Catch-up Post (3)

I blogged a little on Monday when we were in the bus on the way home and in the morning before we left about the landslides just outside of Guatemala City.  Here are the "up-close and personal" photos we took while sitting beside the area.  The two lanes out of the city are completely covered with the mud/debris from the landslide.  They are not trying to remove the dirt at this time because they believe it will cause the area above to slide again.  They are working hard to construct two new temporary lanes around the immediate area of the problem to avoid the long delays they have been having.  We sat at the same spot for about 20 minutes waiting our turn to move up the hill past the landslide area.  We took all of the pictures from the bus--you can see how close we were . . . I was definitely praying that the mud and the broken walls didn't start moving again.  

 Mud and debris covering the south bound lanes includes parts of cement retaining walls.

 Constructing two temporary lanes to relieve the traffic backup.  

Great idea, but they are right on the side of the mountain!  

A view of one of the houses at risk of collapsing.  

It rained more yesterday as we left the city . . . . the landslide could get worse before it gets better.

Catch-up Post (2)

We worshipped with our Guatemalan friends at Iglesia Bautista Vida Nueva on Sunday morning.  We have many friends here and it was so good to "reconnect" with them--even better knowing that we will be back in two weeks to help with VBS.

There are always some "firsts" on a trip like this--this time it was singing the old, old hymn, "I've Got a Mansion Just Over the Hilltop," or, in Spanish, "Bellas Mansiones Hay Alla en la Gloria."  I found a youtube video of Elvis singing it, but decided you could search for it yourself if you're interested!

Worship time

Nelson is an awesome expository preacher; he has been preaching verse-by-verse through the book of 1 Corinthians.  We know this because he was just starting the book when we were in Guatemala for 8 weeks in the summer of 2012.  This Sunday's message was on 1 Corinthians 12:12-13.  

Corinth--A church growing in a difficult city

Congregation listening to the message

Small group prayer for VBS

Signing up for VBS donations

 Stephen and Charlie

 Claudia and Andrea working at "Centro de Informacion"

 Gloria Hernandez and her husband, Guillermo, from El Salvador were there
helping to plan the evangelistic events for the November campaign.

Catch-up Post (1)

I didn't have much time to update the blog while we were in Guatemala--just too busy, so this is the first of a couple of "catch-up" blogs.

We stayed with the Rivas family while in Guatemala City.  When we arrived on Wednesday only Rosemarie and the kids were there because Nelson was in Kansas City for the mission's conference of Blue Springs Bible Baptist Church.  We went to the airport to pick him up on Friday night.  Stephen had a little sign so he would know we were there to get him.  The name on the sign is Chabelito (a nickname that Nelson uses for people whose names he can't remember.)  

On Saturday, after a long day of working on VBS things, the four of us had a night out at Cayalá, a very upscale retail shopping, living area on the other side of the city.  You can see the Spanish architecture in the pictures--it was an amazing place to walk around.  The pictures "almost" do it justice!

 We had a great dinner at Saul's and enjoyed sharing the night with our friends.  Priceless!

Bus with Wifi

Well, you know you are going to be late getting back when both of the movies are over and the bus is still at the border.  We left Guatemala  City a little late and then the traffic at the landslide area took another half hour or so.  Not too bad, we thought.  Then we got to the border and the line of trucks was incredibly long. 

We did not have to get off the bus to wait in the immigration line,but it really doesn't make any difference if the traffic line is this long.  We were there for at least an hour, but have finally started  moving.  All this time (and on the trip over) I had my Internet turned off because the bus info said that free wifi was only for the first class passengers.  While sitting at the border I accidentally turned it on  and saw that the wifi was free and open. Silly me!  Nevermind that typing on these rough roads is quite difficult, at least I can check Facebook, and everyone knows how important that is.

Landslides

Landslides on a road just outside Guatemala City have closed two lanes of the highway on which our bus will travel this afternoon.  Long delays are expected, so please pray for our journey home.  The government is not removing the dirt that covers two lanes because the danger of more landslides is very great.  Here's a link to an article that has a picture from the top of the hill. 
http://www.prensalibre.com/noticias/Lluvia-retrasa-obra-km_0_1019298121.html

Desde Guatemala City

I'm sure nobody is worrying whether or not our bus made it to Guatemala City, but, just in case, I'm letting you know today (2 days after) that we arrived on time, well fed and in one piece.  The trip was awesome from start to finish.  We left our house at 5:30 a.m. and arrived at the bus station (inside the Hotel Sheraton) at 5:45; got checked in and made our way to our seats--second level, first row.  Before we left the station, they distributed our breakfast which was warm pancakes from San Martin (one of our favorite restaurants) along with orange juice, coffee and water.  

The passed out blankets and pillows, so I slept for the first two hours.  Stephen watched the movie.  About 8:00 we arrived at the El Salvador border and the immigration employee boarded the bus and reviewed our passports.  After he cleared us, we all exited the bus, walked about 250 feet to Guatemala and presented our passports at their immigration window.  There were no lines so we were all back on the bus and on our way in 10 minutes or less.  The rest of the trip passed without event--Stephen watched the second movie while I read a book.

We arrived on time at the Holiday Inn in Guatemala City--Rosemarie picked us up.  We arrived to a houseful of VBS helpers and joined right in painting, taping, cutting, etc.

I was able to help Haisey, one of the women in the church, understand the leader guide and Bible lessons (written in English.)  Although, it's a bi-lingual VBS, she is working with the 3-4 year olds who, of course, have all of their stories and activities in Spanish.  

We've been working hard and eating well these last two days.  Wednesday night Rosemarie made pupusas (go El Salvador) and last night we brought home from Del Puente, a new restaurant close to the house, and ate them with homemade french fries.  Cross cultural eating--suits us fine.

Last night Rosemarie and I worked on a baby quilt she is finishing for a baby shower tomorrow!.  We made the bias binding (if you're a quilter you'll understand) last night.  Today, she is going to machine quilt it.  Just one of the many small, regular-life projects in the middle of the VBS prep.

Today, I've cut 22 yards of felt into the sashes (think boy/girl scouts) that the kids will put the "badges" on.  Unfortunately, we need to buy another 20 yards or more and repeat the process.  Once they're all cut, we have to sew them together.  Stephen managed to find time to play the piano and even gave Javier his first piano lesson this morning!  

Tonight, Nelson returns from the states where he's been sharing in the mission conference at Blue Springs Bible Baptist Church in Blue Springs, Missouri.  

Please pray for the kids who will be coming to VBS, November 11-15.  This is a major evangelistic outreach for the church, and they are working hard to invite kids who don't know Jesus.  

I Like Change!

If you have known me for very long, you know that, as a rule, I like change.  If you read my last blog post, you know that I like to change up the things I eat and the things I cook.  Well, the same thing goes for the things I do.  So, the good news is that I live in a place where it really isn't hard to change things up.  You see, things rarely go as planned here and as our friend, Dave, says, "when anywhere in Central America we must acknowledge the 11th commandment:  Thou shalt be flexible!"

It's almost VBS time!  Public schools all over Central America will be winding up their year by the end of October.  I'm sure that there are countdowns written on many white boards in classrooms across this country.  We are having VBS (goes by the initials EBDV, in Spanish) at the church in Guatemala City on November 11-15.  Last year, Stephen and I drove over a few days early to help with last minute preparations.  A couple of months ago, Pastor Nelson Rivas and his wife, Rosemarie, invited us to spend October 23-28 at their home in Guatemala in order to help with VBS preparations. Of course, we said we would love to come and that we would drive over on the morning of October 23.

A little over two weeks ago, a tractor trailer carrying a very heavy load of vegetables (almost 3 times over the weight limit)  caused extensive damage to the bridge between the border of El Salvador and Guatemala.  It was a miracle that the bridge didn't completely fall, plunging that truck, other cars and people to their deaths.  

Obviously, the border was closed and all traffic re-routed to one of the two other borders between the countries.  Trucks were asked to use the more southern border near the ocean, while car traffic was routed to the more northern border.  Since we have never driven the northern route through San Cristóbal, everyone thought it best not to take off on our own.  So, 11th Commandment time--on Sunday, we bought bus tickets to leave at 6:15 a.m. tomorrow morning.  First time on a commercial bus, not the church's school bus!  I have to admit that the bus looks pretty fancy--our tickets are for the 2nd level.

 If only the roads were going to be as smooth as the interstate highways in the states and not the pocked marked, sink hole, narrow and congested roads that are normal here.

Current news reports announce that one lane of the damaged bridge was reopened to car traffic yesterday; they are allowing one car at a time to cross. 

Full repairs are another 1-2 weeks away.  Since normal traffic on the bridge is more than 5,000 vehicles, the lines will be horrendous. Not to mention my confidence level about bridge repairs is not very high. We're very happy that we opted for our first bus ride!  Hopefully, everything will be back to normal when we travel (on the church bus) to Guatemala for VBS in November. 

My next blog post will be on the other side of the border and, hopefully, I will be able to report that the trip was painless!  In any event, we'll have a great time of fellowship with the Rivas family while we're cutting, pasting, painting, printing and preparing for VBS!

Appreciate your prayers for traveling mercies!

General Tso's Chicken

We HAVE found one Chinese restaurant here in San Salvador that we enjoy.  Its name is Restaurant 168--the Chinese number that means "prosperity all the way."  We do like the food and the lunch prices are about the same as in the states. When we are out of the country on campaigns, we have to eat out everyday, so lunch and/or dinner out is not the norm when we are at home in El Salvador.

Although it wouldn't bother Stephen to have a standard menu, i.e taco Monday, spaghetti Tuesday, grilled chicken, Wednesday; it drives me crazy.  Not only do I not like to eat the same thing every week, I don't even like to cook the same thing.  Last weekend as I sat down to plan the menu for the week, I realized it was time for some new recipes.  Unlike the "good ol' days" when you had to ask/beg family/friends to share the recipe for something you ate and enjoyed at a family or church potluck, there's no lack of recipes available on the Internet.  However, because there are so many recipes out there, it takes me a long time to narrow down the field to the 2 or 3 I want to try any given week.  Unfortunately, sometimes the ones that I crave the most contain ingredients that I can't find here (see my previous blog.) 

Plus, the only beef I buy is hamburger--all of the rest of the cuts of beef are unrecognizable and, on the rare occasion I have purchased beef, it is so tough that no amount of Adolph's or number of hours in the crock pot can render it tender and juicy.  I know that limiting consumption of red meat is good, so I'm okay with this.  We eat our red meat when we are back in Kansas City where they know what they're doing with beef.  I buy whole chickens, boneless skinless chicken breasts and boneless skinless chicken thighs.  Tilapia is the only fish I am comfortable purchasing here (enough said.)  

Since we eat so much chicken, I decided to see if I could find a recipe for General Tso's chicken--Stephen's favorite dish at Master Wok in Lee's Summit.  Yep, found a recipe and it was even a light version (click HERE for the recipe--thanks, Martha Stewart.)  Sunday lunch:  General Tso's chicken (minus some of the heat since it doesn't take much to get my mouth burning) with rice and stir fried vegetables (the recipe called for snow peas, but can't find fresh or frozen here.)  Next task is finding a good egg drop soup and egg roll recipe.  

Time to Rest

The last two days of the campaign seemed to fly by even though we were very busy.  On Thursday morning we went, for the first time, to a secondary school called INCO (Instituto National Comercio.)  We were able to share in 13 classrooms.  The principal was so happy that he invited us to come back in January and spend two days in order to share in each classroom (morning and afternoon session.)  We met a senior who just happened to have her guitar with her.  She played and sang some of her favorite songs for us which all happened to be praise and worship songs.  

Thursday night we shared in Acacias, a private neighborhood in Lourdes.  The rain held off until we were loading up the equipment and the bus.  Everyone headed back to the church in Lourdes for a pizza party for the translators.  More than 100 of us enjoyed pizza, drinks and fellowship.  

We spent Friday morning at the central park downtown San Salvador sharing one-on-one.  You never know who you're going to meet downtown . . . business people who walk through on their way to an appointment, homeless who live in and around the park, people who travel an hour or more by bus to look for a job, students who hang out after the morning at school, just to name a few.  Stephen talked with four boys and I had the privilege to talk with a young couple.  

Friday night was the final night of the campaign.  We were in Aguilares and made it all the way to the preaching when the giant drops of rain started.  Pastor Bob wrapped up quickly and the counselor's got to work.  Fortunately, we had already rolled up and loaded the inflatable so it didn't take too much longer to load the rest of the equipment. 

We battled the rain in the evenings, but we never had to completely cancel a campaign.  It was an amazing week with more than 700 professions of faith.  

El Salvador Campaign--10/9

This morning's school outreach was really different; rather than go into two classrooms, the students came to the park next to the school.  We formed ten small groups outdoors all for the purpose of sharing the value talk of the day and, most importantly, the gospel. Being outside the classroom had a very positive impact on the students and the dynamics of the activity.  The team members were able to spend an entire hour with the students.  There were 25 seventh-grade students and 27 eighth-grade students.  Thirty-seven of them prayed to receive Christ.  

  

Tonight we held our evening campaign at the "Australia" apartments.  We were able to go door-to-door, but it started to sprinkle while the kids were playing on the inflatable.  We did have time for the pinatas, but that was all.  No snacks, movie, drama or gospel presentation.  Tonight was a perfect example of why Pastor Steve always says that the key to the evening campaigns is the door-to-door presentations!  

El Salvador Campaign--10/6

The group from Bell Shoals Baptist filled the bus and a van last night.  We headed to Apopa at 4:30 p.m. and set up the inflatable and equipment in a parking lot.  It was a great night with a huge crowd.  Here's a couple of pictures showing the size of the group!