Judgment House, 2017

The last minute prep finished up on Wednesday afternoon and the work of "presenting" Judgment House began about 6:30 p.m.  Stephen's is playing the piano in the sanctuary where the groups await their turn to enter the presentation--he's at the very beginning.  I'm working at the very end--in counseling.  We see only those people who are ready to make a decision for Christ as a result of the presentation.  I'm on the computer, keeping track of all the names and compiling the results for Pastor Julio and Pastor Steve.

God has provided miraculous results over the past three nights (Wednesday through Friday.)  Here are some of the stats so far:

ATTENDANCE:  1,369

PROFESSIONS OF FAITH:  155

REDEDICATIONS:  124

 Praise the Lord for the lives that are being changed!

Why we love visiting Guatemala

For us, there's nothing better than getting away to Guatemala City for a few days.  Yes, the country is beautiful and, yes, the weather is amazingly comfortable.  However, the real reason we love visiting Guatemala is these two amazing people:

Nelson and Rosemarie Rivas

When we're here in Guatemala, we just "do life" with them.  Yesterday, Rosemarie, Fabi, Cami and I left the house at 7:00 a.m.  The first stop was to drop Cami off at school.  The three of us made our way across town (the short cut took a little over an hour) to a home where Rosemarie is leading the Beth Moore, "Breaking Free" Bible study.  We were a little early, so we stopped for coffee/tea at McCafe.   After an ample "snack" the study started about 10:00 a.m.  I think we finished about 1:00 p.m., made a stop to buy Cami a pair of tennis shoes and then worked our way back home.  

There's always a concert when Stephen and Nelson get together--the piano is set up in the living room!  Stephen and Fabi also find time to "jam."

In the afternoon, I helped with preparations for the next ladies event--a celebration of Mother's Day at the end of May.  Washing and drying plastic containers, cutting felt, gluing and more.  Look at the cute favor they're making for each woman.  

This morning they treated us to Capistrano--our favorite breakfast place.  Today equals more work on the favors; Stephen is also helping to clean and then paint bottles.  

LIke I said, we enjoy doing "life" with them.  We love them and their girls, and we know it's true that "friends are a gift from God."

Saturday and Sunday in Bogota

On Saturday morning we checked out of the Holiday Inn.  Bayron took the bus to the hotel to meet us.  Although we had seen it in action all week and we got our first taste of their mass transportation (Transmilenio) when we rode it to the apartment with Bayron.  We didn't become experts in the time we were there, but it with exclusive driving lanes, it was very efficient.  We also found it to be clean and safe.  A couple of times, we took a "normal" bus and found those to be the same.

Bayron and Terisa have a studio apartment, but they were very gracious hosts and offered us their bedroom.  We didn't spend a lot of time in the apartment because there was so much to see and do.  Saturday afternoon we went to Centro Comercial Titan, one of the largest malls in the city.

  
A big group of us (David and his family, Karen and Gabrielle, Bayron, Teresa and Marcos, Nadia and Pamela and us) ate at Sopas and Postres--typical Colombian food.  I ate Ajiaco, a soup made with chicken, three varieties of potatoes, herbs and a piece of corn on the cob.  It was delicious.  Stephen had some of the famous Colombia beef.  

Sunday morning we rode the bus to church--it was so exciting to have 13 visitors, fruit from the campaign.  The pastors were thrilled that one of the visitors brought his whole family.  It was an awesome time of worship with Gabrielle leading the singing, Alex on the guitar, Bayron on the bass and Stephen on the piano.

Sunday afternoon we took the bus to Usaquen, an area of Bogota where artisans set up their booths around the central park.  There were many street performers (musicians, mimes, comics, dancers, and more.)  We walked through and ate at Hacienda Santa Barbara, a colonial style hacienda that is now a shopping mall.  Alex, Normita, Paola, Nadia and Pamela met us for lunch.  

Ableas--a delicious, typical Colombian dessert! 

Nadia, Pamela and me

Stephen and Bayron finished off the evening playing cards--cribbage and golf.  It was a great day spent with great friends.  Loved seeing another part of the beautiful city of Bogota.

Time in Kansas City

The last official day of the campaign with the Christ Chapel Bible Church youth was Friday, July 18.  When the team headed to the beach for the day, we headed to the airport to catch our flight to Kansas City.  Unfortunately for us, there were storms along the east coast so, even though we had no problems getting into Houston, our flight to KC was delayed two hours--11:00 p.m. arrival into KC instead of 9:00 p.m.  Originally, my dad was going to pick us up at the airport, but I'm so glad we changed it.  I can't image how he would have handled the two hour delay--probably would have tried to sleep in his car in the KCI parking lot.  By the time we got to Lee's Summit it was after midnight, but we still managed to talk to the Guenthers for an hour or so before we crawled into bed.

Stephen and two of his brothers worked in a game of golf on Saturday afternoon and then we all went out to dinner (minus Michael and Denise.)  

We went to the traditional 8:00 a.m. service at Abundant Life on Sunday morning and then on Sunday afternoon we drove to Topeka to visit with Jeff and Paula Rhoades.  It was great to go to church with them and see their home/town.

Stephen drove to Marshall early (5:00 a.m.) Monday morning to have breakfast and play golf with Michael.  In the afternoon, he stopped to see our friend, Kimberly Kelley in Seymour, Missouri, and pick up a Peruvian drum for our church in Guatemala City.  Kimberly tried to bring it to Guatemala in June, but the airlines wouldn't let her carry it on.  We're going to put in a box and check it as luggage.  Hopefully, it will make the trip safely.

He also managed to find time to play the piano and give her brothers a quick lesson.

He's spent the last two days visiting his parents in West Plains while I've filled my time with various annual doctor and dentist appointments.  Our son, Jon, flew in on Monday night so I've been able to spend some time with him, too.

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.  

Night Under the Stars

Saturday night's event was wonderful in every way.  The tables looked awesome with their centerpieces that spelled LOVE.  Menus, name tags attached to felt hearts and boxes filled with candy were at each place setting.  The view was also amazing.

There were 26 couples at the dinner sitting at 8 different tables.  More than 50% of the couples had never been to the church, but, instead were invited to attend by a couple from the church.  The food was delicious (as you can see from the pictures.)  Stephen played the piano for over an hour while we visited at the tables and had dinner.  He had time to eat when Pastor Nelson shared a brief message about the type of love that it takes to have a successful marriage and finished by sharing the gospel.  The evening ended with some friendly games at the table and then competition between the tables.  All of the couples were invited to the upcoming couples retreat.  The good news is that one of the couple was at church Sunday morning and both made professions of faith.