Reality Check

As many of you know, El Salvador is a violent country, in fact, per capita it is the most violent country in the world.  The statistics can really scare a person, but we don't dwell on them because this is the place that God has called us to work.  Most of the violence is a result of rival gangs who juggle for more territory and punish outsiders who happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

We live in a safe part of the city and in a very safe apartment building.  We have a 24-hour security guard/doorman who checks ID of everyone who enters the parking lot.  In addition, there is a second on-site employee who takes care of maintenance and cleaning.  Juan and Gerardo alternate 24-hour shifts with Tulio and Jose so the building is always staffed.  Gerardo is about 25 and is Tulio's son-in-law.  On Monday, Gerardo was not working so he was at home in a small city outside of San Salvador.  We don't know all of the details, but evidently he and his wife were walking to their house when he realized he needed to go back to one of the little shops.  He told her to go on home, and he returned to town.   When he didn't come back home after 30 minutes, his wife tried to call him, but got no answer.  He hasn't been seen since Monday, and they believe, based upon gang activity in that town, that he was probably killed.  They don't know if his body will be found.

Please pray for his wife (I don't know her name), his parents and his in-laws.  If the guards don't work they don't get paid, so Tulio was at work on Friday.  Unfortunately, situations like this are repeated daily in this country; please pray for El Salvador--Jesus is the only solution to the problem as only He can change hearts, heal hurts and bring about true peace.

Walking is Good for You

I got my Fitbit more than a year ago and it, along with the Daniel Plan book, helped change my life.   I reached my goal weight last September, but I'm still careful about what I eat and I still try to walk 10,000 steps per day.  Since we moved to our new apartment I have been walking on the treadmill almost every day.  

Yesterday, however, was different.  We had several errands to do, but instead of driving, we decided to walk.  We left the apartment about 3:00 and got back home about 5:30.  Halfway through we stopped at the Galerias Mall, rested for a bit and had a snack.    

Altogether, we walked a 5K, and along the way I was able to buy several of the things I needed for the sewing ministry. 

Yes, walking is good for you!  If you don't have a Fitbit or another type of pedometer, I highly recommend you get one and get going!

Our parking spot

One of the things we like about living in our apartment is that the parking is in the basement, out of the sun.  Each apartment has two parking spaces.  If the owner paid extra, the two spaces are adjacent; if not, they are randomly assigned across the three floors of basement parking.  

If you know Stephen, then you know that the fact that our two spaces are side by side made him very happy!  He doesn't have to worry about the dreaded door ding because he can straddle the the yellow line.  

 

Early this morning, I went down to the basement to get in the truck.  Here is what I found!

The white car is in its regular spot.  For some unknown reason the Mazda decided to "park" in the space between the white car and our truck. Stephen went to get apartment security and he came down to look at the mess.

I crawled in through the passenger side, backed out of the space and headed to church. Later, Stephen told me that the owner of the white car also came downstairs to leave.  Our security guy recognized the vehicle and called the person who lived in #13.  He came downstairs, apologized to the security guy and Stephen and then moved his Mazda to his #13 "open" spot.  The "why" remains unknown.

Tomorrow is Moving Day

Busy day . . . . spent the morning trying to finish up our packing.  We went to the attorney's office to sign the rental agreement at 11:30 a.m. and picked up the keys to the new apartment.  After lunch we decided to try to take a few of our fragile things over ourselves.  Unfortunately, we when arrived we found that it had not been cleaned up by the workers who installed the air conditioning wall units in the bedrooms.  There was dry wall dust--enough to write your name--in the master bedroom, bathrooms, living/dining and kitchen.  Even the glass top on the stove was covered with white dust.

We were so disappointed, but glad we discovered it today and not tomorrow morning when the movers are ready to unload the furniture.  We called the landlord who was also frustrated that the workers didn't clean up as they were paid to do.  He was going to personally go over tonight and clean up.  We hope he has a powerful vacuum.

Back here at the "old" place, we are walking among the boxes and sitting on chairs because our couches are wrapped in plastic.  We had them cleaned last week while we were gone and the company wrapped them when they finished.  We decided to leave them covered for the move.

Here's a few pictures:

Tomorrow I'll try to post a few pictures of the new place . . . even though it will be a mess.  For sure, I'll take a picture of our beautiful view. We're very excited about living close to the hotel (where church is on Sunday mornings) and to the church itself.  The move means less gasoline to buy, more time at home and less time dealing with the traffic!

Don't know when I'll have a chance to bring the blog up-to-date after our great VBS in Guatemala, but I'll try.