A new window opening?

We were surprised the other day by an offer extended by the administration of the Hacienda here. They have a beautiful chapel that they rent for weddings. The General Manager wants to open the chapel for masses and "Protestant" services for employees and residents; therefore, they have offer us the opportunity to provide the "Protestant" services once a month. Please pray for this opening because it is something completely unexpected that we did not seek.

Yirardi is still at the capital. He had two chemo treatments and the doctors want to see him again on Monday. John still might have to go and get him. We are going back home Tuesday morning, so this will be hard for John to do all that driving on Monday, but it is in the Lord's hand.

Thank you to all of you who wrote, call, send text messages, wishing John a happy birthday. Tonight we are going to have his birthday party with the couples. Tomorrow, Sunday, he will preach in both churches for the last time.

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

"I'M CONFUSED"

I have to tell you about our couples' meeting on Saturday. This time we had pot luck. We bought 6 pounds of beef and 2 pounds of chicken for BBQ, and two cakes, of course. They brought the rest of the meals. It was a banquet! But that is not why I am writing. Yirardi's parents came with him along. After dinner, we started the Bible study. As you recall, we have been talking about who Jesus is. Saturday's topic was that he is our advocate (1 John 2:1-2). I explained why we needed an advocate, and they were tracking with me. Then we went to 1 Timothy 2:5, "For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus", and that's when the discussion got interesting. They could not get over the fact that not even the Virgin Mary can be a mediator. I told them that she did not die for my sins, was not resurrected, and that she is dead. I told them that saints, amulets, and things like that were useless. I asked, "how many mediators does the Bible say there are?" They said "one." That's when one of the girls said, "Wait, I am confused!" My mother tells me that I have to pray to Mary, but my mother-in-law is a Jehovah Witness (Oh, dear!). I went to Deuteronomy 5 and read the 10 commandments. We went over each one. They are very clear. For the first time on this trip, the Christians in the group began to speak. We really had a good discussion. But I think that they came out of there more confused. Pray that the Lord will speak to their hearts as they ponder these things.

We had a game and dessert afterwards, and got home very late. John did not have to speak in church this Sunday. We went to both churches. Some of the kids (3) and two adults from our town wanted to attend the second church, so we took them. That meant that we were already seven in the car, and we did not have to take anybody from the other town across the river. They heard the same message, but the music is better because they have instruments. On the way back, John stopped at the local "7-11" and bought ice cream for everybody. They will probably all want to go to the second church next Sunday!

Today we are resting, since we really have not had a "day off" since May 28.

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

ANOINTING WITH OIL

Hello, Friends!

Once again, I have to catch you up to what's happening! I am sorry, but this time around, we seem to be busier, with less down time to blog. We had our couples' meeting last Saturday, as usual. I had the bright idea of buying frozen pizza because all the pizza restaurants in the area have gone out of business. I have completely forgotten why we don't buy frozen pizza here: it just doesn't come out right. It is too soft. I don't have the right pans here for pizza, so I decided to just set aluminum paper on the over racks. We bought ten pizzas because they are a little small, but I could only heat up two at the time. My oven here has a feature that locks itself when it gets too hot. I keep forgetting that between trips. I had the oven at 400º F, but it locked itself with pizzas inside! I was able to disconnect the oven and open the door before they burned, but I could not finish baking all the pizzas because when it happens, I have to wait an hour for the oven to cool down. So we took all the undercooked pizzas and the frozen ones to the meeting. Our friends just bought an USED gas range, but they don't keep it hooked up. Believe it or not, the actually brought the range out to the porch where we meet, hooked it up to a gas cylinder and we cooked and heated all the pizzas. They weren't very good, but we did not have any left. We talked about the resurrection: Jesus is alive! They were really tracking with me last Saturday. They actually had a lot of good comments. Without mentioning the Catholic church, I told then that Jesus is not on a crucifix, but alive in Heavens, seated at the right hand of God.

Sunday John spoke in church. The pastor is actually the caretaker for a house on the beach. The property is a vacation rental. Last Sunday, he needed to go back early because the renters were leaving, and he had to take them to the airport. It worked out well for him that John was speaking. He spoke in both churches about seven blocks of the Christian faith. Since the pastor wasn't there, John had to cross the river back and forth three times  to shuttle people. The pastor does that every Sunday up and back! They say that John is not really a Gringo because he is not afraid to carry 13 people in his SUV.

Monday and Tuesday we had a house guest. One of the girls who were missionaries here for Christ for the City wanted to come see us and visit the town. I made John go to the car wash before we picked her up because the car was covered with mud. He couldn't see out the back window. Then it started to rain all afternoon.  We spent the afternoon visiting different families in town, came home for a late, late, lunch and went back to town for more visiting. We got home at about nine and had ice cream for dinner. Tuesday morning we walked on the beach with our guest and went swimming. The first time for me this visit. We talked about a lot of things. She feels that the Lord wants her to go to Haiti full time, but somehow the doors are not opening. She will go to Haiti with a short-term team from here in August. That evening we had an invitation to go to dinner at the house of one of the workers. He lives in the big town 45 minutes from here. Our friend had to go to the same town to get the bus home, so we offered to take her with us. We were also taking the family whose house we use for our meetings. He is from Colombia, and this man where we were having dinner is also from Colombia. He had been to the house before. They are a family of five, and it was three of us, counting our guest. All eight of us piled in the SUV. The road was horrible even for this country! My sciatica started to act up. I was in a great deal of pain. We had a little boy riding on the back of the SUV, and he got car-sick! They told him, "oh, there is a grocery bag back there. You can use that, and I said, NO!! I have a cake there!! ( I was taking a cake for dessert) It was quite a funny trip, actually.

We dropped our friend off at the bus station, and Luis went to the pharmacy to buy motion sickness medicine and water. Finding the house was unbelievable. The "street" where they live was about the width of our SUV. It took John like 30 cuts to be able to back into their garage. Our hosts had said that we were going to have a gourmet meal by a professional chef, but we thought he was joking. When we finally entered the house we found a chef from El Salvador preparing the most delicious meal that we ever had in this country. He used to work for the embassy of El Salvador. We took the long way home to avoid the horrible road on the way back.

We met the pastor and his wife for lunch on Wednesday. We are his sounding board. There isn't anybody else with whom they can talk. All four of us enjoy these visits. We went with him after lunch to a store to buy 10 more chairs for church, since last Thursday we had to rent chairs from the local "7-11" store. Wednesday night we went back to visit the 26-year-old man and the 16-year-old girl. It is delightful to be with them. They actually did their homework. They are trying to apply some of the techniques we suggested to avoid arguments, and they are reading the Bible and praying. It was their one year anniversary. They celebrated buy buying a gas range, even though they don't have any gas yet, and a washing machine. These are brand new. We went over a list of Proverbs about relationships that we got from Dennis when he did the marriage retreat last year here. They got the message! Please pray for Sergio and Yanina, that they will turn their lives over to the Lord, get married, and learn to walk with Him.

I spoke again at church on Thursday. This time I talked about John Mark and how he went form being an immature Christian, to being a useful helper for Paul, to authoring the Gospel of Mark. (By the way, Sonny, I have an issue with Power Point that I need to talk to you about) We had enough chairs, no need to rent more! After the service we went to Yirardi's house. I mean most of the group at church went together. The pastor anointed him with oil (although he repeated three times that there was no power in the oil. It was just a symbol), and we all prayed for healing. His mother was sobbing. Now they know what's ahead. On Monday he will go back to the hospital for about three days for his first chemotherapy treatment. Then he will go every month, once a month, for two or three days for treatment. I suppose that the doctors realize where he lives and the five hours that it takes to get here, and they want to keep him in the hospital as a precaution. I am not sure. Please continue to pray for a miracle!

We are getting together tonight with another couple who works for the Hacienda. We have never gone out with them before. She heads Housekeeping. It will be nice to get to know them better.

You are again all caught up with us!! I am sorry that this is so long

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

IT IS CANCER

Hello, friends!

Yesterday we went to see Yirardi and his family. He looks fine, although a little weak, and his appetite is excellent. Unfortunately, the parents got the bad news when they went to get his stitches off: it is cancer. Now they have an appointment on Thursday at 7:00 am to start chemotherapy. Although they got it all, they want to give him chemotherapy to make sure, I guess. In order to make this appointment, they have to leave here at 3:00 am. The Hacienda has a little clinic here and two doctors on staff. One of the doctors is going with them to this appointment. She probably is concerned and wants to talk to the oncologist doctor to doctor. The boy's parents are very nice, but they are stunned by all of this; therefore, the doctor from here will ask all the right questions and explain the prognosis to them. Please continue to pray for our dear friends. The Lord can continue to work miracles in their lives. John and I are also stunned by the news and the prospect of chemotherapy and all that that entails.

I have not told you about last Saturday's couples' meeting. My Mexican enchiladas were quite a hit! They never had them before. This is what their enchiladas  look like:

We talked about Jesus, the Good Pastor. I am being very direct on pointing out differences between following a religion and following Christ. One of the couples asked us to visit them because they are having problems, so we set a visit for Wednesday night. After the Bible study, we played a game and had dessert, chocolate cake this time. They always have such a good time together! Sunday morning we went to church (both churches) and Sunday night we took one of the couples out to dinner. Our favorite restaurant is closed on Sundays, so we had to go a little farther away. This other place is called "The Golden Shrimp." It is literately on the beach. The tables are on the sand just a few feet from the waves. This place tries to be elegant. They bring cold water to deep your fingers before and after dinner. They bring flowers for the ladies' hair. It is fun, but the best part is the beautiful sunset! We are also good friends with this young couple. They are engaged, but not married. We asked them when they are going to get married, and he gets very nervous just thinking about the wedding. We told them that we would pay for the legal fees if they want to get married.

Monday we stayed home all day and rested. On Tuesday, we went out to our favorite restaurant with an employee of the Hacienda, whom I call "cousin" because her last name is the same as my mother's maiden name. (By the way, the pastor here is also a "cousin.") She is disappointed with her employers and might leave soon. We have a huge problem with our electric bill, and she is trying to help us. This afternoon we are going to the administration office to meet with her and somebody else to try to solve the problem.

Wednesday night we went to see the couple who asked us for a visit. Now, here is the problem: she is 16, still in high school, and he is 26, and they are living together with her family's permission. He was married before, had a child, but now he is divorced, paying child support. You are probably thinking the same thing we thought. no wonder they are having problems! The visit was nothing that we expected, although we have learned not to form too many expectations. They rent a little one-bedroom house. The main problem, as we see it, is that she is still a teen-ager and acts like one. They started attended our meetings last February, and only went to the last two meetings, but they told us that even those two meetings helped them tremendously. They have started to read the Bible together and pray every night. He told us that, at one point in his life, for two years,  he attended an evangelical church  when he lived in the big town 45 minutes away from here, but because of his work schedule at the time, he stopped attending. Now he is in this big mess. They have financial problems because he has to pay child support, and she does not work yet. They also have other issues. We asked them to write down goals and dreams to talk about next time. We will visit them on  Wednesdays until we go back home.

Last night I spoke in church about being a good servant, Luke 12:35-38. The pastor invited the other congregation to come. There is one bus that comes through twice a day, 6:00 am and 7:30 pm. A group came in the bus, that means that they actually pay 50 cents to here me speak! John and the pastor made two trips each afterwards to take everybody home. We had about 40 in attendance, counting children. The pastor was so happy! He leaned over and whispered: "Now, this really looks like a church!"

My sciatica is getting much better through exercise and good drugs that my friend Abel told me to buy (Thank you, Abel!)

That´s all folks! Until next time...from the beach...