Los Gatos Family Mission Trip 24 Years and Counting!

By Pete Taylor

Los Gatos UMC’s involvement in Punta Colonet has taken place over 24 years. And what a lasting impact we’ve had there!

With the very generous support of the LGUMC congregation, as well as the indispensable help of our many Mexican friends, our April 2024 “Solar eclipse” mission team built a rose-colored casita and water tower for the family of Jacinto, Monica, and Abril. Their new Lighting for Literacy lights illuminate the interior of their off-the-grid home.

This April’s mission trip also offered us a clear view of the very real longer-term benefits of our mission work there. We can see families in the wider Colonet community growing stronger and more vibrant in various parts of the town with our help.

Here are some examples:

* One of our LGUMC mission teams built a typical, small “casita” in the hills at the north end of town in about 2004.  Lupita and her adult son, Josue, live in that casita’s location now, and the original little “casita” there has been remodeled into a larger building with an attached carport. They re-used the original casita’s colorfully painted building materials to construct the larger home to meet their needs. And the sturdy original kitchen counter and shelving unit that we built for them is still being used every day in their kitchen!

This year, we installed a solar panel with two Lighting for Literacy (“L4L”) light strips on their ceiling to light the interior in their still off-the-grid home. And their home is surrounded by a beautiful, lush, fenced garden complete with hearty cherry tomatoes, many ornamental plants, a small outdoor adobe oven, and even a big bunny in his hutch.