Wendell and Deb's Wonderful Wandering: February 2022

If you have been wondering what the Brenneman's have been up since our last blog post, here is our February 2022 update. After finishing our Sower Project in Tucson, AZ we packed up our camper to head west to Yuma, AZ. Yuma will be our home away from home for the rest of our Winter 2022 adventures. We are "camping out" at the Villa Alameda RV Resort. We have wintered at this park for a number of years. Villa Alameda is an older privately owned RV park with a combination of permanent park model units and lots for campers. We were pleased to learn that the park was almost full of our friends from Canada and the US and once again very active(meaning the pool, park clubhouse and the shuffleboard courts are open). We immediately connected with friends from Minnesota and Wisconsin who are wintering in a neighboring RV Park.

Life at our winter home has become routine with a few high points. Deb is involved with the Villa Alameda (VA) sewers, making quilts and other sewing projects that are donated to several organizations in the neighborhood. Wendell goes to coffee early in the morning (6:00 am or earlier), then reads the Argus Leader online, prints the crossword puzzle, and enjoys a leisurely breakfast. On Monday, Wednesday and Fridays he plays shuffleboard, and then takes a 2 to 3 mile walk on the irrigation dyke behind the VA park.

We have several long-time friends in the Yuma area so we enjoy visiting with them also. I find many people return to a certain area or park mainly due to the friendships made early in their winter snow-bird experience.

A very important ministry we are involved with CASA la de Esperanza (Homes of Hope) works out of Yuma. Homes of Hope builds homes in San Luis, Mexico about 20 miles southwest of Yuma. We enjoy helping Curt and Kelly Van Ekeren, the leaders of Homes of Hope. They began the ministry over 13 years ago, and have built over 60 homes for the poor residents of San Luis. Many of these residents live in an area of San Luis set aside for the poor on the south side of San Luis, Mexico. Many of the mothers and fathers of these families cross over the border to San Luis, Arizona to work in the fields and farms surrounding Yuma, and the area towns. If they can't cross the border every day, they work in San Luis, Mexico's numerous manufacturing plants. These residents barely make $100 a week. They work 6 days a week, 12 hours a day and often only have enough funds to feed their families. Homes of Hope provides them with a safe, dry and often their first home without dirt floors!

So, one of the reasons for us to winter in Yuma is to help Homes of Hope whenever needed. Teams come down from the upper mid-west (South Dakota, Nebraska, etc) to build the homes after raising the funds to complete a house. Curt and his teams usually build one house a month. So one week each month is designated for the house build. Homes are built during the cooler months in this area, December through at the latest April. The teams will have anywhere from 10 to 15 workers. Curt augments the teams as needed with local San Luis, Mexico residents. This month the team was large enough that we were not needed to help build the house.

For more information on CASA de la Esperanza (Homes of Hope) view our website at Homes of Hope

We also work with a mission organization called Mission Jamaica. Mission Jamaica supports an orphanage up the mountain from Montego Bay, Jamaica. Over the years Mission Jamaica has made a huge impact on this orphanage for "social orphans". All the residents of the Westhaven Orphanage have some form of physical or emotional challenge. A good portion of the residents of Westhaven have family, parents or grand parents, etc. But the families can not take care of the residents, so they give them to the state or the orphanage to provide care and support.

On February 11th we flew to Jamaica to meet up with the CHAPS (Christ's Hands Around People in Service) team. The team is consisted of individuals from Sioux Falls, Windom, Minnesota, California and this year several individuals augmented our team with a couple from the Minneapolis area and one from Nashville, TN. The Mission Jamaica week is called a "vacation with a purpose". We work for three days at Westhaven or with Jamaica Abode (J'Abode). J'Abode builds homes in some of the area communities. This year the First Reformed Church sponsored a J'Abode build in Bounty Hall, Jamaica. Wendell worked three days on the build site, and Deb worked two days on the build and one day at Westhaven.

Mission Jamaica houses the teams at the Holiday Inn Resort in Montego Bay. This all-inclusive resort is on the beautiful water of Montego Bay. The team has daily devotions every evening with the sounds of the surf echoing in our ears, the smell of salt water in our noses as the beach is literally outside the half wall of the pavilion! On our three work days we meet early for breakfast in the large open air dining hall, pack our lunches for the day from the ample buffet. Bacon sandwiches are Wendell's favorite! Then the team splits up, half going to the J'Abode build and the other half up the mountain to Westhaven.

Our drivers are Jamaican and all have their PHD certification (Pot Hole Dodgers). Roads outside of Montego Bay are very, very, very rough! For a half hour or more we weave all over the road hanging tightly to the nearest handhold. We are grateful for their skillful driving skills, and have always arrived at the sites and back home safely.

What follows are some pictures from our Mission Jamaica week. We are grateful for safe airline travel, negative COVID tests and safe arrival back home. The pictures which follow give you some idea of our February activities to this date. Keep us in your prayers as we seek to serve our Lord! For more information on Mission Jamaica go to Mission Jamaica

Wendell and Deb

First stop Charleston, NC airport. Awaiting flight to Montego Bay

Sunday's view as we relaxed and prepared for the work week.

Lyle leads our evening devotions, with his portable piano!

Day one began with sizing up the job. The home owner had started building her house, we picked up the work with a few studs in place, and some rafters holding up half of the zinc roofing on the house.

One of the first tasks was to paint the siding, beige (Pawpaw) on one side and Jamaican yellow on the other.

Deb picks up the hammer!

Wendell, Tanya, Deb and Phil spent two days putting up siding.

Deb and the home owner Marlene

The team covered the walls with scripture passages, then knowing the second coat would cover them wrote all the passages in a book that was given to the owner. She was literally surrounded by prayers/scripture, God Word watches over her.