May 2015 Newsletter

May was a busy month.  It started off with a two day children’s camp at the home of Hector and Rachel.  It was for kids ages 7 to 12 and it was really great.  We helped out with the kids, took part in skits and had a lot of fun.  As we were heading back to our house Sat. afternoon we got a call from Paulo.  He had been in charge of all the games and physical activities for the kids and had done a super job and had left on the bus ahead of us.  He called to ask if we were ok because there had been a bad wreck between a motorcycle and a car that looked like ours at the entrance to Ataco.  Not us, and we never learned of the fate of the man on the motorcycle.  After we got home a beauty contestant parade passed by our front door.  The next week was consumed with getting ready to host the monthly preacher’s get together.  Charlotte cooked a ton of food and we spent the week getting everything ready.  It went well but we were glad to have it over.  Saturday we initiated our English classes.  Our first session had 20 students because we had posted adds all over Juayua.  By the end of the month we had settled out to only about 6 or 7 dedicated students but it is our first time and a learning experience.  Charlotte is in charge because of her years of teaching experience and I assist all I can.  We go for 1 ½ hrs. and then have snacks and visiting time and we have already gotten to start talking with some of the students why we are here and about Christ.  We had expected to get our 1 yr. visas in May but instead we had a call from a lady from immigration who came all the way to Ataco to interview us and 3 people who knew us and then needed to interview the man who had signed our papers from the church here for us to come.  He was out of the country and time ran out because they had started this process late so we had to go to San Salvador for a 3 month extension.  This really worked out good because we also went to a dentist there about Charlotte’s tooth that had been hurting pretty much since her fall.  She needed a root canal and he had to put her on antibiotics for a week before the process.  The other really big event of May was our first campaign group.  15 people arrived from Spring Meadow Church in Franklin, Tn.  We spent 4 days knocking doors with them and it was so rewarding.  We each went with a different group and did translating and that went really well.  We have lots of new contacts for the church here and we plan to start soon going with Carlos back to some of the contacts each of us made.  The first Sunday the group was here we had a baptism.  Mirnda who is the daughter of Natividad, who is the lady we had helped to go to the Dr., was baptized.  Charlotte had studied with her some and also Edgardo.  We also have met a new family in Juayua that we have now studied with three times and they seem to be very interested as well as we are becoming good friends.  God has showered us with so many blessings.  We cherish your thoughts and prayers and would love to get any letters or e-mails.  In His Love and Service.    Dwaine and Charlotte  simmonsbeautifulfeet@blogspot.org

May 31, 2015

Sunday was a day of anticipation for Caleb and Lucky’s arrival on Monday.  We went to the Shucutitian service at 9 and I stayed after to serve the girls.  We had spaghetti and they planned some skits for Father’s Day.  After practice, we started our visiting. I was excited because we were going to visit Natividad and Mirnda and Brasada.  We stopped by Marta’s home for a prayer for they had a household that was sick and did not attend service.  About the time we left, the rain started.  It was heavy, so we ducked into one of the homes of the teen girls to wait it out.  When it slacked, we headed to Edgardo’s and when we arrived, it started again.  Since the family that we wanted to visit lived up the side of a mountain, we decided not to make the trip.  I called Dwaine and he came to get me and give a ride to Carla.  Katherine, one of the teen girls, had wanted to come over for some help with her English homework.  We offered a snack and she realized we had milk.  Before she left, she had three glasses!  We were tickled pink that we had something that she liked.  It was such a blessing that we could offer something she rarely gets.  We dropped her off on the way to Juayua and picked up Isabel and Gabriela for the Juayua service.  We had one visitor and the service went great.  I taught on Noah, and it seemed short.  I guess it is good when I don’t get through with everything I brought.  We headed home, planning to get an early start to San Salvador on Monday. 

May 30, 2015

Help!  Electricity went out at 3:00 a.m.  The immediate issue there, was no fan.  While it left us restless, it is never off too long…..I usually get up at 5 or 5:30 and still, no electricity.  I was beginning to entertain the idea that this was going to affect meal preparation for company coming at 10:30.  We got a glimmer of hope about 7 when the electricity came back on, but it only stayed on for about 5 or 10 minutes.  Caleb called for a few minutes and then internet was gone again.  It stayed off until about 9:30.  Ouch.  At least we have a gas stove.  I was beginning to get concerned about food in the frig and freezer.  Things came together and Regina, Elizabeth and Pedrito arrived shortly after 10:30.  Kenyia had to take an exam in Sonsonate and Pedro had to help someone with his truck.   We had a great meal together and then we drove back together to Juayua for English class.  We had a good number, about 8.  A few came back that had been absent.  Afterwards we went to the home of Enrique, Kelly, Ernesto and Kelly.  It was a great study.  They sell coffee, so Dwaine and I bought some coffee.  Kelly had given us some avocados last week, so I had made some bread to share.  Afterwards, we had our Saturday night study.  On Saturday we always share about all our contacts and our progress.  It is good to hear of all the studies and visits being done while we are busy in Ataco too.  Of course we made one last run to Selectos afterwards getting ready for next week.  Time is passing quickly!

May 29, 2015

Catch up day.  We cleaned house and cooked Friday morning.  Regina and her family are coming from Juayua on Saturday morning and Caleb and Lucky are coming next week.  So, we are getting things ready.  It seems like it had been a while for a good cleaning, so we worked hard to get things in order.  Since the Franklin group had been here early in the week, we also wanted to get our studies done for Ataco/Shucutitian.  First, we headed to meet Bessi and study with Reina.  Afterwards, we had coffee with Bessi’s mom and a small study.  Next, we walked over to Marie Teresa’s.  This is Osmin’s mom, a brother in the congregation.  She had come to one of the night meetings and I had sat with her because I had visited her one time before and had gotten to know her a little.  While she has a church background, she has not been going anywhere for a little while.  We are prayerful that she will be open to visiting at Shucutitian, especially since she has family.  Then, we went to Rosario’s.  We have heard that she is attending the Assembly of God church, but we had a good study.  We talked about Naaman.  We ran out of time to study with Katherine, one of the teen Christian girls, but we did stop by and visit.  It was a full day, probably about 5:30 getting home.  We wrapped up meal preparations and headed for bed.

A friend along the way,

May 28, 2015

Some rest at least.  We were expecting to meet Edgardo and go with him up the steep hill to Natavidad’s house to carry her down in a chair.  We were also scheduled to arrive there at 4:45 am.  We got a call from Edgardo at 8 Wen. night that we did not need to be there until 7:45.  Wow.   When we arrived, Natividad and her daughter, Mirnda had already somehow made it down the hill and were waiting for us beside the road so we got off to a quick start.  This time the appointment was in Sonsonate and we got there about 8:45.  We saw an emergency entrance to the hospital so we parked near it and got out.  But each door we went to they said where we needed to go was further.  By the time we got to the correct place we had walked pretty far and I felt really bad for Natividad because walking is so hard for her and we could have stopped in front of the door if we had known where we were going.  They only let Natividad and Mirdna in and Edgardo, Charlotte and I set off to find (you guessed it) Selectos.  We saw a Dollar City on the way and went in and got some things.  Then on to Selectos.  We got several items we had a hard time finding elsewhere.  Charlotte got all of the Campbell’s chicken soups.  Then we headed back to the hospital and found Mirdna walking on the street looking for us.  We picked her up and went back to the entrance where her mother was sitting and waiting for us.  Fortunately they had only been out about 15 minutes so the timing was almost perfect.  When we got back we did carry her up the hill because we knew she could not walk up.  By the time we reached her house Edgardo and I were exhausted and wet with sweat but at least we made it ok and she was in much better condition than the last time.  Charlotte and I got home about noon.  We had not had any idea how long the trip to the doctor would take (from 4 am to 6pm last time) so we had not made any other plans for the day and we were really exhausted from the campaign so we both rested about an hour and then got up and had lunch and worked around the house some for the afternoon.  Then we watched a movie on Netflix for the first time in a couple of months.  Thankful for some rest so we can go again Friday.

Close up of baby birds....will be gone soon

May 27, 2015

Last day for us.  We headed out for our evangelism location in Ataco at 9.  Once the group arrived, we started on our studies.  We noticed that there was another group of door knockers in the area.  My group headed for Rembert’s.  He was home, but a couple of people were there already visiting him.  He ran them out immediately and had us in.  Within minutes, a friend of his, Erwin, arrived.  Remberto had invited him to come study with us because he did not go to church.  Interestingly, Remberto translated for about an hour and I translated for about an hour.  Yes, it was a long study. In the end, Remberto said that even though he had brought his friend, the study was good for him. We finally decided we had to move on to meet some other people.  It was amazing to work together to bring the message.  Osvaldo had made an appointment with a lady named Patty, so we headed her way.  We stayed in her home about an hour.  She had been going to a church, but there was a lot of discrimination in the church.  So, her family had not gone in a while.  She had lots of questions and invited us to come again.  We passed by one more house and visited with a lady name Anna.  We had passed her home several times and was finally able to connect with her.  Then it was time for lunch.  I had made four loaves of sweet breads: two banana, a zucchini and avocado, so we ran by the house to take them for lunch.  Afterwards, the group planned to start delivering food about 3.  We got a short rest, ten minutes, and then headed to our site.  The group didn’t arrive until 3:30.  But, a young man and his girlfriend passed while we were waiting so we invited them to dinner.  We will work on that after Caleb’s visit next week.  When we everyone arrived our group took food to all of our contacts.  We also prayed with each family.  So of the homes were dirt floored and very poor.  It was heart wrenching.  While the group started setting up the tents, Dwaine and I headed out for Juayua.  The group had a class on Que Dice La Biblia and I taught the children’s class on Cain and Abel.  We got home about 7:30 and passed the vans leaving Ataco for the night as well.  Tomorrow, the group will go zip lining and visiting the Mayan structures.  We are not going to join in.  We had planned to pick up a lady at 4:45 to go to the doctor, but Edgardo called and changed the time to 7:45.  No complaints there!  Dwaine and Edgardo will have to carry Navitidad down the mountain.  We are praying it doesn’t rain tonight, so it won’t be slippery.  Navitidad’s daughter, Mirnda is the one who was baptized on Sunday.  We are going to Sonsonate this time instead of Santa Ana.  We hope she can actually see a doctor this time, as we are uncertain that she will be able to.  (Dwaine) The other group of door knockers who were there when we got there were JW’s led by the preacher from around the corner that we had met yesterday.  We all knew that after talking with us he got in contact with some of his members and told them to be there this morning to compete with us.  We headed up the street and met a lady in the street we had not spoken to yesterday.  She had lived in California for many years and still had 3 adult children in the States but she was born in Ataco and had come back here for her retirement.  She invited us in and we sat in her beautiful courtyard and visited for about an hour.  She believes in God but she does not attend any church.  I exchanged phone numbers with her and made an appointment to go back with Charlotte on the morning after Caleb leaves.  She had asked if Tammy was my wife since we were sitting next to each other and when I told her about Charlotte Tammy and Jerry both said “You will just love Charlotte”.  I said I sure did and we laughed.  We did not get in too much more in the morning but when we took the food in the afternoon we had a great visit with David and also the family whose son could not speak.  It has been an incredible and exciting time with the group here.  I am so thankful for the work we are involved in and for all we get to do every day here but the campaign was just plain fun.  We have lots of new contacts here in Ataco and that is just from the teams each of us were involved with and there are lots of other contacts as well.  Charlotte said we could have been happy working here in Ataco with so many brothers and sisters and all the new contacts we now have.  But also the work is Juayua is off to an incredible start and we are getting to be at the beginning of starting a church there which was our dream and for now we can also work in Ataco for part of the week.  Our sweet Father always knows best and when He wants us to find a house in Juayua we will. 

Studies with Erwin on left and Rempuerto on right.

Osman in the middle helped keep records of visits.

Painter was working on a store front.

Meeting with Patty and family

 

Worn out!

Preparing for last night of activities.  

One canopy in place, three more to go.

May 26, 2015

Another day of studies!  The group changed locations and worked in an area that we had previously had a study in Ataco.  When the group arrived, a man was standing on his porch.  We were assigned areas to work and the gentleman was just outside our starting point, but we decided to start with him.  God directed.  He was expecting a visit and had actually worked to authorize the group to set up tents in the streets for the campaign. His name was Remberto and he had lived in the States for ten years. So, his English was great.  We studied with him for over an hour.  Next we went to a home and studied with Glenda and her family.  They asked if I had any verses to share, so I actually led this study on the eunuch in Acts 8.  Next we went on to another home where a family was living with a baby of forty days of age.  As we entered the home, we noticed the baby was asleep in a hammock stretched across the room.  They had a Catholic background, but were very open to reading the Bible and praying.  The tents set up right in front of their home, so I am sure we made a lot of noise.  When it came time for the evening activities, the little girl came and I sat with her a while.  The grandmother stood at her door for the whole service. We had stayed so long in every home, that we only had time for a few more visits before lunch.  We went to Hector and Rachel’s for lunch.  We just rode the van, but after lunch we caught a bus back home because they were not having studies in the afternoon.  The campaign in the evening had a great turnout.  Remberto came for the adult service sat with Dwaine and me.  Toward the end it started pouring rain.  He lived near the tent, so he invited Dwaine and me to his home for coffee.  It was a great visit.  He shared he had family difficulties in some detail.  We talked about having hope through Christ.  We ended with a prayer and told him we would stop by Wednesday morning.  We got home about 8 and were really tired, but blessed.  (Dwaine)  When we changed locations we also regrouped the teams so I got to work with Jerry Elder and a lady named Tammy and a young girl named Sara Kate.  Jerry is the children’s minister at Spring Meadow and he had a major role in all the services with the kids.  This morning we met a man named David who had a good visit with us and said he was out of work and needed food.  We sure wished we could tell him we were bringing food the next day but we just made an appointment to come back and visit again.  There were a few others but the most interesting were a man sitting on his front porch who had lived in the Maryland for 22 yrs so his English was great.  Unfortunately he is a preacher for the JW’s here.  I told him that the JW bible had many changes in it from the original Bible he said sure they revise it every year as they learn more.  The last family had a son who could not talk because part of his brain had been injured when his mother fell during pregnancy.  They were a very sweet family and invited us in and we had a good visit and study.  The boy is 11 and is learning sign language at a special school in Ahuachapan.  His dad who seemed like a really caring father said it was very difficult for him because he had to work and could not attend the school so he was able to understand very little of what his son tried to say.  Charlotte told you about the rest of the day and IT WAS GREAT!!!!!

Watched this painting in progress of the piano keyboard leaving Ataco.

Bible study with Rempuerto

Bible study with Glenda and family

Osvaldo holding a baby in a home

Family with open doors for study.

Tent went up in front of this home, so everyone took advantage of their shade.

Skit for children by Spring Meadow

May 25, 2015

Amazing day!  I am sure that this will be a two-part blog today, for Dwaine and I each worked with different groups on our day of campaigning with the Franklin group.  We kept the same groups as Saturday, so I was blessed to go out with a great couple, David and Lisa.  Our Spanish speaker was Edgardo, the man who preaches here some and is working as an assistant.  He is a great friend, so it was good to have him join us.  For the day, we had four studies, three lasting about 45 minutes and one about 15 minutes.  While Edgardo is very experienced in leading Bible studies, we truly wanted our campaigners to take the initiative.  And they did just that.  David came prepared with several scriptures to share and Lisa was very supportive and compassionate.  David would also lead the prayers and I did the interpreting for him on his studies.  Our first lady was Sandra.  She owned a small store and had three children.  She had also let us enter her home and study with her on Saturday.  One lady, Angelina, talked with us a long time and then also invited us into her home.  She was a seamstress by trade and she had lots of questions.  Edgardo added some verses to the study and gave a very moving illustration on different churches.  He drew a stick figure and asked if this were the church, who was the head.  Of course, Christ.  Then, he asked was the body?  Of course, the church.  He proceeded to draw many bodies extending from the one, creating a distorted ‘person.’  Christ died to be the head of one body.  While he named a few bodies that might be false bodies, the power of the drawing was great.  He ended with the description of marriage in Ephesians so that the thought of being married to more than one bride was not so appealing.  It was a powerful example and Angelina was moved by it.  Our third study was with the wife, Felicity, of a man, Roberto, we met Saturday.  David led all of this study and did an impressive job.  She was an elderly woman and did not want us to come in, but she stood and talked for a long time.  Later that afternoon when we brought food back to our studies, we learned that she was crippled in one leg and could hardly walk.  She had sacrificed a lot to stand and listen to us for so long.  Our next two families that we had studied with on Saturday, were not home.  We headed back to the soccer court and then on to Hector and Rachel’s.  Several ladies from Ataco had cooked a great meal.  What a blessing.  We visited a bit and then headed out to distribute food to several homes that had invited us in.  One of the most moving was the elderly couple, Robert and Felicity.  Robert said that he would not agree to accept the food unless we agreed to accept his blessings on us and his promise to pray for our outreach.  Sandra, our study who had three children invited us back in to her home and cried when we gave her the food.  We were all deeply moved.  One of our first studies was back home and this gentleman, Ruperto, could only get around with a cane.  He was afraid to open his door for us, but came out and listened to a verse and prayer.  He prayed all the while that David prayed.  It was funny because I felt like I needed to interpret David’s prayer for him and Ruperto’s prayer to us simultaneously! While this was all amazing, we still had the meeting to go for the night campaign.  First, a lady I had visited about a month ago came and I sat with her.  I had been in her home with some ladies and she said I could come back and study with her.  She is the mother of a member here.  Then, Mirdna came with her son.  She is the lady that was baptized Sunday.  Both of these ladies lived some distance away and traveled to come.  Sandra had come to the meeting on Saturday night but not tonight.  Angela lived next to the court and she stood outside her home with a couple of friends for the entire meeting.  The Franklin group gave out scarves for a gift, so Edgardo and I walked to her home and gave her and her friends a scarf.  Then, I discovered that Roberto had also come.  He even stayed and help load chairs after the meeting.  I also met some of Dwaine’s contacts and it looks like we will have lots of follow-up work to do when the group departs.  We are moving to a different area on Tuesday, and I could see that many were having a hard time saying good-byes.  I know that makes me long for heaven when we will all be united in one family.  (Dwaine)  This was the first campaign I had been on since the one in 2012 when I came to El Salvador for the first time.  Saturday morning when I went out with Greg and his daughter I was trying to follow the instructions from Hector that I thought I had understood which was to introduce ourselves and talk a few minutes and invite them to the 5:00 meeting at the soccer field.  Afterward, when I had time to think more, I felt guilty we had not at least asked each family if we could pray with them.  I apologized to Greg on Sunday and he of course said not to worry about it.  When we went back Mon. morning I asked the first lady if we could share a short scripture and pray with her.  With that, she invited us into her home and we sat for about 30 minutes and had a great visit.  She keeps 2 grandchildren and she brought both of them to the 5:00 meeting.  She asked us to pray for her son who was not attending church.  The next lady stood at her gate as we studied some scriptures but when we said we would like to pray she called her 8 yr. old son who had fallen on Sunday and hurt his right arm.  It was swollen and he could not move it but she said someone was supposed to come to her house to look at it.  When we took the food back in the afternoon he had a sling on.  She was so appreciative of the food because she was very poor and had 3 children.  The next young man, Melvin, who is 19 and single, stood at his door and we studied and prayed.  He said he was not very interested in religion but was willing to listen and he also came to the evening meeting.  The next house was the best of all, there were two fairly young ladies who between them apparently had several children though we were never quite sure how many (they stayed in back).  We had about an hour study with these ladies who both said they did not go to church and it was really great.  When we went back with the food no one was home so we put it inside a porch door that hooked shut.  As we were coming back by we met one of the ladies arriving back home and we talked and prayed again.  Both ladies and several children and one teen girl came to the evening meeting!!!!   The last lady was strongly Catholic and had been very afraid Saturday morning but this time she also invited us in.  We had a good study on the importance of knowing the Bible for ourselves and not just taking someone else’s word for it.  Saturday morning I think we were the first group to finish.  This time we were still studying with the last lady when Charlotte called to say that the group had to go to lunch.  This was truly one of the most exciting days I can remember in a very long time.  Happy Anniversary to Dan and Christina for eight years! 

Blessing Roberto and Felicity with food after studying with them twice.

David and Lisa giving Sandra and her family food after studying with them twice.

Children gathered for VBS.

Preparing for the adult lessons.

Dwaine's update on the baby birds

May 24, 2015

New Sister!  Yes, we started early this day with a ton of cooking before church.  I cooked red beans and rice for the teen girls because one only eats, rice, chicken and frijoles.  So, I cooked a huge bowl for her and the other girls.  Then, Rosalidia is still sick in Juayua, so I cooked the same for her family as well.  Then, one of the young girls was turning 8 today in Juayua, so I cooked a big batch of cupcakes.  That was a lot to get done before church.  When we arrived the group from Franklin was there and it was great to see such a full house.  It is a bit strange living here when someone else is visiting.  Everyone went up on stage and introduced themselves.  There are about 15 and it is such a blessing to see so many young and old, first timer’s and ole timer’s visiting.  Many veterans asked about Caleb and Della, so we bragged on them and little Charlotte.  I sat toward the back, so I could see that Mirdna was visiting.  As soon as the recess came, I ran to visit with her and welcome her.  She is Natividad’s daughter, who had gone with us to the doctor in Santa Ana.  When we had made that trip at the end of April, I had asked if we could study on our way back home.  They said yes.  So, we had stopped by several times and I was able to start a study with her.  Last week when we went, Mirdna was working, so we missed her.  So, after church, she decided to be baptized!  What a blessing!  I know that Edgardo had been going by and studying and it was great to see his work to come to fruition.  He is hard worker for the Lord.  She was baptized at the pool in Ataco, so Bessy stayed with the teen girls and we went to the baptism.  It was great to see a new birth.  We are scheduled to go with her mother back to the doctor this Thursday.  We went home afterwards for a little rest and then off to Juayua.  Bessy and Isabel had visited a few weeks ago along with Bessy’s daughter of 4 years and Isabel’s two grandchildren.  They had really liked the children’s class, so they wanted to come back.  So we stopped and picked them up along the way.  We had one visitor at the service, and it was good to have Rosalidia at service.  The little girl who turned 8 today did not come.  Her brother has been really sick with amoebas, so I think that is why they missed.  Sister Regina said she would get the cupcakes to her tomorrow.  That wrapped up a great day along with skyping a couple of the kids!

Franklin introducitons

Visiting after church,

Group gathering at Ataco's pool for baptism.

Mirdna's baptism!

A new creation!

New creation in Christ!

One way to transport wood.

May 23, 2015

Campaign day one.  We got up to the corner where the group was to pass by to pick up workers in Ataco at 9:00.  There were Bro. Osmin, his daughter Carolina and Bro. Melvis waiting on one corner and about four teens waiting on the other side of the street.  We talked and joked about 20 minutes and Hector’s van and another rented van showed up loaded with folks from Franklin and we all piled in.  We went to a soccer field on the back side of Ataco and were divided up into teams of one Ataco teen, one interpreter and one or two Franklin people.  I went with a man and his daughter and a teen girl from here, Carla.  We knocked doors to invite the people and especially children to a big 5:00 event at the soccer field.  We talked to lots of people and families and had some pictures taken with some of them.  I (Charlotte) went out with David and Lisa from the States and Javier, Edgardo’s son from here.  The first lady that we went to invited us in when we asked if we could pray with her.  So, we also read some scriptures.  David picked out the story in Acts of the repentant crowd on the day of Pentecost.  We learned later that she brought her children to the soccer court for the evening activities.  She was so gracious to let us visit.  The others we visited let us pray with them.  One man, who had an injury to his eye, needed work.  The second man and daughter said both he and his wife were policemen in Ahuachapan and wanted prayers for safety and finally one older man asked for peace as well.  Only one family was not receptive.  It was an encouraging start to the day.  About 11:30 Charlotte and I walked back to our house to eat a quick chili dog and head out to Juayua for the English Class.  We had to stop by Hector & Rachel’s to drop off some tables and the potato salad.  Everyone was already back there when we arrived but we could only visit a moment.  We had somewhat of another disappointment with our English class.  Only 5 students came.  We heard later that one was sick and another who lived nearby came by later to say she had too much homework.  We did get to spend about 20 minutes after class talking to the two older men, Nelson and Carlos, about what we were doing in El Salvador and invited them to services.  Then we went to our 3:30 study with the family who makes the coffee.  We had a good study and invited them to services also.  We had a pretty good number for our 5:00 Bible study at Regina’s and the best news was that Sister Rosalidia was able to attend.  We had to make our mandatory stop at Selectos on the way home.  One funny note, Cesar had helped with the campaign and when he arrived he told us that there were two houses available in Juayua that a fruit seller knew about.  When we talked to Sister Regina she said she had seen both of them Friday and that one was very small and the other shared just one bathroom with another family.  Still looking!!

Group form Franklin ready for evangelism.

Ready to go!

Great turnout of our teen girls and boys to help!

David and Lisa

I went out with David, Lisa and Javier.

May 22, 2015

Sometimes I’m more appealing than others.  Some of you who know me well might think I’m never appealing.  But this morning you would have been wrong.  I was appealing about 20 eggs and about 40-50 potatoes.  Charlotte is making potato salad for the Franklin Group for lunch tomorrow (Saturday).  They arrive today but there are supposed to be about 15 of them and all their luggage for a week so we did not go with Hector to the airport.  We will get to spend lots of time with them door knocking here in Ataco.  We had not had our usual day here in Ataco for our studies so we headed out about 9:45 to meet Bessie and go to Reina’s.  We are finishing up Que Dice and will probably do the weekly reading with her to help her get more from the Sunday sermon.  She is so excited that Lucky will soon be here.  Then we went back to Bessie’s mother’s house and she wanted us to eat some plantains that she had prepared.  She had split them and put sugar, milk and flower in them and then fried them and put cinnamon on top.  They were delicious!  She wants to come to our house and teach Charlotte to cook pupusas and tortillas.  We did study the Bible with her for a few minutes and this was the first time.  We hope it will be a start.  We came back home for lunch and I dropped Charlotte off and ran over to Ahuachapan to look at a treadmill.  We had been talking about one for awhile.  We have not been getting enough exercise and we are feeling low on energy and I think I am gaining some weight.  We had looked in San Salvador yesterday but all the ones we saw were big and expensive and I had seen one in Ahuachapan for less.  So after looking at it again and calling her we decided to go for it.  When I got back home we had lunch and rested about 30 minutes then headed out to Rosaria’s. She was sitting on her porch like she was waiting for us.  Charlotte led a study on what it means to have faith and act on it.  Rosaria talked a lot about her feelings and we had a good visit.  We believe she is really close to deciding to be baptized and we ask for your prayers for her.  We told Rosaria we would go by and see her step-daughter Natividad (the lady we took to Santa Ana to the doctor and stayed all day).  So we went by and spoke to Catherine and then went on over to Natividad.  She was also out on her porch and her daughter and grand baby were there.  After visiting with them for a little Charlotte led a study on “what must I do to have eternal life?”  Next Thursday we will be taking her back to the Dr. for more tests.  When we got home we skyped with the kids and I got the treadmill put together and we both tried it out.  It is manual but hopefully it will give us some exercise.  Before we came I had envisioned going for long walks every morning but with the cobblestone street that is just not practical.  At least this will be easier on our feet.  

Plantains for lunch!

Baby birds are growing!

Our friend and student, Rosaria

Can you count the number of people under the bus?

(It's four!)

May 21, 2015

The good news and the bad news.  We had to go back to immigration today because the lady who came to interview us said she had to interview the brother who signed our papers that a church here had invited us to come and work here.  He has been in Guatemala for the last couple of weeks and our time was up on our 3 month visas this Saturday.  So we headed out at 7:45 and got to Juayua in time to drop some food that Charlotte had cooked off at Sister Rosalidia’s.  Her father, Francisco was there and he promised to be at the 5 study on Saturday.  He had come regularly for a while but not lately.  We got to Cesar’s house at 8:30 and he was ready to go.  We thought that Eliza and Abby might go but it would have been a very long day for Abby.  We went through Sonsonate and made good time.  We arrived at immigration about 10 and when we explained to the lady at the front desk why we were there and gave her the 3 month cards that had been issued to us she said she could see on our records that we needed the extension.  We had to pay $10 each and wait about an hour for them to make the new cards but there were no problems and we had our new cards for another three months and were on our way.  Charlotte had a 2:00 appointment at the dentist so we went to the huge mall at Metro Centro to eat lunch and pass some time.  We even went by and looked at the puppies in the street but saw nothing that excited us much.  When we got to the dentist, Charlotte was only back with him about 20 minutes.  He did an exam and then an x-ray, the bad news, abscess, she needs a root canal.  He could not do anything today because she has to be on antibiotics for a week before he can do the root canal.  He gave her a prescription and we set the next appointment for 10 am on Mon. June 1 so we could go by there before we go to the airport to get Caleb.  He said it would take 2 to 3 more visits depending on how it goes.  The cost of the exam and x-ray were only $15.   And next time we have to pay $150 and the next time a final $50.  But when we got home we looked up root canals and found the average cost in the states is about $900.  Brother and sister Azucena wanted to visit with us a bit so we went to a Selectos that was really near the Dentist and shopped for about 30 min until they could get there.  Charlotte found several items that she had not been able to find elsewhere so that was good.  When they got there we headed out to a nearby Mister Donut and got some coffee and donuts and had a good visit.  There were 2 fabric stores on one side and as we left Charlotte bought some interfacing and some beautiful material for another skirt.  We dropped Cesar off at his house at 6 hoping to make it home before the rain started.  We didn’t make it.  About half way it started pouring down but we did get home ok.  I had to let down the ramps and open the garage in the down pour so I had to change as soon as we got inside.  We sure were glad to be home and have our extension and a process started to get Charlotte’s tooth fixed.  Bro. Azucena said this dentist had worked with their family for many years and they really liked him.  That certainly made us feel some better about using him.  We are so thankful that we can continue working here without interruption and get things worked out that we needed to.  God is so good to us but we still want your prayers.

May 20, 2015

We got to Juayua around 10 as usual.  We are pretty much into a routine now.  Wednesday are our main days to work all day in Juayua.  We have some regular morning studies and if we still have time we knock some doors and hand out Bible study lessons and pamplets.  We had a good study with Julia and reconnected with one lady who had taken a lesson.  She said we could study but the only time she had was after 6:30 at night.  We will have to figure out a night to do that.  We had hoped that it might work out this night but in the end everything ran late as usual.  We did get to go by and spend a few minutes with Mr. Rivers.  We always pass in front of his house but he is never home but he was this morning.  We did not have a study but we did talk and pray and let him know we were thinking about him.  He is a nephew of one of the preachers here and we keep hoping he will come around.  On our way back to Cesar and Eliza’s house we met the family in the street that we have had two studies with.  They said they were going to be out this afternoon and we made an appointment to study with them Saturday at 3:30 after the English class.  We had planned to go out for lunch but Eliza had made lunch again.  It was good and we had a good fellowship.  Then we went to Sister Anna’s and had our weekly visit.  We were able to take her some groceries and that was good.  After that we had an appointment with a man who lives very near Regina’s house to have a study at 3:30 but something had come up and he had to go out.  As we were waiting for the 5:00 study the husband of Sister Rosalidia came and said she was very sick and wanted us to come to their house and pray for her.  We think she has chikungunya which is an extremely painful joint condition.  It is caused by a virus that is transmitted by mosquito bites.  It was clear she was in a lot of pain.  While we were in their house for prayer, Charlotte said she got two mosquito bites.  We will be praying that she doesn’t get it.  Then we went back over to Regina’s for the Bible study and children’s class.  Anita had come with her two children and Sister Rosalidia’s husband came back with their 2 children so Charlotte had a good class and we had a good study on the organization of the church.    

Children's class

Tree loaded with avocados!

How would you like that one in your front yard.

Bloom along the way to Anna's.

May 19, 2015

That’s the brakes.  Lucky had told us she had the oil changed on the car and the brakes done in Jan.  just before we got here because she had been using it.  The oil is still clear and bright but the brakes were a different story.  The hills around here, especially between Ataco and Ahuachapan are really steep and the roads are very curvy.  With the tall mountains surrounding the roads it always makes me think of driving in the Smokies.  The front of the car had gotten to vibrating pretty badly when I had to use the brakes and I knew that meant the rotors were getting rough.  Friday on the way back from San Salvador Carlos had pointed out the garage in Ahuachapan that is owned by a Brother.  So this morning I got up and headed out.  Charlotte stayed home to work on some of the 200 things she always has to do.  As I neared Ahuachapan I passed a large garage so I pulled in and asked them how much they would charge me for the job.  They said $90 and I told them I would be back in an hour if I could not find a better offer.  When I got to the other garage, the brother was not there but the two young men who were working seemed very knowledgeable and the lady took my car info and called about the price of the parts and said the total would be $60 and they could have it ready in two hours.  As I left to walk around town they were already starting on it.  When I got back at 10:30 they were not quite done but that was good because the wheels were off and I could see that the rotors looked great from being turned and that they were putting in new shoes.  They also rotated the tires for me at no additional charge and thoroughly tested the brakes when they had finished.  The brother never arrived but I was very pleased with the work and the brakes seem great now.  When I got home we had lunch and then worked around the house and even rested some.  Then we went over to the Bible study group at Zoila’s.  A family came who had not been coming and we met in a different room for the first time with an overhead light for the first time.  Carlos taught on Hosea & Elijah and it was great as always.  Afterwards there was sweet bread and coffee but we didn’t eat much because we were planning on dinner as soon as we got home.
We did find out that Rosamiriam’s grand baby got moved to a room and was out of danger but the Drs. wanted to keep him a few more days for observation.   We always park the car out on the main road and walk down to Zoila’s house because the street near her house is too narrow to park on in the dark.  As we walked back out onto the main road a vehicle was letting someone off.  We did not pay much attention to it until the driver turned around and pulled directly in front of our car and very close to it.  I got Charlotte in on the passenger side but I had to go around before I could get in and I knew if they wanted to do anything there was no way of escape.  So I  had my flashlight that we always use to walk from the study back to the car and  I shined it on the vehicle.  Turned out it was Bro. Ricardo and his wife Joli.  They were laughing because they knew they had startled us.  We all got out and laughed and visited for about 10 minutes.  They are good friends with Lucky and because she is arriving 4 hrs before Caleb on June 1 and our car is small they had agreed to pick her up and let her spend the day with them, then bring her over and have dinner that night.  So they asked what time she was arriving at the airport here and I told them 3 am to get even with them for scaring us.  Actually the time is 7:20 am.  Anyway, God has taken good care of us and all is great.  So wonderful to have spiritual family wherever you go.  

May 18, 2015

Monday morning we worked at home getting some lessons ready and studying some.  We actually got in some Spanish studying which is a challenge with all else we do.  Leanna had brought us each a copy of the book Spanish Verbs Made Simpler and we have started trying to go through those together.  So far we are still looking for the “simpler” part it mostly seems to be list after list of verbs that follow this pattern or the other.  However, after two sessions of trying to teach English either Spanish is a lot easier or we are really bad teachers because our students are having a hard time with the most basic sentences.  Right now, I am going to go with the English is much harder choice.  When we arrived in Juayua, we went to Regina’s home.  We asked about Sulima, Regina’s daughter and it was good news.  The doctors have been able to control the contractions.  They are going to keep her in the hospital until Thursday for observation.  Thankfully the baby did not come so early.  Anita (Raul’s wife) had given us some avocados and Charlotte found a recipe for making bread from them so she made that and we took it with us to share during the study at their house at 5.  We did some door knocking around Regina’s neighborhood and then we went back to the home of a man and woman who had been members of the Church in Juayua many years ago but had gotten into another group after the Church died out there.  The study was good but it was mostly the man asking why we allowed things like pants and lipstick and did not pray on our knees so he has a lot of narrow views from the group he has been with.  Then we went back up to Raul and Anita’s and after sharing the avocado bread (which was great) we separated the men from the ladies and I lead a study with Raul on the need to combine our faith with action because there are some things in his past that need to be resolved and he has been somewhat avoiding them but he said he agreed and was working on them.  Charlotte said the ladies studied about sin causing our separation from God and how Jesus is the only one who can bridge that gap.  She said it was Romans 3-6.  That is a lot of territory.  Then we made our mandatory stop at Selectos.  It was funny because even though our studies ran fairly late we saw Cesar again at Selectos.  Fairly soon after we got home it started pouring rain we were so thankful that we had gotten home before it started. 

Cinnamon plant in Anita and Raul's backyard

May 17, 2015

The last few days have been sort of one of those one step forward and two steps back times.  As Charlotte said we went from 20 English students down to just 12 which is still a good number to work with especially since almost all of them really need a lot of help.  The other disappointing news came this morning.  We had an empty seat next to us in morning services and Bessie sat down next to Charlotte.  She told Charlotte that her cousin Stephanie who we have been studying with most weeks since we got here said she did not want to study anymore.  It was not a huge surprise, she has been attending Jehovah’s Witness services for the last several weeks and I tried to speak pretty clearly about their false doctrines and left her some materials to read about their history and their teachings and if she talked with any of them about that I’m sure they told her to stop seeing us.  She never visited services with us though we invited her several times and she also never really seemed to get involved with the studies at a serious level.  Still, it was somewhat of a disappointment that a group so far off track could win her over. After service, Charlotte met with the teen girls.  I stayed to join in for lunch and to carry dishes back to the car.  It seemed slow to get kicked off and then several family walked by with lots of goods to give away.  Many looked American, but spoke great Spanish. I think they represented several churches from San Salvador and were handing out toys, clothes and food.  Since we still had a large number of people around, they gave many things.  The boys all got new soccer balls and many got clothes and food.  The girls had planned to play soccer, so we headed that way.  When we arrived at the field, men were gathering to have a serious game and several families were bringing food.  So, we walked back to Bessi’s for the devo.  I stayed around since Charlotte wouldn’t be too long. I am sure the girls were sad that the field was taken.  On the other hand our service in Juayua went really well with not only most of the local members coming but also Bessie and her mother-in-law came.  Charlotte was expecting 4 students and had 7 but her class was great as always.  Cesar spoke on Heb. 11 and the faith of Abraham and it was really good and spoke to me a lot.  Sister Regina shared that her daughter, Sulima, who is expecting, had to be taken by ambulance to the hospital with contractions.  She had just had her shower on Saturday.  She is due around July 7^th.  We all prayed for her and Sister Regina said that she would go visit her at 11 on Monday.  Her daughter did not have a cell phone, so there was no way to find any further news until the doors opened to the hospital at 11 Monday.  We gave Bessie and her mother-in-law and three kids a ride back to their home which was on the way to Ataco and had some time to skype with Christina and then with Caleb when we got home.  We had been talking about the idea of getting a dog at least after we find a house in Juayua and Caleb said it sounded like we had gotten one.  There were five outside our door that were cavorting around.  There was another slight disappointment.  The house we had thought might be available in Juayua that looking promising was not available.  Well, there are lots of good works available for us to do and we just need to forget what is behind and press on to take hold of the prize for which God in Christ Jesus has taken hold of us.

New Soccer Balls!

Unusually shaped peppers.

Dwaine waiting for devo to finish.

May 16, 2015

Second English class and Baby Shower.  After English class last week we decided we would have to go slower and we decided to offer a ‘after class’ conversation opportunity.  We expected some students not to return, especially younger students.  So, we had 11 to come back and 1 new student.  We had download all our audio lessons onto our hard drive and when we wanted to play a conversation, the folder was empty.  We tried to hook up to wifi, but that wasn’t successful.  We will have to be sure to always bring our jump drive.  Since we had planned a review, it wasn’t really a problem.  Where is Caleb when you need him?  I am sure we were missing some easy solution, but we moved ahead without the audio.  The students seemed to really need and appreciate the review.  When we came to the new section, they had a difficult time.  We asked at the end if they thought they had a solid handle on lesson one and they said ‘no.’  So, for week three we will be reviewing again.  No one stayed after class Saturday, but some said they might try next week.  We also talked about a field trip to some falls, so we will see if we can develop that idea too.  After class, Regina’s daughter, Sulima, had a baby shower.  She is due early July.  They had booked a community center and there was a great group of ladies to come.  I visited with two ladies most of the time and one had a daughter with her named Leanna.  We laughed about that.  Luzelana, Osvaldo’s wife, hosted the shower and did a great job leading games.  They served ice cream, a coleslaw sandwich (which was great) and a really pretty cake.  Sulima got lots of gifts and it was a great experience.  Afterwards, I took Sulima home and she showed us her nursery.  She lives at the top of a hill on a rough road, so I backed all the way out.  The ladies’ in the car said I did a great job and then went on to say they all wished they could drive.  I guess sometimes, I just don’t stop and think.  There was a car full and not one could drive.  We went back to the community center and picked up tables and items for Regina’s home. We got back about 6 and the 5 o’clock service was ending.  So, Dwaine and I headed home for some skyping. Caleb had already called us early in the day when my dad and step-mom had gone by their home for a visit.  We got some good skype pictures with Charlotte and great-grandparents.   

English Class

English Class

Baby Shower

If you are caught holding the baby, you have to give the mom advice.

Sister Regina sang a lullaby!

Eliza had to give advice!

Contest for who could finish the bottle the fastest.

Young lady on the left won.

Who could guess the right measurement using toilet paper?

I won a prize for this one! 

Lot's of guests!

A precious hug!

Opening gifts!

Moving the cake.

Luzelena and Sulima