Busy Day on Saturday

Saturday morning Daniella and I were up early to drive to the airport.  Our good friends, Don Laity and Kent Brewer, had a nine-hour layover in Guatemala on their way to Bogota, Colombia for the Good News in Action mission trip.  We picked them up at 8:30 a.m. and returned to Nelson and Rosemarie's home so they could relax a bit.  (No one enjoys a red-eye flight.)  

We were able to go to breakfast with them at our favorite restaurant, Capistrano.  All of the tables at Capistrano have white paper on them and there are always crayons which bring out the creativity in all of their patrons.  While the majority of us just doodled, our artist friend, Kent, drew a masterpiece which I saved.

After breakfast we returned home so that Daniella, Stephen and I could finish packing our suitcases.  Next was a return trip to the airport to drop off Daniella for her flight back to John Brown University and Don and Kent for their late afternoon flight to Bogota.

Stephen and I drove our truck to the Biltmore Hotel and checked in for the week-long campaign.  Shortly after we arrived, we were able to welcome the team from Faith Baptist in Youngsville, North Carolina, as well as the bus load of Salvadorans.

By 3:30 p.m. everyone was ready to go out for the first family festival of the week.  We had 12 team members (7 more arrived later that night.)  Sharing door-to-door went well and the neighborhood really enjoyed the inflatable, games, dancing, drama and preaching.  There were 30+ professions of faith.  A great end to a busy Saturday and even better start to the Guatemala campaign.

Pine Cove Camp

Friday morning our day started with a trip to the airport to send Fabi back to Cal Baptist.  We went along with her family and got in our last minute hugs.  After the airport the remaining "girls" made a PriceSmart (Costco) run to buy snacks for the second camp session that would start on Friday afternoon.  I'm not sure how much it cost, but we had a flatbed cart filled with chips, bottled water, cookies, juice boxes, crackers and more--enough for 4 snacks for 100 people.  The best thing for me about going to PriceSmart in Guatemala is that I find things we don't have in El Salvador.  This trip is was quinoa (2 pounds for $10) and grapefruit juice.  

The next stop was camp, where we had lunch with the Pine Cove team and then got ready for the campers to arrive at 3:00 p.m.  Dani showed me around--it was a beautiful place.  It is a Christian campground with great facilities.

 By 4:00 p.m. there were more than 75 children (ages 6-12), as well as 30 adults.  They started the afternoon getting to know each other with games and small group activities on the basketball court.  Each small group had a Pine Cove counselor and a Guatemala counselor.  

 This week's theme is "Finding the Treasurer," and all of the Bible study sessions were from Matthew 6:19-21.  After Bible study time, dinner was served.  Dinner was followed by a treasure hunt where each group had to complete a task to receive the next clue.

The treasurer hunters returned to the dining hall for a time of music/dancing, then praise and worship and a short message.  

Nelson, Rosemarie, Dani, Camila and I slipped away to enjoy dinner together and, then, after driving Rosemarie back to the camp to spend the night, we drove home.

It was a great day seeing how the Lord has been working with the church in Guatemala, seeing how faithful their members are to serve at the camp, lead the music and prepare all of the lessons.  The camp ends on Sunday afternoon, so I'm anxious to hear the stories of changed lives!  

Antigua: one of our favorite places

We made great time to Guatemala, arriving at Nelson and Rosemarie's home about 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday.  Only Nelson was home because Rosemarie and the girls were wrapping up the youth camp.  By the time we got to hug Dani, Fabi and Rosemarie it was after 6:00!  After a quick trip to Walmart (found some Honey Nut Cheerios for Stephen), we had dinner and time to visit.

Thursday morning we were out of the house about 8:30 to go pick up the Pine Cove camp counselors for a free day of tourism in Antigua.  Having studied Spanish for eight weeks in Antigua in 2012, it remains one of our favorite places. 

It was lots of fun introducing the team to the cathedral, markets, arch and more.  Without contacting them, God orchestrated visits with both of our former teachers, Nanci and Corina.  Nanci and her husband live in Germany now, but were in Guatemala visiting her family for Christmas.  As I was waiting at the entrance to the market, they walked by!  Unbelievable to see them; seconds after they walked away, Corina walked by with one of her current Spanish students.  

We found a great place for lunch, visited another market and then ended our trip at the cross on the hill above the city.  Words don't do it justice, so here are some of the pictures:

 

Back on the Road

We were home about 36 hours and then packed up the truck and drove to Guatemala.  We left about 11:30 a.m. and it was a very easy, non-stressful drive.  Both the El Salvador side and Guatemala side of the border were line free!  I'm guessing that a mid-week trip is always less hectic than a Friday-Monday trip.

We arrived at the Rivas home about 4:00 p.m. and that was with a stop for a quick lunch on the way.  Rosemarie and the girls weren't home from kids camp, so Stephen and Nelson took turns playiing the piano and I rested a bit.

It was great to hug all four of them (Rosemarie, Dani, Fabi and Cami) when they got home.  We visited for awhile and then made a grocery store run for dinner.  

Nelson and Rosemarie just left to pick up the vans we will use tomorrow to take the Pine Cove (camp team) staff to Antigua.  It should be a fun day at one of our favorite places!

Sunday in St. Louis

We had the great privilege to share our El Salvador ministry with First Baptist Ferguson (a St. Louis suburb) on Sunday.  All of the adult Sunday School classes met together and we talked about Vida Nueva, Good News in Action, Metro America 0-20 and invited all of them to come on a mission trip.  It was fun telling them about the work and encouraging them to step out and trust God in a new way during 2016.

During our time in the service, Stephen sang "Poderoso" in Spanish, we both briefly shared with them and then we showed the "Call to Prayer" video.  

After a fantastic lunch at a local restaurant, we watched a little football at the hotel.  Then, returned to church to meet with persons who wanted to hear more about the mission trip to Guatemala in August.  At 7:00 p.m. we went to Parker Road Baptist Church and caught up with a small group after the service.  Members of this church have come to El Salvador for trips, but haven't been down in many years.  We're hoping that they will join with the Ferguson group and come in August.

We finished the evening off with Mexican food (awesome chips, salsa and white cheese dip) and great fellowship.  

It was such a blessing to get to know the people of the church and we're looking forward to serving with them in August.

Saturday in St. Louis

We were waiting on the east bound Amtrak train in Lee's Summit this morning at 8:30 a.m.  The air was a bit crisp, so we stayed in the van until we heard the train whistle.  There were about 10 of us who boarded there.  It had been years since Stephen and I were on a train . . . it was a nice, comfortable ride to Jefferson City.  

Because of the recent and on-going flooding in the eastern part of the state, the train could not continue all the way to St. Louis.  So, we all unloaded at the station in Jeff City and waited for the bus from St. Louis to arrive.  It was a big switch . . . the St. Louis passengers got off the bus and got on the train and we got on the bus.  Again, due to the flooding, the bus went north to I-70 and then east to Kirkwood, where we were met by Mark Cote, associate pastor of First Baptist, Ferguson.

We were starving so our first stop was for burgers at Fuddruckers.  It had been years since we'd eaten there, but the food was great.  The next stop was at the oirginal Ted Drewes for their famous frozen custard.  

Mark asked if there was anything else we'd like to see, so we asked to go by the church.  As we neared the area, Stephen realized it was really close to where he lived as a boy.  We passed his elementary school and then found his street.   Since they moved when he was nine, he couldn't remember the house number.  After a quick call to his parents, we felt confident we found his old house.  

We spent some time at the church (Stephen played the grand piano in the auditorium) and then Mark took us to check in to our hotel.  We had a short time to rest before going to dinner with Mark and Pastor Joe Costephen's and his wife.  Great company and great Italian food.

We're looking forward to tomorrow . . . we'll be talking with the adults during the Bible study time.  Stephen will sing in the service and we'll give our testimonies. Please pray that we'll be able to share God's message with the congregation. 

Happy New Year

These say it better than I can:

Ice, Snow and Cold

Everyone told us that the weather in Kansas City had been unseasonably warm and we were glad to hear it.  Of course, we were still cold, because anything below 50 degrees seems cold to us.  There's just no escaping the fact that after living in Central America for 5+ years, we just can't handle the cold.

We finally went to see the new Star Wars movie with Steve and Terisa last Sunday night. When we got back to their house, the "winter storm" watch was all over the news.  Unfortunately, they didn't miss the forecast this time.  It started overnight with a mix of rain and sleet.  Luckily, Stephen found a way to park a car in the garage so that I didn't have to scrape off ice before going to my 8:30 a.m. doctor's appointment.  The temperature was still hovering around 32, so the roads weren't totally horrible, but we knew the temp was going to drop through the day and that snow would start up in the afternoon.  I came back home and picked up Stephen and we returned the rental car.  After a stop at the grocery store to buy what we needed for lunch, dinner and a pumpkin pie, we were home for the rest of the day.  

The snow ended about 4:00 p.m., so Jon ventured out about 8:00 to play games with his cousins.  Stephen and I made popcorn and watched Monday night football.  As much as I like to visit family and friends, I'm looking forward to being able to wear my flipflops, capris and t-shirts.  We head back to El Salvador on Monday, January 4, so we have a few more days of cold ahead of us.