Prayer Request for El Salvador

The seismic activity that began two weeks ago (when we were in Nicaragua) has started up again. Today while at church in the hotel there were 2 strong (in my opinion) tremors and the hotel asked everyone to evacuate while they examined the building for any damage.  We returned to the service about 10 minutes later. People who were here two weeks ago said today's tremors were mild in comparison to those. Makes me thankful I wasn't here. Please pray for the activity to cease,especially for there not to be a major earthquake.

We are flying to KC on Tuesday and will take steps to secure our belongings in the apartment to avoid damage if there should be major tremors while we are gone. 

Thanks for praying for El Salvador. 

Update on Prayer Request

Update from my brother about my niece, Liz:

Friends, I wanted give an update on Liz since so many have been interceding in her behalf. We are forever indebted. Good news- no signs of rejection! Likely some sort of infection which caused an acute reaction. Clearly, prayers work. She will be in the hospital in Denver until Tuesday while they confirm the type of infection and start treatment.

Praise the Lord for this great news. Will update again if anything changes!

Women's Ministry Trip, Part 4 (life-changing)

I must admit that I had reservations when I saw that we would be going to the Women's Prayer Retreat, and when I saw the schedule I nearly panicked.  The schedule included four+ hours of individual prayer time!  My goodness, what in the world was I going to do with 4 hours and 15 minutes of individual prayer.  Just being honest, that statement revealed the state of my heart and prayer life.  Nevertheless, off I went with the VidaNueva women and about ninety women from Christ Chapel.  

The retreat was held at Riverbend Retreat Center, a ministry of the Tarrant Baptist Association.  The retreat center encompasses 170 acres of land, including 140 acres of secluded woodland of which 5,000 feet fronts the Brazos River.  As soon as I arrived I felt transported back in time to Windermere, the Baptist retreat and camp center where I worked three summers. 

 

We had some time to check out the beautiful facilities and take some pictures.

 

 

After check-in and dinner, we had our first group session--it was a very simple, yet sincere time of worship.  There was no big worship band, just one woman, a guitar and 90+ voices singing "Sovereign," "Restless" and "How Great Thou Art."  The short devotional encouraged us to have confidence in prayer knowing that He answers prayers in three ways:  yes, wait, something better.  At the end of the time, we were dismissed to go wherever we wanted to pray--the two rules:  pray individually and pray quietly so as not disturb others.  

There were some prayer related handouts on the table, and we were encouraged to pick them up if we wanted some "starters."  I left the group session with my Bible, my new journal, and a couple of the handouts, went to the room to get a jacket and then started by walking along the road between the meeting rooms and the cabins.  At that point I had no idea what I was going to say to God.  So, I just started by thanking Him for the opportunity to be there and then asking if He would help me listen to Him.  Little by little I became more comfortable with the silence and, for the first time in a long time, it was just me and my Father.  After about 30 minutes I found a rocking chair on one of the porches and began to capture some of my thoughts.  At the end of the time I was in tears and under conviction and these are the thoughts that came to me:

     A Holy God deserves more than my half-hearted effort,
     A Loving Father deserves more than my partial obedience,
     A Resurrected Savior deserves more than my ungrateful heart,
     A Sovereign Lord deserves more than a reluctant servant,
     An All-powerful King deserves more than empty words of praise.

I can hardly describe how I felt at that moment; it was devastating to admit that those words described who I was.  However, God didn't leave me in my sadness, but gave me hope that I could change:

     A Holy God deserves my all-consuming passion and my most excellent effort,
     A Loving Father deserves my faithful and complete submission to his commands,
     A Resurrected Savior deserves my total, sold-out surrender,
     A Sovereign Lord deserves my uncompromised commitment,
     An All-powerful King deserves my living sacrifice that testifies to His honor and glory.

     I deserve his judgment, but He gives mercy.
     I deserve the consequences of my sin, but He gives grace.
     I deserve death, but He gives eternal life.
     I deserve nothing, but He gives everything. 
 
When our time was up, the group met together again to hear a short testimony.  The eight of us ended the night singing worship songs in Spanish in one of our cabins, and I went to bed anxious to spend three hours more in prayer the next morning.

God is so good, so patient with us and knows exactly what we need! 

 

Something out of the ordinary and a great Sunday morning worship

Instead of having a regular family festival on Saturday evening, Pastor Rodolfo explained that we were going to walk along with the people on their pilgrimage to the Catholic church in Cartago, Costa Rica.  Here is a bit of information about the pilgrimage.  

In August the Basilica of our Lady of the Angeles is the object of extensive pilgrimage and visitation by about 2.5 million believers throughout Costa Rica and other surrounding countries, many of whom join in the celebrated 22-kilometer walk to the basilica during the Romería. Though many people start the pilgrimage from locations all over Costa Rica, some, as a demonstration of their piety, choose to crawl the 22 kilometers on their hands and knees.  (Click here to read more about it.)

We joined in with the walkers at a point inside the city and walked (and prayed) for a distance of about a mile and a half.  We then turned around a walked back to the park where we started.  While we were going against the flow, we passed out tracts called, "The Words of the Virgin Mary," to all who would take them.  It was definitely a bit intimidating to be going the other direction.  

I probably write a post about Sunday morning worship almost every time there are gringos around for a campaign.  I think it's because it is so impactful to worship together.  Sunday morning at IBVN San Jose was no different.  

Depending upon who is leading the music, occasionally we sing the worship songs in both Spanish and English.  However, this time it was a bit different.  Instead of changing the slides from Spanish to English for each verse/chorus, where they were able to they put the Spanish words and the English words for each line of the song.  As a result, the gringos were singing the English words while the rest were singing the Spanish words.  It was very cool!

Pastor Chris Sprires from First Baptist Church, Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, gave the message, with Vladimir translating.  

Happy Graduation

We attended Francisco's "high school" graduation today.  This GED-like program basically met all-day every Saturday for two years.  There were 28 graduates today and their ages ranged from 18 to 40+.  There were young, single moms and middle-aged dads and everything in between. It was a day of celebration for the graduating class and we were happy to be a part of it.

Francisco gave the prayer to start the ceremony

Banana split to celebrate

It's about the talk, not the walk

Before anyone jumps to the conclusion that I typed the title backwards, let me say that the reversal of the words was intentional.  While I agree that the age-old adage to "walk the walk" is more essential and, likely, more important than to "talk the talk," today's post comes from a different point of view. 

****If you just want to know the answer to the riddle, skip to the last paragraph.

If you are interested in the whole story, read on.  While in Kansas City during the holidays, I had my annual physical.  Although nothing was greatly amiss, the numbers were increasing and by numbers I mean weight, cholesterol, including triglycerides, blood pressure, etc.  It could be argued that most of them were not greatly outside the normal range for a woman my age; but, nevertheless, my doctor suggested it was time to halt the increases and, even better, reverse this trend.  Before we left Kansas City, I purchased the book, "The Daniel Plan" written by Pastor Rick Warren from Saddleback Church in California.   One of the things about that particular book that grabbed my attention was that it doesn't identify itself as a "diet"book, but rather a as a multi-faceted "get healthy" book.  In fact, the book suggests that a healthy lifestyle requires all five of the following:  faith, food, fitness, focus and friendship. 

I will admit that the whole concept was very convicting.  Here's a quote from the first chapter:

"Before you can make any healthy changes in your life, you must first believe those changes are possible.  Even more important, if you want God's help you must trust him to give you his power to change.  Jesus said, 'According to your faith let it be done to you' (Matthew 9:29).  If you don't trust God to help you get healthy, all you are left with is willpower--and you know from experience that willpower doesn't usually last very long."

There's so much more in the book on this subject, but a little taste is all I wanted to provide.   As a result, after returning from the states in January, I embarked on a journey to get healthy.  On January 10, I started following the food and fitness recommendations in the book.  I am still working to wrap my head around the concept that this is a new lifestyle, not a diet, and that I need to set more long-term goals than short-term goals.  So far, the food part has been easy, well, except for the extra prep work that is required here.  Two examples come to mind.  First, all fresh vegetables and fruits have to be washed and disinfected (15-20 minutes) before they are ready to be consumed and second, some items have to be "homemade" (almond milk, almond butter, applesauce, vegetable broth) because they are not available here.  

In the chapter on fitness, Pastor Warren suggests that a person is more likely to start (and continue) with a type of exercise they really enjoy, i.e. bike riding, dancing, aerobics, basketball.  That sounded great, but there wasn't anything on his list (and it was comprehensive) that sparked my interest.  As a result, I defaulted to something that everyone can do, that's easy and that costs nothing--walking.  My son and daughter-in-law gave me a Fitbit for Christmas (in February) and it has become a great motivator.  I've now realized that my day does include time to exercise, and I'm trying to make choices to walk instead of sit.

My morning now includes a walk around our safe, gated neighborhood.  I don't have a iPod or other .mp3 player, so I found walking alone relatively boring.  Then I realized that it was the perfect time to "talk" with my creator. Why hadn't I thought of this before?  Why have I struggled with prayer time and been so easily distracted by every single thing going on in my house when all it took to start talking was walking.  Let me tell you that there's nothing better than talking to someone who wants to hear every word, who is infinitely interested in everything you do and say and who loves you more than anyone else.  That's the answer to the riddle--my daily "walk" is about the "talk."  How long do I walk?  So far, at least 30 minutes, but longer if my Father and I have more to discuss.  I think, perhaps, that my higher numbers were God's way of encouraging me to find time to talk to Him.

Two Days in Guatemala

WEEKEND--The campaign officially started on Saturday evening; but we were up early on Saturday to meet the Valley Baptist team for breakfast after their red-eye flight from LAX.  Happily, the hotel had agreed to allow them to check-in when they arrived at 7:30 a.m., so all but two of them opted for rest rather than breakfast.  It didn't matter, though, because breakfast at Capistrano is always good and even better when sharing it with friends like Nelson, Rosemarie, Fabi, Camila, Don Laity and Gary Nelson.  It was a great start to the week.

The team from Oakland Baptist Church, Corinth, Mississippi, arrived at the hotel about 2:30, and barely had time to check-in before leaving for the evening campaign.  Stephen headed out with them and the group from Valley.  

There was still had so much VBS prep work to do that I didn't go along; instead, I stayed back and worked on curtains, buttons and sashes.  

Sunday mornings during a campaign are one of my favorite times of worship.  It is so amazing to see how worship unites the body of Christ across all barriers--cultural, language, economic, etc.  Pastor Nelson didn't have a translator so he did his own translating--first point in English, followed by first point in Spanish.  It was kind of a simultaneous translation by the same person.  At the end we had a sweet time of prayer for VBS.

Sunday night the Oakland Baptist group left for the campaign at 3:30, while the rest of us set Colossal Coaster World VBS in the hotel salons.  I think we were half crazy by the time we finished!   

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.

Change of Plans

We had planned to fly back to El Salvador today, but God had other plans for us.  Instead, I will have a minor outpatient procedure tomorrow morning.  We are so grateful that we were in the states so we could take care of this!  Not sure when we will be able to fly back, but it will likely be 1-2 weeks.

Now that we know this, we really need to do some shopping . . . . don't have enough toothpaste, prescription medicine, contact solution, just to name a few things.

I'd appreciate prayer that the procedure will go smoothly, without complications.

Two days post surgery

We visited both Kristi and Elizabeth today.  Kristi was sitting up in the chair beside the bed and trying to eat the wonderful hospital made mashed potatoes, but not having much fun.  When the surgeon stopped by to see Elizabeth today he told her she could move out of the PICU this afternoon.  Her kidney is functioning well and, as a result, her levels are dropping in to normal ranges--something she hasn't seen since her kidneys failed more than one and a half years ago.

It's so amazing how God knits together our bodies so that a kidney from a willing donor can be transplanted in a recipient and the "kidney" immediately does what it was created to do. 

Thanks for praying; keep it up!  There's still a long road to recovery for both of them, but we're praising God for his provision this far!