February, 2016 Newsletter

Leap year and leap here and there.  Every month seems to be even more filled with activities and studies and we are very thankful because that is why we are here.  Busy days fly by.  We had asked Jose to paint a mural on the wall in the children's class room at our new location so he did that on the first day of Feb.  As he worked we talked about their decision to become Christians and as the month went on and we had more studies we were really hopeful and expectant that he, Kelly and their son Kiki would be baptized soon.  As of this time they still have not but they are attending a lot of activities.  We hope to have them over for dinner and a study next Monday night to tie them over while we are back in Huntsville for 2 weeks in March.  At our first Wednesday night service in Feb. we had 10 visitors and we also had 20 people in our house for a Thursday night Bible study.  So far, we are experiencing that mid-week is a better time for people to come than on Sundays since that is a day that many people work here or it is the only day of the week they do not work and so the only day they have for any travel or having out of town visitors.  We decided by vote to change the time of our Thursday night home studies to 6 instead of 5 because of people getting off from work and the kids here getting out of school at 5:30.  One of our Thursday night gatherings was in the home of Jose and Kelly, and when we set the schedule for families to take turns cleaning the church building Kelly volunteered to do April so it is clear they are feeling a part of the family here but they understand that they are not part of God's family until they are born into it.  We also had a ladies’ event in Juayua and Salcoatitan.  We have a schedule now of every 1^st Saturday for a ladies’ event in Juayua and the same event to be held in Salcoatitan on the 3^rd Saturday.  Charlotte was the speaker for the Feb. event and the theme was Flowers for Me.  She spoke about Lydia and along with lots of food, (all prepared by Charlotte) there was also a craft session of learning to make paper flowers. Each ladies’ class had about 15 visitors.   We also had a movie for the teens in Salcoatitan and then here in Juayua.  Ours was not very well attended because we invited the class from the school next door where we had visited to begin teaching some English.  They were very enthusiastic in receiving the tickets but the class age was 14 and they probably were not able to get permission from their parents and we did not have a chance to see them again before the day of the movie.  The next one will be at the church location and we plan to go door to door in the neighborhood to invite people as we do for the other events.  We did get to show the movie to Jose, Kelly and Kids on Saturday night after the teen event and then again on Tuesday night for Don Santos, Sonia and Jimmy as well as Socorro.  It was “Facing the Giants” and everyone who did see it really liked it.  We had a 4 hours session during one of our weekly leader's meetings in Feb. to plan all the details about our mission team from Central coming in July.  We had to finish up the planning over a pupusa dinner at our house on the following Sat. night but we have a good plan in place.  Charlotte has had numerous meetings with Elisa planning the children's classes for Sunday as well as some long meetings to get ready for each ladies' event.  Sometimes we say that it seems like all we do is meet about things but without organization it is not possible to do anything.  We cohosted the monthly preacher's gathering in Salcoatitan and although we had a low turnout and lots of food left over, the meeting still went an hour over schedule because of a visiting speaker who was not given any time until after we had already gone the full regular time on the usual stuff.  

February 29, 2016

Would you believe?  Mondays are still supposed to be our off days.  We thought we were going to start teaching English on Monday mornings at the school next to our house.  We went and observed one week, and the next week when we went prepared to teach they were having Valentine’s Day parties so it did not work out.  The next week when we arrived the teacher said it was exam week so that didn't work out so Charlotte said maybe it was God trying to tell us that was not what we were here for.  We decided to not go again until the teacher had another chance to talk to us so this morning we decided to go by and see how Kelly's sister, Melissa, had done in her surgery on Sunday and invite them for dinner next Monday night and try to have one more study before we leave for two weeks.  Jose and both kids were home but Kelly was still in San Salvador and is supposed to return on Wednesday.  We asked them to be sure to come to the Wednesday night meeting at the building and I told them I would be teaching and then we asked them to come on Thursday night because that meeting would be in our house again.  Of course, they said they would because people here never say no.  Then we went door to door giving out invitations to the Ladies event here in Juayua on Saturday morning.  We had a pretty routine time with two exceptions.  First, for me, Charlotte, I stopped by the car repair place where I had tried to study with Floramarina. She was never home, so I had not gone by for several weeks.  To give an invitation, looked like a good time to try to renew this interest.  When I walked into the garage, Celia, our regular study was visiting with Floramarina.  After the invite, she asked me if I was going to Santa Catherina Saturday after the Ladies’ event.  Now that was a strange question because we had only announced that at church.  How could she know?  Santa Catherina is having an evangelistic thrust for three days and they plan to cap off the week with a lesson from Carlos and Cesar.  Floramarina said that her entire family went to church in Santa Caterina and she wanted to go with us.  Then, Celia spoke up and said she would also go.  I actually was shocked.  I told Floramarina, that if her entire family were Christians, she needed to have that in her life!  She knows the truth!  Well, it is a start that she wants to make this trip with us.  It was all strange and exciting. The second unusual event was right after Charlotte's.  She spoke through an open door and said hello and a man inside said in English “What do you want”  she told him and he came outside.  He said his name was Angel and he was from Puerto Rico but had grown up in the US as a ward of the state.  He said he was a staff sergeant in the Army and helped to capture Saddam Hussein.  He said after he got out of the army the CIA sent him to El Salvador to infiltrate the drug trade but that the drug trade offered him so much money he decided to join them.  He said that recently he had been studying the Bible and was trying to turn his life around.  He said that normally he would have told anyone with a Bible to get lost but that maybe God had sent us to him.  He said it seemed like things had only gotten worse for him since he had begun to try to change.  We talked for about 30 minutes and he promised to come to the Wednesday night service so we will see.  Charlotte said she was not planning to take that long at one place and that I got a little carried away.  I said that it was so exciting to be able to speak freely in English that I just forgot myself. But, she did invite them for lunch if they could come on Sunday to service. After lunch she went back up to Seyli's to go to their study with Amelia, Mr. Riva's grandmother. Her daughter Sonja was not home.  However, Amelia’s brother arrived from working in the coffee fields and he sat in on the study and contributed to the conversation.  I stayed home and worked around the house and Cesar came by about 2:30 so we could work out the money for the rent for the Church location. Afterwards, Charlotte and Seyli came over with Ulma, a sister from Apaneca.  Charlotte is meeting with each month's Sunday school teachers to help them with ideas and supplies.  Most do not have access to the internet, so this is a small way she can assist teachers.  For the most part, the material only has one idea and one to two verses to work with.  So, she meets with each group that will be teaching in the upcoming month.  We did have a fairly quiet evening and just skyped with the kids some.

February 28, 2016

Kids again.  On Friday at the ladies' luncheon, Alba had said she would not be able to attend the service on Sunday and Kelly said her sister Melissa was having additional surgery so she would not be able to come either.  While there are several other people we have invited we did not really expect any of them to show up today.  As always, on Sunday, we went by the home of Mario and Sara on our way to Regina's but as always, his door was closed and the gate was padlocked even though he had said on Wednesday that he would come on Sunday.  We are beginning to reach a point with them also where we have begun to wonder is there is any real willingness on their part to put forth the effort to make changes in their lives.  He always talks about how much he wants to change but we keep telling him he has to make the effort and set the example and he never does any different even though he is walking pretty well now without a cane or any assistance.  We had talked of trying to do some marriage studies with the two of them but have gone by 3 times now when she was supposed to be at home but was not.  We have so many opportunities to study with people and new ones almost every day and we keep having to weigh where our time will be best spent.  We try to keep in contact with people and visit from time to time to let them know we are still praying for them but that we have to work with new people in search of those who are searching themselves.  It is a slow process.  I told Carlos yesterday as we went back and forth twice to Juayua to get things we had needed for the ladies’' event but had forgotten, that Juayua seemed like a city of 1000 religions and he said he sure agreed.  Sometimes I feel sad to think that even if in a year or two we have 50 or more members in the eyes of many that would have been a good success but even in a small town of 25,000 it would be so few in comparison.  Still, I am very thankful for the opportunities we have to reach out to the people we have met and that now some of them are telling others about us and that will help us reach more people.  We did have a good number of people attending though our only visitors were Alba's two daughters whom she dropped off.  She did say when she picked them up that she was not feeling well.  When we headed out from the building, Regina, Arnoldo and Kenia got in the car with us and brought Danielito and as we drove off I realized that Elizabeth and Suleyma were walking so I said to Charlotte why didn't she drive and they could ride in the passenger seat and I could walk home.  As I reached the corner at our house Charlotte drove up.  In the afternoon when we went to Salcoatitan, Arnoldo, Elizabeth and Bro. Jose Manuel rode with us.  We had to go to the back side of town and around because the main road was packed and backed up.  Their number was down somewhat also but it was a good service.  It has worked out well with their service in the afternoon and ours in the morning but does seem like the old days in the States.  Linda was teaching the children’s class in Salcoatitan, but had asked me, Charlotte, to help with a drama for the Good Samaritan.  I remember going to Guyana and one group did the drama regular, once in slowmo, once as cowboys, once as ninjas and I can’t remember what else.  So, I sewed some costumes in the afternoon and we did the regular version and the cowboy version.  It was so much fun!  It made for a good application that the story of the Good Samaritan was for all time and all peoples. 

Sunday morning service in Juayua

February 27, 2016

What goes around, comes around.  We had done the Ladies’ event, Flowers for Me, the first Saturday in February and now it was time to repeat this for Salcoatitan.  Lessons were ready to go and Linda and I had worked on craft materials.  I had only done some cutting for her.  Besides speaking, I was planning to do the cooking.  Since we did not have anything else planned except a short errand to contact one couple to invite them for dinner and gather some Sunday morning teaching supplies, I thought I had the whole morning to cook.  Wow, I needed every minute.  The menu included 60 flower shaped butter cookies with a lemon icing, 50 flower cut open chicken salad sandwiches and chip and dip.  I think the cookies were the culprits for taking so long.  Dwaine had gone to the building to help Cesar clean.  He also hung some mirrors in the bathrooms, did some touch up painting and hung a curtain to separate the children’s classes and the ‘auditorium.’  He made it home in time to help with the sandwiches and loading the car.  We left out for Salcoatitan.  Along the way we got a call to remind us that we were to bring the parachute and items for the children’s classes.  So, Dwaine took me on to the building and he went back with Carlos.  Linda also needed a few things from our home, so they made that leg too.  They got back in time for our 3 o’clock start time and we had about 20 people to come.  That included about 5 or 6 Christians from visiting congregations.  That was a great turnout and we were thankful to get to share with them.  They especially loved the craft at the end and some said they make and sell the flowers they had made.  We cleared out about 6.  It was still really windy and Dwaine actually said it had been cool outside with the kids.  That is the first time I have heard him say that since we arrived a year ago.  I am typically cool, especially in the evenings.  When we got home, we got extra ‘Charlotte time,’ as Christina and Dan were babysitting and they shared their time with us.  It was a nice treat! 

February 26, 2016

When Charlotte headed off to her ladies luncheon I washed up the big load of dishes that had accumulated from her morning's cooking and getting ready for the luncheon.  Then after I had my lunch I did something I know she would not get to do today but I did it anyway.  I rested for about an hour.  At 2 Cesar came and we had banana muffins and coffee and talked for a while.  He read over and corrected my Lord's Supper devotional that I was preparing for Sunday.  We had planned to go to the bank and get any additional money needed to pay the rent on the house the Church meets in but the computers at the bank were not working so they were not doing any account transactions.  When we finished I walked up to Sherwin Williams to look for paint for some touch up at the meeting house and he went to get his car and meet me there.  Then we went up to Mario and Seyli's to get him to go with us to a couple of studies.  We first went up to Rafael's.  When Charlotte and I had passed by this morning to try to visit Celia he was out watering the plants in front of his house which was pretty amazing considering he had been in bed the day before and had blood in his urine since Wednesday.  He said he had passed a large lump of blood in his urine (probably with a kidney stone in it) and that since then he had felt much better and that there was no more blood.  He still had not gone to any Dr. in this process.  When we arrived this afternoon he was sitting outside his front door and since the weather was so pleasant we just sat out front and had a short study.  Mario talked about a Psalm of David in which he spoke of God's help and protection during difficult times in his life.  It was primarily a study of encouragement because of his recent illness and then we had a prayer.  Next we walked down the street to the home of Daisy, she is Delmy's sister and had been visiting Delmy when we studied with her one day and had said she was interested in studying also.  We did not really get into a study but mostly visited.  She said she had raised her two sons as a single mom and she now lives with one son and his family.  She said she had been involved with a religious group a few years ago but had stopped going and wanted to change that part of her life.  She also said she never learned to read so Mario said we could help her learn in the process of studying the Bible.  She said she would try to come to the ladies' event in Salcoatitan on Saturday and also to the service on Sunday morning though she did not attend either.  Still, hopefully she will be willing to study.  Only time will tell.  As we headed back up to Mario's house I mentioned that Charlotte and I wanted to try to pass by the immigration office on the day we go to the airport to ask what we would need to bring back with us for our reapplication for our visas which expire in June and July (remember we got separated in our first process).  Cesar said “I can go with you Mario to keep you company on the way back” and I said “No, you have to go to the preacher's meeting, that's why Mario is taking us.”  Cesar said, “oooo, punishment”.  It was a good laugh for us because we all know there is a good purpose for the preacher's meeting and we are trying to have at least one person from each congregation attend but they are always long and dry.  Notes from Charlotte:  After cooking a little, we went out to study with Celia.  When she wasn’t home, we handed out invitations for the ladies event on March 5^th.  I had designed the invite on Excel, so I am learning how to use programs for different purposes.  When we got home, I finished up cooking and had gathered bread making materials and I left for a luncheon.  Seyli and I had invited Alba, her mother-in-law and girls and Kelly to have lunch, cook bread, have a devotional and do some crafts.  Linda joined us to lead the craft part, so I volunteered to go pick her up.  Salcoatitan is between 5 to 10 minutes away, so it was an easy trip to make.  When I arrived, Linda was about to leave for the bus.  Communication….it will always be a challenge.  From my view, I had told Linda I would come in person and on the phone, but alas, she did not realize I was planning to make the trip.  Well, thankfully, I arrived before she got on the bus.  Carlos said he would be glad to keep their two young girls.  Everyone was finally gathered about 1 because Kelly had to take Nicole to school.  So, she was a little late.  We ate, mixed bread and while the bread was cooking we had a Bible lesson on seeking the kingdom.  When the devo was ending, Linda asked if she smelled the bread.  Seyli’s oven cooked really fast.  The bread was great, but the gas comes from the bottom, so the bottom had a nice, burned layer.  Once that was cut off, the rest tasted great and there was plenty to send home.  Linda helped us with some flower crafts and some future ideas for some birthday parties.  I first gathered about noon and we wrapped up at 5.  That was a long luncheon!  It was a nice afternoon to spend with some friends and we pray it will draw friends to Christ.  We rested for the evening, planning to do some more cooking early Saturday morning.  

February 25, 2016

Thursday morning are our usual days for studying with Celia.  We went by about 9:30 after getting some clothes washed and a few other chores and the usual bread cooking that Charlotte does almost every day.  On the way I knocked on Raphael's door to ask if he had gone to the Dr. yet.  When Cesar and I had gone by to study with him on Wednesday he said he had blood in his urine and was pretty sick and was trying to go to the Dr. that afternoon.  So we just had a prayer with him and said we might pass back by. His wife said he still had not gone to the Dr. and was resting in bed at the time.  We then knocked on Celia's door but she was not home.  We decided to go by Don Santos to see if he could go with us to see the man he had said wanted to meet us.  We had to wait a few minutes because he called the man and he said he had some customers and would be available soon.  We walked down from the hardware and he came across the street from his small shop to meet us.  He looked fairly young (maybe around 30).  He said his name was Evert and his wife Karen.  He said they have a daughter who is 7 and a son who is 2.  He said they would try to come to services next Wednesday night and we could talk more then.  After we left him we talked with Don Santos about having Evert and his family over on Tuesday night when Don Santos, Sonja and Jimmy come so that they would have people there they already know and he said that would be fine.  Don Santos told us that Wednesday evening they were in Sonsonate till 5:30 and rushed back so they would be able to attend the service.  That was encouraging to hear.  We were next to Selectos and we decided since it was almost 11 to go ahead and get some items we needed and try back on Celia in the morning.  In the afternoon Charlotte went with Seyli for some studies and I worked around the house. At 5:30 I ran over to pick up Regina and Arnoldo for the Thursday night in home study.  This week it was at Cesar's house though Eliza was in San Salvador with her folks.   We only had a small number but Don Santos, Jimmy and Sonja came as well as Socorro. At the end Socorro gave her testimony.  She said that she had grown up Catholic because her mother was Catholic.  But, she was always empty.  Then, she went to the Assembly of God, but she was always empty.  Then, she went to the 7^th Day Adventist, but she was empty.  Now, with studies each week and visiting, she was full for the first time.  How exciting to see God working.  Afterwards, I talked to Sonja some, Don Santo’s wife.  She also has a Catholic background.  I asked if she might be interested in studying some with just the two of us, because she is always so quiet.  I asked her to think about it and if she wanted to, we could start when we return at the end of March. We are praying for this as well. 

February 24, 2016

Answer to a question…..It’s impossible.  It seems sometimes when we head out at 9 for studies, we have already put in a full day.  I was doing some extra bread cooking because I was cooking some for some gifts and for the Thursday night study.  So, Dwaine helped me shred carrots and mash bananas.  At nine, we headed up to Seyli’s, picking up Cesar along the way.  I had changed some of my study times so that Seyli and I could join in on Delmy’s study.  She has asked where I have been, so I wanted to encourage her.  Cesar led a good study and we got to visit some.  Afterwards, we went by Mr. Rivas, but he was not home.  Amelia was home, so we visited some.  Next, Dwaine and Cesar walked up to see if Rafael could study.  Seyli and I went by to visit Julia.  It has been a long time since we studied, but we have kept in contact.  Since there were no men with us, I led the study.  Julia said some amazing things.  Previously, we had studied several times focusing on Christ and developing a relationship with him, becoming a Christian.  Each time, she had an obstacle in her life she did not want to give up.  The cost was too great.  Our conversation was pretty focused since she had already studied.  She lives in front of the cemetery and we can gather many illustrations from that source.  At any rate, surprisingly, she was more agreeable and said that she had removed the obstacle from her life three months ago.  She wanted to continue studying, so we are going to pick up with some refreshment lessons.  She was one of the first persons that we studied with and even recently, she came to the February event.  Keep her in your prayers.  For Dwaine and Cesar, Rafael was unable to study.  He was having some serious health problems and planned to visit the doctor.  We invited Cesar to have lunch with us because Eliza was in San Salvador.  Arnoldo also joined us for his Wednesday visit.  I got tied up on Skype helping Leanna with some homework, so the men visited.  Afterwards, Cesar and Arnoldo left to go to Ana’s along with Mario Lara.  Dwaine headed out to Sonsonate to make a final decision on buying some fans for the church building and I left shortly afterwards for Socorro’s.  I most enjoy our studies because we have developed such a close friendship.  Before my mom passed years ago, she would have our family over for dinner before church on Wednesday night.  I can remember how….hard to put into words, maybe sheltered from the world I felt for that special hour each week.  When I am with Socorro, we laugh, talk share and just be ourselves.  It reminds me of those moments with my mom.  She was expecting a client to come to the hostel for the night, so she couldn’t leave for our Wednesday service, but planned to go on Thursday night when the Bible study will be in the next block.  For Wednesday night, we had Jose, Kiki and Nicole to visit, along with Don Santos, Sonja and Jimmy.  Carlos led the study.  When we finished we still had a ways to go.  Yoli and Linda stayed on to have a ladies meeting to finalize the Salcoatitan meeting on Saturday and plan next month’s meeting for the ladies for March 5th in Juayua.  Yoli is going to teach on Hannah, so we are going to have a ‘Baby Shower’ theme.  Now, here is the funny…..I was thinking we could move along quickly because we had generalities already set.  I told Dwaine originally I was wondering if we could accomplish everything in 30 minutes.  When we finished up two hours later, he said I had the answer to that question. 

Wednesday night service

February 23, 2016

Play it again, Sam.  That is a line I have heard many times and thought it was from a Humphrey Bogart movie.  Charlotte said she heard that it was incorrect and he just said Play it.  Anyway, it fits.  We played the movie “Facing the Giants” Saturday for the youth event.  Then we played it Saturday night for Jose, Kelly and Family and we decided we wanted to do it tonight for Don Santos, his family and Socorro.  We started the day with our weekly leader's meeting.  Charlotte was having some stomachache and she had studies scheduled for the afternoon as well as our plans for the movie in the evening and dinner for everyone afterwards so she decided to stay home for the morning and try to get ready for the studies and dinner.  I went by to pick up Cesar but he was not home so I went on.  When I arrived at the church building in Salcoatitan only Carlos and Linda were there so we just visited for about 20 minutes.  Cesar arrived and said he had taken Eliza to San Salvador on Monday to help her mom who is having ongoing eye surgeries to help her see better.  Ricardo arrived about the same time.  All of Salcoatitan has water problems.  Ricardo and Yoli had a large tank installed when they first moved there and he said they had been without water for 3 days and he was waiting for the water delivery truck to arrive and they were running late.  He joked that he had not had a shower for 3 days so he would not sit too close to the rest of us.  After lunch Charlotte and Seyli went to have their weekly study with Ana's daughters.  From Charlotte…when Seyli and I arrived Ana was there along with one daughter and granddaughter.  We had a great study and visit.  When Seyli and I left, I asked Seyli, which daughter was there.  She didn’t know.  I went through all of them in my mind and it dawned on me who I was missing and I knew it was Marina.  The girls all look alike, but I think after today’s visit I got them all down.  The granddaughter, Erica, joined in the study too, looking up all the verses.  I told Dwaine when we return, we need to start offering rides to anyone who will go.  I think Erica will go and hopefully, this will open the doors for the others.  I, Dwaine, did some cleaning and got some items into a crock pot (beans, potatoes and carrots) and when Charlotte returned we went with Cesar to try to study with Mario and Sara.  She was at work so we mostly just visited with him since we are trying to start some marriage counseling with them and that will not do much if they are not both present.  We did have a very brave mouse that came out and played around our feet until it went under one of Mario's and he put it down and ended the little life.  We got home and finished up dinner and everyone arrived right on time at 6.  When we had told Clifton what movie we were watching he sorta said “blah” but everyone here has said it was very beautiful.  It does have a good moral lesson with good points for discussion and people here get so little of this kind of thing that they really enjoy it.  Also, it gave us an opportunity to have something different with Don Santos and family than just always studying.  After the movie we had dinner and everyone said they ate too much.  After the meal I asked Jimmy who is 9 what do we always have at our house and he said dessert which was the right answer.  It was cheesecake and was so delicious.  Before he left Don Santos said that he had been talking to a man he has a lot of contact with (because the man has a small electrical shop here and Don Santos has the hardware) about us and the man wanted to meet us and talk about the Bible.  We were so excited that he has already started telling others about the work here.  They also said they would come to the Wednesday night service at which they have become fairly regular in attendance.  We probably won't play the movie again soon but who knows-  I guess Sam does.

Visiting Mouse

Don Santos, Sonja, Jimmy and Socorro

Dinner and a Movie

February 22, 2016

Diverted.  We had redirected our ‘day off’ to teach English at the school.  Arnoldo told us on Sunday that this was exam week and that the teacher, Iris, had a conflict after her classes for personal tutoring.  We thought that the English exam wasn’t until Friday, so we could still visit on Monday.  Iris arrived at 9:15 and said that the week schedule was completely redirected.  This may just be a time to let this attempt go for now.  Not only does it take some time on Monday morning, but it also takes hours of preparation on Sunday.  With a low turnout on the movie, we may let that time be redirected and see what develops in the future.  Iris is also not able to come on Monday’s.  We are not opposed working with her an hour a week, so she is going to pass by one day and we will talk about other options for her time.  The internet had been out all weekend in Juayua, so we were going to an internet café to skype to let the children know the details.  On the way, Socorro was arriving and we asked if she had internet in her hostel.  She did…and it was a different company.  So, we went in and made our call.  After we returned home, our service returned after about an hour.  We worked on lessons until lunch.  After lunch, Dwaine went to the church building to clean in the pila….water reservoir…..because we were being overcome with mosquitos.  Zika is definitely in the city, along with several other mosquito borne diseases.  The last few services have been a buzz and we thought this was the source of standing water.  We missed the fumigation because we were not at the building.  Dwaine said cleaning further stirred them up and then designated captains to send out arm biting squadrons, leg biting squadrons, face biting squadrons, etc.  Dwaine was almost sick by the time he was finished.  He also sprayed an entire can of repellant and used his time to repair kitchen and bathroom sinks of leaks.  I went up and met Seyli to go to a study with Sonja and Amelia at the home of Mr. Rivas.  They were ready for us and Seyli led the study.  We discussed passages for about 2 hours.  Another man who lives there, Jose, arrived too and he sat in on what remained on the study.  Afterwards, we planned our luncheon for Friday for Kelly and Alba.  For the night, we cooked for a dinner on Tuesday, skyped, caught up on ‘election’ news and worked on lessons.  

February 21, 20016

Worst “Big Macs” ever!!!  As Jose and Kelly and kids left last night they said they would all probably be at services this morning.  Also, we had passed Mr. Rivas on the road Friday as we were headed back to Juayua from Sonsonate and he said he planned to come today also.  Then yesterday afternoon I had seen Don Santos on the street and asked him again if they might come this morning.  He said they might be taking their son back to Santa Ana but I mentioned that we ended at 11:30 and they would have plenty of time to go afterwards.  He did not make any promises but said he would talk to Sonja about it.  Also, as always, on our way to pick up Regina and Arnoldo we ran by to see if Mario and Sara might be at home but as always their door was closed and they were gone.  He had told us that since Sunday is Sara's only day off they always go to visit family but we had encouraged him to come to the services on Sunday morning and then to visit in the afternoon.  Also, at the end of the study on Friday Charlotte had told Reina we would walk to her door and escort her to the service but when we got there she was not home and even though Wendy who lives next to her was home she said she could not come because she was in the middle of giving the baby a bath.  In the end none of them came and I was feeling a little down when Marcos and his two daughters walked in.  Alba, his wife walked in a few moments later.  They had visited once on a Wednesday night but this was their first time to come on Sunday with the exception that Alba had come our first day at the new building.  After the service Charlotte said we needed to go out to lunch with them.  They live near the church location so they walked back up to their house while we ran Regina and her family home and then we went back and picked them up.  Charlotte had said maybe we could just get pupusas again though we have had more than our share lately.  Turns out, that while pupusas are very popular here for both breakfast and dinner they are not popular for lunch and none of the pupusas places were open.  The last one we tried was near the new restaurant that had opened up in the location where we had our summer English classes when our group came last July.  They had several things on the menu but turns out that the only thing they really had available was hamburgers and fries.  Those turned out to be $1.50 each and then everyone got a strawberry-banana smoothie and those were also $1.50 each so in the end we paid $20.50 total which is really a lot for a meal here and the burgers were just terrible.  Marcos kept calling them Big Macs and I kept wishing they were though if I were in Huntsville McDonald's is probably the last hamburger place I would choose.  At least we had the fellowship time with them.  By the time we dropped them back off it was almost 2 and we did not have long at all before time to head out to Salcoatitan.  We did pick up Arnoldo and Regina for that service.  They had a pretty good turn out, 28 people all total, which is good considering that they had their first service the first Sunday of January.  On the way home our car was so full that I rode back with Bro. Mario Lara which was good because we got to visit a little and I got to know him a little better.  Well, as the people here often say “Little by little”.  

Sonja, mother of Ulma, visited and made this

beautiful embroidery for me!

February 20, 2016

Movie Day.  Early morning rising to get everything into place for the movie, Facing the Giants.  All was in place about 8:30 and we had great anticipation for arrivals.  But, alas, it was a small turnout.  We had 4 from school and one lady that we have been studying with for a long time.  I guess we could speculate, wishing that we had actually been working in the school more before we made the invitations.  To date, we have not actually taught yet, only visited.  Hopefully, we can continue to develop relationships.  We ate lots of popcorn and cookies with lots of soda to say the least.  I could say not every plan is the best, but we are thankful for those that came and hope to develop more relationships with them.  With so much gang activity, it would not have been surprising that parents would have declined permission for children to participate.  We did brainstorm how to utilize what we had, and decided to make a movie day for Jose, Kelly and family too.  Our regular time to visit is Saturday at 3:30.  When we first arrived Kelly wasn’t home, but she arrived shortly.  Jose often is not in, but he was there today.  He had worked in San Salvador and one of his employers had given away a lot of furniture and miscellaneous items.  Jose had brought a lot back on the bus, but still needed to get a truck up to San Salvador to get the rest.  He is hoping to sell most of the items.  It was interesting to hear what an assortment of things he got.  They did want to see the movie.  We had company on Friday night and there were enough leftovers that we made it dinner and a movie.  They stayed on and visited for a while and we still had some opportunities to talk about their decision.  We continue in prayer for them for all their questions lead one to think this is on their hearts.  One negative for the day, was no internet.  For some reason, all of Juayua was out of service.  We have been without internet during moves, but this is the first time the company has had a whole day offline. 

Movie Day

Ricardo's Son and Daughter-in-law came for a visit

February 19, 2016

Fanning out.  We had really been working on our Schedule and this looked like it might be the last day free for a while.  So, we decided to make a morning trip to Sonsonate.  Eventually, we will need some fans for the church building and we were told of a new place we might could visit called Vidri.  Ricardo said at some point, there was fans on sale there.  I guess that point had come and gone, for there were no sales on fans.  We found several prospects, but thought we might go by Freund before we made a final decision.  We did find a few things.  Vidri, like Freund, has some hardware items, but they also had lots of home and kitchen items.  We found a large, 2 gallon, thermos for transporting coffee so we would not always have to take our big coffee pot out with us.  We also found a Westclock wall clock since the one we got from Dollar City only lasted a day.  Other than that, we mostly got small items.  Our stop at Freund, about a mile away, was to no avail.  We just could not decide on fans for this day.  The days are not so hot now, but they are past due to be blistering.  Our trip home in March will take us through San Salvador, but since it is fixing to be hot weather, we don’t expect to find any great deals.  We had invited Raul, Ana, Cessi and Josue over for dinner, so I had some cooking to do.  I usually try to cook every morning for 3ish hours before I am too tired or it is too hot.  So, I had already cooked a spice cake, potato salad and put chicken on to marinate.  That left green beans and a few details.  Dwaine snapped green beans while I rested.  Then, we went to the church building to get some chairs for Saturday’s event and we wanted to go by and visit with Evelia, who had the tortilla/pupusa stand next to the building.  We have also met her husband.  Looks like we just keep missing each other.  Manual, her husband, was home, but she was out.  We will have to just keep working on that.  Raul and Ana arrived about 6:45 and all was ready.  We visited some and the kids got a big kick of throwing the stuffed animal down the side room for her to fetch.  They took turns for a long time.  We had fried chicken and sides and all worked out great.  Dwaine took them home afterwards.  

Visits with Raul, Ana, Josue, and Cessi

February 18, 2016

Pot roast roach.  This morning Charlotte got up and started her usual cooking fury.  She was making a pot roast for us as well as some beans, rice and sausage to take to Suleyma and some cookies.   I had peeled the potatoes for the roast and had cooked the sausages for the dish for Suleyma and was hanging our white clothes on the line when she let out a shriek.   She had put the meat, potatoes and carrots in a slow cooker and the next time she looked in the pot there was a good size roach crawling on the potatoes.  I came in and fished it out and pinched its head off for being so disrespectful of our food.  She rinsed everything off in filtered water and put it back in the pot.  She said that by the time it cooked for several hours it should be pretty safe. About 9:15 we headed out and first stopped at the building to get chairs for Kelly to use tonight to host the Bible study at her house.  We took the food up the road to Suleyma and visited for a few minutes.  Danielito looked like he was getting much better and his old smile was back.  Then we stopped by Kelly's with the chairs and song books for tonight.  Then we went to Celia's for our weekly study with her.  Charlotte took her computer and went over the lesson she had done for the last ladies event and the one she will repeat next Saturday in Salcoatitan.  It went well and because we had the computer we got to show her some family pictures also.  We told her we would come back by about 2:30 with ice cream since there has been a long running joke between her and Charlotte about her wanting ice cream even though she has diabetes.  When we got home Eliza came over for about an hour to meet with Charlotte about working out a long term plan for the children's classes here.  After lunch and a short rest we headed back out to see if Reina was home and to take Celia her ice cream.  Charlotte led a study with Reina on Biblical repentance and worked out with her to go by her house on Sunday morning to escort her to services.  It would be her first time so we will see.  After the study we ran back by our house for a little snack and then picked up Regina and Arnoldo for the 5:00 study at Kelly's.  She was ready and waiting when we got there. Kelly had made coffee and Charlotte took some banana bread.  We had a pretty good turn out and about 5:15 Celia arrived and that was the first time. She had attended other ladies events.  She said she really enjoyed it.  We are studying through the gospel of Matthew and tonight was the beginning of the Beatitudes and Cesar led the study.  Unfortunately, Jose was unable to be there because he has worked in San Salvador every day since Sunday.  He leaves on the first bus about 5 in the morning and gets home on the last bus about 9 each night.  Everyone stayed around and visited for about 40 minutes after the study was over and we discussed the idea of changing to 6 instead of 5 because the afternoon school session lets out at 5:30 and that makes it difficult for some people to attend.  We decided we needed to make sure the change would be good for the most people so we thought we should wait till Sunday to present it to a larger group.  After we dropped Regina and Arnoldo off we ran by Selectos to get a couple of items to make dinner for Raul and Anita tomorrow night.  More cooking.  But, after we got home, I ate some roach roast and for some reason Charlotte opted for an egg quesadilla. It was great!

Delivering on some promised ice cream for Celia

Bible study at Kelly's

February 17, 2016

Great Wednesday.  We were trying to get off early enough so that we could fit everything in.  Wednesday morning has always been a busy time.  Dwaine went out with Cesar to visit Delmy and Mr. Rivas.  Delmy wasn’t there, but there was lots of family at home.  While they didn’t study, they gave out lots of invites for the services.  They walked on to Mr. Rivas.  He wasn’t at home as well. However, Mr. Rivas’ aunt was home and his grandmother.  His grandmother, Amelia, has come to the ladies’ events and she has set in on the last several studies that they have had.  It was exciting to get going with these ladies.  Seyli and I went to visit with Wendy.  I took some clothes that Kelly had sent and some food I had made this morning.  Seyli also took some gifts.  We talked some and they, Sandra and Wendy, wanted to wait until next week to start back studying.  Reina was not home, so I told her granddaughter we would come back Thursday afternoon.  Then, we headed to Alba’s.  We had a long study about identifying the true church.  She goes to the church of Josue.  She always has lots of questions and comments, but typically comes just to our ladies’ events.  Her daughter, who is 10 or 11, asked if we could come in the afternoons because she has school in the morning.  Seyli and I are hoping to have a luncheon with Kelly and Alba and bake some bread together next week.  We keep look for ways to build relationships.  Afterwards, we connected with Cesar and Dwaine and wrapped up our morning activities.  On the way home, we saw that one store had a big display of stuffed animals for a quarter each.  So, we stopped and Dwaine got $2 worth of animals for Wicket.  She loves to chase after them and that quantity should last a long time.  Arnoldo comes on Wednesday’s for lunch and then goes on to visit with Ana with the men.  I walked over to Socorro’s but she wasn’t home.  I called and she said she was in her home and would be there in 5 minutes.  When she arrived she said that she had a molar removed this morning and it had really hurt.  We did our study and I talked with her about coming to our Wednesday night study.  She said she would come!  After a quick respite we went to pick up Regina and Arnoldo and they said they had gotten some notice that their house would be fumigated on Thursday.  They were told that all animals and people would have to leave the house for at least 30 minutes while health workers went in and fumigated.  This is to fight the Zika virus.  Next, we went by to pick up Socorro and she was ready.  Osvaldo taught the evening class and Don Santos and family and Kelly, Kiki and Nicole all came.  It was a great evening and Don Santo and Socorro had lots of comments.   

Seyli and Eleazar

My turn!

 

Sweet momma Wendy and baby Eleazar