June, 2016 Newsletter

Bring Them In.  This month started off with a bang for us.  On the last Sunday of May, Mario and Sara had gotten married at our house and so on Thursday, June 2, we had an afternoon study and asked what they were waiting for to get baptized now.  They said nothing!!!  So I ran over to Salcoatitan and borrowed their pool and after our 6:00 in home Bible study at Sister Regina's most everybody came back over to our house and they were born into Christ.  It had been an up and down ride, for a time they were separated and said they would not get back together, then there were a couple of different times where they just quit coming but after our return at the end of March they started coming again and moving toward marriage and baptism.  It sure was a wonderful celebration. Mario and Sara were initially contacts made through the Central group this past year.  What a blessing! We have enjoyed having Clifton with us for all of June.  All of us had some health struggles throughout the month but are all doing pretty good now.  We spent most all of our leader's meetings planning for the Central group's arrival in July and we feel we are ready but it has been a lot of work.  On Sunday, June 5^th we had another wonderful surprise, Ana said she was ready to be baptized.  We had studied with her for many months, primarily Charlotte, and there had been lots of tears shed along the way.  It was a struggle to complete the baptism because I had already emptied the pool from Thursday and our water pressure was really low because of heavy rain on Saturday.  We finally got it full enough to do but only after an hour delay and lots of effort.  Still, there is nothing that can really dampen a new birth into Christ. All of our services have been having great attendance.  On Wednesday nights we are now having over 40 people with many visitors and our Thursday night in home studies are full also.  Charlotte and I have started a new convert’s class in our home on Monday nights from 6 to 7 and that had gotten off to a good start.  A brother and two sisters, Omar, Gisela and Emily, who first came to our English classes last summer when the group was here have started attending all our services.  We had studied with them for a long time and then had stopped after they canceled a couple of times at the last minute and we felt they were becoming resistant because they were very active in another church.  We haven't asked for details but they have left the other group and said they wanted to worship with us.  We have had some marathon studies about New Testament Christianity and baptism.  Yesterday morning, July 1, Omar and Emily were baptized into Christ.  Their mother and sister said they were comfortable with the baptisms they had already had but wanted to be recognized as members of our congregation so we will be doing that this Sunday.  We are still hopeful that as they are exposed to the preaching and studies they will also be baptized but certainly are excited that they want to work with us.  They are a wonderful family and have great work ethics and attitudes about Christianity.  They have a small business that gets most of its customers during the weekends but they said they were not going to open on Sundays until after the services.  We are so thankful that the work here is being so blessed and growing.  Several members of Sister Ana’s family, the one with arthritis, are attending regularly at almost every service and we believe that most of them will be making decisions soon.  As I am writing this report, it is July 4^th and all of you are celebrating.  We are celebrating also, yesterday including children we had over 50 people in our worship service, our largest number so far. We are now down to the last few days before the Central group arrives and we have made all the final preparations and are eagerly awaiting their arrival, especially with thoughts that more physical family members are also coming in the month of July.  Also, this afternoon, we received a call from immigration that our new one year visas had been approved and issued and were waiting to be picked up.  Yet another blessing.  If you read this before our group comes please keep us all in your prayers for success and safety during their time here.  In Him Dwaine and Charlotte

June 30, 2016

Typically Regina or one of her daughters goes with me to Thursday studies.  Because of the funerals, Clifton went out with me.  It is nice to have him here to join in on the studies.  Claudia was first, and I am prayerful that she will make a decision soon.  She doesn’t come to all the services, but she come to several.  She also brings one or two friends with her as well.  I know today she hoped one of her friends would join in on the study, but she did not show up.  Afterwards, we walked down to Tatiana’s.  Dwaine and Cesar were at the building studying with Eber and Michael, but they were wrapping up.  Tatiana has had an ear infection, but it was improving, so she studied today.  She wanted to start in ‘Que Dice la Biblia?’ so we began with the intro.  There are 11 lessons and this will keep up busy for quite a while.  After lunch we had been studying with Mario and Sara, but they are coming to the New Converts class.  Then, we started with Omar, Emily, Isela and Xiomara, but they all cannot be a part of an afternoon study, so we are trying to meet after service on Thursday’s.  So, I cooked and Dwaine did some errands and cleaning.  Our evening service was at Kelly and Jose’s.  It was a big gathering of over 30.  I was excited that Claudia and her friend Adriana came.  We had many visitors and members.  Afterwards, Xiomara and her children came for our study.  Last week we had studied baptism as they were all baptized in another church.  This week we studied prophecy and miracles as they had questions on this.  They asked questions and were very open in the study.  We had started about 7:30 and about 10, Omar said that he wanted to be baptized.  Emily followed suite.  The Mom and other sister said they had been baptized with a full understanding of the significance of baptism.  Then, we had a problem.  We had no pool in Juayua and we had decided that upcoming Sunday we would cut out part of the church pila to use as a baptistery.  Therefore, we had way to baptize for the night.  So, we planned for 7 a.m. and Dwaine drove to Salcoatitan to borrow their pool.  With good pressure it takes about two hours to fill the pool, so Dwaine planned to get up at 5 to start the process.  We were excited for the good news and anticipated the morning!

June 29, 2016

Double funeral.  The funerals were scheduled for 10, leaving from Sister Rita’s home, walking to Apaneca, about 30 minutes away, and then up to the cemetery.  Her sister’s funeral would originate from her own home, but join the group’s walk.  Dwaine, Cesar and I were coming from another direction. Dwaine was able to go by and tell some of the Wednesday studies that we would not come by today. We dropped Clifton off at the warehouse as he was going to Cara Sucia to work.  We arrived close to ten, but the walkers did not arrive until about 11.  There was a sea of people, possibly 150.  In the walk we ended up under the edge of the canopy and both caskets were placed.  Two people, Bro. Edgardo and Bro. Moran spoke and sang.  There were some notable memories.  Most everyone was involved in both losses and this created a truly deep sense of loss.  Close family members wailed over the caskets and some even swooned.  Most had stayed up all night and they were exhausted.  In the background, the ice cream sellers rang their bells and an occasional child was seen eating a cone.  The snow cone maker was just behind the speaker, so at times his hand cranked ice shaver would sound above the fray.  Everyone was so close and the smell of grief was so strong in the air.  The land was hilly and you could see families and loved ones gathered on the hillside.  One sister, who is usually so dependent, led a prayer and was so strong helping her mother through the grief.  Many came from a variety of congregations.  After about 45 minutes, each casket was carried to the gravesite.  They separated at this point.  The sister of Rita, Regina’s aunt, was buried on the hilltop.  I looked and looked for our church sister, Aracely, but I could not find her.  The son of Rita, Regina’s brother, was buried at the bottom of a hill.  I walked down there with Regina’s children.  Regina had to rest before the site.  She did not want to see the burial.  After the coffin was covered with dirt, people took all the flowers and took them from their vases and in a sense, planted them in the ground creating a garden affect.  It was actually very pretty.  When we walked back up, Aracely was there and we were able to talk with her some.  I was thankful to see her.  We headed home for we had a 1:45 study.  I had set this up with Ana, Sister Ana’s daughter-in-law, and had also invited her husband, George.  He didn’t come, so I just led the study.  We mostly talked, some on her background, some on the history of the church and some about the Bible and how it is divided.  She did say her husband couldn’t read and was bashful about coming.  We tried to encourage her about this.  Hopefully he will come soon.  Thankfully he is visiting events when he came.  Afterwards, Dwaine left with Cesar to take them home and have their study with Sister Ana.  I walked to Socorro’s.  She was home, but a worker said she would be back about 4.  When I returned, she said she had to go to Sonsonate.  We were able to study, but it was a little shorter.  Afterwards, she did say she would go to the service.  Regina and her family also went, but they were so tired.  We had a good group and I was excited that my younger study, Claudia, was there and she brought a friend.  It sure was a long day and I know so many family were beyond exhausted.  Today was my Aunt’s visitation.  I was thinking of her as well.

Graveside of Rolando

Received permission to take this photo.

I try to be respectful and not take phots, although some did take pictures. 

June 28, 2016

There’s more.  First, when I got up at 5, I checked on the bird and he was dead in the bottom of his cage.  We knew we had tried to get him out, but he was fussy, just squawking some.  But he was a goner.  Then, about 8, we got a call from Regina’s house.  Regina’s brother’ who was about 37, died from diabetes complications.  He has been sick for several months.  His mother, Rita, is not in good health either and we knew this would be hard for her.  Then, in a little bit, we got word that on Monday night Regina’s aunt also died, unexpectedly.  That means Rita’s sister and son died about 12 hours apart.  Also, Regina’s aunt was the mother of Aracely, another member of our congregation.  She dies suddenly of a heart attack.  It is a difficult time for our congregation now.  Visitation was scheduled for the night.  We had originally planned to go to a lake with our leadership group, but we heard the roads were washed out.  With all the difficulties here, we decided not to go too far from home.  First, we had a meeting here at our house mostly regarding the campaign in two weeks.  Then, we decided to go to Los Naranjos for lunch.  Everyone said there was a nice restaurant, called 'Alsaka' with grounds that had some activities and walks.  We arrived around lunchtime and there was not a big crowd gathered, but we didn’t eat till around 2ish.  Clifton did was to do an obstacle course, so after walking around, he went for it.  It’s was the Ninja Warriors course, but there were some challenging on balancing.  We had a good group of about 5 families.  Even Mr. and Mrs. Azucena’s family joined us from Santa Ana.  We left out about 3:30ish I think.  When we got home, we got ready to go to Rita’s house for the visitation.  It was packed.  I really couldn’t begin to count, but probably 60 to 70 people.  There were rooms full and then, the yard was packed and the street was packed.  Many people were walking back and forth from Rita’s home to where her sister lived.  We tried, but could never get directions to go to her home and everyone said the roads were bad.  The funerals were planned together at ten in the morning, so we just planned to see them then.  We stayed there for over an hour, visiting with many people we knew.  Hector did one sermon and Ricardo Moran did another sermon. Edgardo also led some songs. I sat with Regina for a long time, but there were many that we knew.  Regina’s mom has a big family that live from Juayua, to Apaneca to Rosario.  We got home about 9ish.  They said that they would stay up all night, but visitors would come and go until about midnight.  This was a very difficult time for the families.  Keep them in your prayers. 

Group at Restaurant 'Alaska' in Los Naranjos

Clifton is braving the obstacle course.

Great Views

Peacock and Horses

June 27, 2016

Sad news.  I guess I will start at the end of the day.  I received word that my aunt passed at 5:30 last night.  About noon, I learned she was close and I was able to call and talk to her daughter-in-law, but not with her. She had turned 89 the 12^th of this month.  She was always very active, but when we visited in March she had lost a lot of weight and was no longer able to cook.  We have gone every time we have been home and are thankful we have been able to see her.  This is the last of my mom’s family.  Monday is typically the day that we meet, but we had made plans to have a trip out with our group to visit a lake near Santa Ana and to meet during this time.  For the morning we had planned to study with Celia and Terry as Terry was going to be off for the entire day.  Since we didn’t meet, Dwaine went up to see if they could come to our house and I made some pancakes.  We were studying prophecy and miracles and having the extra time really helped.  We studied for about two hours and we were especially thankful that Terry could join the study.  She reads really well and we sent all the verses with her to read together.  After lunch I headed out to pick up Seily for our afternoon studies.  When we had gone to San Salvador we had gotten a new ‘hot water heater’ to try in the bathroom.  There are two styles and we have tried one type and usually after a short time it leaks around the rim….warm water in the center and cold on the peripheries.  This time we wanted to try a wall converter.  It also had a typical shower head so we hoped the water might be more concentrated.  At any rate, our bathroom is ceramic, so to hold the water heater, Dwaine had to build an external holder and wire the box.  When it was finished, Dwaine took a shower, and he said it was great.  There must be enough water pressure for it to work and with all the rain sometimes we have a couple of days without water.  For my studies, Reina was not home so we were not able to study.  Amalia was home, but she did a guess who had walked from another community about 30 minutes away.  We did visit and pray, but we didn’t study since she had company.  With a little extra time, we walked up to Erlinda’s but she was sleeping.  Finally, to end the day, we had the New Converts class.   We were delighted that Sara and Marion came.  And, Carolina came.  Additionally Ana and Marina came as well.  I had asked Ana if she could study on Wednesday, starting the lunch break, and she said she could.  Tonight I asked if George, her husband, could join us as well and Marina.  They all hear some lessons, but they all need a focused lesson on conversions.  They were excited to come and Carolina is going to come.  I am hopeful she can grow in evangelism and she has a great place to start in her home.  We did have an interesting meeting in that another storm rolled through and the lights went out….and the water to follow.  We did a good portion of the study by a lantern that Christina had sent us.  Toward the end, the electricity returned, but it was all very dim.  We unplugged computers and this dim lighting continued for hours.  I am sure that is tough on appliances.  We had never seen anything like that.  Also for this day, Clifton had been working on a paper for his work experience here and it sent it to Ricardo for review.  Afterwards, his computer died, as he knew it was about to go.  He was glad he got his paper off, but he lost some files.  He is hoping maybe it would come on at some point in the future, as it has had trouble turning on during this last semester in school.  Dwaine stayed up for an hour or two working on baptism certificates for our new converts.  Next Sunday, he and Cesar had planned a ceremony to honor the 7 baptisms we have had since March.

My Precious Aunt Nell

June 26, 2016

Sunday….Dwaine went early to take Clifton to Rosario to meet Paolo so they could go to church in Ahuachapán and spend the afternoon with him.  This is Wendy’s son and he was Caleb’s good friend and had staying in our house to care for Wicket last year.  Clifton has known him for many years now.  Also, this was our month to clean the building so he stopped back by on his return to be sure all was ready….and I should say Dwaine does all the cleaning so I should take the “our” out of the “our turn.”  He doesn’t let me help.  Typical for him.  In the process he found the mother lode of all coach roaches.  Now, a long while back Kelly told me there were some mega roaches around, but I just couldn’t picture it.  Dwaine put a cup on this one and he said it was so big, it was just moving along taking the cup with it.  In the end he put it outside and when we arrived for church, it was there and Dwaine took some photos.  I did get to have a study with Carolina and that was good.  Kelly’s family was out because her sister, Melissa, was having surgery.  We did have a good number and at the end, Paolo Marcos, son of Sonja went forward to ask for prayers for reconciliation.  That was a blessing.  We rested some between services and left at 3:30 to go to Salcoatitan.  Just after we got the kids settled for their class, a huge storm arrived.  Immediately, every child needed to have a restroom break back at the building, so I walked back and forth several times on that charge.  When I got back, Linda, also needed to exit.  Just after she left, lightning hit so close, that I thought for sure it must have struck her.  Hector was visiting in his new van, and it set the alarm off in it because it was so close.  It slowed for the trip home.  It seems we have had several big storms lately.  

Mega roach along side a quarter!

June 25, 2016

Our first official wedding!  We were invited to the wedding of Josue and Lia Saturday afternoon.  This is Samuel’s brother who is at Central right now doing an internship and the son of Manual and Marina Azucena.  He is also the brother of Eliza and Osvaldo. They had worked with the Juayua and Salcoatitan congregations last month.  They were actually married last week for their civil service and now they were having a reception. We first went to breakfast at a new coffee shop in town opened by Kayla and Oscar.  They are the couple we have had over for dinner.  Kayla’s dad has been diagnosed with a brain tumor and she has been out of pocket for a bit.  She was here for the opening.  We had a nice breakfast and some good coffee to go with it.  They have their shop decorated really nice.  We left to go to San Salvador about 9:30.  We had several errands to run and it was a challenge to get it all in.  We did get lost one time and it took almost an hour to wind back around to where we needed to be.  San Salvador is always a challenge.  Cesar met us and we followed him to the hotel.  We got there about 2:30.  The invitation said 3:30, but things began to get underway about 4:00.  It was a gorgeous setting in a large red suite with lighting for a “love” theme.  Each table had roses and lilies.  There were about 100 in attendance.  First they had introductions.  Mr. Azucena’s brother preached a sermon and then each related family gave a symbolic gift.  They had a receiving line and Mr. Azucena even had Samuel on skype and we got to talk to him.  He was exhausted from Impact.  They had a chocolate bar, slide presentation and lots of photos.  Next, they served a wonderful meal with split pea soup, chicken with a great sauce and stir fried veggies.  It was great.  We did decide to leave about 7:30 because we had a long drive home in the rain and in the dark.  That is not what you want to do in San Salvador.  We caravanned with Mario and Seily and with Cesar and Eliza and made it home close to 9.  Only once we pulled over to wait for Mario.  He had to get gas, but no one knew why we lost him.  While it rained on us steadily the whole trip, it had really pour down while we were gone.  Regina said on Sunday it was like a Nor’easter.   We could tell the winds had whipped up around here, but all was well.  So, in the end, it wasn’t an ‘official’ wedding because they were married earlier in the week.  But for us, it was official and very similar to something we might attend in the States. 

Coffee Shop

Try this out!

Kayla, Oscar in red cap and worker

Clifton enjoying a coffee!

Car on water on rocks....one way to keep hands off

Tying ties together

Wedding time

Nice light in hotel

Reception

Love

Osvaldo

Josue and Lia

Close-up 

The Kiss 

Josue & Lia

Osvaldo, Luzelena, Edardo, & David

June 24, 2016

Santa Catarina Masahuat.  Firday morning Kelly and Nicole came over for our study.  Nicole, who is 9, is studying with me.  In this pass week she has memorized all the books of the Bible and II Peter 1:5-11.  She is motivated and quick!  We finished about 10:30 and Seily and I went by to see if Claudia Veronica was home, but she wasn’t.  So we decided to try after to lunch to go to Angelica’s.  She was home, but could not study.  We just study when we can and keep truckin’ on.  We were all supposed to meet at 3:30 to make a trip to Santa Catarina Masahuat. They had us a few times, so we wanted to meet again together, but we didn’t have room in Juayua or Salcoatitan.  So, we did the next best thing….we offered to take the refreshments.  We took tamales, bread, salsa and brownies.  That worked out great and Cesar and Carlos gave the lesson.  I loss count somewhere, but we had over 30 people to go from Juayua and about 14 or 15 from Salcoatitan.  It was enough from here that Dwaine and Cesar had to rent a van from Juayua.  And even with that we were packed!  We took the longer route because our car is so low, so it took about an hour.  Ricardo took the shorter road that has gullies now form all the rain, and they made it in about 40ish minutes I think.  At least I can say, they left after us and arrived before us. We had lots of visitors to come, so it made for a great evening.  Thankfully, it did not rain until we got back.  

Floramarina with her mother who is a member and her daughter Claudia

June 23, 2016

Clifton was working all day, so I picked up Regina and took Clifton by the bodega.  That was funny, for we sat out front waiting for the workers to arrive so I could leave him, and after 10 min. I decided to call Ricardo.  He said he was coming soon, but the workers were behind the warehouse loading the truck for a trip to Caro Sucio where the store is.  I was glad I called for there is no telling how long I would have waited.  Regina and I went on to first study with Claudia.  Her mom was not home, but we did have a good study.  She is ready and I am prayerful she will decide to be baptized soon.  We did hear her mom was visiting a church across from her store.  However, Claudia said that she wants to come with us.  We talked some about being a part of the NT church.  Tatiana was home, but she had an ear infection and did not feel like studying. So Regina and I went to visit a lady name Erlinda.  Her husband passed away about a month ago and she has come to a few events.  She always likes the church, so we are hoping we can start that study.  She wasn’t home though for this visit.  Next, we went by Celia’s and Regina and Celia talked circles around me.  They discovered they were distantly related as Celia’s landlord had passed this past weekend and he was related to Celia’s daughter on her father’s side. Regina is also distantly related to this man.  His daughter and son-in-law had started building the largest house in Juayua, quite a mansion, right next to Celia.  But they never finished the bottom basement or the top floor, so it only has a caretaker.  We had toured it and it has the prettiest view of all Juayua that we know of.  Anyway, we stayed on till about 12:30 and I didn’t get home until about 1. Dwaine went out with Cesar to study with Michael, Delmy’s son and they had a good study.  I had rescheduled Socorro for Thursday afternoon.  At first she did not answer her door, and it was beginning to rain hard.  I had turned to go home and she came to the door.  Someone saw her and called for me to return.  It was good, because the bottom fell out of the sky at this time. She had been cleaning a room and did not hear my knock.   It was some big storm with lots of lightning.  I was glad to be inside.  We had a very involved study regarding the Holy Spirit and baptism.  At the end of the study, she did say she would come to the evening Bible study at Cesar’s.  So after a short break, I walked back by and we walked to Cesar’s.  Dwaine drove up near the building to pick up some folks.  Claudia came with Celia and I was encouraged about that.  There were lots of people at the study, including Omar, Isela, Emily and Xiomara.  They walked home with me after the Bible study to have a study on baptism. Clifton arrived home from work about this time.  I had some chip and dip, so it was a little heartier than some snacks.   They stayed until after 10 and it was a good study and they are thinking of the passages we shared.  This all made for a full, and good day.

June 22, 2016

Some you get and some you don’t.  Wednesday has always been some of our busiest days out.  I didn’t do so well on my end this morning.  Seily was out of pocket so Clifton went with me.  First, my new study with Claudia Veronica didn’t happen.  She was washing clothes and that is an undertaking one doesn’t want to interrupt.  So, we walked on back to Briseida’s and she was locked up.  I have been prayerful about her little girl who had been sick.  I have been back in her area several times since she was sick and her gate is always locked.  Hopefully, she will be back in regular routine soon.  Clifton and I walked on down to Wendy and Reina to introduce Clifton.  Wendy was home and her son, Eleazar was awake.  So that was a good visit.  Reina was out.  Dwaine and Cesar did get to study with some of his contacts, so that was good.  Clifton and I headed home about 10:30.  I had a luncheon for Eliza, Yoli and Linda to do some final planning on campaign details.  Even though it was planned for twelve, everyone was there about 1.  It was an enjoyable fellowship and we got the last of our details planned as far as we know.  I am sure there will be some things I didn’t think of, but most of the big details all came together.  We divided up the children preparation and some details on eats.  We did plan a final trip to San Salvador on the 9^th of July to get some of the fresh things that we will need.  At any rate, we worked until 3.  I had a study a minute away and left for Socorro’s at 3:15.  When I went, she was not home.  I went a second time and again she was not home.  Finally, I returned home for about an hour.  Just before the evening service Dwaine and I walked back over there and she said she would go to the Bible study.  She had been home and forgot to come back over in time for out study.  That is unlike her, but I was glad she was okay.   After lunch Dwaine went on to Ana’s with Cesar and Arnoldo. He also went by to study with Mario and talk to them about coming on Sunday’s.  There work situation is hard, so they need some encouragement.  At 5, we regrouped to get ready for the evening service.  I rode a taxi up with Clifton and Socorro and Dwaine went to pick up some people.  We again had a good turnout and were really tired by the end.  Dwaine is getting better still and I think I am about completely over the whole virus thing….what a monster!

June 21, 2016

Decision.  Dwaine and I have been studying some with an elderly couple, Armando and Mercedes for a couple of months.  He is quite active in the Catholic Church and uses his Catholic Bible in the study.  For the last while, they have either been away during our study time or had company.  They are very polite and will always invite us in to read the Bible, but they do not visit the church.  So, we are going to stop this study for a time.  We try to go by and visit and say hello in the area, but sometimes, one feels there might be a better use of time.  It is always a hard decision to make, but we already have more than we can get done.  We used the morning for some in house work….lessons, cleaning, cooking, and trying to feel better.  Dwaine, thankfully, is beginning to slowly improve.  Cesar had brought some medicine over on Sunday and he has been taking that for a few days now.  I had also fixed some fore of the mustard tea and he had taken it two days.  That is about as long as either one of us can stand. Arnoldo came for lunch as he comes once a week.  He generally helps me cutting some materials for the Wednesday night class during his visit.  Sometimes, I have to switch him from Wednesday, so he came early this week.  For the afternoon, I went to Sister Ana’s with Seily and Regina.  I tried to shorten my lesson since we went so long with the reading lesson last week.  We had Carolina and Marina there.  The reading and writing lesson is really funny, trying to put together words with limited letters.  Tuesday night Don Santos came, but he was running late and didn’t arrive until 7.  He stayed until 9.  Dwaine led a lesson in Romans.  We were all tired at the end, but it was a good study. 

Phot Opt with the Bird

Napping!

Out chasing butterflies again!