Our church is sponsoring refugees who have come from Burma (also known as Myanmar) which has been in the news a lot lately.  Eric, the guy who’s heading up our involvement with the refugees, has started a blog.  All of you should check it out and find out how you can help out with this cause!  http://pittsburghrefugees.blogspot.com/ 

You can check out more pics at www.flickr.com/gratton

 Mia Diane Gratton born 10/25/07 at 7:04pm.  8lbs 4oz.  21 inches.

 Mia and mommy are doing great!

Mia Diane Gratton

I know I know…I struggle at this whole blogging thing…for the three of you that check out this blog, here’s the latest.  The kids are doing well.  Kai is getting really big and is potty trained. 

Kaden’s birthday is today and he is 2.  He’s really an amazing 2 year old though, he tries so hard to keep up with his brother.  Check them out riding their bikes.  They both LOVE riding bikes. 

Kristen could be having the newest addition to our family any day now… Mia Diane Gratton.  She’s really feeling it and she’s had contractions way early than with the other 2.  I think we’re both ready for her to have this baby…neither one of us are sleeping well at night…

I’ve been learning a lot personally as the church has gone through some difficult times, but we’re coming out on the other side of it.  I’m excited with the renewed creativity and passion and focus that we all have.  I really think Discovery is in for some cool stuff in the coming months. 

 I’ve also been trying to slowly update my you tube site, so check it out.  I’ll try to do a better job of keeping this thing updated…

 Cheers!

Other pics:

So we’ve been doing this series called wishful thinking.  I think many of the videos turned out great!  They are funny and cheesy and all that stuff that i love…  The series is based on the idea that there are things that we all wish other people, knew about us or did for us or understood.  Here is my favorite video.  The rest on my you tube site…you can find it here. 

Things have been crazy at work lately, so i know i’ve been slacking.  BIG NEWS!  We’re having a girl… Mia (prounounced mee-yah) Diane Gratton  Kristen is due October 22. Here are some of the latest Gratton Family Pics.  We went hiking and found this nice little waterfall. 

The Thomas’s gave the boys a new ”gator”.  They love driving it around the yard! 

We had a great Easter!  Church was awesome, the kids had a blast and we were very busy seeing all the family and fulfilling duties at church.  At Discovery Christian Church, we’ve been ramping up for a new series called “What’s the Difference?”  We’ll be doing an all video message series on the difference among world religions, among Christian Denominations and with the Christian Church.  It will be an awesome series!  It’s made me work really hard on video stuff to get it all done.  If you get a chance to come out and check it out or visit our online discussion about it at www.wtdchat.com

OK… So since I got back from El Salvador Feb 24 and left for Disney Feb 28 and got back from Disney Mar 10… Things have been crazy busy.  I promise to post some Disney pics, but until i do, here is a highlight video of our el salvador trip to hold you over.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_D8EIdxNDE 

We’re sitting at the airport in San Salvador waiting to leave and so many thoughts are running through our minds.  We are really humbled by the work we were able to do this week. 

Yesterday was an awesome day!  We went to the market in the morning and got to haggle for the price we wanted to pay for gifts to take home.  After that we stopped at Pollo Compareo for take out and we started our drive to Mrs. Mediate’s sister’s beach house.  About 40 minutes later we got there and it was BEAUTIFUL!!!  We ate our pollo campero in the cabana right on the beach.  After lunch we all went in the ocean, it was like bath water.  The waves were huge and the undertoe was quite strong, but we were all careful and had a BLAST playing in the water and just sitting on the beach.  It was a beautiful beach full of palm trees and volcanic sand. 

After swimming we all grabbed a hammock or a longue chair and most of us took a nap.  it was so great hearing the waves crash and the gentle breeze blowing.  It was beautiful.  I was awoken from my nap with the sound of kenny saying, “BRyan you got to get this on video.”  One of the guys that worked at the beach house was climbing the coconut tree to get us all coconuts.  So he brought them down and we all drank the water out of the coconut.  That was a first for me.  Then he got a couple of more ripe coconuts from a different tree and made us all virgin pina coladas.  They were really good and really fresh.  They also let us eat some of the coconut.  After our coconut experience we all watched the sun set on the pacific.  It was gorgeous.   

We all went in and got cleaned up for dinner and then went to a restraunt on the eschtuary.  it was very nice eating on the water.  After dinner we camp back and made a fire on the beach.  We sat around it and prayed and worshiped God.  For me this was a really intimate experience.  There were so many stars out and nature is probably my favorite way to connect with God.  After that we all went to bed. 

This morning we all go up around 6:15 so we could start the day early and enjoy the beach house.  Many people went for walks some just laid in the hammock.  Some walked down to the fishing village next to the beach house and watched the fishermen come in and out.  I went for one last dip in the ocean.  I can’t believe i was swimming at 7am and i’ll be freezing by 11pm when we arrive in Pittsburgh. 

I’m still amazed that people who don’t even know us would serve us in this way.  Betty (Mrs. Mediate’s Sister) was thrilled to have us at her home.  She was a gracious host and even joined us for the fire and worship time.  I think God is doing something special in her life. 

We look forward to seeing all of you tonight and tomorrow!

Today was our last day at the orphanages.  This morning we went to an orphanage for malnurished children from infant-2 years.  We met lots of babies and heard some amazing stories.  The one that shocked us the most was Esmerelda’s.  She was 11 months old and was put into the care of the orphanage because she was malnurished and sexually abused by her father.  She was only 11 MONTHS OLD!!!  When she first got to the orphanage she wouldn’t let any men near her.  When the male doctors would try to examiner her she would push their hands away because she feared what was about to happen to her. 

The people at this orphanage are doing an amazing job at nursing these children back to health both physically and mentally. 

After that we had lunch at this beautful little hotel overlooking an amazing volcanic lake.  It was traditional El Salvadorian food and we had a great time being there and preparing ourselves for heading to the special needs orphanage. 

 We had been warned that this orphanage (San Marteen) could be really emotionally draining.  We got there and took a tour and found out they had 120 people from 8-50.  All of them were severely handicapped whether physically or emotionally.  During our tour we passed the psychiatric house…the kids were not allowed out of the house at all.  We also found out from looking in the windows that they didn’t have sheets or anything the people just slept on plastic matresses.  We assumed it’s because they’re easier to clean. 

After the tour we did a program for everyone that was in the facility that was able to make it (which was most of them).  This was probably the most rewarding program we had done all week.  We did 2 puppet shows…one about how God loves them and one about how God forgives them.. and they all really loved it.  We also did a craft with them.  We passed out paper plates and stickers.  They LOVED the stickers and the plates.  All of us really got to interact with the kids and the adults, it was a great time.  They were SO EXCITED that we were there.  We were assuming they don’t get visited too often because the orphanage is far from town and not many teams go out that far. 

After we did the program we haded out candy and toys to everyone.  WE also donated some toiletries and a couple of soccer balls to them.  Before we left they showed us the kitchen…it was beautiful a group had built it last time they were down about 6 months ago. But they didn’t have a cafeteria.  They showed us the land they owned to build the cafeteria on.  They also showed us where theives were coming through the fence around their complex and they were stealing stuff and sexually abusing some of the girls.  They said they would like to build a wall around the grounds (pretty much like everything else in El Salvador has) and put razor wire on top (pretty much like everything else in El Salvador has). 

We are so thankful that we could be a part of bringing some joy to a dark place.  According to Kurt (the local missionary) the place has improved dramatically over the last year since they got a new director who actually cares somewhat about her job and the people there. 

We area all overwhelmed with our experiences this week.  Tomorrow we head to Mrs Mediate’s sister’s beach house to debrief and hang out.  We are looking forward to that after an incredibly busy week.  You probably won’t here from us again while we are down here, so i guess we’ll see you when we get home. 

I’ll post pics on yesterday’s post and today’s post. 

There is so much to write.  THere’s 2 days worth of stuff to tell.  Yesterday we finished painting casa de mi padre.  Jon and Sharlene did an awesome job on the back toddler room.  They painted numbers on the wall.  it was awesome.  In the afternoon we passed out teddy bears to the kids and troll dolls and other toys and candy.  They loved it.  During the afternoon.  Jon and Victoria took a laptop to a kid from the mountains who is in a wheelchair.  He is appearantly smart, but cannot access the computers because of his wheelchair. 

We all became very attached to the kids at la casa de mi padre.  Dayna was especially attached to Gabrielle and Victoria to “her daughter.”  It was an emotional goodbye knowing that we wouldn’t see the kids again this week.  We really had a great time playing with the kids and just showing them that God loves and cares for them. 

 Last night we went to Florence Mediate’s friends house Luciana and Balta.  They treated us like royalty at their estate.  They had an amazing view from their back porch.  The dinner was a tradition El Salvadorian meal of Papusas, enchiladas, fried plantains.  Many of us commented that because of the atmosphere and the service (they have 3 live in servants) it was probably the best meal we have ever eaten.  They were amazing hosts.  It boggled my mind that people who hardly knew us would do all of that for us. 

Today we got up early again and went to La Cisna.  It’s an all boys orphanage of about 140 boys 8-18.  We completely redid a bathroom for them.  Many times they don’t have toilet paper at this orphanage so they just use their hands and wipe it on the wall.  Everyone got in and scrubbed and no one complained.  We scrubbed the tile until our fingers were bleeding from the bleach. We repainted the whole bathroom, installed 5 new toilets, and 4 new faucets.  Everyone did a great job working hard today and doing some really really dirty work.  It was very rewarding also. 

After we finished our work project around 2:30 we got a chace to hand out candy, balls, hats, and some toys to the boys.  They were really excited especailly for the footballs (soccer balls).  In fact in the morning while we were working and the kids were on break from school I asked them if they wanted to play soccer later on and they told me they didn’t have a soccer ball.  By the time we left today they had 15 new soccer balls.  It was a great experience.  After we handed out the stuff we got to play with the kids.  Some threw football with them.  Jon and I got to play soccer with them.  It was awesome!!!

As we were leaving walking past the boys dorm I heard a young boy crying and calling.  I went in to see what the problem was.  Here the 9 year old boy was locked in a prison cell.  He probably had a pending court date and this little boy was literally under lock and key.  He had a wooden board for a bed to sleep on and they passed his food through the holes in the bars of the cell.  He told us he had been in there a few days.  My heart absolutely broke for this young boy.  He just cried and cried all he wanted was the little soccer pinnies and troll dolls that we had handed out to the other kids.  The only thing i could do was hold him through the bars and hug him and prayed for him.  We cried together there at that jail cell.  I was able to give him a soccer pinnie and a troll doll before we left.  He just kept saying thank you over and over again.  He didn’t want to let go of me huggin him through the bars.  It was a really emotional encounter. 

Tonight we got to have pizza with Kurt’s (the local missionary) family.  We made about 100 sandwiches and drove them around to pass out to homeless kids and adults.  This was a great experience for us.  At one place the homeles people were storming the truck and we ran out of food and had to get out of there.  They wouldn’t let go of the empty boxes because they thought we had more food, but we didn’t.  We almost ran a couple of them over.

I’m exhausted tonigt so no pictures.  maybe tomorrow.  We haven’t had internet access here for a couple days that’s why we didn’t post.  I’ll try to keep you all up to date.  Thank you for your prayers and words of encouragement.

If you read this blog please post something to us.  We LOVE to hear thoughts and prayers from home!!!