Sixth Week

Morning walk at low tide

We like to walk on the beach when the tide is low in the morning. This is the time when we brainstorm about what we are going to study in the different bible studies. We continue to work hard discipling and counseling. This trip has turned up a lot of counseling opportunities. A lot of dynamics going on that we cannot talk about here.

Heidi

This is Heidi. She comes to Sunday School every Sunday by herself most of the time, although her mother comes occasionally. She lives across the street. She has two older brothers who use to attend also, but con´t anymore. One of the problems is that there is no children classes. The girl who used to teach the children got married an moved away. I suspect that Heidi likes to come because we have cookies afterwards, but the point is that she comes, and she needs to be taught. While here, we had to completely change the focus of the lessons to make them meaningful for the teenagers who attend. But there are two kids who also come, Heidi and Luis Carlos´son, Hernan. This boy is very sharp and can actually participate in class, but Heidi is only in first grade. She can't read the Bible yet (school just started here this month). Pray for a teacher for these children.

Hernán

This will be our last week here. Please pray that we finish well. 

Prayer requests:

• For wisdom as we continue to teach and counsel
• For health and stamina to keep up with this schedule
• For the right couple to come and pastor this town
• For all the couples as they struggle in their relationships
• School has started, pray for all the students in our group, from elementary to college level
• For Eduardo's father as he heals, may his heart be open to the Lord
• For traveling mercies as we drive around every day
• For our family back home

Thank you for your prayers!

 

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

Fifth Week

Hello, Prayer Warriors!

Life at the beach continues. We are deep into a routine of morning walks, afternoons studying and preparing and evenings of visits and Bible studies.

The main event last week was that the town put on a fundraiser for Eduardo's father,Jorge, who has his foot and part of his leg amputated due to diabetes. The event took place Saturday. This town is so small that all they have is a committee that schedules events and speaks for the town before the municipal authorities when needed. The event consisted of a few friendly soccer matches with nearby towns (soccer is the only thing that brings people out), food and beverages sales. I contributed with four dozen home-made cookies. That's all I can bake with my limited supplies.  I put five cookies each in plastic bags and told them to sell them for a dollar because I did not think they were going to buy them, but the ladies selling them tried them and decided to raise the price to two dollars. They were gone in 15 minutes. American cookies are a novelty. We did not have the couples bible study on Saturday because we wanted the couples to participate.

On the road to town

Watching the soccer matches

One of the matches

Local team

Everything else is going well. I have no news to report. We are healthy, praise the Lord!

Prayer requests:

• For wisdom as we continue to teach and counsel
• For health and stamina to keep up with this schedule
• For the right couple to come and pastor this town
• For all the couples as they struggle in their relationships
• School has started, pray for all the students in our group, from elementary to college level
• For Eduardo's father as he heals, may his heart be open to the Lord
• For traveling mercies as we drive around every day
• For our family back home

Sunset from the town

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

Fourth Week

Happy Valentine's Day!

Another full week at the beach! We need to go back home to rest! Our original plan was to have Tuesdays completely free to rest, blog and listen to EFCC's Sunday message. This is not working out as planned. We have not had a free evening since last Monday, Feb. 6th. We don't see any time off until Feb. 24th. Please do not ask us when we get back about our vacation. We will fake a smile and say that it was fine.

Last Tuesday we got a call from one of the wives who was ready to call it quits. So, we went to their house and spent time counseling them. The problem there is jealousy. They reconciled, but we are not so naive as to think that everything will be fine after an hour of counseling. They are coming over for dinner tonight, but just the fact that she reached out to us is progress. This would not have happened a few years ago.

Our time continues to be divided into discipleship, bible studies and counseling. The two couples we are discipling are progressing well. It is a joy to see how the Holy Spirit gives them insight into His Word. These are two separate Bible studies at two separate homes because they are at different levels, one couple started last year and the other couple just got started.

We had a very good weekend. On Saturday we had a Valentine's party for the couples. It was a very good meeting. We use the example of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples to talk about real love. It went very well. We got home at almost midnight.

John was trying to explain American football to a captive audience. "Why do they call it "football" when they either throw or carry the ball?" Good question

We had a great dinner: BBQ, tamales, two salads, tortillas from Honduras, cake and ice cream

The whole group

For Sunday morning I prepared a completely different lesson for the bible study because mostly young people and children are attending. That is what I am going to do now. School just started here last week (their summer vacation is Dec. - Jan.); therefore, we talked about friendships; what is a true friend?, using David and Jonathan.

Carlos Cordero continues to pursue the idea of finding a couple for the ministry here. His pastor is very busy these two weeks, but may have some time at the end of the month to come to talk to us and see the town. Pray for the Lord's will on this. We need a humble couple who would be willing to live in town and become part of their culture.

Prayer requests:

• Wisdom as we teach and counsel these young couples
• Health and stamina to keep up with the schedule
• For the right couple to come to live and pastor this town
• For all the couples as they struggle with relationships
• For Eduardo's father who had his foot amputated
• For Luis Carlos as he mourns his mother
• For traveling mercies as we drive around these parts
• For our family back home

Thank 

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

Third Week

Life at the beach continues...

Last Wednesday we met with the pastor for lunch to share what our plans are now for this town. He did not take the idea of bringing a couple from Carlos' church as well as we hoped. As we feared, he wants to try to find a couple from his denomination, and we really don't want to do that, but at least we told him clearly that we don't want the divorced couple we think he is grooming for this ministry. We could not talk too long because Luis Carlos called us to let us know that he was at the local commuter airport to fly to the capital. We had to cut short our lunch with Pastor Alejandro to drive to the commuter airport (about 20 minutes) to catch Luis Carlos and Irene before their flight to the capital. We got there on time to pray with them and bless them. Luis Carlos was very sad, but we were able to comfort him with our prayers. They flew to the capital and from there to Panama and then to Medellin. They arrived safely and on time for the funeral. They were back on Sunday.

Warry, Debora and their two daughters arrived on Friday to stay with us until Monday. Since the couples' bible study takes place at Luis Carlos and Irene's house, we cancelled it for Saturday. Warry and Debora have a minister similar to Urbana, and they just finished a big international event at the capital. They had over 500 young people from different countries in Latin America who were challenged to become involved in mission work. They were really tired after two intense months of planning and carrying out the event. They welcomed the time to relax here and watch the sunset.

Enjoying the sunset with Warry and Debora

We all went to our local meeting here on Sunday morning. There were more children and young people than adults, so we had to slightly change the emphasis of the lesson to make it more meaningful to them. Afterwards, we stayed and talked for a long time with Francisco, Luz, Warry, Debora and Sinai, who is a faithful servant from town.

Oh, one more thing, we got our car back finally on Saturday. We were blessed to have Luis Carlos' car to use the entire week.

Prayer requests:

• Pray for the right couple to take over the pastoral duties here 
• Pray for Pastor Alejandro to go along with this change
• Pray for Luis Carlos and his family as they deal with the loss of their mother
• Pray for Jorge, Eduardo's father, who lost his foot due to diabetes. He is back home now
• For traveling mercies for us as we travel on these crazy roads (mostly off-roading)
• Pray for health for us
• Pray for our family back home

Thank you so much for your prayers! We can't do any of this without your support.

Until next time...from the beach

Second Week

Has it only been two weeks, really? It feels as if we have been here a lot longer. So many things have happened this past week!

Since Francisco y Luz were in Nicaragua for his sister's funeral, John and I went to their home every day. It was a good time to spend with the kids and talk about plans, salvation, Christian walk, family, and many other things. Francisco and Luz came back on Thursday night, so we went to the bus stop to pick them up and brought them home.

On Friday night Bianka took us out to dinner. We had a nice visit, but the subject of Sergio was never brought up. By talking to both of them separately, we realize that their relationship is really over. Only a miracle can heal the deep wounds. She has an excellent job as an RN in a private clinic. Over the weekend they had to amputate Eduardo's father's foot due to diabetes. He is not a believer. Pray that Eduardo's family will come to the Lord.

Saturday night we had the couples Bible study. We had a smaller group than the first Saturday, but it was a good meeting. We talked about the parable of the wise and the foolish builders on Luke 6. Our point was that if their relationships are not based on the Lord, their homes will crash. We even had the triangle illustration that Pastor D uses when he talks about marriage. We are planning on using different biblical marriages to illustrate how to build on that foundation. Sunday morning we had church in our little town. We have not visited the "big church" in the other town yet. It is nice to stay and chat over coffee after the Bible study without having to rush over to the other town.

Monday night we had another Bible study. This time at Walter and Yesenia's. They accepted the Lord last August, but she immediately went back home to see her parents and had not returned. Walter quit his job and went to get her in December. He stayed there a month and a half and finally brought her home with their two daughters. That's true love! He has another job now in construction. We started with a very basic study on who is Jesus.The first lesson is based on John 1:1; Jesus is God. We prayed so much that the Holy Spirit would teach them, and that was exactly what happened. I could physically see the change on their demeanor as the Holy Spirit worked. PTL!

Tuesday we had lunch with one of the security guards here who knows us from when we first bought our place here. He lives in a town about 30 minutes drive. I should mention here that our car is back in the shop again since Monday, but Luis Carlos let us use his car, and he is riding around on his motorcycle. He is really like a son for us here. Also on Tuesday we had to go to Francisco and Luz's house because they needed some counseling. I have said it many times that counseling is not my gift. We prayed a lot again, and the Lord worked. They talked about  their problem honestly and the Lord healed their marriage. Keep praying for them.

Today we heard the news that Luis Carlos' mother passed away in Colombia. She had cancer. He and Irene just took off for the capital to fly to Medellin. In Latin American countries people are buried within 24 hours, so they need to get there as soon as possible. We were there to say good-bye and pray for them.

Now for the big prayer request that we have before the Lord. If you remember from last August when Luis and Elizabeth were here visiting from Bolivia, they suggested that what we need a pastoral couple to live in the town full time. We have been praying for that daily. Carlos Cordero who is a missionary offered to talk to his pastor about it this week, but we haven't heard from him yet.  Anyway, we decided to talk to Pastor Alejandro about our plans. It did not go too well. He wants to try to find a couple from his denomination, but we really want to separate from that. We like Pastor Alejandro a lot, but there are certain theological differences that we have overlooked all this time, but now we want to start over fresh with a couple that is from a denomination or independent church that aligns more closely to what we believe. Please pray that the Lord will bring the right couple for this town.
We thank the Lord for allowing us to serve Him.  We thought that this trip would be just about sharing the Lord, but we have spent time with couples in marital problems and two families who have lost family members.

Prayer requests:

• Pray for the right couple to take over the pastoral duties here 
• Pray for Pastor Alejandro to go along with this change
• Pray for Luis Carlos and his family as they deal with the loss of their mother
• Pray for Jorge, Eduardo's father, who lost his foot due to diabetes
• Pray for Francisco and Luz
• For our car to get fixed right and on time
• For traveling mercies for us, now driving a borrowed car
• Pray for health for us
• Pray for our family back home

Thank you for your prayers!

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