Casa del Juicio--Final Weekend

I'm definitely running behind getting things posted, but it's taken a couple of days to recover from the final weekend of Casa del Juicio.  Saturday was busy because I had a baby shower in the morning and then was home about and hour and a half before leaving for Lourdes at 2:00 p.m.  Stephen was still feeling bad so I went alone.

Counseling was set up in the sanctuary separated from the preaching by a wall of plastic.

The first group started at 3:00 p.m. and  we finished about 9:30.  Almost 400 people saw the production and there were 50 professions of faith and about 30 rededications.  Even though I was able to leave about 9:30, a group of people from the church had to take down everything that was inside the sanctuary so they could have church on Sunday morning.  

Stephen still wanted to play for church on Sunday morning so we walked to the hotel, as usual.  After playing in the second service, we walked to Plaza Futura for a Valentine's Day lunch at Olive Garden.  It was quick, but nice; we were in and out in less than an hour.

I got away a bit later, but still arrived before most of the counseling team.  Sunday was almost a repeat of Saturday, with nearly 400 people going through.  The decision numbers were down just a bit to 42 and 15, respectively. 

At the end of the night, the whole team gathered outside the church for a prayer of thanksgiving for everything that God did through Judgment House 2016.

Last IDEM Thanksgiving

Our IDEM (discipleship group) has been meeting together for three years, and as I wrote about earlier, we finished our final series of lessons earlier this month.   But, that didn't stop us from celebrating Thanksgiving together one last time.  

We shared turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, pecan pie and several traditional Salvadoran dishes on Thanksgiving eve, if there's such a thing!

Thanksgiving in El Salvador

A room full of American missionaries celebrated Thanksgiving today and it was an awesome day of food and fellowship.  Steve and Pam Kern invited us, the Blackstock family, the Vasquez family and Tiffany Lewis to have dinner with them.  More than that, Pam wouldn't let us bring anything--she did it all by herself, including homemade rolls and three pies (pumpkin, pecan and apple.)  The rest of the menu was the typical turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, green been casserole, sweet potatoes, etc.

So thankful to spend Thanksgiving day giving thanks with our ministry family here in El Salvador.  Sorry I didn't stop eating long enough to get any good pictures.

End of November

My last post was on November 27 . . . how much could happen in the last three days of November, you ask?  Here's a rundown of the last three days:

Thursday, November 28--Thanksgiving!  We had the privilege to share Thanksgiving dinner with Steve/Pam Kern and Rachelle LaBotz.  Pam and Rachelle cooked everything--Stephen and I just had to show up and eat! 

 We had all of the traditional dishes, including turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, hot rolls and pumpkin pie; plus, corn casserole, a jello salad and apple pie.  It was amazing.

Friday, November 29--"Birth" day of our third grandchild!  Our son called about 6:00 p.m (PST/8:00 p.m our time) to let us know they were heading to the hospital.  We went to bed about 11:00 p.m.(CST/9:00 PST) without hearing anything more.  Received a call at 1:15 am letting us know that Aviah Jean Parris was born at 9:30 pm (PST.)  She weighed in at 7 pounds, 14 ounces and was 20 inches long.  She and Shannon are doing well; in fact, they went home from the hospital today.  Here's the only picture we have of her, so far.

Saturday, November 30--First day of the last mission trip for 2013.  We left our house at 5:45 am so we could be at the airport by 6:30 am.  The airport was packed and the lines were really long.  We did, however, remind ourselves that the airport lines pale in comparison to the lines we usually see at the border crossings (when we go by bus.)  The flight was 55 minutes--so much better than a 13+ hour bus ride.  We met up with the team from Murrell's Inlet Baptist Church at the hotel.  The bus (and translators from El Salvador) picked us up at 4:00 pm and we held our first family festival of the week.  It was a great night--the team shared door-to-door, I worked the inflatable and Stephen gave the gospel after the movie/drama.  

The last three days of November--FRIENDS, FAMILY and FAITH!  

Day before Thanksgiving

It's been four years (2009) since I experienced what "used to be" the normal day before Thanksgiving.   Back then, the day included last minute grocery shopping, baking pumpkin and pecan pies, making cranberry sauce or cranberry salad, etc.  

Although we've always made it to the states for Christmas, we've never gone back to celebrate Thanksgiving.  Since Thanksgiving isn't a holiday here in  El Salvador, although we're doing our best to get it started with our IDEM group (see previous post), the final evangelistic campaign of the year is always scheduled the week after.  We are leaving for Managua, Nicaragua, on Saturday morning.  

For the past three years, we've spent Thanksgiving with whatever group of gringos/missionaries happened to be in country.  So, I always spent this day making at least one Thanksgiving dish--usually a pie.  This year we have been invited to share Thanksgiving at the home of Pastor Steve and Pam Kern.  Rachelle LaBotz, our newest gringa missionary, will be joining us, too.  Even better, Pam said I don't need to prepare anything!

So today, instead of baking, I am thankful to be working on the baby quilt (with these colorful and fun fabrics) for my soon-to-arrive granddaughter.  

An IDEM Thanksgiving

For the second year, our IDEM (discipleship small group) celebrated Thanksgiving together. There are 8 couples in our group and all but 2 couples are Salvadorans.  So, we and the Blackstocks (our group leaders) are thrilled that the group wants to share this part of our culture.

Last night's traditional menu (prepared by the gringas) included:  turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, green been casserole, sweet potato casserole, cranberries, pumpkin pie and pecan pie.  We also had salad, corn, typical Salvadoran red salsa and bread.

After dinner we all shared the things for which we are thankful.  Topping the list:  God's faithfulness and love, family and friends.  This is a group with the right priorities!

Later we played a Bible version of the Taboo game in Spanish, of course.  What a riot!  

 Keeley carves the turkey.

Typical Salvadoran red sauce for the turkey.

Whipped cream and ice cream not pictured.

Out of Order

Since I haven't had Internet access , except in the business center, I haven't downloaded any of the hundreds of pictures we took.  I also haven't written anything about this amazing week.  So, this morning as I wait in the lobby where I can get an hour or so of free wi-fi, I thought I would let everyone know that the next few posts on this blog will definitely be "out-of-order."  That is to say, out of chronological order!

Today we are checking out of our hotel and returning to Nelson and Rosemarie's house for the night.  They asked us to stay through the "super fiesta" on Sunday and we were happy to do it  It will give us another chance to see many of our VBS kids one more time.  Rosemarie and I are planning to fix thanksgiving dinner today.  There will be a turkey, but not sure about the rest.  I have what I need to make a pumpkin pie, but don't know if I'll have time or "oven" time to fix it.  Anyway, today is a great day to be thankful for everything God has done this week. 

We will head home in one of the vans from IBVN San Salvador (with a small group of Salvadorans) tomorrow after the morning service.  We have a busy week, put I WILL find time to update the blog so I can preserve the memories of this awesome week.