Last Days

Monkey-crossing sign

Well, our last day here has arrived. I am going to miss those monkey-crossing signs! Also, the sounds of monkeys and parrots as I walk in the morning. As usual, the past week was filled with social activities which involve meals. We had Sergio and Bianka over Monday night. They want us to mentor them, so we talked about setting limits, seeking balance between work, ministry and marriage. They are such a delightful couple. You may get the chance to meet them if they get their visas to visit us in October. It is the low season here, so Sergio would have his vacation then.

Wednesday was double duty, we had lunch at the pastor's house and dinner with a friend who works at the main office here, and who helps us a lot to navigate the system! I call her "Cousin" because her last name is the same as my mother's maiden name.There is a lot of gossip going around the hacienda because we are under new management. The owner decided not to sell, but management has been turned over to his granddaughter, who is making a lot of needed changes. Cousin said that quite a few of the managers have been physically ill because of the tensions in the office.

Thursday I had to share in church, so no socializing, but on Friday, we were invited by our neighbors to have a typical breakfast. It is rice and beans, ripe plantains, sour cream, cheese, eggs and coffee. We did not eat the rest of the day! Really. That's why the peasants here can work 12 hours without stopping.

Saturday was the baptism and John's birthday. We were to meet the church at Lola's, so we started walking on the beach from the hacienda, failing to notice the clouds beginning to gather. Not long after, we were caught in a heavy rain without umbrella or any place to take cover. We just had to keep on walking! We got to some mangrove trees that did not offer much cover. A policeman who had been coming in the opposite direction took refuge under the same tree. He had been chasing a would-be thief, but the guy got away. We had passed the guy on our way there. As people do around here, we started to chat with the policeman. He asked us if we were tourists. We said, no, of course, we are locals! We told him where we lived, so he said that his son worked in the hacienda, It turned out that his son attends our Bible studies on Saturday nights, and that he is great-uncle to Yirardi! It is not a small world, just a very small community. We got to Lola's eventually, and by the time the people arrived for the baptism, it has stopped raining; although it was very dark for good pictures. I also left my telephoto lens in California, so these pictures were taken from the beach and are not very good. I definitely did not want to get waist-high in the water with my camera.

Candidates with Pastor and his wife

John and first candidate

John taking the first candidate

Another man coming out of the water

Coming out of the water

We really had to hurry home because John's party started at five, and we needed to get ready. We had a great time at the party, which was upstairs at Lola's. I will just let you look at some of the pictures:

Luis Carlos and Irene - they host the Saturday night Bible studies and also Monday nights with Sergio and Bianka. They have started to attend church

Ricardo and Miguelina - used to attend church, but have stopped

Paola and Nazareth - Paola is doing well after gall bladder surgery. Her husband was late because he had to work.

Dennis and Rosa, our neighbors

Francisco and Luz, the newlyweds!

Randall, Arleth and Yirardi

Walter, the policeman's son and his family

Sergio and Bianka (BA degree in nursing!!!)

Ready to party!

Sunset at Lola's

John and Luis Carlos

With Fabian and Alejandra - pray for their conversion

Osvaldo and Sinaí - she attends church and leads singing, he doesn't attend

Birthday cake

Food was served

Singing Happy Birthday

All the guys and John's piñata - Yirarid broke it

Sunday was Father's Day here also. John shared in both churches. We were going to also have the monthly service in the chapel here, but due to the new administration, it was canceled. The Lord opened this door, so we have to trust Him to open it again, if He wills it. Last night again, we had some of the couples over for chips and salsa in order to say good-bye. We also distributed prints of John's party pictures.

Church in our town. They rent this little house.

John getting ready to share

New church - front view

Future Sunday School rooms

Bathrooms - don't know why there is an old refrigerator

Remember the bare tress back in January?

Inside the new church

Pray for these guys - they are a bit immature for their age, although believers

This morning, as I was walking, I met Yirardi's grandfather, who works in the gardens. He called out to me: "Are you out feeding breakfast to the mosquitoes?" I stopped to talk to him and told him that we were leaving tomorrow, so he wanted me to thank you all for praying for his grandson. He gets misty eyed talking about him. He truly appreciates all of you who, without even knowing any of them, have prayed so faithfully for Yirardi. May the Lord bless you all!

This is butterfly time here. As I walked, surrounded by so many, because they are everywhere, I recalled a rather sad book and movie called "In The Times of the Butterflies." It is time to leave, but part our our heart is always here. We leave full of praises seeing what the Lord is doing here after eight years of your prayers.

Praises:

For all of your prayers!! The Lord is faithful!

Pray:

Traveling mercies - See you, Bob and Penny!

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

Weekend

Hello, Friends!

As usual, we get busy during weekends. I shared at church Thursday night. I was feeling run down, but I found a can of Campbell's chicken soup, added some left over vegetables that I had in the refrigerator, and had a great dinner. I felt a lot better and was able to speak, but there were two little boys visiting who spoke at the top of their voices throughout the entire evening, prayer, singing, Bible reading and sharing. They never stopped. Mom would answer their questions once in a while, also at the top of her voice. It was very distracting! But these are unchurched people who need to know the Lord, and we were happy to see them there. Children are dismissed for Sunday School on Sundays, but there is no child care any other time. One couple came from the other church with a spacial request for us. She has some health problem, but the medication that she needs is not available here. She is asking me to try to get it in the US. I told her that I would need the prescription, but I am not sure that I can get it even with that. Do any of you know somebody involved with Doctors Without Borders or some similar program who could help us? Thursday both churches are having a fast to pray for healing. Her name is Esmilsa. She and her husband are leaders in the second church.

Lola's at the beach

 Friday we went out to Lola's, the restaurant right on the sand, named after a pig, with a couple from the South who also own a condo here and who are Christians. They were leaving Saturday, so this was a good-bye lunch. Surf was up! It was beautiful. We are going to have John's birthday party there Saturday with the couples. While we were having lunch, we got a call from Bianka to let us know that she had passed her oral tests. She now has a degree in nursing! We had been praying for peace and grace, and the Lord heard our prayers.  I managed to take a nap before we went out to dinner with a couple who attends the Bible study on Saturdays, Fabian and Alejandra. They are young, living together, and deeply rooted in the religion of this culture. Yet, they keep coming to the Bible study and we value their friendship. They are younger than our own boys, but like to hang out with us. We went to our favorite typical restaurant not too far from here.

Lola the pig - she is actually Lola II

Saturday we walked on the beach in the morning, and I spent the entire afternoon making enchiladas for 30 people. I was missing some ingredients, but I improvised. They are not familiar with Mexican food, so they can't tell the difference. :) I had guacamole, sour cream, chips, mild salsa and salad. I had to show them that they could put sour cream and guacamole on the enchiladas. I also baked two cakes for dessert. Last Saturday we asked them to read the first seven psalms, one each day, and write down questions and comments. This is all in the context of knowing God better. I was feeling run down all week and also had a lot of cooking to do, so I really was not as well prepared as I wanted, but John and Sergio took up the leading. Sergio was very good. He definitely has the gift of preaching. Luis and Randall had great comments and insights. Even Alejandra talked about one of the psalms! After dinner and Bible study, we had a game and dessert. We left at about 11:00 pm. It is also good to see friendships growing among the couples. They are beginning to be a group.

I neglected to mentioned that we had a triathlon here in the hacienda. Saturday they had one for beginners, I supposed, but today, Sunday was the main event. There were over 500 people here. We were rerouted out of our condo. It took us 30 minutes to get to church where it takes us 15 min. normally. They started before dawn with a swim, then the bicycle race, right when we were leaving for church, and finally the marathon. We had a long morning at church, so they were gone by the time we got back.

We took Paola to church today because her husband had to work. She wanted to walk to church, but I told her that she must take care of herself, even if she feels better. John shared in one church and I in the other. After the second service, we had a soccer game between the boys and the girls. I wished I had taken my camera! It was so much fun. Kids of all ages were playing, the girls were barefooted because most of them don't play soccer, so they don't have soccer shoes. It was one in the afternoon and very hot! The boys won, of course, 3 to 1. We had nine in our car coming back to our town. John stopped at the local "7/11" and bought ice cream for everybody. Then we dropped everybody off at their home and came home. I am feeling much better today, by the way. I think I am over whatever-it-was.

Praises:

• for the changes we are seeing in so many people's lives
• for Bianka's passing her oral test
• for Yirardi´s health - it is a joy to see him participate in the games on Saturdays
• for Paola's continue recover from surgery

Pray:

• Yirardi has another follow-up appointment on Tuesday. This one is with his surgeon. Pray for a good report
• Paola had to have her sutures out early because one was infecting. Pray that she heals completely
• Pray for Esmilsa, that we might be able to help her, that the Lord will heal her.
• Continue to pray for good health and wisdom for both of us
• Continue to pray for good health for my mother
• Pray for all the repairs in the condo and the car - nothing has been done yet

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

A Funeral

It has been a while since I blogged. Time surely flies when one is busy!

We got our friends off to the airport without any problems. After we dropped them off, we continued to the big town near the airport because we needed a few things, including new tires for the car. All was accomplished, and we were able to head home early, but we had enough time to stop by the German Bakery, now also a restaurant for a late lunch. This is where my friend, Rubia, likes to have chocolate ice cream for breakfast.

We spend our time visiting, leading the couples Bible study, which also involves cooking for me, and sharing in church. All of these things require a lot of study and preparation. We have held a few dinner parties at our condo as well, including one with the pastor, his wife and our Christian neighbors. We wanted them to get better acquainted with each other. Those who know me well are aware of the fact that I really do not like to cook, so it is a stretch for me to have so many people over all the time.

Sunday afternoon, Miguelina's mother passed away (see Miguelina's picture on last blog). She was about 80 years old. She had 13 children, so half of the town was at the funeral, about 200 people. The law here is that bodies must be buried within 24 hours; therefore, the funeral and internment were held Monday afternoon. They had a mass at the brand new Catholic church in our little town, and then people got into all kinds of different modes of transportation to go to the cemetery, which is in the next town. We just waited outside for mass to be over with some friends in the car. There were as many people outside the church as inside. A lot of the men were extremely drunk. They could barely stand up. They used the occasion as an excuse. They get drunk when they celebrate and when they mourn. I was saddened by this. They really need Christ in their lives.

They took the casket to a little enclosure in the cemetery just to say their final good-byes, brought it out to the grave, and lowered without any word of comfort or prayer. I thought that the priest would be there, but he wasn't. It was different. We watched as the cemetery employees put some wood down and then some wire mesh and then cement. They would probably put ceramic tile on the tomb, as other graves around. We stood around as they did all this, and then we left. That was it. They will pray a rosary for her soul for the next nine nights in a row.

From the cemetery we went to a birthday party for an American friend here in our condos! What a shift! Then I had to rush home to start cooking because we had invited a Sergio and Bianka over for dinner. They are doing such a good job leading Bible studies in town, including the couples' while we are not here! People are coming to the Lord! They are going to try to visit us in the US in October, so you might have the chance to meet them. Bianka is taking her oral test to get her nursing degree on Friday. Pray for her.

Which brings me to prayer requests:

• Continue to pray for Yirardi's health
• Pray for Paola, who had gallbladder surgery. She is a Christian.
• Pray for wisdom for the pastor and his wife as they shepherd the three small congregations
• Pray for Bianka to do well on her test and to find a local job
• Pray for John and I - health, stamina, wisdom
• Pray for all kinds of repairs needed in the condo and car - to find the right replacement parts and to be charged a fair price
• My mother is doing well - pray for continued good health 

I actually made it to the beach twice! The rainy season has arrived, but we are finding some time to walk and exercise.

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