This Issue (January, 2008)

Christmas at LaVida

I wish you could have all been here! What a joyous time it was. I don't know who was having the most fun, the children who were receiving the gifts or the adults who were watching the fun. There were the practical gifts: socks, hats, gloves and blankets designed to keep the children warm and protected; and the just-for-fun gifts of toys and treats. All were received with great delight and wrapping paper and ribbon were all over the cafeteria floor. Some parents were able to join us for the festivities and the children and many of the staff were adorned with their hand made and decorated Christmas hats. We had a shopping cart filled with presents from sponsors and each child received a bag of treats to take home and share with their families.

On Friday there was a Christmas program with all grades participating and parents were invited to join us with parent/teacher conferences taking place before the students left for Christmas break. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, let me share some pictures with you in the hopes that you will also share some of the warmth and love we felt. There is no way I can thank you enough. I hope the light in the eyes of the children can shine through the printed page and reach your heart, so you can truly feel a part of the work here at La Vida since without your help, your gifts, your donations, none of this would have been possible.

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From the director

Greetings from La Vida,

January has blown in with my awakening to a reading of 1 degree on my outdoor weather station. Thank goodness for wool long johns and a Christmas wool shirt. Here at the mission we got a short break with the students going home for Christmas and starting back next week.

It was great timing too; for the water system decided to act up again and we experienced a collection of opportunities to show our plumbing skills. First the tank for the drinking water was drained when a hose froze and subsequently drained out the tank. This caused a motor for the pump to burn up. Then the valve to the big storage tank froze and half the campus was out of water. When pressure was restored, it caused two of our houses to spring major leaks in their pressure pump systems, resulting in one crawl space being totally flooded.

Now, a week later, everyone has water to their homes and all leaks are repaired. Some of them are only temporary as we wait on parts. That takes care of the cold.

The wind has taken its toll on our gymnasium with many more of the shingles blowing off. Estimates on replacing the roof run in the range of $27,000 to $30,000. This will have to be started this spring before the summer rains arrive.

We are making a new sign for our entrance at the highway. This will inform folks that our clinic is open 5 days a week for those who need it. We are real happy about this change. It even made the news on the Navajo radio station.

Donations last month were encouraging and we want to thank you all who continue to help with God's work here at La Vida. The number of students wanting to join our baptismal class is up to 12 and we have purchased each of them their own study Bible for teens. I think this is why we are experiencing so many breakdowns and repairs. We need your prayers for the Lord to send His angels to surround the property here at the mission and protect us in this work.

Our two greatest needs for the moment are the funding of the new roof and for a pickup truck. Our old Ford Ranger has no 4th gear or reverse. The shop told us it wasn't worth fixing. So we are asking for assistance in these areas.

We want to thank the folks in Oklahoma for the supplies and clothes they sent. It made it through a major snow storm and was picked up on I-40. Also thanks to all the folks sending boxes. We are blessed many ways here at the mission. We just had a couple e-mail us and agree to come to La Vida and be our house parents for the girl's house . This will free up our maintenance director to work on the facilities full time.

It is our hope you each enjoyed your Christmas as much as we did. We had some great programs put on by the students and they got to enjoy the presents sent by the sponsors as well as the fruit, nuts and other treats donated by some special friends. May the Lord now bless each of you with peace and joy for the new year.

Dan Dixon
Director

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La Vida Needs

• Short-term volunteers to:
• Roof Mission buildings
• Tear down old greenhouses
• Pick up truck in good condition
• Bush hog
• New brooms, mops, dustpans and vacuum cleaners
• Two storm doors

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Bulletin Board

Positions to Fill:

Registered Nurse
Maintenance worker

Special Thanks to:

Our Heavenly Father for providing our needs
Faithful donors who support LVM with prayers, financial and other donations.
Student sponsors and their many contributions, prayers and letters
Debra Kearnes, clothing, school supplies, and hair accessories
Seminol SDA Church, Women's Ministries, Seminol, OK; Clothing, school supplies, bags, quilts and more.
Shelley Stash, school supplies
Ted, Sussie & Mindy Thompson, clothing, toys, crafts, school supplies, toiletries, and much more
Polly Vicars, pillow, bedding, sewing supplies and fabric, candles, and more
The special friends of La Vida Mission whose thoughtfulness and generosity made this Christmas a very special one for the students and their families as well as a blessing to the staff. May God bless you abundantly as you have blessed us.

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In Memory of

In Honor of

Thank you to all of the donors who make a difference at La Vida!

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Community Outreach Update

As promised in last month's newsletter, here is our update on what has been happening with Community Outreach at La Vida Mission. Community Outreach work has been focusing on 3 main areas: Friendship Evangelism, Health Education and School/Family Relations.

Friendship Evangelism
Consistent efforts have been made to make and renew acquaintances in the community, both with local leaders and community members in general. Visiting the local chapter houses (Lake Valley and Whiterock), and the associated local facilities (Senior Centers, etc), has become part of my weekly routine now. Attending and participating in local events, such as community planning meetings or social gatherings, is regularly marked on my work calendar. Flyers and announcements of activities are posted on community bulletin boards as they come up, and people are invited and encouraged to come to the Mission and enjoy any of the services offered and attend church for fellowship and spiritual blessings. On November 9th, we had an honoring ceremony for the Veterans in our community and staff. It was a joint effort product of the relationships that we have been building with the community.

Health Education
An important part of our outreach to the community is to create awareness of the services offered by our medical staff. Our clinic is open everyday to the community for medical evaluations, basic treatment and prescription, physicals, and patient education. An eye-doctor is on campus almost weekly and dental students and residents from Loma Linda University Dental School visit us several times a year. Our clinic schedules are posted on community bulletin boards as they are updated. We have established communication with our local community health worker and plans are being made for a community health fair at the end of January 2008. At that time we are hoping to have health care professionals and educators from various community agencies cooperating to provide much needed health awareness activities.

School/Family Partnership
Our school is a boarding school, and most of our students' families live and work at a considerable distance from where we are located. This makes it difficult for our parents to be as involved in their children's school life as it would be in a day school. Parents usually come to the school at the end of each academic quarter for Parent/Teacher conference; and bus drivers have an opportunity to greet them and provide brief updates at pick-up and drop-off times every weekend. A School Newsletter provides the means for regular communication between the school and the family. To these we are adding family-involving activities that address the social side of the school-family connection and nurture the family relationships of our students. Before Thanksgiving break, arrangements were made for all students to be picked up at school by their families, creating an opportunity for fellowship and celebration. Students prepared a Thanksgiving Program presented at the school; and a Thanksgiving dinner was served to all present. More family related activities will take place in the future as our School/Family Partnership develops.

I am very thankful indeed for the Lord's blessing on the work with the community so far, and for your prayers that support our efforts.

Glori Williams

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Student Sponsor News

Hoi-yawn,

For those new to La Vida Mission's newsletter, that means Happy New Year in Oneida.

Good thing we had a week off, because the first two days back have been busy. Having time over the holiday to peruse the textbooks and study, I filled my lesson plan back to overflowing, adding music and study habits.

A big thank you to all the sponsors who sent gifts of money, clothes and toys. Several sponsors didn't just limit themselves to their sponsored child, but included extras. Rockville Seventh-Day Adventist Church sent extra money for a child to order books from Scholastic and other extra items. Edward Jackson has sent calculators and puzzle books and tomato seeds for the whole class.

Linda Britton sent each child a personalized fleece throw. And pajamas! Every child got a pair of pajamas, for some of them the first pair they've ever had. Barbara Baker sent money to buy socks for all the kids. Mary Paulson-Lauda sent money for the Christmas fund, as did Galt 7th Day Adventist Church. Wilma Pillsbury sent extra socks. Conway SDA Church in New Hampshire sent socks, gloves and hair ties. And Jay Neil sent card games. Kids Konnextion at the Marshall Michigan SDA Church and Chris Huge sent money for desperately needed shoes for several students, as well as sweat shirts, hats and gloves. I hope I didn't forget anyone. I tried to stay organized, but it was a bit crazy. I have ideas for doing it better next year. Forgive me if I forgot you. If I did, you can write me and we'll mention you in the next newsletter.

Thank you so much everybody.
Norla

Thanksgiving
I know it is January, and Christmas is becoming a memory, so why am I bringing up Thanksgiving? If you remember last month's issue, we told you that both students and parents filled out "I'm thankful for" cards before our Thanksgiving dinner. I wanted to share with you the sentiments that were expressed. After all, we have much to be thankful for EVERY day.

• having a sister, mom, dad, and brothers and Jesus and God.
• the clothes on my back
• LaVida staff for teaching our children
• Thanksgiving, pumpkin pie, Christmas and home leave.
• my family and Jesus and God
• God, school, family, home, teachers
• for my mom and dad, and Wal-mart
• going home, Thanksgiving, Mr. Danny, and pumpkin pie.

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New Donors

Kathy Amatangelo
Charles and Sandra Brinson
Nancy Curtis
William Dissmore
Howard and Carolyn Engeberg
Fruita SDA Church
Richard and Linda Flynn
Robert Gentile
Cristina Kranz
Jerome Lang
Robert and Janice Long
John and Ester Schmidt
Romulo and Arlegie Tabo
G.L. Vanniz
Annette Williams-Amling
Phil and Marcene Zurmuhlen

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