Love that Man

I'm going to take this time to say how proud I am of Stephen.  Before we came to El Salvador, neither of us would have imagined that he would do the orientation for the teams from the states OR do the morning devotion/testimony.  Most of our US friends would not recognize the outgoing person he has become.  He has a servant heart, he never meets a stranger; he loves talking with kids/youth and they have a great time with him. 

God has a plan that is often different from our plan, but He always grows us in ways which stretch us and challenge us.    

Happy Feet--Resistance Overcome

I so much want to convey everything that happened during the Happy Feet campaign, but realize I don't have the time to do it justice.  There were times we knew that our work was being opposed:

• Protests on Monday that kept us getting to the mountains on schedule
• No working stove in the kitchen of the hotel.  Kimberly had cooked and frozen chili for 40 people before we left the Rivas house.  When we got to the hotel we saw that it had a large 6-8 burner gas stove and we were thrilled.  Imagine our disappointment when, after a very long day, we found out that it was not working and would not be repaired while we were staying there.  
• Tuesday we were supposed to have a 30 minute or less trip to the village, but due to the on-going heavy rain there was a landslide that blocked our route.  Instead, we took an almost 2-hour detour around the mountain which included waiting for a front-end loader to clear another landslide.
• Tuesday night during our time of testimonies Nelson received a call that the location on the schedule for Wednesday would be unreachable due to a half mile long landslide.

But, the good news is that God's plans could not be stopped . . . . 

• As explained in my last post, we found a shortcut to the village and arrived in time to distribute 150 pairs of shoes and share the gospel with the precious children and their moms
• Saul, the hotel maintenance man, lives there and had a two-burner gas stovetop which he graciously let us use.  Claudia Jiron brought her single electric burner with her, so between the three heat sources, we eventually heated and served the chili.  
• The detour took us over the top of the mountain and revealed breathtaking views of God's creation.  The front-end loader arrived just a few minutes after we got to the landslide spot.  We made it to the village and had a great day, even holding a afternoon praise/preaching service for the adults.

• Pastor Francisco called his sister who is a school teacher and she arranged to open her classroom in a completely different location.  When we arrived, there was a line with more than 150 kids waiting on us.  Many kids were saved--it was an amazing day.

We serve an awesome God!  

10,000 Ft. above sea level. Cold front above and sunlight down the valley. Tecpán Guatemala

Perfect picture spot while we were waiting for the road to be cleared

Working to get the road open

This is the view from the road beside their house

Girls wearing their new shoes and watching what we were doing inside

Praise team from Pastor Francisco's church singing a beautiful rendition
of Great Is Your Faithfulness

Rich and Pastor Nelson presenting the gospel to the parents

Clean, dry feet deserve a new pair of socks

My new friend and sister in Christ, Luisa

Stephen explaining the gospel bracelet

Today's the Day

Although my June newsletter talked about wrapping up our 48th month here in El Salvador, today's the day!  On June 8, 2010, about 10:00 in the morning, our son, Jon, took us to KCI to catch our flight to El Salvador.  We checked four large duffle bags, each weighing 50 pounds, and each of us carried on a medium size duffle weighing 30 pounds.  Jeff and Paula picked us up at Comalapa Airport and, thus, began our journey!

We're not the same people who arrived four years ago today.  Now . . . .

1.  We can "speak" Spanish and are able to communicate with and understand most people.
2.  We can "drive" around San Salvador (more or less) and beyond without getting lost, including driving to Guatemala all by ourselves!
3.  We can "manage" the setup of the inflatable and the rest of the campaign equipment.
4.  We can "live" comfortably, shop for groceries, pay our bills and more without help.

While those changes have made our lives here more comfortable and easier, it would be sad if we hadn't also changed in other ways.  The other changes have not come as a result of what we have done, but what God has done in and through us and what the wonderful people of El Salvador (and Central America) have taught us.

1.  We've "witnessed" a great work of God in El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala and Costa Rica.
2.  We've "shared" our testimony in classrooms across this country and the others mentioned above.
3.  We've "opened" our hearts to love and be loved by the people of Central America.
4.  We've "trusted" God's plan for our lives.

We still have much to learn . . . and are still very much in the process of growing into the people God intends for us to be.  Thank you for being part of our journey over the past four years; please continue to pray for us as we continue our work here.

It's only fitting that a group arrived yesterday and we will have a campaign tonight in Aguilares.