The rest of the campaign

I've decided that I'm so far behind that it's best to just wrap up last week's campaign with one more post.  The schedule for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday was similar to the other days (devotion, school and family festival), with only minor variations.  

Wednesday was Don Laity's birthday so before we went to the school, we celebrated with a birthday cake on the bus.  

After sharing the lesson in the school, Stephen and I took the team to the food court at Galarias and they enjoyed seeing the mall and having an opportunity to try Pollo Campero!

Wednesday evening we were invited to set up the event on a soccer field in Cafetalon Park in Santa Tecla.  We took two inflatable and they were filled with soccer kids; our team members spread out through the park to share the gospel.

As I mentioned before, the team was only 8 people, but they worked really, really hard.  Even after one of them got sick and had to be hospitalized, the rest of them didn't lose their focus.  At the end of the week, there were 676 professions of faith!  We were blessed to be a part of it.

Two days at home

The taxi picked us up at 1:30 a.m. Saturday  morning to take us to the bus station in Managua for our 3:00 a.m. departure to San Salvador.  The trip was almost twelve hours.  We were pretty tired by the time we got home; even so, I made a quick trip to the grocery store so we could eat at home.  After eating at the food court or in the hotel restaurant for eight days, we were ready to eat at home.

We thought that Sunday would be a quiet day, but realized that we needed to remove the four appliances from our old place before we left the country.  So, Gilma and William met us at Finca de Asturias at 8:00 a.m.  William, Francisco and Stephen loaded the frig and the stove in the pickup.  William's son, Willy, and his wife, Patty, were having a garage sale, so they dropped the appliances off at their house and then returned to pick up the washer and dryer.  Willy and Patty are going to try to sell them for us.  

In the afternoon we met with the owner of the house and he paid us for the improvements we made and the things we left in the house (3 ceiling fans, wooden blinds, lights, etc.)  We thought he would give us cash, but he wrote us a check instead.  So, tomorrow morning before we leave for the airport, we have to go to the bank to see if we can cash the check.  Hopefully, it won't take too much time--the bank opens at 9:00 and we have to leave for the airport at 10:30.  I know that sounds like plenty of time, but the lines at the banks are often very long.  

We're anxious to see family and friends in Kansas City for ten days and then travel to California to see our kids and grandkids.

Leaving Managua

We will be on the road at about 2:00 a.m. in the morning and should be at home by late afternoon.  

It was a great a week--more about that later!

Early Morning

One of the best things about retirement is not needing to use an alarm clock.  Since living in El Salvado we have adjusted to the 7/11 schedule--up at 7; bed at 11.  Only on rare occasions do we need to be up early (like today when the alarm sounded at 4:15 a.m.)  As we headed to the airport at 4:40, we passed groups of people standing along the side of the road waiting for the bus.  Some of them were children!  It is a reminder of the difficult life of most Salvadorans--their everyday routine means rising in the middle of the night, walking to the bus stop and waiting in the dark.  I remember that most of my students told me they got up by 5:00 a.m. on school days.  It is no wonder that the Awana night at our church is Friday because kids have to go to bed really early on school nights.

Although we will be in the states tonight and won't see it, many of those who were waiting this morning will be dropped off at the bus stop after dark tonight.  They will walk home, eat dinner, spend a little time with their kids and then fall into bed exhausted.  All the while, most are thankful to God that they have a job, food to eat and a roof over their heads.  They are very far removed from the soccer practices, karate lessons, organized sports, school and church activities, etc.that occupy so many of the evenings of the typical American family.  Here in El Salvador, for most, necessities take all their energy, but, overall, they are happy and even content.  Can the same be said for their average American family counterparts

First 3 Days in Guatemala--Nov 6 to 8

After talking with Rosemarie and Nelson and learning about the amount of work that still needed to be accomplished before VBS, we decided to go back to Guatemala three days before the campaign began.  Wednesday morning, November 6, found us at the Pullmantur office buying a one-way ticket for the same afternoon.  We spent the remainder of the morning packing and paying bills so we could be gone.

The bus left at 1:30 p.m. and arrived about 7:30--the afternoon route took a little more time due to the fact that there was more traffic in and around the border and in Guatemala City.  Javier and Claudia picked us up.  We started working as soon as we got to the house.  My workspot was upstairs at the sewing machine!  Stephen spent his time, cutting and gluing.  There was always a house full of church members helping, as well.  Somehow, Rosemarie managed to find time to feed everyone at lunchtime.

During these last 3 days the VBS enrollment continued to rise . . . so we continued to make more name tags, sashes and buttons.  

Landslides

Landslides on a road just outside Guatemala City have closed two lanes of the highway on which our bus will travel this afternoon.  Long delays are expected, so please pray for our journey home.  The government is not removing the dirt that covers two lanes because the danger of more landslides is very great.  Here's a link to an article that has a picture from the top of the hill. 
http://www.prensalibre.com/noticias/Lluvia-retrasa-obra-km_0_1019298121.html

Desde Guatemala City

I'm sure nobody is worrying whether or not our bus made it to Guatemala City, but, just in case, I'm letting you know today (2 days after) that we arrived on time, well fed and in one piece.  The trip was awesome from start to finish.  We left our house at 5:30 a.m. and arrived at the bus station (inside the Hotel Sheraton) at 5:45; got checked in and made our way to our seats--second level, first row.  Before we left the station, they distributed our breakfast which was warm pancakes from San Martin (one of our favorite restaurants) along with orange juice, coffee and water.  

The passed out blankets and pillows, so I slept for the first two hours.  Stephen watched the movie.  About 8:00 we arrived at the El Salvador border and the immigration employee boarded the bus and reviewed our passports.  After he cleared us, we all exited the bus, walked about 250 feet to Guatemala and presented our passports at their immigration window.  There were no lines so we were all back on the bus and on our way in 10 minutes or less.  The rest of the trip passed without event--Stephen watched the second movie while I read a book.

We arrived on time at the Holiday Inn in Guatemala City--Rosemarie picked us up.  We arrived to a houseful of VBS helpers and joined right in painting, taping, cutting, etc.

I was able to help Haisey, one of the women in the church, understand the leader guide and Bible lessons (written in English.)  Although, it's a bi-lingual VBS, she is working with the 3-4 year olds who, of course, have all of their stories and activities in Spanish.  

We've been working hard and eating well these last two days.  Wednesday night Rosemarie made pupusas (go El Salvador) and last night we brought home from Del Puente, a new restaurant close to the house, and ate them with homemade french fries.  Cross cultural eating--suits us fine.

Last night Rosemarie and I worked on a baby quilt she is finishing for a baby shower tomorrow!.  We made the bias binding (if you're a quilter you'll understand) last night.  Today, she is going to machine quilt it.  Just one of the many small, regular-life projects in the middle of the VBS prep.

Today, I've cut 22 yards of felt into the sashes (think boy/girl scouts) that the kids will put the "badges" on.  Unfortunately, we need to buy another 20 yards or more and repeat the process.  Once they're all cut, we have to sew them together.  Stephen managed to find time to play the piano and even gave Javier his first piano lesson this morning!  

Tonight, Nelson returns from the states where he's been sharing in the mission conference at Blue Springs Bible Baptist Church in Blue Springs, Missouri.  

Please pray for the kids who will be coming to VBS, November 11-15.  This is a major evangelistic outreach for the church, and they are working hard to invite kids who don't know Jesus.  

I Like Change!

If you have known me for very long, you know that, as a rule, I like change.  If you read my last blog post, you know that I like to change up the things I eat and the things I cook.  Well, the same thing goes for the things I do.  So, the good news is that I live in a place where it really isn't hard to change things up.  You see, things rarely go as planned here and as our friend, Dave, says, "when anywhere in Central America we must acknowledge the 11th commandment:  Thou shalt be flexible!"

It's almost VBS time!  Public schools all over Central America will be winding up their year by the end of October.  I'm sure that there are countdowns written on many white boards in classrooms across this country.  We are having VBS (goes by the initials EBDV, in Spanish) at the church in Guatemala City on November 11-15.  Last year, Stephen and I drove over a few days early to help with last minute preparations.  A couple of months ago, Pastor Nelson Rivas and his wife, Rosemarie, invited us to spend October 23-28 at their home in Guatemala in order to help with VBS preparations. Of course, we said we would love to come and that we would drive over on the morning of October 23.

A little over two weeks ago, a tractor trailer carrying a very heavy load of vegetables (almost 3 times over the weight limit)  caused extensive damage to the bridge between the border of El Salvador and Guatemala.  It was a miracle that the bridge didn't completely fall, plunging that truck, other cars and people to their deaths.  

Obviously, the border was closed and all traffic re-routed to one of the two other borders between the countries.  Trucks were asked to use the more southern border near the ocean, while car traffic was routed to the more northern border.  Since we have never driven the northern route through San Cristóbal, everyone thought it best not to take off on our own.  So, 11th Commandment time--on Sunday, we bought bus tickets to leave at 6:15 a.m. tomorrow morning.  First time on a commercial bus, not the church's school bus!  I have to admit that the bus looks pretty fancy--our tickets are for the 2nd level.

 If only the roads were going to be as smooth as the interstate highways in the states and not the pocked marked, sink hole, narrow and congested roads that are normal here.

Current news reports announce that one lane of the damaged bridge was reopened to car traffic yesterday; they are allowing one car at a time to cross. 

Full repairs are another 1-2 weeks away.  Since normal traffic on the bridge is more than 5,000 vehicles, the lines will be horrendous. Not to mention my confidence level about bridge repairs is not very high. We're very happy that we opted for our first bus ride!  Hopefully, everything will be back to normal when we travel (on the church bus) to Guatemala for VBS in November. 

My next blog post will be on the other side of the border and, hopefully, I will be able to report that the trip was painless!  In any event, we'll have a great time of fellowship with the Rivas family while we're cutting, pasting, painting, printing and preparing for VBS!

Appreciate your prayers for traveling mercies!