RESIDENCY

Hurray! We completed the submission of our residency papers today! We will be able to pick up our temporary residency card on Monday!

Thank you so much for praying for us and being apart of this great adventure!

Police Clearance, Clarence

Just so you all know, we were cleared by the police in San Salvador. I think they check us out through Interpol! Remember how I said it usually takes 5-8 days to receive the document? We turned in our paperwork on Friday, got our fingerprints and pictures taken and when William called on Monday, the sergeant asked him, "is this the paperwork for the missionaries?" William said, "yes, it is." She said, "it's ready." We said, "Hallelujah! What a mighty God we serve!"

Today we received the revised documents from the translator so we have everything and can go back to Immigration tomorrow, March 30. Unbelievably, we don't have school tomorrow afternoon--the students are dismissed at noon--because of parent meetings to distribute student grades. This meeting was originally scheduled last Wednesday, but President Obama's visit canceled school so it was rescheduled for tomorrow, leaving us free to go to immigration in the afternoon!

Hopefully, tomorrow's post will have a picture of us with our "temporary, temporary card."

Tu Eres Especial--You Are Special

The first ever women's ministry breakfast was held this morning. Over 120 women attended the breakfast at the Plaza Mirador Hotel. Each woman received a rose at the door and had her picture taken; a slide show of the pictures played while we visited. The tables were beautifully decorated in lilac and white. Table leaders helped everyone get to know each other as we played an ice breaker game.

The buffet was delicious. A women's trio lead the worship music after the meal. Ena read Max Lucado's story, "You Are Special" aloud and then each woman received a copy of it.

The women were challenged to participate in ministry opportunities in the church, including the prayer ministry, discipleship ministry, mentoring ministry and others. The new Bible study/quilt ministry (Hilo, Aguja y Biblia) was also introduced. I took my the five quilts for "show and tell." Over 30 women indicated that they were interested in attending. Now we have to figure out how to find a day and time that will work for everyone. We are thinking that class size will need to be limited to 10 women. Please pray for this new ministry which will likely start the end of April.

The breakfast was a huge success; future plans for the ministry include small group events each month and larger events every 3-4 months.

70% of Residency

What a day this has been. William got to our house at 9:00 this morning. We called to see if our Good Health letters were at church, but they weren't. William called the doctor and she had the documents at her house. However, her official stamp, which is required on the document, was in her office at the hospital. We left our house and headed to the hospital in downtown San Salvador, picked up the stamp and then drove back across town to give the doctor the stamp and pick up the letters.

Next stop was the Immigration Office located in the Las Cascades mall. The line of Salvadorans was long, but William checked with the guard at the door to see if there was a separate line for gringos. Surprise, surprise, as of three weeks ago that location does not process immigration papers for gringos. So it was back to the parking garage and off to find the location they mentioned. It was after 11:00 a.m. when we pulled up to the office. The only place to park was on the sidewalk blocking two other cars. The guard took our name and promised to call us when one of the two people wanted to leave (only in El Salvador.) The chairs inside were full of people and the next number up was 01--we got #26. About 12:15 William called New Life Christian School to let them know we were at Immigration and weren't going to make it to class.

We were finally called to one of the desks about 12:45. She looked at everything we had and approved of about half of it. (All of the documents that we brought from the states had to be translated by a government licensed translator.) Today, the immigration officer approved our support letter from from Abundant Life Baptist Church in Lee's Summit and documentation from Iglesia Bautista Vida Nueva in San Salvador. She told us that we should have our paperwork completed prior to March 30 because our Good Conduct letters from the Lee's Summit Police Department were dated December 30. She said that the description of some of the paperwork in the translation was not as detailed as she wanted and that we needed to take it back to the translator to have it corrected. In addition, we both need to obtain a good conduct letter from the San Salvador Police Department. She gave us a document telling us what we were missing so that when we return with the required paperwork it won't be necessary to look at each document again.

Our next stop was to drop off the paperwork at the translator's office and to explain the required changes. The translator's secretary said she will make the changes and then have Dr. Chavarini approve of it. She hopes to be done with it by Monday, March 28.

We also stopped at the police station and paid for the required forms. We will fill them out and take them first thing in the morning. We will try to get them expedited, but they tell us it usually takes at least 5 business days.

We are praying that if we do not get the police conduct letter by Wednesday that they will not hold us to the March 30 deadline since everything was in process before the deadline came. We are trusting God to bring everything to pass in His perfect timing.

Tomorrow is the Day

We are going to the Immigration Office tomorrow morning with all of our paperwork in hand--at least that's what we think. We are applying for a religious visa so we have documents from the US as well as documents from the church here. Our US paperwork was signed on December 30 when we were in Lee's Summit, so it is important that we get it in process before March 30. Please pray that everything we turn in tomorrow will satisfy the requirements.

If they approve the documents, we should receive a temporary residency card while they process the more permanent (1-year) card.

Detours and Bus Rides

The traffic on our way to church often surprises us. We've become accustomed to the regular pattern of backups, but yesterday afternoon was a surprise. The normally busy road was almost empty. There were police stationed all the way along the route which we assumed was preparation for President Obama's visit on Tuesday. However, as we approached the first traffic circle we could see that the road was completely closed and all of the traffic was being detoured. Now, at home a detour is "no big deal." You can follow the detour signs and soon be on your way. It's a different story here--there are no detour signs so it's everyman for himself. If you don't know where you are, it's easy to get lost. Thankfully, we found our way to a major street that we recognized and were only 5 minutes late to church.

Jeff and Paula went to a wedding yesterday afternoon, so we were on our own to "lead" the trip to Nueva Concepcion. In this case "lead" means, we had the money to buy gas for the bus and dinner for the group!

When we arrived at the church property we could see that construction had been started earlier in the week. The land was filled with stacks of cement blocks and piles of sand and gravel. The walls of the bathrooms have been started and the street is being dug up to gain access to the water line.

Pastor Manuel and a group from his church in Coyolito were already at the site. The 14 of us joined his group and everyone began going door to door to invite townspeople to the 6:00 p.m. service on Saturday. We also invited them to a tamale dinner being held on Sunday evening. A ticket is required for the dinner so we distributed them as we visited.

Our good friend, Luis Martinez, preached and did a great job. We finished at 7:30 and began the hour long drive. As usual, our team stopped on the way to have pupusas together! Please pray for the people in Nueva Concepcion and the new church plant.

Verapaz Temporary Homes

Jeff, Paula, Stephen and I drove to Verapaz, San Vicente, El Salvador, this afternoon to do an event. The people who live in this community lost their homes as a result of the landslides caused by Hurricane Ida in 2009. More than 150 people died during the aftermath of the hurricane and many of the remaining family members live in this community. Over the past two years they have been relocated in the white temporary homes you see in the picture. At this point, the homes have no water or electricity.

About six weeks ago, a mission team from the states visited Verapaz. Since the team left, a couple from our church in Sal Salvador has been visiting the area every Saturday with a vision of planting a church in the neighborhood. They invited us to treat the kids in the neighborhood so we took the castle (jump house) and the slide. Last week the kids didn't know what an inflatable was . . . now they can't wait for us to bring them back.

After the inflatables, Stephen presented the gospel; Victor translated. Please pray that the new Christians will become the foundation of a church in the community.

Happy 2nd Birthday, Maleia

Maleia is two today! We were able to Skype with her tonight, but she was more interested in one of her birthday presents than in talking with us. Her Aunt Katherine bought her a small dry erase board and markers. She loves to draw and uses many, many sheets of paper, so now she can draw and erase.

We sent them a PowerPoint file with 50 pictures over the last year. Stephen wrote a song when she was born and later recorded it. He played the piano and Carmen Guenther was played the violin. It was the background music for the slide show. Daniel said that Maleia wanted to watch it 3 times and she commented on all of the pictures.

It's hard to believe she's already two years old. In July she will be a big sister to her new baby brother.

Back to California

We made a quick trip over to Jeff and Paula's house yesterday and came bearing an oatmeal cake to share. Maleia had her very own cupcake and boy was she excited about it. First the icing, then the cake. She also loved playing with one of Emily's stuffed animals. She gave Paula a big hug and kiss when we left to go to the park. She would have spent all day in the park moving from swing to swing if we let her.

Daniel, Shannon and Maleia's flight was at 10:00 this morning, so we left for the airport at 7:30. It sure was hard to see them go. Maleia gave both of us a big, long hug . . . . almost like she knew what was happening. It will probably be 5 months before we see her next and, when we do, she will have a new baby brother.

The house is quiet, empty and even the pick-up truck looks funny without the car seat in the back. The six days just flew by, but we are so thankful that they were able to visit us here and meet our many friends.

Volcano, Train & Lava Cake

Yesterday was a full day that started early with a trip to El Boquerón National Park to see the volcano crater. Maleia hiked up the steps and wanted to do it without any help. It is a beautiful site, but definitely not safe for a little one. She wasn't happy that Daddy had to hold her!

Late afternoon we went to Gran Via outdoor mall. She loved running around, playing with the water and riding the train. We finished the evening with dinner at Chili's! The lava cake with ice cream was her favorite part!

We've had so much fun playing together . . . . reading her Frog and Toad books, watching her spin and spin around, moving things from my utensil drawer into baggies, looking at pictures on the computer and having so much energy it makes us all tired.

Friday is coming much too quickly!

Little Blonde Girl

Bring a beautiful little blue-eyed blonde to church with you in El Salvador and you definitely get noticed. Maleia was quite the cutie in her Hawaiian dress and, of course, we were happy to tell everyone that she was our granddaughter. She did really well, but the two-hour service does get long! We made it home and fixed a quick lunch before her nap time.

Last night was "Homemade Ice Cream and Cake II." It featured some returning guests--William, Gilma, Jerry and Amy; Luis, Ana, Daniela and Louisa; as well as some first time guests--Loy and Miriam; Koky, Ena and Rafe. Most of the 18 helped cranked (at least a little bit) and everyone seemed to enjoy the ice cream and cake. The three little girls followed Maleia around most of the time. The evening ended with a short violin concert by Rafe!

The whole family was together for a few minutes last night when we were Skyping with Jon. He was really sorry not to be here for the ice cream.

This morning we had grandpa's favorite breakfast--biscuits and gravy. Maleia helped make the biscuits, cut them and put them on the cookie sheet. I think her favorite part may have been eating them with strawberry jelly.

It sure is fun to have them here with us. She and Grandpa have been going for walks, swinging in the park, reading books and he lets her stand in the back of his pickup truck. Today we all walked over to Santa Tecla park so she could play for a bit. It's nap time again for her and Shannon. Stephen and Daniel are shooting baskets in the park. I just took an apple pie out of the oven!

Up, up and on their way

Daniel just called--they are boarding their flight to Dallas! They have a short layover and then on to San Salvador! We're so excited to see them. They should be landing at 6:30 p.m. and getting hugs from us by 7:00 or 7:15, depending on immigration and customs!

Please pray for them to stay healthy while they are here--especially Shannon who is 5 months pregnant. We don't have any big plans . . . except for homemade ice cream with friends on Sunday night.

Pictures to come!

School Days

It was back to school for us today! The kids were really happy to see us--I got mobbed on the steps before I even made it all the way upstairs today. For today's activity we divided each class into two teams. Each team received 50 words (some English/some Spanish) that they had to write down and translate. In first grade the boys faced the girls and just barely pulled out a victory! Second grade is the smallest class so the teams were 4 people each. They worked really hard and the team that won knew all the words but one. They just couldn't remember that "lengua" means "tongue." Third grade is always crazy--the teams had 8 people each. Their words were much more difficult, and they only had half and hour. Although, competition is motivational, it does make them crazier than normal. The winning team finished 39 words; the other team got 35 done in the same amount of time. All in all a great first day back!

They don't know it, but they're having a test over all the words tomorrow! I expect there will be a lot of complaining, but we want them to know that we're serious about their learning!