Third Week: Keep On Going

Traffic jam on Sunday afternoon

As the third week rolled by, we continued on our schedule of Bible studies and counseling.

Saturday night we celebrated Francisco and Luz's birthdays. They were born on the same day, January 27.

Birthday celebration at the rented house for Francisco and Luz

Sunday after church we took Yúa and Diana to the big town to have lunch and McDonald's and go to Walmart. Big treat for them because they have no transportation whatsoever, except for the public buses. The bus comes into town at 6:00 am and returns at 7:00 pm. That's it. The rest of the time, you are walking. We also made arrangements to meet an old friend at McDonald's who used to work here as the tennis pro (David, you met Gabriel when you came with John years ago).

Walter needed a new job with insurance coverage for his family. We have been praying about it all week, yesterday, Walter and Yesenia were here for lunch, and as John prayed a blessing for our food, he also prayed in earnest for a full-time job with insurance for Walter. Well, this morning, while we were walking on the beach, we received a call from Walter. He was really excited to tell us that he got a new job, here in the Hacienda with insurance. He was very happy, so of course, we gave God the glory. This is really a great confirmation for brand new Christians.

Last night the pastor and his wife came over for dinner and some catching up. He is discouraged about the work in this little town. After ten years, there has been no growth on Sunday morning, but attrition. He is going to try meetings in three different homes in a rotating basis to see if that brings more interest. The church in the other town is doing well, even though the town is only about 200 people living in 40 homes. There was a lady that brought discord to the church over the years, but she is finally gone. He says that there is much peace in the congregation now. Anyway, the group will still meet at the same rented house while we are still here, and then change venues after we leave in March. We are still seeking the Lord's will about this ministry and actively looking for a full-time couple who will minister and live in this town. The Lord has not given us clear direction yet.

This is the church in the other town

Great news: Arleth is having a girl!!

Prayer requests:

• Christian and Daniela - that they will turn their lives to Jesus and healing for their marriage
• Walter and Yesenia - PTL for the new job, continue growth in the Lord
• Irene - that she will make wise choices
• Arleth - healthy pregnancy and safe delivery
• All the couples in the Bible study - that the Lord would put a hedge around all the marriages and that they will grow in the Lord.
• For a couple to come to take over this ministry
• Wisdom as we counsel and teach
• Protection from mosquito-related diseases and insect bites
• Safety as we travel these crazy roads
• For our family back home - that the Lord will keep them safe  

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

Second Week - Bible Studies

Yúa and Diana are getting married on Feb. 17. They were inviting the group.

This week has been a little mixture of Bible studies and counseling. On Monday, Daniela came and we spent about one hour and a half talking. Mainly I wanted to know what was in her heart. I also gave her an assignment, which did not excite her much.

We had Bible studies on Tuesday with Eduardo and Arelis and Walter and Yesenia on Wednesday. Yesenia invited us over for dinner, but right when the dishes were taken away, she brought out their Bible and was ready to start. By the way, she is an excellent cook. On Thursday we went to Christian and Daniela's. We asked three simple questions: Do you believe in God? Are you willing to apply the principles of the Bible to your life? Will you pray for God to strengthen you and your spouse? These questions were taken from a book called "Before the Last Resort" by George Kenworthy. They answer "yes" to all of the questions and we began by using three verses from Proverbs (still using your material, Pastor D). We are not very positive about the future of this marriage. Only the Lord can change hearts and work a miracle. Please continue to pray for them.

Saturday night it was again the couples' Bible study. We talked about the rich man and Lazarus. There is a lot of confusion about heaven and hell, but I tried to make it clear that once you die, there is no opportunity for salvation. I could tell that they were tracking. As we were talking we all had to dodge the locust flying in and out. They are huge, and they hurt if they land on your skin. Afterwards, we play a game where they got slips of paper with phrases from the Bible story to put together in the correct order. I use to do this all the time with my students. They had a harder time than my students to do it. I will have to make it a little  easier.

Diana and Paola

New couple: Kaylor and Priscila

Randall, Arleth, Yirardi and Nazaret

Walter and Yesenia

Yúa and Diana

Christian and Daniela

Today we went to church and out to lunch with Gardy and Paola to a very nice spot. Gardy is the owner of the minivan. He seems to enjoy driving, so he took us for a drive after lunch. It was a very pleasant afternoon. We are now watching the football playoffs.

A nice Sunday lunch with Gardy, Paola and Nazaret

Our view from the restaurant

Prayer requests:

• Wisdom as we teach and counsel this couples
• For Arleth to have a healthy pregnancy
• For the individual couples to strengthen their relationship and their walk with the Lord
• For Christian and Daniela, that the Lord will work on their hearts and that they will remain together
• For good health, protection from mosquito-related diseases
• Safety as we travel on these roads
• For our family back home that they may remain healthy and safe

Thank you for your prayers!

First Week: You Know You Are At the Beach When...

Locust bang at the door...and there is a gecko in our bathroom! He is camera shy.

You may read the prayer requests at the end if you are in a hurry and can't read this whole blog.

We have been here a week now! It actually feels a lot longer, since we have done so much in just a few days. After arriving at about 11:00 pm local time, we just did a few things like getting the A/C and the hot water heater going and went to bed. On Sunday we got up late, went grocery shopping and unpacked. We also started to contact our friends to let them know we had arrived. 

Randall, Arleth and Yirardi came over Monday night. Yirardi is now almost 16 years old and still cancer-free. The really good news now is that Arleth is expecting a baby in July! She is 38 years old, but so far she is feeling fine, except for some morning sickness.

On Tuesday, we went to Walter and Yesenia's house for dinner. This is the couple who got married last August. Randall, Arleth and Yirardi were there also. I had put together two wedding albums, one for them, and the other one for her mother in Nicaragua. They just loved the albums. I included some 8 X 10 pictures in case they wanted to frame some. We had a great evening, just talking about the wedding and our future activities for this trip. Walter and Yesenia are so happy. They said that their relationship is completely different now that they are married. They have been together 15 years, but were acting like newlyweds. It was really cute to watch, as well as a blessing.

On Wednesday, we went to see Eduardo and Arelis. This is the other couple who needs to get married, but she continues to have  doubts because she thinks they will immediately break up if they do. We agreed to continue the Bible studies at their home on Wednesdays beginning next week. While we were there, we received an emergency call from Christian and Daniela, again telling us that they were breaking up. This happened last year also. So we left Eduardo and Arelis and went to Christian and Daniela's home. It was really bad. They have two little girls who obviously knew something was wrong and were clinging to their parents so that we could hardly talk. After finding out was was happening, I thought there was no way they could get back together. This is a repetition of the same problem as before, but just based on the fact that they had reached out to us for help, we made them realize that they did not really want a divorce. We prayed together for their marriage and left. John could hardly sleep that night thinking about the problems.

Next evening we returned to their home. They were not speaking to each other yet. On top of that, his mother, a couple of aunts and some cousins were visiting from the capital. Wow! You are not getting along and here come all the in-laws! There is even a little two year old boy with spinal bifida on a little wheel chair rolling around the house! We sat on the porch outside and talked some more. We got them to agree to go on a date that weekend, since they had built-in babysitters. We prayed again and left. Well, they went on their date on Friday night, and yesterday they were at the couples Bible study holding hands. I am going to meet with her every Monday because without going into details, I can tell you that she is the main source of the problems. Please pray for this couple, that they come to know the Lord, and that their marriage will be healed.

On Friday we drove to a city past the airport, almost two hour drive to go see an orthopedic doctor. John has had a pain in his "good" shoulder for a few weeks now, but did not have a chance to go see the doctor before our trip. The doctor gave him a cortisone shot and some pills. He also recommended icing the shoulder three times a day. He is doing it right now as I type this. I think he is going to feel better. Since we were going by Walmart, we stopped by to get some floties for Christian and Daniela's girls so that we can have them over for swimming. I am also trying to get a mouse pad because ours seems to be missing, but couldn't find one, even at Walmart. 

Last night, Saturday, was our first couples meeting. Yúa and Diana cleaned the house we rent in town, and Diana made chicken and rice for everybody. We really could not go on with these meetings without their help. Dinner was delicious. Diana is a great cook. Guess what we talked about? We talked about Phil. 3:12-14, based on Pastor Rose's message on Dec. 31st. It was very appropriate for our first meeting of the year. The couples also talked about some housekeeping items, such as who is going to bring dinner next time, Valentine's Day, a fishing trip for the guys, and a second retreat in August. A new couple joined us, Keylor and Priscilla, they are about 21 years old and have a five week old baby girl. Pray for this new couple, that they will come to know the Lord.

Today is Sunday. We went to Sunday School in the little house. The pastor has been talking about the Holy Spirit. He did a recap for us. He was correct about his doctrine, even mentioning that speaking in tongues is not the only sign of the presence of the Holy Spirit. Afterwards, we walked over to Yúa and Diana's house. They live on the same "block." We had already agreed that we were going to present the plan of salvation to them because we felt that they were ready. We went through the whole thing, and praise the Lord! They readily accepted the Lord. This is the couple who is getting married on February 17th. Pray for them that they may grow in spiritual maturity.

Well that is about all we have been doing. I apologize if it was too long.

Prayer requests:

• Pray for wisdom as we disciple and counsel these couples
• Pray for Arleth's pregnancy
• Pray for Water and Yesenia, that they will grow in their relationship with the Lord
• Pray for Christian and Daniela, that they will reconcile and will accept the Lord
• Pray for Yúa and Diana, that they will grow in the Lord and for their coming wedding
• Pray for the new couple, Keylor and Priscilla
• Pray for the believers, that they will continue to grow in maturity
• Pray for good health, protection from mosquito-related diseases and bug bites, pray for protection on the tricky roads
• And please pray for our family back home, that the Lord will keep them safe and healthy 

Thank you for your prayers!

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

On Our Way

Hello, Prayer Warriors!

We are on our way again. We are leaving tomorrow, Saturday early in the morning. Please pray:

• Traveling mercies - we somehow have a problem with our seat assignments, if you are reading this on Friday, please pray that we can get it all cleared up   when we get to the airport.
• Pray that our luggage makes it there with us and that they let us through in Liberia without checking them. It is too hard to explain all the stuff we take.
• Pray that we stay healthy, free from mosquito-transmitted diseases and bug bites.
• Pray that hearts will be open to the Good News.
• Pray for safety for our family here.

"The Lord will keep you from all harm—

    he will watch over your life;

8 

the Lord will watch over your coming and going

    both now and forevermore."

Psalm 121:7-8

Thank you for your prayers!