Goodbye old year

As everyone says, it's hard to believe we are saying goodbye to another year, but we are.  Once again as we look back, God's grace was evident.   So thankful for everyone who joined us on a trip somewhere in Central America.  We loved serving along with you and seeing how God used you.  We are grateful for your willingness to invest your time and money to share Jesus with the people of El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala and Costa Rica.

We are thankful for our family and dear friends wherever they are tonight.  We are praying for God to reveal himself to you and us in new and deeper ways in 2015.  We are looking forward to another year of serving him!

Wrapping up our time in Bend

Maleia, Jon, Daniel, Katherine, Brian and Patty hit the slopes on Friday to wrap up our last day in Bend.  As usual, we hung out at the house and played with Josiah and Aviah. They came home early and made a stop in the hot tub to warm up.   

The rest of the day included more lego time!

Christmas Day in Bend

We spent a relaxing Christmas day at the house in Bend, with an emphasis on family time, not gifts.  The O'Neil siblings drew names at Thanksgiving and so they exchanged gifts.  Michael (Shannon's older brother) and his wife, Emilee, who were in Atlanta with Emilee's parents, are expecting a baby in May.  We all participated in their gender reveal over Skype.  The box was wrapped in both pink and blue paper and inside was a giant stuffed kangaroo.  Inside the pouch was a little baby kangaroo wrapped in a BLUE diaper.  They were so excited with the news of the first O'Neil boy, who could be Michael Charles O'Neil IV.  

Of course, there were a couple of small gifts for the kids, but, not surprisingly, they had the most fun with the boxes!

VW popup tent camper for Josiah

Lego set for Maleia--just like her Daddy

Lunch was an amazing turkey dinner with all the trimmings.  Quite a feat when you're all just visiting!  Thanks to Shannon's mom, Patty, for bringing most of the food with her.  Surprise, surprise, my contribution was two pumpkin pies.

The cranberries were Aviah's favorite dish

In the afternoon, Aunt Katherine helped the kids add (eat) candies to the gingerbread house.  

We finished off the evening watching "It's a Wonderful Life," and then playing games.  

Merry Christmas 2014 from the Parris and O'Neil family.  

Merry Christmas Eve

Beautiful, wet snow fell this morning here in Bend.  The  kids loved playing in it and then enjoyed jumping in the hot tub even more.

Special day watching the trains

Daniel, Jon, Maleia and the rest of the O'Neills got up early and headed to Mt. Bachelor to ski.  Shannon, Stephen, Josiah, Aviah, Shannon's dad and I stayed home.  

Last night when we stopped for pizza, I picked up the local paper and read a story about a man who had set up his Lionel trains at the public library.  We went this afternoon and Josiah was mesmerized by the 6+ trains that moved around on tables set up in the children's area of the library.  It was amazing!

Beautiful Bend!

Daniel, Maleia, Josiah, Jon and Stephen and I left at 7:00 a.m. yesterday morning and the kids were awesome travelers, enjoying their sticker books and the 9:30 a.m. second breakfast stop at McDonalds.  

We made the eight-hour drive from Sunnyvale, California to Bend, Oregon yesterday and the weather cooperated perfectly--only rain, no snowing and not even any snow on the mountain roads so no need to put on the chains.  

We were 15 strong at the vacation home in Bend last night.  It is an amazing 6 bedroom house with plenty of space for all of us.  

This morning nine of us took a walk around a beautiful neighborhood in Bend.  It felt good to get 5,000 steps in today after not having time to walk much in Kansas City.  

Last Night in Kansas City

As always, time flies when we're in the states.  We have a seven o'clock flight to San Francisco and should be hugging the grandkids by lunch time.  

Unfortunately for us, the weather has decided to throw a possible wrench is our last night and rather than have someone drive us to the airport very early in the morning, we are going to stay at the Fairfield Inn and catch their shuttle in the morning.  We'll leave my dad's car at the hotel and he and my brother will come pick it up tomorrow afternoon.  

We always like reconnecting and catching up with family and friends and this time has been no different.  We were able to worship at Abundant Life on Sunday; Stephen spent time with his Mom and Dad in West Plains and we've continued our city-wide restaurant tour.

Eating, but not necessarily healthy eating

We've been eating, eating, eating since we landed in Kansas City on Monday night, which isn't really a good thing.  However, we have enjoyed spending time over breakfast, lunch and dinner with family and friends.

Here's the list so far:

Jumpin' Catfish with my dad
La Fuente with the Yallaly's
Egg and I with Sheryl 
Don Chilitos with the Rhoades
Spin Pizza with Stephen
Hereford House with David and Michael (two of Stephen's brothers and wives)
Joe's KC BBQ with Mark and David (two of Stephen's brothers and wives)

There are still breakfasts, lunches and dinners to come!  

Denise, Michael, me and Stephen
(Hereford House)

David, Mandy and Haley
Hereford House

Me, Stephen, Mark and Tonia
(Joe's Kansas City BBQ)

Cold in Kansas City

Although our family and friends say it's not that bad, it feels really cold to us!  On top of the cold weather I have a terrible "cold" which has resulted in both of my ears being completely stopped up.  I knew that I would have trouble with the flights yesterday and by the time we landed in KC last night at 10:00 p.m. I could have cried from the pain/pressure in my left ear.  I went to clinic today and the nurse practitioner told me I had the worst ears she'd seen this year--oh, good!  I always want to have the "best" something.  She also predicted that if I hadn't come in today that my left eardrum would have ruptured by tomorrow--it was that full of fluid.  Praying that the one dose of antibiotic I took tonight will start the turn around so that it doesn't get any worse.  

In spite of everything, we managed to go to lunch with my dad and then out for dinner with our friends, John and Sarah Yallaly.   They also brought six months of mail and 4-5 packages from our PO box.  Guess that will be my job before the dentist appointment in the morning.

Well, going to try to get to bed early and give my tired, sick body a good night's rest.  More from cold Kansas City another day.

Two days at home

The taxi picked us up at 1:30 a.m. Saturday  morning to take us to the bus station in Managua for our 3:00 a.m. departure to San Salvador.  The trip was almost twelve hours.  We were pretty tired by the time we got home; even so, I made a quick trip to the grocery store so we could eat at home.  After eating at the food court or in the hotel restaurant for eight days, we were ready to eat at home.

We thought that Sunday would be a quiet day, but realized that we needed to remove the four appliances from our old place before we left the country.  So, Gilma and William met us at Finca de Asturias at 8:00 a.m.  William, Francisco and Stephen loaded the frig and the stove in the pickup.  William's son, Willy, and his wife, Patty, were having a garage sale, so they dropped the appliances off at their house and then returned to pick up the washer and dryer.  Willy and Patty are going to try to sell them for us.  

In the afternoon we met with the owner of the house and he paid us for the improvements we made and the things we left in the house (3 ceiling fans, wooden blinds, lights, etc.)  We thought he would give us cash, but he wrote us a check instead.  So, tomorrow morning before we leave for the airport, we have to go to the bank to see if we can cash the check.  Hopefully, it won't take too much time--the bank opens at 9:00 and we have to leave for the airport at 10:30.  I know that sounds like plenty of time, but the lines at the banks are often very long.  

We're anxious to see family and friends in Kansas City for ten days and then travel to California to see our kids and grandkids.

Knock on Doors

This has been a week of knocking on doors in the morning and in the evening.  It's been obvious this week that the "fields are white unto harvest" and that the Lord has sent these teams to help gather the fruit.  We have consistently found people at home or out on the streets and Pastor Rodrigo has received 60-70 yellow cards (professions of faith) each day.  The church is thrilled with the excellent contacts and follow up will begin next week.

Please pray that many of those who made a decision will start the discipleship process.  Studying the Bible is the most important next step for each person.

Prayer Request

As you know we recently moved to a new apartment in a new building.  The owner of the apartment had purchased and installed an electric stove, refrigerator and washer and dryer. In 2010 when we moved to El Salvador, our townhouse did not have any appliances so we bought a stove, refrigerator, washer and dryer.  We knew that it might be difficult to sell these items, but were hoping that our old landlord would want to buy them so he could set a higher rental price.

He originally told us he was interested in buying them, but last Friday he emailed to let us know he was not going to be able to purchase them.  At this moment they are still in the old townhouse--our final rental period ends on Sunday, December 8.  If we don't find a buyer by then, we will have to move them out and store them somewhere until we return to El Salvador on January 2.  

We are in Nicaragua this week so, once again, the time frame is very short.  We return to El Salvador on Saturday afternoon and will only have about 24 hours to take care of the situation.  Please pray that God will provide a "just-in-time" buyer for these things.  

Ending November in Nicaragua

We finished packing last Monday and the movers came on Tuesday.  Of course, we spent Wednesday and Thursday unpacking (except for the great Thanksgiving meal we shared with friends at the Kern home.)

Friday at lunch time, Gilma took us to the King Quality bus station to catch our ride to Managua, Nicaragua.  This time we decided not to ride the big, yellow school bus and, instead, go with the regular bus service.  The drive is still 12 hours, but it's much more comfortable with air conditioning, bathroom on board, wi-fi and snacks provided.  We pulled into the bus station in Managua at 12:30 a.m. and then took a taxi to the hotel.  Still a long day, but so much better than the 17 hours it took for the yellow bus to arrive.

Only four gringos arrived in time to go out with us on Saturday evening; everyone else came in about 8:30 p.m.  Still it was a successful evening with more than 30 professions of faith.  I had the opportunity to counsel Naomi after she prayed to receive Christ during the gospel message.  She had such a sweet spirit and a huge smile!  She and her 6-year old daughter live with her mom and she asked if she could have an extra copy of the Bible to share with her mom.

Sunday morning worship is always a highlight of the week.  There's just nothing better than singing in Spanish/English. Bro. Perry Safron preached from Hebrews 11--it's always great to hear a message in English.

Last night's campaign with the whole team was equally successful with more than 40 professions of faith.