Happy 37th Anniversary

We celebrated our 37th anniversary on Wednesday, May 25, with the team from ALBC. The day started with a trip to a school in San Salvador where groups of 5 shared an anti-violence lesson, scripture verses and the gospel in 12 different classrooms.

We finished at the schools about noon, loaded the bus and headed back to the hotel. We had lunch with many of the team at our favorite Mexican restaurant. (Thanks for treating us, Steve and Terisa.)

The Wednesday night campaign was at a neighborhood about 15 minutes from the church. We set up the inflatable and realized that the school across the street dismissed at 5:30 p.m. It wasn't long until the students were pouring out of the building and lining up for the inflatable. There was a great crowd for our last evangelistic campaign and many decisions were made.

It's hard to believe that it has been 37 years--where did the time go? We couldn't be happier being in ministry together at this time of our life!

We celebrated with an anniversary dinner at Hacienda Real tonight with Jeff and Paula tonight--good food with great friends.

Tuesday--Day 4

Yesterday was a busy day for the team. We started with a devotion by Dr. Gerald Cowen at 9:00 a.m. He shared from Hebrews 7 discussing the three types of rest we can find in God.

We made it to the central park in downtown San Salvador about 10:30 a.m. It was really hot yesterday and sun block was the only way to avoid a sunburn. As always, the team spread out across the park sharing one-on-one. Four of the men delivered the gospel from the platform we bring. As I circled the park taking pictures of the group, I can see team members praying with a Salvadoran and know that I have a new brother or sister in Christ.

The bus pulled in to MetroCentro mall and everyone headed upstairs to the food court for lunch where choices abound--Wendys, McDonalds, KFC, Subway, Pizza Hut--you get the idea. It was a quick 45 minute stop and then back to the hotel for a bit of R&R before going out last night.

We left earlier than usual because we made the 1 1/4 hour drive to Nueva Concepcion (our usual Sunday trip, if you follow our blog.) With the large team, there is a caravan of 3 vans, one school bus and our truck which carries the inflatable. The church members and lots of kids were there to greet us. They are making progress on the building--the roof should go on next week. Hopefully, it will be ready for the construction team that arrives on June 4. They will be doing electrical work, installing the lowered ceiling and putting in the concrete floor. There is still much to do before the June 12 dedication.

The team fanned out all over the town. Paula and I were busy keeping the kids moving through the inflatable. The lines were fairly long and, as usual, "cutting" is one of our biggest problems! I think they learn from their parents who love to "cut in line" when they drive. Richard, with Pastor Julio as a translator, presented a clear gospel message and hands went up through the crowd.

We got on the road just before 8:00 p.m. and made the trip back to San Salvador. I think Jeff dropped off 13 people at the hotel around 9:15. The rest of the team was on the bus which takes a bit longer! I'm sure the tired group was glad to see their beds last night; I know I was.

Please continue to pray for the team--some type of virus seems to be making its way through the group. Everyday there are some who are not able to go out with us. Thankfully, it seems to run its course in about 24 hours. Pray for us as we share at a school on Wednesday morning.

Off to a great start

We've had a great two days with the team from ALBC. They came to the Friday night service at Vida Nueva, San Salvador --everyone was tired (they met at the church at 3:30 that morning), but they loved worshiping with their Salvadoran brothers and sisters in Christ.

Saturday morning the team canvassed and witnessed in a neighborhood in Lourdes, a suburb of San Salvador. We returned in the evening for more door-to-door sharing and the inflatable, movie, drama and gospel presentation. The people were so receptive and the team members reported many professions of faith.

This morning we worshiped at Vida Nueva, Lourdes. We were so excited to hear Pastor Steve Guenther preach--he did a great job. After church, the team stopped by to see our house. They had to visit in 2 shifts because it's just not possible to get 30 people inside at the same time. I've attached a copy of the group photo at the park in our neighborhood. Tonight we were back in another Lourdes neighborhood. The little kids were "all over" that inflatable! Again, the people were very receptive.

Please continue to pray for us; tomorrow we will be in the central park downtown San Salvador. Many of the men from the team will be doing individual gospel presentations while the rest of us share one-on-one throughout the park.

More updates as the week progresses!

They're Here

Hurray--the group from Abundant Life Baptist Church arrived at 12:10 this afternoon. We were there peaking through the windows to see them! It only took 45 minutes for everyone to get through immigration and customs. We loaded the bus and Jeff's van and headed for the hotel about 1:15.

They are checked in and should have a couple of hours to unpack, rest, swim, etc. before the bus goes back to pick them up at 6:00 p.m. for church tonight.

Please pray for this group--it is the first mission trip for most of them. We've been praying for God to prepare the hearts of the people in Lourdes, Aguilares and all of the places where we will be witnessing this week.

On the road with homemade ice cream

We went mobile with our third batch of homemade ice cream! We made it at home and then Stephen secured it in the back of the pickup with the bungee web. I loaded the bowls, spoons, cake, strawberries and chocolate sauce in the back of the pickup and off we went!

Half an hour later we pulled in to the parking lot at church to "surprise" the bands and praise team at the intermission between the early practice and the late practice. We were so busy that we didn't take a single picture. You will have to use your imagination: empty ice cream canister, empty cake pan, empty strawberry container and very happy people! Only problem for Stephen was that they all liked it so well, he just got one bowl!

Friends in Nueva Concepcion

We made our regular Sunday afternoon trip to Nueva Concepcion yesterday. As I told Stephen, I'm pretty sure we're at least half Salvadoran, because we hardly notice the bumpy ride on the bus anymore! :-)

They are making progress on the church building and that's a good thing because the team from Oklahoma will be here on June 4. There are more than 70 people coming and they will split into a "construction" group and an "evangelism" group. They are staying 12 days so they can be here for the building dedication on June 12.

One of our favorite things to do is share our photos with the little kids. They love to see pictures of Maleia because her blonde hair and blue eyes are such a mystery to them. After they've looked at her pictures, we take a picture of them. With their dark hair and dark eyes, they are a beautiful reminder of God's amazing handiwork. I can't attach all of the pictures, but I hope you enjoy our friends!

Happy Mothers Day

Yesterday was Dia de la Madre here in San Salvador! Unlike the states, Mother's Day is always celebrated on May 10; schools are dismissed and government offices are closed. As you can tell, mothers are a very important part of the Latin culture. (FYI--Father's Day is celebrated one Sunday in June, but it doesn't come with it's own annual holiday.)

Of course, we celebrated at church on Sunday. Each mother received a votive and there was a very special trio who sang celebratory songs. If there is a video attached to this post, then you can see and hear the group that sang in San Salvador. If I can't figure out how to attach it, the picture of the group from Coyolito will have to do.

We attended 4 services on Sunday--two at our church in San Salvador, one in Coyolito and one in Nueva Concepcion. The special music followed us from place to place! There were two different groups, but the songs were the same!

Jon's Wall Cabinet

Our son, Jon, has now completed one year in the Fine Woodworking Program at College of the Redwoods in Fort Bragg, California. We're so excited to announce that he is one of 6 students who have been invited to return for a second year. Even more exciting is that during the fall semester, the school participates in an exchange program with a furniture design school in Sweden and Jon is the student who gets to spend a semester there. He will leave for Sweden during mid-August, return home before Christmas and then complete the second semester in California. This is an awesome opportunity for him. He told me yesterday that he needed to start working on his Swedish. The school, Capella Garden (www.capellagarden.se), is in Vickleby, Sweden which is on Oland, a small island on the east side of the country. The weather should be relatively warm when he arrives in August and cold/snowy when he leaves at Christmas.

In January I posted pictures of the table he made for his first semester project. The pictures in this post show the wall cabinet he made this semester. In case you are wondering about the object inside the cabinet, it's a glass penguin that we gave him several years ago. I love the shape and color of this piece. The curved front is especially nice. It would have been beautiful in our house in Lee's Summit.

Hilo, Aguja y Biblia

The Hilo, Aguja y Biblia (quilt ministry) started this week. There were 21 women at the Thursday morning class and 13 women on Saturday. Both classes were awesome although, of course, the students were able to make more progress in the smaller class.

It was so exciting to hear the women introduce themselves, show their fabric and talk about the project they wanted to complete. The goals were varied from quilted pillows, to small quilts for the couch or a wall decoration, to curtains, to baby quilts, to full twin or queen-sized quilts. The first step was to teach them to use the rotary cutter and mat. Let me tell you it takes quite awhile to cut forty pieces of fabric with only two mats and cutters. On Saturday we only had one mat and cutter, but with 10 fewer people we were able to make quick work of it. Once they had two strips of fabric 4.5 inches wide, they used their pattern to cut the squares for the 9-patch block.

When everyone finished cutting, we paused for our devotion time. Roxana lead the time on Thursday and Reiny lead it on Saturday. Our study started with Psalm 120 and each woman was challenged to begin a three-step process to study the Psalms: read it, journal it and pray it. The group will have Bible study homework and sewing homework each week.

After the devotion, the ladies were able to begin hand sewing their block. Many of them will continue at home using their sewing machines.

We are so thankful for each of the 30+ women who attended, but especially for the 6 non-churched women who joined us. Please pray for these ladies and for Ena, Roxana, Reiny and me as we lead this ministry.

Classes, classes, classes

Taught classes today at New Life Christian School, taught English to one of my students at our house from 4:00 to 6:00 and now preparing to teach a quilting class in the morning to 15 women. Tests, grading papers, lesson planning--all in a days work!

We will miss a week of teaching for a campaign May 20-27 and another week for a campaign that starts on June 4. So, we only have 9 more teaching days at New Life Christian School. It's hard to believe that the school year is nearly over.

We are trying to think of something "fun" we can do on our last day of class. It will probably involve some type of food and games. Maybe will we play bingo again! Let me know if you have any ideas!

Busy Sunday!

Sundays are very busy these days. Stephen is playing the piano at the two services at the main church. We have to be there for the first service at 7:30. The second service doesn't start until 10:15 so there's about an hour "layover." Stephen plays the piano and then we leave when the music is over. We can usually make it home by 11:15. Yesterday Luis, one of the translators, came over for lunch. We had salad and homemade pizza; for dessert, we had Nutella Ravioli (I didn't eat any), but Stephen and Luis really loved it. If it sounds interesting, email me and I'll send you the recipe.

We had barely cleared the table when Jeff and Paula called to say they were ready to go to church. We usually don't leave until 2:30, but there was road construction and rerouting necessary when we went in the morning, so we moved our departure time up to 2:00 p.m.

Since more than 20 people went to Nueva Concepcion we took the bus and Jeff's van. It is amazing to see how faithful the team is about making the hour trip every Sunday afternoon. The church construction is progressing with the 4 walls about half way up. We are still meeting under a canopy until the building is completed. Last night there was a downpour before the service started and when it was over one of the women from the church swept out the muddy water which pooled under the canopy Paula and I agreed that we would never have thought to do that. Jeff preached last night--we are so impressed that he can preach in Spanish! We also had the Lord's Supper at the end of the service.

Next Sunday evening at Nueva Concepcion we're having a children's program to celebrate Mothers Day. We have quite a few children who come to church without their parents, so we're hoping that they will come to see their children perform.