TGIF - In this case it stands for Today Go In Faith. In fact we thank God for every day, not just Fridays.

We started the day with a number if us going to the local bakery to sample the pastries. What a great way to start out a breakfast! Of course that was topped off with some good ole Mid-Ohio biscuits and gravy from Shirleen's kitchen.

Then it was off to work on the various projects around town and on site of 99+1.

Claudia and Bonnie cooked us a special lunch of Polle Mole.  It was good! Unfortunately one of the crews could not make it back for lunch so they were treated to fish tacos by the very family they were helping.

After a productive afternoon working for the Lord it was off to VBS and the ever increasing amount of children.

Then it was back to 99+1 for a great dinner of Shirleen's world famous (well it is now famous in two countries) lasagna and a very special surprise.  Scroll down for more on the surprise.

Even when we find a similarity, such as this bakery, to our US culture we cannot help but notice there are some definite distinctives. One of the major ones here is that this is not a "quick-shop-coffee-&-doughnut-to-share-with-the-steering-wheel" society.

The folks that do stop by this bakery, besides the ones who are taking the goods back to their own stores, will actually take time to pull up a bucket or a milk crate and sit down to enjoy their breakfast.

Another thing that we noticed about this bakery is that it is in no way a doughnut "factory." These folks, like most of the ones we have encountered down here, are crafstmen and take real pride in their work.

It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words but what is not said in the picture above is that mission work is for everyone and every Christian should either be a missionary or in support of one. The two ladies shown above are a 13 year old middle school student right beside a 70 year young great-grandmother. Yet both have laid aside busy lives to serve in the mission field with complete support of their families back home in central Ohio.

One thing these children are never short of is the will to have fun and the imagination to see to it this is accomplished.  And when you have a bunch of goofy Christian gringos mixed into this pot there is going to be some serious fun.  There is no need for video games or 367 channels of an electronic babysitter down here.  If you are not working -- you are having fun with whatever is available.

One strange (to us anyway) custom we witness here is that the children will literally storm the van as we are pulling up to VBS.  They will climb on and hang on to anything they can grab, including being pulled by the rear bumper.  Of course this worries us to death.  So we are being more creative on our approach to Pastor Octavio's house as well as trying to leave a little earlier each evening.  But once we are there it is time for some serious play and some transfer of that agape love from all sides.