Seventh Week

Cowboy and cows right up to the road inside the hacienda

Morning walk

Our time here is almost ending. This has been a different experience, but the Lord is not surprised. We are the ones who set goals and have expectations which, evidently, are not always the Lord's will. Since we are not having all the individual studies that we would like, we are spending time socializing with the individual families.

Last Friday we had dinner at Francisco's house. Luz is a great cook. Since she is from Honduras, her food is a little different, which is very nice for us because we really get tired of the same old thing around here. I met her two-months-old granddaughter. She is very cute, with a lot of thick, black hair. We spent a lot of time talking about the up coming "quinceañera" for their youngest daughter, Luz Elena. Her birthday is in November, but they want to wait until January or February when we will be here. We will be included in the ceremony. A "quinceañera" includes a big party following a church service. They plan to have it all at church.

Honduran food: delicious chicken, rice and red beans, and fried cassava

Meeting the new baby. John is an expert at feeding

Saturday night we continued with the study on Ephesians. We talked about being light. I had a chance to talk to Miguelina about supporting her husband if he wants to serve the Lord. I pointed out that there is no perfect church and no perfect pastor (sorry, Pastor D). I also pointed out that they have had a lot of serious problems since they stopped attending church. She agreed with that, but I did not get a commitment from her. The Lord has to work on her heart.

On the subject of the bus to church, we had the pastor and his wife for dinner on Monday. They told us that that particular bus was sold. They bought a van, but it needs to pass all the government inspections to be ready for the road. I still hope that Ricardo will take over that ministry when it comes available. We had not connected with the pastor for a long time; therefore, we had a lot to talk about. It was nice to catch up.

On Sunday afternoon we took two families to the movies: Walter and his family and Christian and his family. We saw "How to Train a Dragon 3."  It was a nice movie. Everybody enjoyed it. They took "hoodies" for the girls to wear in the theater because the A/C is too cold for them. When you live in 90° weather, 78° is freezing. Before the movie, Walter's oldest daughter was crying and complaining of a tummy ache. I think the excitement of being at the movies was too much for her. John told me to pray for her, so we did, right in the lobby. After the movie, I asked her about her tummy and she said that the pain had gone away. So, I told her to always remember that prayers work.

John and the girls, notice the hoodies

Yes, prayer works, and we have seen it here over the years. Thank you, Prayer Team, for your faithful support all these years. We can't do this without your standing on the gap for us.

Prayer requests:

• We only have a week left, pray for good health and strength
• Pray for wisdom as we counsel and teach
• Pray for this bus/van ministry, that many families will start attending church
• For the couples' commitment to the Lord and each other
• Protection for our family

Until next time...from the beach

Sixth Week

Bambi at the golf course

Life at the beach continues on a slow pace this time. We celebrated Valentine's Day with the couples at a new pizza place near by. We had a small room to ourselves, but it was extremely hot at the beginning, until the owner came in and realized how hot it was and turned on the air conditioning. We talked about the Song of Solomon, which in Spanish is called "The Song of Songs," closer to the Hebrew title. We just had an overview of the poem, highlighting certain passages. They really liked it. But, as Pastor D says, it is hard to put it into practice.

Yua and Diana

Christian and Daniela and their girls

Christian and Daniela

Walter and Yesenia and their girls

Francisco and Luz

Eduardo, Arelis and Evans

Randall and Arleth

On Sunday afternoon, we took Diana and Yua to the big city near the airport to eat at McDonald's, which is a big treat for them. Yua had two McFlurries! On our way back, we stopped at Walmart, but they only bought a laundry basket. We did not buy anything.

Celebrating at the Golden Arches

We had Christian and his family over for dinner one night. I was making chicken in the oven; unfortunately, the oven shut down and locked itself up. I was able to open the door after pushing "cancel" a few times, took the chicken out and finished it in the microwave, but, as you know, the microwave does not brown; therefore, I had to put the chicken on a pan to brown it on the stove. John thought we were all going to die of food poisoning, but I assured him that the chicken was indeed cooked, just looking a  little different. It seems that the oven will not work when the temperature is 400° or above. They loved dinner, and took the left overs home with them, since I knew John was not going to eat any more of that chicken.

Last night we had our bible study at Walter and Yesenia's. As usual, we thoroughly enjoy studying the Bible with them. Last night's topic was the Christian family, mostly on Ephesians. We told them that they will get it again on our last Saturday.

Tonight we are going to Francisco and Luz's for dinner. She is from Honduras, so her dinners are slightly different, but very good.

This trip is different because we were not able to schedule more individual bible studies, due to the fact that I was sick the first three weeks, we lost momentum. We feel a little off, not doing as much as we are used to do. We know that it is all in the Lord's hands, since it is His work anyway. We need to trust that He is really in control, and we are not.

Prayer requests:

• Continue to pray for good health and strength
• Pray for wisdom and discernment as we teach and counsel
• Pray that Ricardo will take up the ministry of driving people to church (I plan to talk to Miguelina tomorrow)
• For the couples' commitment to the Lord and to each other
• Protection for my family

Sunset from our place

Fifth Week

Horsing around on the beach

Last week I ended talking about the upcoming dinner with Ricardo and Miguelina. We had a very nice time. The best news was that Ricardo's boss, who is a Christian, has donated an old bus to provide transportation from our little town to where the church is located, and he wants Ricardo to take up the ministry of driving it.  Ricardo said he was praying about it. Miguelina was not as enthusiastic. They left the church about 8 years ago. From our conversation, I gathered that she was disappointed at Alejandro's lack of organizational skills. We agreed that is his main flaw as a pastor, but John told her twice to keep her eyes on Jesus. I have not had a chance to get her aside to talk to her, but I am planning to do it soon.

The Saturday bible study went well. We are averaging six couples a week. It is a good group, with good discussions. We are giving them an overview of Ephesians 4 - 6 because of all the practical Christian walk information. By the way, the food is good also.

Carne asada

Christian is always the chef

Warry, Debora and their two daughters came over to visit for three days. They are with an organization called Movida, which is similar to Urbana for Latin America. We met them in Chile about 10 years ago, but for the past five years, their task was to open Movida in Central America and Mexico. They have followed the Lord's leading, so now Movida has been established in Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and El Salvador, with some outreach into southern Mexico. Now their leadership has asked them to move to Spain to establish Movida there. They are willing to go, but they just want to make sure it is in the Lord's will. We talked a great deal, and I realized that they are been giving wise counsel about living in Spain. They know what to expect. I won't be easy. We pray that the Lord will keep them at the center of his will.  It was a bittersweet visit, since we really don't know if and when we will see each other again.

This might be our last sunset together here

Yesterday was Valentine's Day. We celebrated with Walter and Yesenia at my favorite local restaurant. We had a good dinner and a great time with them. We will celebrate with the group this Saturday at a pizza place which is relatively new. They just opened a room for private parties. We will take a break from Ephesians to talk on the Song of Solomon.

Valentine's Day with Walter and Yesenia

Somebody commented that I did not mention my health last time. I just did not want to bore you with it, but I am feeling fine, praise the Lord. Thank you for your prayers and concerns.

Prayer requests:

• Continue to pray for good health and strength
• Pray for wisdom and discernment as we teach and counsel
• For Ricardo and Miguelina, that they will take up this challenge and provide transportation to church
• That Miguelina be more tolerant and forgiving
• For the couples' commitment to the Lord and each other
• Protection for our family

Fourth Week

First day of school-Christian and Daniela's daughters

As you may recall, there was a general strike starting as we were leaving the country last September. The strike included all public school teachers. It lasted four months. By the way, nothing was accomplish by the strike. The legislature voted to curtail expenses across the board to balance the budget; otherwise, the country was going broke.
Since the school year runs from February to December here, students lost half a year. We thought that they would go back to school at the end of the strike to make up the time lost, but no, they had to have their summer vacation (Dec - Jan)! They just promoted everybody to the next grade, graduated all students who had a passing average before the strike, and went on to their summer vacation. Amazing! The new school year just started on Wednesday. I think that they will have to teach what they missed. Teachers said that students will have extra homework. A lot of kids will fall further behind. As a teacher, I am alarmed. I see a whole generation at a disadvantage.

We started bible studies at Walter and Yesenia's. They are just little sponges. Everything is new and interesting for them. Last week we talked about giving your testimony, and this week we talked about the ordinances. The lights went on when they realized that, if baptism is a symbol of the new life in Christ, baptizing babies does not make any sense, since they cannot make a decision for Christ. We just love spending time with them around the Word because they are so enthusiastic and receptive; however, it looks like this will be the only individual bible study that we will have on this trip, since I was sick and couldn't get the schedule going.

Tonight Ricardo and Miguelina are coming over for dinner and fellowship, and tomorrow we will have the couples bible study. We will organize a Valentine Day's outing for next Saturday.

Prayer requests:

• Continue to pray for good health and strength
• Pray for the couples' commitment to the Lord and each other
• Wisdom as we teach and counsel
• Protection for our family

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