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!  

Working on my listI

With Daniel and the grandkids here March 1 to 7 and a campaign March 7 to 14, my "to do" list was set aside.  On Sunday, I revised and updated it and yesterday I started at the top.

The first thing on the list (on the list since the first of February) was:  TAXES.  

Our taxes are much more complicated than they used to be when we were both working.  Now, we have pension income, social security income, ministry income and a ton of ministry expenses.  I keep a detailed monthly record of all of our ministry expenses so at the end of the year I just have to total them and be sure everything balances.  I finalized the ministry expense spreadsheet in February, but didn't find time to do the rest of the paperwork until yesterday.  Now our tax "stuff" is in the capable hands of our accountant, Paul Cumberland.  As always, hoping the numbers add up in our favor.  

Second task for yesterday was to make a trip to PriceSmart.  My list wasn't that long, but, as usual, once I get there, I realize there are other things I need.  We do have to be careful not to buy too much as the quantities and large sizes don't fit in our limited storage space.  Nevertheless, on checkout the bill was almost $200--my goodness, when did toothpaste, soap, detergent, canned vegetables, coffee and chicken get so expensive?  Just kidding--there were several other things in the cart, too.

One thing about lists is that completing something on the list usually results in adding other things to the list.  Case in point, buying chicken breasts and other meat in bulk means repackaging it into smaller quantities and freezing it.  If you're confused, check out my past post:  Baggies are a Girls Best Friend.  

That's all the time I have for today . . . . got to bake cookies for our IDEM group tonight and have one more thing to check off the list.

The Unexpected

Our "flying" day on Friday was long, long, long!  We left Daniel and Shannon's house at 6:00 a.m. and arrived at our apartment just before 11:00 p.m.  Our flight was delayed out of Houston--we didn't take off until almost 7:00 p.m. (original departure time was 5:40 p.m.)  Once we made it to El Salvador the immigration line was as long as we've ever seen it and we even had to wait on the luggage.  There was only one person working the customs line so that also took a long time.  The unexpected (for Stephen)-- Nelson and Rosemarie were there to pick us up and it's a good thing because with six pieces of luggage I don't think we could have fit in anything other than a van.

Yesterday, we slept in and tried to get back on Central Standard time.  We put away everything in the suitcases, including getting our new drapes (thanks, Daniel and Shannon) up in all three bedrooms.  We didn't leave the house yesterday--well, we did, but not in our truck.  The unexpected--we walked to La Pizzaria and had a great dinner.  .

This morning we had quite a few things to take with us to church, so we thought it best to drive.  The unexpected--our truck battery was completely dead.  Unexpected--the walk to the hotel was less than 15 minutes.  It was great to worship at Iglesia Bautista Vida Nueva and have the privilege to hear Koky Lopez preach this morning.  (His sermon will be the subject of another blog post later in the week.)  

William and Gilma brought us and the jumper cables back to our apartment, and we were able to get the truck going.  The unexpected--evidently, the life expectancy of a battery here in El Salvador is about four years.  So you can imagine William and Gilma's surprise when we told them we've had the same battery since we bought the truck in July 2010.  Guess it shattered all the records.  

Our next stop was Pricesmart where the mechanic announced that our battery was operating at less than 38%.  We are now the proud owners of a new battery and will mark our calendars for January 2016, when, most likely, this new one will fail.  

At least we were able to do our PriceSmart shopping at the same time.  The rest of the afternoon was "as expected."  Stephen went for a run and watched the football games while I went to the regular grocery store.  

Even with the unexpected, we're happy to be home and looking forward to a restful week before we travel to Bogota, Colombia for the first campaign of the year and first ever campaign at our first church plant in South America.