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| Pink oak |
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| Magpie |
Our time here has come to an end. We leave very early in the morning tomorrow (actually in the middle of the night). The upside of it is that we get home in the middle of the afternoon (Thanks for picking us up, Bob and Penny!).
The last few days are always busy. Everybody wants to say good-bye. We went out with Gardy, Paola and Nazaret to a very nice spot to watch the sunset and have dinner. We really had a pleasant evening. Gardy will take us to the airport at
3:45 am tomorrow.
Walter and Yesenia had to cancel the study on Thursday because Walter had to take his mother to the capital (5 hour bus ride) to work on some paper work. Walter's father passed away last November of a heart attack. He was a policeman; therefore, Walter's mom has pension benefits, but it will take a few trips to the capital to get it all scheduled. Everything is centralized here, with a lot of paper work and official stamps. Our lawyer friend says that the whole process will take a year. We were really disappointed that they cancelled because not only it was our last study for this trip, but also, they were finishing a course, and we had printed certificates for them, just to encourage them.
Friday night we had Eduardo, Arelis and their little boy, Evans, for dinner. They were kind of shy when they first got here. I think they thought we were going to lecture them about something; maybe about the fact that they are the only couple in the group who is not married, but we just wanted to spend a few hours with them.
We had our last couples meeting Saturday night. The study was about Ephesians 5:21-6:9, all about relationships. There is a lot of strife and unforgiveness in this little town. We pray that the Holy Spirit will change hearts. Only He can do that. At the meeting, we also discussed our retreat in August. We already have reservations and a date: August 10-11. Please pray for that.
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| This is Arleth's baby. Yirardi is in the background. He will have his yearly CAT scan next week. He's still cancer-free. |
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| Christian and Daniela, our hosts |
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| Yua and Diana |
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| Walter and Yesenia |
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| Ricardo and Miguelina |
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| Eduardo and Arelis |
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| Paola and Diana serving |
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| Francisco and Luz |
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| Teen-agers here are attached to their phones as well |
On Sunday afternoon, Walter, Yesenia and their two daughters came to spend the afternoon at the pool. I served hot dogs and chips and salsa, but Yesenia brought fried plantains. Never had that combination, but it was good. The rule around here is that fried plantains go with everything. The girls had a blast. Yesenia and I sat by the pool and talked. It was a great time of sharing and giving advice on many different areas. She is so willing to get and follow advice.
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| Hot dogs by the pool! |
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| Fried plantain |
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| Camila and Dana |
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| Fun! |
Yesterday we had our last dinner in town at Ricardo and Miguelina's. She has lived in the town most of her life. Her great-grandfather owned most of the land around here, but it has been parceled out to the heirs each generation. The result is that one side of the town is all Gomez and the other side of the town belongs to the two other families. She has a lot of interesting stories about her life and the town. She lost a leg at fourteen when she was hit by a bus and wears a prosthetic leg, but she has lived a normal life. By the way, she is still not willing to go back to church.
Today we will clean, do laundry, pack and get ready. Randall and Arleth insisted on coming tonight to say good-bye. I just want to go to bed early, but it would be rude to say that we already said good-bye to everybody Saturday.
So, this is it. Everything is in the Lord's hands. He has a plan for this town, but not in our schedule, but His.
Prayer requests:
- That the study in Ephesians will resonate in their hearts and the Holy Spirit will perform the miracle of lives changed
- Traveling mercies for us tomorrow
Until next time...from the beach
