FIRST MEETING

We had an interesting weekend. The couples' meeting was scheduled for seven o'clock Saturday evening, but we had to drive about 20 minutes to another town to pick up the couple who had to move away because family problems (F and A). They also offered to order hamburgers for Saturday. We picked them up and then drove to the hamburger joint. It was one of those wild drives up and down dirt roads in the dark. We could never find this place by ourselves if we wanted. We got the hamburgers and started back to our little town.

We arrived at seven sharp. Some people were already there, others called to say that they were on their way. We ended up with eight couples. After the hamburgers and fries, we talked about the Valentine's Day event, which will actually be on Saturday 18th. I had made copies of the menu items that they can order from, and our friend, the owner of the house took their orders. He will be calling other couples during the week to find out if they are coming and what would they like from the menu. Then I told them that I wanted to talk about my life story and how I came to know Christ. I could see that a few were tracking with me while I was talking. Then we asked their permission to talk about who Jesus is the last two Saturdays after the party. They were a little quiet, but some voiced their opinions and they all agreed that it was all right to do that. After all that, we played "Simon says." They had never played it before and had a blast! I have never seen them laughing so hard. They were playing for prizes, of course. We had a soccer ball for a man and jewelry for a woman. We had dessert afterwards: lemon and banana cakes form the German Bakery. They lingered a long time after the game still laughing and chatting in the cooler evening air. The ladies already planning what they are going to wear next Saturday for their romantic dinner out. They all thanked us for such a fun evening. I think that we managed to mix serious spiritual discussion with food and fun in a way that they don't feel pressured.

Sunday church is supposed to start at 8:30 am. We arrived at the appointed hour, but only our faithful friend K was there. She is a sixteen-year-old girl who has the keys to the church and who is responsible for getting there earlier to water the floor, sweep, dust and set the chairs. She also handles the offering. She is a real deaconess, even though she doesn't have the title. Her mother, her bother and a girlfriend are also attending church now. They were also there helping her. We brought her a  study Bible from the States because last time she told us she was saving her money to buy one. Bibles and Christian resources are rare and expensive here. The pastor finally arrived at 8:45 and he started the service immediately after greeting everybody. He is such a good Bible teacher! The big church he actually still attends held a Bible knowledge contest open to anybody with cash prizes. First prize was $50, second $40 and third $30. The pastor was very proud to inform us that the first prize went to our friend K, who got 99 out of 100; the second prize went to a young man from the other little group in the other smaller town who got 98.

After church, we drove some people home and then went to the second little village. Unfortunately, this group had some kind of disagreement and some people left the church. I don´t know where they are going to church now. The group meets at another house, still under a tin roof with four poles. We were there early enough to find a shady spot. This group likes to sing; therefore, there was a lot of singing and even some special songs. The pastor had a different sermon, probably to spare us from listening to the same thing twice. By the way, his wife just had female surgery. Please pray for complete healing. This group, as well as the other, greeted us so warmly! It is a joy to reconnect with our brethren here! After church, again we drove people home. We had seven in our SUV. It was another Wild Toad Ride up and down ravines and dirt roads. We got home at about 1:00 pm, drenched in sweat because our air conditioning still doesn't work, but we need to keep the windows rolled up because of the dust, even though the weather is in the 90's.

That is not the end of the story...We were invited to go to Francisco and Luz's home (who is praying for them?) at three o'clock. We had a light lunch, took another shower to rinse the dust and the sweat off and took a nap. By 3:00 we were on the road again (like the Willie Nelson's song). They have a seven-year-old girl, a nine-year-old boy and a twelve-year-old girl. There are also two teen-aged girls that belong to Luz. We had presents for all. The seven year old got a doll (One that you bought, Rubia). They were so excited because the doll had hair! She brought out her two other dolls, and sure enough, no hair. They also loved the little Kroc shoes that the doll had because that's what they wear around the house. Other people came to visit, about six or seven, and also the owners of the property came to say hello. They are wealthy locals who like to spend time in the country on weekends to unwind. They are Christians. We had a great exchange of ideas. We talked a lot about the Lord and also about the need to keep things simple. We really would like to get to know them better because they are very nice people. He is a graduate of Cal Poly Pomona. He also has a veterinarian degree from Brazil, so he speaks Spanish, English and Portuguese. He would like to retire soon and live on their farm permanently. It got dark, and the other visitors were leaving, so we started to say good-by also, but they said that we couldn't leave yet because they had dinner for us. You see, they were just waiting for the other people to leave because they probably did not have enough food for everybody. There was still one young man who stayed for supper. We again talked about spiritual things and salvation. Luz still harbors doubts about her salvation. I tried to give her assurance. Please pray that both F and L have complete assurance of their salvation. It was about 8:00 pm by the time we left. We were very tired when we got home.

Today John took the car to Paul, the mechanic. His shop is in the next town over, same town where the couple who had to move from here lives. John took a box filled with parts that we brought from the States (thanks, Bob!). He will keep the car today and tomorrow for a complete tune-up. They also found a crack on the radiator that needs to be fixed. It will be taken to the nearest big town for welding. The air conditioning will have to wait still a few days. John took a taxi home that our friend A had prearranged for us. Then she called about three times to make sure first that the taxi had picked John up and then that John had arrived home safely. The reason we have to go through friends to arrange things is because prices double the moment they see us, foreigners, coming.

It is now three in the afternoon. We are planning to relax this evening. :)

Until next time...from the beach...