Happy Dance!

Jeff and Stephen went to the immigration office this afternoon and Stephen came home with our residency cards. Praise the Lord--His timing is perfect! We leave for Guatemala in the morning and it is great to have the cards "in hand." What's even better is that the cards don't expire until June 30! Normally, they expire 9 months after the temporary cards expire, which for us would have been March 30. Hurrah for 3 extra months!

Thanks to all of you who have prayed for us through this year+ process! Just 4 more year one-year renewals and we can get a two-year card!

A day of worship

Worshiped in four different services yesterday . . . two in San Salvador, one in Coyolito and one in Nueva Concepcion. Thankful that although the styles of music were different and the messages were varied, each was directed to the one true God!

Wrap up and coming event

It's been almost a week since Juntos/Together ended. The final service was last Sunday night. It was so amazing to hear the testimonies of God's work during the week. The theme was "Radical Generation" and each day and each evening we were challenged to go beyond the norm and become a "radical generation" who carries Christ to the world. It's also exciting to read the Facebook comments and see the pictures posted by students who were here--the world gets a little smaller each time we make friends with our brothers and sisters in Christ!

Last week I also wrapped up this session of Hilo, Aguja y Biblia. The class will not meet in August because we will be in the states. Our last project of the session was a quilted picture frame. At least one of the ladies has already completed three frames and posted the pictures on Facebook! Our next session starts in September and I will be teaching the ladies how to make a t-shirt quilt.

This week we've had a chance to catch up on things, including laundry and cleaning. I've also been making a couple of new white, satin gowns for whoever plays the role of Jesus in the evening dramas. The old one was totally worn out! However, once deconstructed, it made a great pattern!

That's it for now . . . . more to come as we head to Guatemala on Friday to meet a team from Abundant Life in Lee's Summit.

Residency update

Our provisional card expired on June 30, but July 18 finds us still waiting for our permanent (1-year) residency card. Shortly before June 30, we were told that our permanent card would be ready in 1-2 weeks. Two weeks ago, William called and they told him that our paperwork was awaiting a final signature. Last week we stopped by the office and they said that our paperwork was approved and signed, but our cards were not printed . . . . so check back on Monday.

We decided to call again before making another trip--today when we called the immigration officer told us that they were having problems with their computer system . . . check back tomorrow. We will be leaving for Guatemala on July 29 and need to have our residency card in hand by that time. Looks like we will be calling on a daily basis and, when we hear the news that they are ready, we will be dropping everything to go pick them up!

Thanks for continuing to pray for us--we are confident that God will provide them at just the perfect moment.

Wow--it's been too long

I just realized that it's been a whole week since I took the time to post. Juntos/Together, our student conference, started on Monday, so we've been on the go the whole week. There are 52 college students from 4 different churches: Abundant Life Baptist, Lee's Summit, MO; Valley Baptist Church, Bakersfield, CA; Journey Church, Fresno, CA and Belmar Baptist Church, Denver, CO. In addition to the students from the states, there are more than 100 students from our churches in San Salvador, Lourdes, Managua and Guatemala City. The week is a combination student conference/mission trip. The groups have taught English at a university, taught an anti-violence lesson at public schools, cleaned up a park, conducted a neighborhood kids club, shared door-to-door, worshiped together and listened to awesome preaching.

It's so exciting to see these students learning to be part of a "Radical Generation" for Jesus. Tomorrow is the last day . . . the closing service is tomorrow night. Can't wait to hear more stories about how lives were changed this week.

Wood from Nahuizalco

On Thursday, Jon's last day here in El Salvador, we made our way to Nahuizalco. This small town is known for it's artisans--especially woodworkers. From our experience driving to Suchitoto on Tuesday, instead of making the trip by ourselves, we decided to take a translator. We were happy that Jona and Diego could go along.

We found the square in Nahuizalco without any problems . . . . there were vendors everywhere, selling everything imaginable. We visited CEDart--a school that teaches various types of creative and artistic courses, including woodworking. Unfortunately, there were no courses in session while we were there.

Next stop was a furniture workshop . . . . we randomly stopped at Muebles Hernandez (Hernandez Furniture.) One of the reasons we wanted a translator with us was because we wanted to be able to explain to the artisans that we weren't interested in buying furniture, but rather were hoping to see their workshop and ask questions about the furniture building process. We couldn't have found a more willing guide in Melvin Hernandez. He cheerfully showed us around the whole shop explaining their work processes. He answered all of the questions Jon asked, including many questions about the variety of native woods that are available to them. Jon wanted to buy a "chunk" of wood to take back with him, but Melvin wouldn't let him pay for it. As you can see from the picture, it was a sizeable piece. Once again, I am amazed by the generosity of the Salvadoran people. Jon will add this piece of "cortez blanco" to his collection of wood from Central America. One of these days he says he will decide what he's going to build using the two woods from Costa Rica and this new piece from El Salvador.

After an early dinner at Pollo Campero in Sonsonate, we made it back to San Salvador about 7:00 p.m. It was a great last day!

Birthday 2011

Celebrated my birthday on Wednesday, July 6, by making biscuits, gravy and scrambled eggs. Stephen and Jon were here to enjoy them, as well. Jon said he had forgotten how much better they are than the Bisquick kind. No doubt about that!

After lunch we met with Harry and Claudia Washington of DUE Studio. They are two well-known furniture designers here in El Salvador. They graciously agreed to spend time talking to Jon (and us) about how they started their business, how they got discovered and about the projects they are working on at this time. They spent 3 hours answering Jon's questions. Once again I am amazed by the friendliness and genuine warmth of the Salvadoran people! I've included a picture of the 5 of us after we had coffee at Viva Express.

Stephen had band practice at 6:00, so Jon and I picked up Kevin and went to Pollos Real. Jon wanted pupusas one more time and Kevin wanted another chance to visit with Jon. We took him home and then went to church to pick up Stephen. We stopped at Chili's for my real "birthday" dinner.

Daniel and Shannon scanned and sent me a "birthday card" from Maleia! I received 100's of FB birthday greetings--such fun to to hear from friends, many of them missionaries, all over the globe . . . Krista in Austria, Petra in Croatia, Carrie in England, Debbie and Donna in Mexico, Janet in Canada, Esther in Costa Rica, Ana in Guatemala, Oswaldo in Nicaragua (to name a few) . . . as well as old and new friends all over the US and El Salvador.

It was a great birthday and I appreciate every note, phone call and prayer! Thanks to each and every one of you for sharing my birthday!

Suchitoto

After laboring over several maps, Stephen, Jon and I drove to Suchitoto yesterday. It was just like we figured--the maps don't help you much. It seems that most driving in El Salvador is by the "seat of your pants."

We left the house about 9:45 and headed across CA-1 through downtown San Salvador. The traffic was a mess, but we did get to show Jon the downtown park where we work during campaigns, the central cathedral and several other government buildings.

We made it to Suchitoto and our first stop was the beautiful Catholic church. The wood and the art were amazing. We also saw several other old buildings and the lake. We had lunch in a great boutique hotel restaurant. Our waiter spoke English very well--quite a surprise for us. The food was delicious and we highly recommend it if you're ever in the neighborhood!

Happy Birthday, America

Happy, happy birthday, USA! We did our best to celebrate here in El Salvador with an all-American meal at Jeff and Paula's house. Jeff grilled hamburgers and hotdogs and made baked beans. Paula and Emily fixed deviled eggs and got all of the trimmings ready. I brought corn on the cob and a homemade apple pie.

We're so happy to have Jon here with us for the holiday. The best thing about this holiday here is there aren't any fireworks to keep us up all hours of the night and no fireworks trash all over the yard and streets of our neighborhood. Guess you can tell I'm not really a fireworks fan.

It rained in the morning and then again this afternoon. We had a chance to check in on Daniel, Shannon, Maleia and Josiah. All four are doing well . . . we have a Skype date set for this week. Jon leaves on Friday morning, but we still have several things we want to do with him, including a trip to the Mayan ruins and a visit to a furniture design studio.

We're in the quiet before the storm that is Juntos/Together. The college-aged mission trip/conference with 200 kids from three states, Managua, and Vida Nueva, San Salvador, begins Monday, July 11. Please pray that we will have the energy to keep up with this youngsters!

Hello World, I'm Josiah!

A big welcome to Josiah McKinney Parris, our second grandchild and first grandson. He was 10 days overdue, but arrived just 45 after his parents got to the hospital. It definitely sounds like he's got a mind of his own! Official stats: June 29, 10:54 p.m. (PDT), 7 pounds, 5 ounces, 20.5 inches long. Maleia, his big sister, met him yesterday--it looked like she wondered what all the fuss was about! Shannon said that Maleia seemed a little mad at her for not going home with them last night! A whole world of change is about to start for the 4 of them!

He is named after King Josiah, one of the few good Hebrew kings of the Old Testament, who began ruling when he was only 8. Unlike his father, Josiah turned the nation from idol worship back to Jehovah. Josiah shares his middle name with his father, Daniel McKinney Parris! McKinney is my maiden name, so both of the great-grandfathers are excited. Great Grandpa Parris because this is the first great-grandson that carries the Parris name; Great Grandpa McKinney because this is his first great grandson and one who shares his name.