Goodbye old year

As everyone says, it's hard to believe we are saying goodbye to another year, but we are.  Once again as we look back, God's grace was evident.   So thankful for everyone who joined us on a trip somewhere in Central America.  We loved serving along with you and seeing how God used you.  We are grateful for your willingness to invest your time and money to share Jesus with the people of El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala and Costa Rica.

We are thankful for our family and dear friends wherever they are tonight.  We are praying for God to reveal himself to you and us in new and deeper ways in 2015.  We are looking forward to another year of serving him!

Thanksgiving in El Salvador

A room full of American missionaries celebrated Thanksgiving today and it was an awesome day of food and fellowship.  Steve and Pam Kern invited us, the Blackstock family, the Vasquez family and Tiffany Lewis to have dinner with them.  More than that, Pam wouldn't let us bring anything--she did it all by herself, including homemade rolls and three pies (pumpkin, pecan and apple.)  The rest of the menu was the typical turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, green been casserole, sweet potatoes, etc.

So thankful to spend Thanksgiving day giving thanks with our ministry family here in El Salvador.  Sorry I didn't stop eating long enough to get any good pictures.

An IDEM Thanksgiving

For the second year, our IDEM (discipleship small group) celebrated Thanksgiving together. There are 8 couples in our group and all but 2 couples are Salvadorans.  So, we and the Blackstocks (our group leaders) are thrilled that the group wants to share this part of our culture.

Last night's traditional menu (prepared by the gringas) included:  turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, green been casserole, sweet potato casserole, cranberries, pumpkin pie and pecan pie.  We also had salad, corn, typical Salvadoran red salsa and bread.

After dinner we all shared the things for which we are thankful.  Topping the list:  God's faithfulness and love, family and friends.  This is a group with the right priorities!

Later we played a Bible version of the Taboo game in Spanish, of course.  What a riot!  

 Keeley carves the turkey.

Typical Salvadoran red sauce for the turkey.

Whipped cream and ice cream not pictured.

Touch down Kansas City (International Airport)

No matter how easy the itinerary looks, a day of travel is always more tiring than a regular day!  But, when you add in an extra hour in a holding pattern over the Gulf of Mexico waiting for the weather to clear in Houston which results in losing the layover cushion you had to get through customs and eat dinner, rushing like crazy to get from the international terminal to the gate, finding out the connecting flight was delayed (small moment of thankfulness that we would have a few minutes to get something to eat), eating at McDonalds, gate checking your carryon bags because the plane from Houston to Kansas City is a mini, finally arriving an hour late in KC and discovering that one of your checked bags is still in Houston, making a stop at the grocery store at 11:30 pm to get contact  solution, then you know your travel day is longer and more tiring than normal.

All of that to say, we are thankful and happy to be starting our 2 weeks here in Lee's Summit.  We are reporting to our sending church, collecting baby items for a public children's hospital and orphanage in San Salvador and catching up with family and friends.  If you live in the Kansas City area and would like to donate baby items  (or money), message me at parrisinelsalvador@gmail.com and I will send you a list of the things we need.