Going Back Home

We received the shocking news that my mother had passed away in her sleep Wednesday night. When her care giver arrived Thursday morning, she was gone. Our two sons had to deal with police and funeral home, something that they were definitely not prepared to do. I will be flying home by myself on Sunday because we can only get one seat on the plane. John will be flying home the following Sunday. My mother was 88 years old and up to last Sunday, she taught Sunday School for the ladies in her church. She was a prayer warrior, and I learned to pray following her example. She died peacefully in her sleep, just as she always prayed she would. I know that she is with the Lord.

Last night our friends here came over to be with us. The pastor shared form 1 Thessalonians 4 about our hope. There were some of friends who still have not accepted the Lord. He took the opportunity to talk rather strongly to them. I know I will have a lot of visitors here until I leave. They will take care of John while he is still here. They were already figuring out about meals.

I have a lot to do here before I leave, and a mountain of decisions to make when I get home. We have not decided on services. I have an appointment with the funeral home on Tuesday.

Please pray for:

• Continue peace for me
• Discernment in all the decisions
• That my boys will take a look at their own eternal destiny 
• Traveling mercies for both John and me
• For the Pastor Alejandro and his wife as they deal with immaturity in the congregation
• That the Lord will be glorified in all this
• Continue to pray for Yiradi's health

Thank you for your prayers. See you all soon.

...From the beach...

First Week

As usual, Life at the Beach is busy and full of surprises. As I related last week, on our first day here we had to go to the "wake" for the daughter of one of the employees here. We were told that the mass would be at seven and the burial at eight the next morning. They have to bury their dead within 24 hours because there is no embalming, and the girl had been dead 18 - 20  hours when they found her. We wanted to skip the mass, so we showed up at the cemetery at eight, but nobody was there. Two men were walking from the cemetery, so I got out of the car to ask them what happened. They told us that they had to bury her at six in the morning because the body was decomposing. You have to understand that the casket is kept at a relative's house all night without embalming or refrigeration. The family just stays up all night. I asked the men if they were relatives, but they said they were friends. One of them had a camera and asked permission to take my picture. I asked why, and he said he was taking pictures of those who were there. I assumed it was to give to the family. They wrote my name down.

We drove from the cemetery to the father's house to see if we could talk to him. We found him there and had a chance to talk to him. I even asked him if we could pray for them and we did. We also mentioned that we had talked to a friend of his who took my picture at the cemetery. Well, he told us, that he wasn't a friend, but a reporter from one of the local newspapers! The man never identified himself as a reporter! Next day there was a one page article on the paper about the tragedy, along with an insert with my picture and a comment that he completely made up! John thinks it is hilarious, but I was very upset about it. By the way, this has been a famous case in the whole country. In fact, my mother so it on Univision in California.

The church is now call "Nuevo Comienzo" (New begining)

Front view

Side view - bathrooms on back - two doors painted blue and two doors pink. No mistakes!

Sunday School "room"- all children under 12 go to the same class

View of the inside of the church - chairs were also donated by the Florida group

We visited friends every day of last week. I taught in our little church here Thursday and John preached Sunday morning in both churches. Right after we left last time, a team from a church in Florida came and painted the church, landscaped the front, and donated all the equipment needed for communion. They also donated a projector. You can see the results on the above pictures. We also had our first couples' Bible study on Saturday. John talked about suffering because of all these things that have been going on. We had a BBQ with meat, chicken and tortillas from Honduras, very good!! Last night we even went to a birthday party for one of the owners here. He turned 84 years old! He and his wife are from Georgia. They are both Christians and a lot of fun.

Today we are meeting with one girl, Alejandra, who has been part of our couples since the beginning, but she and her "fiancée" have separated due to alcohol and abuse. She is very sad. Counseling is a big part of our ministry here. Pray that she will come to the Lord. Also for her fiancée whose mother attends church sporadically.

Yirardi is cancer free, as far as we can tell. The doctor has not used the word "remission" yet, but the parents are very happy with all of the negative results. Keep praying.

Prayer requests:

• Yirardi's health
• For the family that lost the young woman
• John's ear is still bothering him
• Maturity for all believers
• Alejandra and Fabian' relationship
• Wisdom for John and I on what to say in all the different encounters

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

We Made It!

Here we are, once again! Thanks to your prayers and by the Lord's grace, we have made it here once more. It was an interesting journey. First of all, we were taking a suitcase filled with kids shoes and clothing for a friend here. People here can't buy through the Internet because this country doesn't have addresses. A street name and a house number are required to order. This friend ordered a lot of clothes and shoes for her four children and had the merchandise delivered to her cousin in Arizona, who was supposed to bring it here on his next visit. It turned out that he could not come, so she asked us to bring it. The cousin drove all the way from Phoenix to our house last Saturday with the suitcase. We were concerned with all the kids clothes and shoes, so we divided the merchandise into all our suitcases to be less obvious. They think that people bringing a lot of brand new clothes are going to resell them here. We even had shoes in our carry on. Hence John's problem going through security in San Diego. The shoes that we put in John's carry on were those little tennis shoes that light up when kids walk. They somehow triggered a big alarm. John was taken to secondary check, and they gave him a thorough body check, up close and personal. They emptied the suitcase, checked it for explosives. They even leafed through the books he had. The whole thing took 30 minutes. I had shoes in my carry on also, but they were just little sandals, and I did not have any problems going through security. We were on time to catch our plane because we were there with plenty of time.

There were two Marines in full gala uniform on the plane with us, one was clearly injured. John had a brief conversation with them. We thought it was unusual for Marines to travel in full gala uniform. When we landed in Houston we found out why. The pilot came on and asked us all to remain seated until the Marines exited the plane because on the plane there was also the body of a young Marine who has given his life in Afghanistan. The two Marines were accompanying the body. From our window we could see the family arriving and the honor guard, plus a group of veterans. The passengers applauded the Marines and had a moment of silent in honor of the fallen hero. It was very moving. The water drops that you see reflected on the glass are there because they hosed off the plane before we arrived at the gate. You can see the Marine approaching the honor guard in crutches.

We boarded our second plane without any problems because we did not have to go through Security again; nevertheless, we were concerned about going through customs, but we knew that Michael and Louee would be praying precisely at the time we would be arriving, we were trusting the Lord to hear all our prayers, and, of course, He answered. When it was our turn, we put all our luggage, including carry ons through x-rays, and no alarm when off. They did not even open our luggage, just asked us for our paper work, in fact, they did not even look at us! We were out of there without a hitch. Thank you, Lord, and thank you Michael and Louee for standing on the gap for us! By the way, the other prayer request was that John's ear would not hurt, and it did not either! PTL!!

We were picked up at the airport by one of the drivers from here. It is part of their service. The driver greeted us warmly, as usual, and then while on our way, he explained that he was not the driver scheduled to pick us up, but that the other driver, his name is Elpidio, had a family emergency. In the typical careful way they talk about things here, he informed us that Elpidio's only daughter had been killed that same evening by her boyfriend. We were shocked! He gave us the sketchy details that he had. Elpidio had called him at the last minute and then again two hours later to make sure that he had arrived at the airport on time. Today I called Elpidio to find the funeral details. He is very sad. These people have faith in God, but don't know Him personally. The viewing is tonight, so we are going with a few friends from town. Elpidio does not live in our little town, but not too far. We are hoping that the Lord will use this horrible tragedy to bring the entire family closer to Him.

We did not make it to church this morning. We were just too tired. We had our traditional first morning breakfast of pancakes, then unpacked, took inventory of our supplies and went shopping. The car started without problems. Everything seems to be working fine at the moment. Thank you for your prayers. Please pray for wisdom as we try to minister to the weary. (Is. 50:4)

Until next time...at the beach...