Saleeby Family in Guatemala--Friday

We spent Friday sightseeing in Guatemala with good friends.  In the morning Javier, Claudia and Aldo took the seven of us downtown Guatemala.  We visited the train museum and took some awesome pictures.  

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After the train musuem we walked over to the central square to see the national cathedral.  it is an amazing building, but, unfortunately, the people who enter to pray and worship do not hear the gospel of our resurrected Lord.

We went back to Nelson and Rosemarie's house for lunch and a short rest.  Later in the afternoon, Rosemarie took all of us to Cayala, one of our favorite places in Guatemala.  Nelson and Camila weren't able to go because they had praise band rehearsal in the evening. Once again the photo opportunities were incredible.

 

Saleeby family in El Salvador/Guatemala--Thursday

We slept in and then packed our bags at home on Thursday while Joseph and his family did the same at the hotel.  We picked them up at 11:15 and then stopped at Subway for lunch. After lunch we drove to the church to pick up Francisco Moran who dropped the seven of us off at the "bus" station in the Sheraton Hotel.

The girls were pretty excited to see that the bus was a double decker--another first for them. The amazing views were pretty difficult to catch on camera, though.  The border crossing was relatively easy and painless.

We made it to Guatemala City in just over 5 1/2 hours and Nelson was at the Holiday Inn to pick us up within minutes of our arrival.  The traffic back to the Rivas home was heavy, but not impossible.  The girls really enjoyed the light dinner Rosemarie prepared for us.  

After discussing plans for our visit in Guatemala, we called it a night!

Saleeby Family in El Salvador

Last Wednesday we picked up Joseph, Christy and girls at their hotel and they had lunch with us at our apartment.  Stephen taught them his card tricks while Christy and I prepared quesadillas.

In the afternoon, we met the team at the church so we could go to the orphanage with them.  Even though it was extremely hot and the trip was long, the girls were real troopers.  Since it is a government orphanage, only Guillermo had his camera; everyone else left their phones/cameras on the bus.  

The evening ended at Pollos Real, where Christy and the girls ate pupusas for the first time!  As usual, they were a hit!

Hosting the Saleeby Family

A week ago Monday, Joseph Saleeby and his family flew to El Salvador to spend several days getting to know the city.  Through past mission trips we had gotten to know Joseph and his wife, Christy.  This time, however, they brought their three girls, Hannah, Jordyn and Layla.  

On Tuesday morning they met with Pastor Steve and Pastor Julio; the girls and I went to visit a classroom at New Life Christian School.  Afterwards, we all went to lunch with Koky, Ena and Guillermo.  Tuesday evening we joined the "gap year" kids in a family festival/campaign in Santa Tecla.

Playtime in Lourdes

The playground in Lourdes was officially opened yesterday after the morning service.  

Thanks to Pat Hord and his team from Ohio, the playground will bless all the Lourdes kids for years to come.

Lights, Camera, Action

Marcos Chavez, from Vida Nueva, was the official photographer and videographer for the Managua trip.  Here's the short video that he did for church last Sunday.  Watch carefully and you'll see Stephen in the middle of a group of boys.  The boys came to the evening campaign and asked if the gringo named "Steve" was here this year.  Unbelievably they remember Stephen talking and playing cards with them from our campaign in their neighborhood two years ago.  Here's the video:

On Thursday our apartment was the site of a video recording session.  It was a full house with three of the video guys from the church and then four of us from the women's ministry.  We made a video that featured four different parts of women's ministry:  single moms, small groups, prayer ministry and Hilo, Aguja y Biblia.  Each of us had about 30 seconds to highlight our ministry and issue an invitation for others to join us.  Not sure when it will be ready, but I'll try to remember to post it here, unless, of course, I'm totally embarrassed by my performance.  

New Playground at Lourdes

In between the El Salvador campaign and the Managua campaign, a small group from Ohio was here for five days.  Their major project was to install the new playset that they bought and sent to the church in Lourdes.  Here are some pictures of the playground during construction.  The "grand opening" is this Sunday; the kids at Lourdes are going to love it!

  

We joined the team as they shared at a school in Jayaque, a small town not too far from Lourdes.  The school was recently rebuilt by a foundation from the US after being almost destroyed by the remants of a hurricane several years ago.  It was a beautiful facility. 

Instead of sharing in individual classrooms, we had an assembly with almost 200 kids, grades 5-9.  Pastor Koky shared the story of Samson, one of the team gave a testimony and one shared the gospel.