Just Catching Up

This is an oven-these kids go to kids club

What have we been doing this week? Well, let's see...

On Tuesday we went to see a young man who briefly tried to help us in our little town, but ended up going to Africa with his wife on a short term. The addresses in this country are very strange. Houses don't have numbers, neither names on streets. The address was something like 1 km before you get to Conga Longa Bar. Of course, that means that you have to go to the bar, turn around, and count 1 km. We still could not find it, but we had his cell number. It turn out we were just a few feet away. We met the two young ladies who are full-time staff for Christ for the City at his house, and went to the big town nearby to have pizza. The pizza was very good, Neapolitan style.
We had a great time sharing with each other what the Lord has been doing in our lives. The girls followed us home and spent the night in our condo.

One of the girls was having symptoms similar to a heart attack. We gave her an Aspirine tablet to chew. She was still having pains the next morning, but they were determined to go horseback riding. (Remember, Rubia?) They went and had a great time, but we insisted that she would see the local doctor right after. There are two doctors in house for workers, owners and guests. We went to the clinic, but there was no electricity, so the doctor could not perform an EKG, but she spent a long time talking to her and determined that it was probably stress related. Nevertheless, she told her to comeback later when the electricity came back. It was scheduled to comeback at 2:00 pm. We went home to eat lunch and take showers before kids club.

They went to the house to get it ready for kids club, and we followed a little later. They had kids clubs and computer classes. The place was busy. Erika, the girl with the pain on her chest and arm, was telling the Bible story when we arrived. As soon as she finished, John took her back to the clinic for the EKG, and I stayed to help with the kids. Kids club takes place on the porch because is bigger and cooler. As they were working on their art work, it started to rain heavily, with lighting and thunder. All of the kids wanted plastic bags to protect their work from the rain. Some had umbrellas, others were riding their bicycles, others were picked up by their parents because of the rain, and still others stayed and waited out the storm. Then we were invaded by very large frogs. I remember those from back home. They are huge, and I don't like them. The kids just took the broom and swept them out, but they kept coming. I was ready to climb on the kitchen counter. The girls were as scare as I was, but the boys thought it was very funny. It finally stopped raining, and John and Erika came back with the news that the test was negative. The doctor gave her some pills and a lot of advise. We went home, and the girls returned to their home one hour away by car.

Yesterday, we took a local Christian family out to dinner at the restaurant on the mangroves. This time it was early, and there were no surfers and no large dogs. We talked about our dreams for the town. We are bringing a TV personality, who is a Christian, to speak to the town on Aug. 21st. Yes, we already have our tickets for the next trip. We are also planning to take the kids to a camp in January because that is their summer vacation. More information later.

Today I stayed home to prepare for my talk on marriage in Chile, and John went to the big city near the airport to a real mechanic to service the car. It is always an adventure. The good news is that John had a chance to share his testimony because it is a long trip, and our friend asked about our faith. While the car was serviced, they walked around. They went to Burger King and also found a Christian bookstore. One of the problems with the car is that it leaks inside when it rains, and it rains a lot here! The mechanic suggested a body shop, which they found after a few tries down dirt roads. The guys told John that our car has been in an accident and that the doors were crooked. So one guy got on the top of the car, and another one at the bottom, and they literally bent the doors back. Then they put "chicle," literally chewing gum, on the seal. They are sure that the car won't leak anymore. So now we can honestly say that our car is held together by chewing gum. The cost? $20 for body work!

Tonight we are taking the head of security, his wife and baby out to dinner. As I said before, the problem with friendship evangelism is that it involves a lot of meals!

You are now caught up! Until next time, from the beach...