Today we began our work building houses in the neighborhood of ¨Manuel."  The name of this community has a beautiful story:  About a year ago, a young man, 15 years old, was discovered by the local Christian Foundation for Children and Aging  (CFCA) staff.   He was suffering from muscular distrophy, lying in his bed at his makeshift home 24 hours a day, every day.  His grandmother was the only person taking care of him.  As CFCA began to work with this young man, taking him to the capital to get medical attention and finding sponsors for him, the local community began to find a sense of solidarity with one another.  When the young man died a few months later the people of the neighborhood decided to change its name in memory of him.  His name was Manuel.

John 5:1-15

"The man informed the Jews that Jesus was the on ewho cured him.:  Are we just as ready to proclaim all that Jesus has done for us?  It's easy to take God's gifts for granted and forget the source of our good fortune.  No matter what our suffering and misfortune happens to be, with a little thought we can list the many gifts God has given us.  It's easy enough to ome to God with all our problems and wants.  How often do we take time out to remember all that God has done for us and puse to say:  "Thank you, Lord." Rumemeber the wor thanksgiving really mean giving thanks.

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