Celebrating 5 Years

Pastor Manuel invited Stephen to sing at the 5th Anniversary celebration of our Vida Nueva church in Nueva Concepcion.  This is the church that we helped Jeff and Paula plant in 2011.  

We made the hour and fifteen minute drive and arrived with plenty of time to spare so that Stephen could get his piano set up and connected to the sound system.  Pastor Manuel likes to have lots of music, so Stephen wasn't the only musical guest.  

 

In total, the praise/worship music lasted and hour and fifteen minutes.  Pastor Manuel's sermon was about the same length.  

Dinner was served after the service, but Stephen and I didn't stay.  Insteaded we headed back to San Salvador and stopped at Pollos Real for pupusas.  We hadn't eaten pupusas for quite a while and they really hit the spot!

Women's Ministry Breakfast

I picked up Misha this morning to go to the women's ministry breakfast.  We parked at church and took the "shuttle" to the restaurant because parking there is very limited (like 25 spaces or less.)  

Although the original reservation was for 100 women, the restaurant was willing to accommodate 180 women by the time everyone arrived.  The addition of so many women at the last minute created some difficulties with the seating arrangements, table groups and the craft.  However, our ladies are nothing, if not patient, and eventually everyone was seated and working to decorate their own box.  Look how cute the boxes are!

Breakfast was served; it took quite awhile because of the number of women and because it was very close quarters with the wait staff having to make many trips with small trays.

After the singing, my good friend, Maria Elena, did the teaching on friendship.  She used the story of Elizabeth and Mary as her text.  Her talk was interspersed with humorous dramas which is something our ladies love.  The morning ended with the recognition of invited guests and distribution of a special treat.

Passport Renewal--Check

Our passports don't expire until January, 2017.  However, due to the fact that many countries won't accept a passport within six months of expiration and that we will be starting our permanent residency process in May, it seemed wise to go ahead and renew them early.

We had new pictures taken on Monday--why is it that the photos are always SO bad!  Our appointments at the US Embassy were yesterday morning.  Given the traffic, even though we left an hour early, we just barely arrived on time.  Once there, I remembered that the appointment allows them to control the number of people who enter, but it's not a guaranteed time.

Entry to the embassy requires passing through a metal detector, having all of your possessions screened (like at the airport) and "checking" all electronic devices in the secure lobby.  There were about 30 people sitting in the waiting area after we passed through security.  At the first window, they confirm your citizenship, take payment for the service you are requesting (passport renewals are $110) and give you a number for the next step.    I'm not sure how long we waited before we were called back to the window to submit our renewal form and hand over our passport pictures.  After that came the long wait (almost 2 hours.)  Stephen passed the time playing cards with Margarita, a 10-year old girl who was waiting with her mom.  

About 11:00 p.m., they called us back to the window and told us that everything was approved and our new passports would be ready to pick up on March 9.  In the meantime, they returned our old passports in case we had to travel before the new ones come in.  All in all, more efficient than mailing them in so it was worth the time investment.

Hilo, Aguja y Biblia--On the road

February has been a very busy month for the Hilo, Aguja y Biblia ladies.  We've had four different activities:  breakfast for friendship month, baby shower for Pastor David and Maritiza, regular Saturday meeting to make up packets to donate to a school and a trip to a school in Aguilares (yesterday) to share the gospel in three classrooms.  

Breakfast:

Baby shower:

Packing bags for the schools:

School evangelism in Aguilares:

I'm so proud of this group!  They've worked hard, studied hard and had lot's of fun over the past month.  

Armor of God Bible Study

Thanks to Paula Rhoades who bought the DVD's and books, our ladies Bible study group started Priscilla Shirer's "Armor of God" study several weeks ago.  Although the group changes a bit each session, I've been in Bible studies with the group since we arrived in 2010--it's easy for me because the study is in English!   

We had our first meeting at the Florence restaurant in Plaza Futura.  It was a time to introduce ourselves to each other and welcome new members to the group.  

We meet in Yvette's home on Friday mornings and after a time of prayer and discussion, we watch Priscilla's lesson on DVD.  I always look forward to Friday mornings with this group of Godly women.  They are supportive, caring and fun.  

Secretary for a Week

It's been a long, long time since I worked as a secretary in an office, but I'm hoping it's like riding a bicycle.  The only problem is that this time I'm communicating in Spanish.   

Unfortunately, over the past two weeks both of the church secretaries left and Pastor Julio's wife, Patty, in addition to her regular duties as the administrator of New Life Christian School, was serving as the receptionist and "switchboard" operator.   Another one of the church employees has been helping out between her regular duties, as well.  However, Pastor Julio and Patty left on Wednesday for nine days in the states.  They are visiting their daughters in New Orleans and he is also going to preach at a missions conference in Texas. 

On Monday I spent the morning "training" with Patty.  She was especially concerned about having someone in the office to receive tuition payments from New Life parents.  It seems they come to the office various days and times to make their payments.  She also showed me how to answer and transfer calls.  Using the phone will not be the problem, instead, the challenge for me will be understanding the callers.  

Today is my second day and, so far, there haven't been any big disasters (as far as I know.)  This will be the most challenging task I've had in the last several years!  As I told Patty, I think I'm going to be "just a little better than nobody at all."  Please pray that I will be a help and not a hindrance.

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.

IDEM Dinner

Friday night we had a "farewell" dinner for our IDEM group leaders, Ryan and Keeley Blackstock.  While they're not leaving the country, they are changing churches.  Ryan accepted an assistant pastor position with Iglesia Bautista Nueva Esperanza (New Hope Baptist Church.)  

Stephen's had a really bad cold so he didn't go.  Of course, I went so I could take the dessert!  It was at Salvador and Roxana's house in Santa Techla, not far from where we used to live, so I knew the way.  Dinner was great--grilled steak, rice, beans, salad, fruit and cheesecake for dessert.  

We all agreed that we will work hard to maintain our friendship with the Blackstock family so I expect we'll be having more dinners together in the future.  To end the evening each of us shared how we felt about them and then had a group prayer.  We know that they are following God's will for their lives, but will miss seeing them on a weekly basis.

Judgment House

We've been on recess from Judgment House until Saturday and have enjoyed the down time to rest, relax and recharge.  Today I made it to PriceSmart and the grocery store.  

The upcoming weekend will be busy as not only do we have Judgment House on Saturday and Sunday, but we have dinner with our IDEM group on Friday night and I have a baby shower on Saturday morning.  I'm on dessert duty for Friday night and have to take treats on Saturday and Sunday afternoon, so I've have to find time to bake (or buy) goodies.

Here's a video invitation to Casa del Juicio in Lourdes which was posted on the church's Facebook page.  It will help you get the sense of what the presentation is all about.  Click here.

I'll leave with a picture taken during the scene in Heaven when Jesus is talking to one of the drama attendees.

Casa del Juicio--Saturday and Sunday

I ran out of time to do a post yesterday, so I thought I'd just wait and do one post for the weekend.  

On Saturday and Sunday we started at 4:00 p.m. instead of 6:00 p.m. which allowed more people to go through.  Saturday 676 people came through; Sunday was the largest of the week with 769 people.

Misha (a girl from Alabama who is here to teach English at New Life) worked with me all week.  She wanted to see the presentation so we went through last night.  The story this year is based on the life of a family in the church.  Their daughter, Cindi, died of leukemia when she was 17; so, even though I knew the story, it was still very impactful.  The actors did an amazing job.  

There were 92 professions of faith on Saturday and 96 on Sunday.  The totals for the week were:  

                   Attendance:               2,649
                   Professions of faith:      290
                   Rededications:              134

All of the sets are being torn down today because New Life Christian School classes will be in session tomorrow.  On Wednesday everything will be taken to our Lourdes campus to be set up on Thursday and Friday.  The final two days for Judgment House 2016 are Saturday and Sunday, February 13 and 14.

Thanks for praying along with us for this evangelistic emphasis.  Please keep praying as the follow-up starts in earnest this week. 

Casa del Juicio--Friday

We are settling in to a routine of leaving the house about 5:15 p.m. to be sure we have a parking space relatively close to the church.  Arriving by 5:30 gives Stephen time to get ready before he starts playing the piano and gives me plenty of time to get my area (entry to counseling/counseling stats board) set up for the evening.

Last night we had less help in our area, so Misha and I were busy the whole time.  Seventeen groups (424 people) passed through; there were 55 professions of faith and 18 rededications.  The total for the week is 101 professions of faith and 54 rededications.  The last counseling group finished at 12:10 a.m. and we were home by 12:30 a.m. 

Today and tomorrw we start two hours earlier, which, hopefully, will mean we'll get home no later than 11:00, but we'll see.

Keep praying for the health of the workers and for the Holy Spirit to convict those people who see the drama and bring a great harvest of souls.

Casa Del Juicio--Thursday night

Thursday night was the first "official" night and it went very smoothly and quickly.  Unlike Wednesday when everyone from the church was supposed to come (and almost 600 did,) Thursday night was for invited guests.  

We start at 6:00 p.m., but very few people are home from work at that hour, so we knew it was likely to be a slower night.  There were 9 groups and a total of 198 people; however, there were 24 professions of faith and 15 rededications, which was just what we were hoping.  We were able to leave before 10:30 p.m., which made it an early night.  

We'll see what happens tonight--because they won't have to get up and go to school in the morning, it's the "unofficial" youth night.    

Casa del Juicio--dress rehearsal

Last night was the dress rehearsal for Judgment House, which really means that it was the night for church members to come.  We arrived about 5:15 and were able to get a parking spot on the street.  

We helped with some last minute work, including a trip to Patty and Julio's house to get some plates/glasses for the scene in heaven.  Patty and I hide in one of the rooms while the first group entered the scene.  After that we settled in to our task of helping with the flow of people into counseling and then keeping track of the night's statistics.

The night was long, but successful--21 groups (made up of 582 people) saw the drama.  Of that number, 22 made a profession of faith and 21 rededicated their lives.  

We left the church about 12:15 a.m. We're not complaining about the late night because a majority of the people who are involved have to get up and go to work the next morning. So, we are very fortunate to be able to sleep in so we can be ready for tonight.  

Church members were encouraged (required) to invite only lost people to the rest of the performances, so we are praying that many, many people will come to know Jesus as Lord and Savior as a result of Judgment House 2016.  

Please pray for health and stamina for the workers and for God to bring a mighty harvest.

Costumes are Done

I didn't make my original deadline to be done with the robes on Sunday afternoon.  However, I delivered them to David this afternoon!  Tomorrow we will go to church to help set the scenes in several of the rooms.  

I'm pretty sure that there are two things that need to happen now:  1) Clean up the mess and my house, which I've ignored for the last week and 2) get out of the house for a walk or to enjoy a special treat (frozen yogurt) before the event starts on Wednesday.