Ten more days

Sunset from our balcony

Time flies! It is almost time for us to get back home. This weekend we had visitors: Warry, Deborah and their two daughters. We went to the swimming pool and to the beach a lot because that is what the girls like to do. It gets me out of the house, since I do not normally go swimming. I did a lot of baking because the girls love American cookies; I had to bake a cake for Saturday night, and, since we have a Bible study instead of church on Sunday mornings, I also had to bake extra cookies for Sunday; furthermore, I decided that I might as well bake some brownies for us since I was in the mood.

We all went to the couples Bible study Saturday night. We watched "The Son of God" the Saturday before; therefore, this Saturday we showed just the segment of Peter's calling; then we read from the Bible on Luke 5:1-11. I asked the group the differences they notices, and Hernan, Luis Carlos' 7-year-old, immediately said: "The movie only had one boat, but the Bible says there were two boats."  He was paying attention! They pointed out a few differences. I pointed out how Peter first calls him "Teacher," and then "Lord." Then I asked; "Who do you think Jesus is?" - Dead silence - I encouraged them to think about it and decide for themselves. We had two couples who had not been able to attend. Walter and Yadira had not come because she was stuck in Nicaragua after going for her stepfather's funeral. She has learned her lesson and already started the paper work to get her residency. Eduardo and Arelys, the couple with the 9-month-old baby, were here visiting his family, so they stayed to come to the Bible study. It was good to see these two couples again.

Sunday morning we started the inductive Bible study of the Gospel according to Mark. It went very well. They caught on the fact that the people who were baptized by John the Baptist first repented, then they got baptized. (Babies can't repent that is why we don't baptize babies.) Luis Carlos volunteered to lead next Sunday. A new little girl who lives on  the block came to Sunday School. The Sunday School teacher, Kassandra, is very happy  to have 8 children in her class. We also had a few prayer requests answered. They are very encouraged about praying specifically from one another. Warry preached at the "big" church in the other town. He did a very good job talking about how we are God's master piece and should reflect His glory.

This week we are getting our car's DMV yearly check. Since we have finally found an honest mechanic, John just takes the car to him and he takes it to the DMV, thus saving us a lot of hassle, but the whole process takes three days: the mechanic first fixes a few slight problems from last year, then he takes it tomorrow to the DMV (90 minutes drive from here), then he fixes whatever else they say and takes it back to the DMV a second time. Now, our good friend Bob N would do a thorough check up, top to bottom, and then take the car to the DMV, right Bob? But that is not the local way. Everything takes three trips.

Prayer requests:

• Pray for the couples' Bible study 
• For the new venue for our Sunday mornings meetings here
• For Sergio and Bianka, healing and forgiveness
• Eduardo and Arelys, the couple with the nine month old baby who moved to another town.
• Gardy and Paola's marriage
• For Rosie's pregnancy
• Wisdom for Pastor Alejandro and his wife, Alba
• Pray for Luis Carlos, Irene and their children
• Wisdom for us: here we are doing marriage counseling, church planting, pastoral counseling, etc. We feel overwhelmed and unqualified.

Thank you for your prayers!

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

New Venue

Last weekend we had visitors. Carlos and Rosario came from the capital. They have helped us with this ministry since the very first event, so they are well-known and appreciated in town. They always like to sing along with Carlos as he plays his guitar. Saturday night we had again our couples' Bible study. We had our usual BBQ, Carlos taught about communicating as a couple, and we sang a few songs. They stayed until 11:30, so it was midnight by the time we got home.

Carlos and Rosario leading the singing

Some of the couples. You can see Luis Carlos and Irene in the center with their youngest, Hernan

The other side of the porch. We had three men without their wives who did not come for different reasons. We are glad the men came.

Next day we had our first meeting in the new location, which is also at Luis Carlos and Irene's, but it is a separate rental house next door to their residence. Carlos led an inductive Bible study, which is the format we want now for this little group. It is a very small room, but we have air conditioning. :)

Carlos leading the Bible study. The kitchen is right behind him.

The adults met in the living room and the children were in one of the bedrooms. The pastor and his wife are in the center of the front row.

The children joined us at the end, and we snag some action songs with them.

We all sang with the children.

All of us singing

 After the meeting at our little town, we went to the "big church" across the river, except that the river is completely dried! They are experiencing a drought just like in California. Carlos preached at this church, so we really put him to work while he was here. He really doesn't mind, since he doesn't get to preach and teach much any more in his administrative position.

We enjoyed a nice lunch at the Beach Club after church. You can see how dry it is in the background.

Wednesday we had lunch with the Pastor an his wife to talk about the new venue. He liked the Bible study format because it leads itself to small groups. We are literally starting over in this town. Please pray that the Lord will give us direction and good fruit.

Yesterday we had another prayer walk around town, just John and I. I prayed to meet a specific couple who are Christians, but who can't attend church much since he is a night guard here. The Lord granted me the request as we walked by her house, she was by the front door. She invited us in, and her husband was still awake, which was unusual. They are Julio and Rosie. She is eight months pregnant. She is having high blood pressure and swollen ankles. We prayed for her pregnancy and delivery.  It so happens that they are having a sort of baby shower Saturday, so she invited us. We will go for a little while, but we will leave early because we are showing a film this Saturday night and need to go back home to get the equipment. We will have a movie, hot dogs and pop corn. The movie is The Son of God. Pray for good discussions afterwards.

Tonight we are going to a pizza restaurant in the crazy surfing town to meet with Bianka, Arleth, Randall and Yirardi.

Prayer requests:

• Pray for the couples' Bible study 
• For the new venue for our Sunday mornings meetings here
• For Sergio and Bianka, healing and forgiveness
• Eduardo and Arelys, the couple with the nine month old baby who moved to another town.
• Gardy and Paola's marriage
• For Rosie's pregnancy
• For a good response after the movie on Saturday.
• Wisdom for Pastor Alejandro and his wife, Alba
• Pray for Luis Carlos, Irene and their children
• Wisdom for us: here we are doing marriage counseling, church planting, pastoral counseling, etc. It is overwhelming! Only the Lord can do this.

Thank you for your prayers!

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

Cultural Differences

Caña Fístula - Cassia - a shower of gold

The last time we were here during Holy Week was probably about seven years ago while there was still no organized church. During that time, we did an event, but we usually left on Saturday because I went back to school on Monday; therefore, we had not seen the differences before now.  I mentioned on my last blog that we noticed a different atmosphere here for Easter. It is more of a time for vacations, family gatherings, beach, than going to church. As opposed to the States, where people who never go to church show up for Easter Sunday, here people attend church even less. All of this to say that we were very surprised Easter Sunday to find out that the service at the big church was cancelled! We just could not believe it. It turned out that the pastor had an outreach event in another town Saturday night until 12:30 am, and they were all too tired for church Sunday morning. I was very upset about it  and so was Luis Carlos, who was planning to attend church with us (Luis Carlos is from Colombia, so his cultural background is different). The way we found out was also incredible, but I will not go into it because I have to let it go as another lesson in cultural difference.

The couple below are new believers from our town, Eduardo and Arelys. During our last trip they dedicated the baby in church, but now they have moved back to her town because she needs her mother to take care of the baby while she is at work. The baby is now nine months old. They are living with her mother and Eduardo is not happy about the arrangement; especially because they have their own little house here. So, we made a special trip to where they live with Gardy and Paola as our "guides," since there are no addresses in this country. They are attending church, but he says he misses our pastor. Pray for this situation.

Eduardo, Arelys and Evan

Pray for Gardy, Paola and Nazaret. Gardy is going to school at night to get his high school diploma. He also started on a business venture with a truck, but we get the feeling that business is not great, and Paola can be difficult instead of supportive.

Gardy, Paola and Nazaret

All of us at a restaurant

Same thing, with me in the picture

Since there was no church to attend on Easter Sunday, we took Luis Carlos, Irene and the boys to the old "surfer restaurant." They have a little jungle gym, and the boys had a great time playing with two American boys who happened to be there also. Both Luis Carlos and Irene are working full-time and going to school full-time. Their youngest boy, Hernán, has developed Vitiligo, which is the lost of skin pigmentation (remember Michael Jackson?). Please pray for a miracle that it will go away. Pray for a hedge of protection around this family, since they will take now a higher profile as Christian leaders in town.

John and Sergio had a good meeting this week. They went to a breakfast and lunch restaurant not far from here owned by an American who is a Christian form Calvary Chapel. There is a Calvary Chapel in that town, not far from here, but only if you own a car. Anyway, Sergio opened up to John for the first time about the problems that he and Bianka have. They really need counseling. Things are not really that bad to cause a divorce. He does not want a divorce, but somethings need to change in both of them. We will try a meeting with all four of us. Pray!

We will start meeting at the new venue this Sunday. We are also starting the couples' Bible study over again after the Easter break. Carlos and Rosario, our friends from the capital will be with us this weekend.

Prayer requests:

• Pray for the couples' Bible study 
• For the new venue for our Sunday mornings meetings here
• For Sergio and Bianka, healing and forgiveness
• Eduardo and Arelys
• Gardy and Paola
• Wisdom for Pastor Alejandro and his wife, Alba
• Pray for Luis Carlos, Irene and their children
• Wisdom for us: here we are doing marriage counseling, church planting, pastoral counseling, etc. It is overwhelming! Only the Lord can do this.

Thank you so much for your prayers!!

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