along side them while they painted and hammered. Living in Ensenada for so long, you can get blasay to the immense need here. But as you go out and meet the people, and work along side them, you learn to understand, that the smallest things can make you so happy. JAcob was fitting the windows on this house, and as thier yougest child saw them, he got very excited saying " We are going to have real windows that open!!"

The day was finished with a very moving dedication ceremony, with many tears from the family and builders.

For More pictures of the weekend go to picasaweb.google.com/tymkemp/

So yesterday (Easter Sunday) was quite an exciting day for us. At 3:40pm we experienced a fairly extended, 7.2 Earthquake. At first i just thought the table was wobbling, but then realized everything else was moving as well. We immediately evacuated the campus.
With our Base director being away, Tym took the lead in executing the evacuation and connecting with the authorities for the all clear to go back. During the rest of the day, there were a few minor Aftershocks, one was even strong enough to wake us up at 630 this morning.
With the Tsunami warning a few weeks back, and now this... Its shaping up to be an eventful year!!!

With the continued aftershocks going on after the earthquake in Chile, we currently have a team there, accessing  our response, and how a Homes of Hope program would work in the situation there.

In Haiti, we continue to have a team there, working with the YWAM campus, as they continue to be a lead player in helping restore the country.

Thanks for all your emails and messages, we are all OK

Let me introduce you to the Escalente Perez family. Originally from Chiapas in southern Mexico, they moved to Ensenada 4 years ago in search of medical help. Their oldest son was born with a cleft lip and pallet. The Father Reynoldo is 40, and Maria is 24 years old. They have 5 Children aged between 1 & 7.
Reynoldo is a field worker, and earns up to a maximum of $12 dollars a day to support his family. During the past weeks, we have had alot of rain here in Ensenada, which for Reynoldo means no work. When we met them, because of the weather and no work, the family had not eaten for 3 days.

Their current living conditions were some of the worst i have seen for a family. 7 people (Mum, Dad & 5 kids) all living under a tarpaulin shack. It was cold, damp with 1 small bed. Cooking was done outside on an open fire and the bathroom was a hole in the ground with a curtain hung up around it.  

2 Weeks ago, we had the privilege to go out and build a new home for this family. No longer would they be sleeping on a dirt floor, no longer would they be getting wet when it rains. Their lives have been changed forever.