Valentine's party

I have not written much lately because we have been very busy. The Lord has been so good! The Valentine's party for the couples went very well. We asked a local believer, Sergio, who is newly married, to share about love. He spoke about Jacob and Rachel, saying that he, Sergio, could only truly love his wife because he first loved the Lord. People were so impressed by his words. The Lord is using Sergio and his wife to reach out to seekers and new believers. They are holding Bible studies four days a week at Francisco's house.

Sergio and Bianca, pray for their ministry

This week three men from the States are here putting the roof on the Cebadilla's church. They were all born in the US, but their parents are from Latin countries, Cuba, Puerto Rico and Honduras. They are all in the construction business back home. One of them donated the materials for the church. That is why the church is going up so fast. Another of the men is a welder. He is welding the beams for the roof. They are going to hoist those beams by hand! They want to have the roof in place before Friday. Jose, the leader, told us that the first thing they did was to measure the walls with a laser to make sure that they were straight. They were amazed at how perfect the walls are because they were built with level and string, no other fancy tools. Last night we had the Sunday worship service in the open air, next to the church. The third man in the group brought the message about being holy. There were about 60 people in attendance. We took Francisco and Luz and their family plus two other older kids who were there, with us, a total of 11 in our SUV. We had to use the four-wheel drive to cross the creek, even though is the dry season, the car was very heavy to climb out of the creek.

The wedding plans are taking shape. Now the women in the couples' Bible study want to be part of the wedding. It is such a blessing to see their excitement. Luz keeps telling them that it will be a Christian wedding in the new church, but they all seem to be willing to participate. I think it will be a great testimony for all. As you know, they have set the date for May 18th, our next trip here. Saturday night, at Sergio's suggestion, they wrote questions for us to answer next Saturday, our last meeting. They had a lot of good questions. It is obvious that they have been thinking about serious subject matters. We have the material that Dennis and Marsha used when they were here, so we can use it to answer the questions about family relationships, but there were other Bible questions as well. We could answer all except three that we emailed to Dennis. (Help, Dennis!) Hopefully, he will be able to get back to us before Saturday. We actually spent the whole afternoon yesterday first praying over the questions and then searching the Bible for answers. We have never spent so much time together on the Word, so that in itself is a real blessing. Tomorrow we are meeting with Sergio and Bianca for lunch and to go over the questions.

Sunday morning our neighbors here, their two children and the in-laws who were visiting, attended the church service in our little church. John was preaching because the pastor was busy with the group from the States. John spoke on Job. It is also such a blessing to have Christian neighbors with whom to share.

Our time here draws to a close. It is always bitter sweet for us. We are glad to get back to our family and friends, but it is hard to leave our local friends.

I will post pictures of the Cebadilla church next time. Until then...from the beach...

NEIGHBORS AND FRIENDS

Last September a local family moved next door, just before the earthquake. Our new neighbor, Rosa, still had not unpacked all the boxes when it happened. We had some interaction that day, her husband, who was still working at the time, was in Peru. They suffered a lot of damages, so she packed her kids and went back to the capital to stay with her family. We did not see her again on that trip. Now we are back and repairs are being made in the units, we have had many opportunities to talk. His name is Dennis, so I commented that it was the same name as our pastor, but did not pursue the subject. They evidently picked up on that comment that we were Christians, A few days ago she asked John if he knew of an Evangelical church around here; of course he knew of one! Since then, we have shared a lot, and Dennis went to church Thursday night with us. He has now retired from being an airline executive. They have been married 18 years and have one 17-year-old daughter and a12 year-old son. Dennis and Rosa now work for Rosa's family, so they travel back and forth to the capital a lot. Wednesday night we had them over for dinner and had a great time. We found out a lot about each other. I think that we can be good friends. It is such a blessing to have Christian friends next door! They know that the Lord has placed them here for a reason and are actively seeking his will.

This week we finally went to see the new church being built in the next town over, Cebadilla. It is very big! It will hold about 250 people in a town of just about that many people. They expect the whole town to come to the Lord! There is a couple from the same denomination who live in the States, and they have taken an interest on the project. They donated the materials for the building. The church is paying for the workers. They hired an architect to draw the master plan. They will eventually have Sunday School rooms also, but right now they are building the church and bathrooms. The lot is about one quarter of an acre and the church is 2,500 square feet.

John and I in front of the church

Front view of the church

John and I, the pastor and his wife (in this culture they are both pastors)

View from the inside

Side view - all those trees will be green in the rainy season

Bathrooms and septic tank

Tomorrow night is our Valentine's party with the couples. We took this picture the first Saturday that we got together. Yirardi is the boy with the green shirt, his dad is behind him in the striped shirt and his mom is in the front raw on the left. Luz, the lady getting married, is on the right with the black top, and I just realized that Francisco did not stand up for the picture.

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

Baptisms

We had a very busy weekend. John is feeling better; therefore, we needed to catch up with our friends here.

Thursday night I taught a Bible study at church. The little church was full. There are more people who can attend on Thursday night because many of them work on Sundays. We had a great time in the Lord's Word. We actually stayed home Friday evening because our American friends canceled on us, but Saturday was busy. John played golf for the first time with his local buddies. More than golf, it is a social event, since none of them plays well. I stayed home and cooked all day because I was making lasagna, two cakes and salad for the couples meeting Saturday night. We had a very good Bible study. All of the regulars were there. The new couple did not go. We talked about surrendering our lives to Jesus, making him the Lord of our lives. What does that mean? They are getting it, and it is our prayer that the Holy Spirit will touch them, and that they will come to a saving knowledge of Christ.

Sunday morning was the baptism at the estuary. There were nine male candidates, no females, very unusual to have all males for baptism. The ages ranged form 12 to 65. Before entering the water, the pastor asked them one by one about their testimony. They were escorted to the water one by one, as the rest of the congregation sang. Again, before baptizing them, he asked them if they were sure that they know the Lord as their Saviour. Once they were all baptized, we celebrated communion because, according to the Assemblies of God, people who are not baptized cannot take communion; therefore, communion always follows baptisms. It was just a great morning on the beach!

Singing before baptism

Pastor greeting some of the people

Reading form the Bible

At the center, the candidates

John escorting the first man

Getting baptized

A hug of congratulations

Sharing communion

 

 

 

Francisco's youngest daughter, Luz Elena

John playing with all the kids afterwards

We went home, took showers and changed and picked up our friends whose boy has cancer and took them to a late lunch at the "surfers" restaurant. The little boy is just skin and bones. He was always slim, but now he just does not have any appetite. He ate a little bit of fish and wanted ice cream, so we all had ice cream, but again he only ate a little bit of his. We brought him a kids' joke book in Spanish. He loves to read jokes out loud.

We dropped them off and went to the next house, where we have the Bible studies on Saturday nights, because we actually had not have time to sit an visit with them. We stayed a little while and then we went to Francisco's house. This is the couple who wants to get married. We really needed to talk to them about the wedding. It turns out that they have had some unexpected expenses so they wanted to postpone the wedding until May. We understand, of course. We also talked about scaling down the celebration, making it easier on their budget. They also think that the church that is being build in the other town might be ready in May, so it would be nice to have their wedding in a "real" church. We set the date! It will be on May 18th, Lord willing. I guess we are going to have to bring a jacket for him also. So stay tuned...

Remember the earthquake back in September? Well, today they are finally fixing our roof. They fixed the inside of the condo beautifully. It doesn't even look like there was ever any damages, but they had not done the outside. They had to wait for approval from the insurance company, and for the rainy season to end. I guess the roof tiles are mainly for decoration because there were no leaks, even with the heavy rains. They have been banging on the roof since seven this morning!

We are off to walk on the beach... until next time...from the beach...

Friends

We are getting reacquainted with our local friends. Monday evening we were invited to have dinner at the house of one of the managers here. People who work in administration live in a compound just outside the main gate. They have houses and apartments available at a low rent. They are very nice, with all the amenities that we enjoy here, definitively above the local construction standards. This couple met here, but they are both from different parts of the country. We have known both of them since we bought our condo, while they were still single. They have three daughters, the two younger ones are two-year-old twins, but they also have adopted a nephew whose mother has drug problems and was not taking care of the boy. Anyway, we were invited because they had friends from Boston visiting, but when we arrived, we also found two girls from church there, one works as a nanny for the twins and the other is a good friend. All total, there were 14 people there for dinner, which was delicious. It consisted of salad, fresh lobsters, mixed vegetables, rice and beans (of course), garlic bread, and cheese cake for dessert. Our hostess is a gourmet cook and everything was delicious! Here is a picture of the twins:

They don't stay still long enough for a good picture.

These people are very nice, hard working people with excellent values and good goals for life, but they don't know the Lord. Please pray for Luis and Margot.

Tuesday night we invited another friend from the administration team to come over for dinner. I call her "Cousin" because her last name is the same as my mother's maiden name. She is an accountant and lives in the same compound as the other family, but in an apartment because she is single. I have witnessed to her for six years now. She even started to attend a good Bible-teaching church in the capital, but she is back in the Catholic church.We try to have dinner with her at least once every trip. Since I was cooking this time, the meal was simple and within our diet. She talked a lot about the possible sale of this place and her spiritual journey. I inserted what the Bible says every time I could, as part of the conversation. We had a very nice visit also.

Yesterday we met the pastor and his wife for lunch at our favorite restaurant.  It was his birthday, so we bought a small cake and brought it with us. Restaurants here don't usually have cakes. We had a two hour lunch! They had a lot to share with us about their personal struggles and problems with the congregation. Please pray for their marriage and wisdom to shepherd the flock. There is an American couple who is in the construction business and who has taken interest in the building of the church; therefore, they have donated the materials to build the church, and the church is paying the workers. We still have not gone to see the building because John was sick last week. There is also the matter of the loan. The pastor is worried that the people are not being consistent with their faith-promises. Please pray for maturity for the young congregation. They are all recent converts. They are also poor and struggle to find steady jobs. At the end of the meal, the waitress brought the cake, a candle and matches. The pastor was delighted! Both he and his wife had two helpings of the cake. They, of course, took the rest home, as they have grandchildren to share it with.

Tonight I get to teach a Bible study at church. We are going to talk about Joshua 3, crossing the Jordan. Pray that the Holy Spirit will touch their hearts.

We still have not been to the beach. John is feeling better, so we have started our morning walks, but the tide is high now to walk on the beach. The next low morning time begins on Sunday, and that is why we are going to have baptisms. I will be sure to take a lot of pictures. (Bob and Penny, we are walking there on the beach, not going through that swamp again!)

We are probably going to get together with American friends on Friday, and have the next couples' Bible study Saturday night. Please pray for these couples. I just feel that our time here is short! I feel an urgency to see them all saved!

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

FIRST COUPLES' MEETING

After visiting the doctor, and with your prayer help, John has slowly started to feel better. He has been able to sleep the last two nights. We are very grateful for your prayers. It is so reassuring to know that there is a whole team standing in the gap for us.

Saturday we started to get ready for the couples' Bible study. I had a lot of enchilada meat in the freezer from last time, so I decided to start of with enchiladas, I had to add more meat, and I ended up with 40 enchiladas. I had no idea of how many were going to show up, but food around here never goes to waste. I also baked two cakes, one lemon and one carrot. They like those better than chocolate cake. John and I thought about what we were going to talk about and decided to review the salient points from the last few studies: Who is Christ? I typed up and outline with Bible verses and questions: Christ is the Creator, Christ is the Lamb of God, Christ is the Way, and Christ is our Mediator.

Sergio and Bianca, married last October

Saturday afternoon we had a couple of visitors, so by the time we got everything ready and loaded it was 6:30 pm. We had told everybody 6:00. Not to worry, nobody was there when we arrived. It was 7:30 by the time everybody was there and we got started. We had salad, enchiladas, chips and salsa. There were six couples, among them a new couple. They were invited by Sergio and Bianca, a Christian couple who got married in October. They have been leading a Bible study at Francisco's house since they got married. I have talked about them before. Sergio works here in the Hacienda and is going to college to get a degree in Business Administration. Bianca is studying to be a nurse. They live here now, but I don't know what will happened once she graduates because there are no hospital around here. Any way, they invited the new couple to attend because they have been attending the Bible study at Francisco's. The man, Johnny, accepted the Lord, but the wife has not made a decision yet. We ate, had the Bible study (no questions this time, they were a little subdued), had a raffle for the gifts because it was too late for a game, had dessert, and everybody went home at about 10:00. There was another couple who used to come, but had moved away. There were here visiting relatives, so they made it a point to come also. The couple whose son has cancer was not there because they are at the capital having treatments. Another couple had a party at their house, and there were two more couples missing, but I am not sure why. It was so good to see our dear friends again and to catch up. We feel positive about the evening. The Lord will take His Word and use it to give fruit in people's heart.

I also talked to Luz about the wedding. I really hope that they get it together. Even with the incentive of the wedding dress, which made her cry, they are still ambivalent about the date.

Today we went to church, only one service because John is not quite ready for the marathon. It was also good to see our fellow believers. We had a lot of materials for them: Sunday School materials, tracts, books, calendars donated by a Spanish Christian bookstore in Escondido, and presents. We had a big box full off stuff. The pastor talked about the Lord's timing, which is not our timing. He never tarries.

I guess the construction for the church in the next town over is going well, but we postponed the visit until next week, maybe. We are having baptisms Sunday at the beach. There are 10 candidates. I was also asked to speak next Thursday night.

That's all folks...until next time, from the beach...