Time with Family.

I'm really quite far behind and so I'm going to a rapid, mostly pictures catch-up of what's happened since my last post in mid-September.  We were able to spend 12 days with our kids and grandkids in September.  It's unbelievable how much they have grown.  We read books, took walks, read more books, watched swim lessons, watched piano lessons, played games, went to the aquarium and thoroughly enjoyed every minute of our time together. 

Dinner with Friends

We flew to California on Tuesday, September 13, and Daniel picked us up at SFO about 4:00 p.m.  We had a quick dinner with the family before Daniel left for Bible Study Fellowship.  Afterward we had some time to play with the grandkids.

Wednesday morning after breakfast we drove 3.5 hours to spend some time with William, Gilma and Amy Flores.  We started by having lunch with William and Gilma at In-n-Out!  

After lunch we followed them to Porterville and checked into our hotel.  Once Amy was out of school, they picked us up and we went to Gilma's sister's restaurant for a Salvadoran snack--first time we've eaten "real" Salvadoran pupusas in the states and they were really tasty.

William and Stephen went to church early to set up for the Wednesday evening service.  Gilma, Amy and I joined them just before the service started.  It was a special praise/worship service with Stephen singing (in Spanish), William singing some of his original songs and then Stephen playing along with William for some congregational songs.  It was like a little slice of Iglesia Bautista Vida Nueva!  We ended the night with ice cream.

Thursday morning we had breakfast at Black Bear Diner.  They had biscuits (the size of hamburger buns) and gravy which was a pleasant surprise for Stephen.  After lunch we began our 4+ hour drive to Santa Cruz to spend the day/night with our son, Jon.

Koinonia--Alma y Verdad

Yesterday was the final Koinonia (all four of our sites meet together) for 2016.  The first Koinonia was a kick-off for the 25-anniversary of the church.  The second Koinonia was the enormous anniversary celebration and this featured a concert by the Orquesta Sinfonica Cristiana (Christian Symphonic Orchestra) of El Salvador.  The 80-person orchestra and 20 person chorus presented a program of ten songs, including Majesty, You are the Air I Breath, Agnus Dei, Amazing Grace, Oceans and Revelation Song.

The theme for the concert was "Alma y Verdad" (Truth for the Soul) and after all the beautiful praise music, Pastor Steve preached the message of salvation.   The greatest blessing was the number of people who made professions of faith at the end of the service.  Praise the Lord for a church that finds ways to reach the lost and is faithful to preach the gospel.

Women's Ministry Opportunity

The women's ministry of Christ's Chapel Bible Church in Fort Worth, TX, has invited eight of the women's ministry leaders from Iglesia Bautista Vida Nueva to participate in leadership training at their church.  I have the privilege of being one of the eight and am very excited about this opportunity.  

The eight of us met last week for a pre-trip planning session, which included discussing cultural differences, making arrangements for airport drop-off and pickup, planning for the hostess gifts we will take and more.  Groups of two will be staying in four different homes.  

We will all fly into Fort Worth on Tuesday, September 27, and then return to El Salvador on Sunday, October 2.  

Well, that was quick

Liseth Campos from Immigration arrived at our apartment about 9:30 this morning.  She came in, picked up the paperwork we had collected, took a couple of pictures and that was it.  Not sure what we were expecting, but thought it would be more involved.

When she left she was going to the church to pick up the final piece of documentation and conduct an interview with one of the pastors.  

I asked if there was anything else we needed to do and she said we just need to wait until they call us to say our cards are ready OR if they don't call within a month, we can call to check on the status.  

Thanks for praying us through this process!  

Continuing Residency Saga

We turned in our permanent two-year residency papers at the beginning of June and were given a 6-month temporary card.  We were told to wait three months and then call to see what progress had been made.  I checked online last week and it still showed that our paperwork was still in the resolution phase.  We weren't concerned as, technically, the 3-month period isn't over yet.

Then, Monday we got a call from the church letting us know that the immigration office called them.  Don't know why they didn't call us, but through the church we found out we had an 8:00 a.m. appointment for our interviews at the immigration office downtown.  We called around to find someone who could go with us as we had never been to this location, not to mention the traffic at that time of the morning and the usual problem with parking.  

David Aguilar (our good friend and campus pastor) offered to go with us so we picked him up at 7:15 and he directed us to the place.  He even parked and waited for us at the truck.  We waited only 5-10 minutes before the interview process started--me first and then Stephen second.  The questions focused on our ministry (what activities do we do) and our money (where does it come from and how much is it.)  She took notes of everything we said.  When she was done, she told us that what remains to be done is a home visit and an interview with the pastor of our church.  Oh, she also gave us a list of additional documentation that we need to provide:

• Three personal reference letters
• Copy of our the rental contract for our apartment
• Copy of a water bill and electricity bill
• List of the Americans in our church  

The interview at our home is scheduled for Friday morning; we don't know what they want to see or what they will ask while they are here.  We do have all of the documentation ready to give her during the visit.  When she finishes with us, she will go to the church to talk to Pastor Julio.  

We aren't sure what happens after this step in the process, but are hoping that final approval of our residency is not far away.  Please pray that everything goes smoothly and that we will soon have our permanent residency cards in hand.

Costa Rica Trip--Wrap Up

If the trip ended almost two weeks ago, it's definitely time to finish up the blog entries.  

During the week, we had the opportunity to share the "Forgiveness" lesson in two high schools.The lesson has several great illustrations, including the use of a backpack and three or four large rocks.  Adding rocks to the backpack one of the students is wearing illustrates what lack of forgiveness feels like over time.  The burden can manifest itself as bitterness or pride and it gets progressively heavier as we refuse to ask for forgiveness or forgive others.  When we are forgiven or offer forgiveness the load we've been carrying disappears.  This is a very visual illustration for the kids and before the lesson is over there are almost always some students who are crying.  The most exciting result is that they begin to understand that Jesus offers them forgiveness, no matter what they have done up to this point in their life.  The come to understand that all they need to do is admit their sins, believe Jesus died and rose from the dead and confess their sins and ask forgiveness.  He is faithful to forgive them.  Praise the Lord, there were 150 professions of faith in the schools in Costa Rica.

   

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.

Costa Rica Campaign--Tuesday

After devotions on Tuesday morning we went downtown San Jose to shop for souvenir and share the gospel on the street.  Everyone found a place to eat lunch on their own, meeting back at 1:30 so we could rest a bit before going out for the evening campaign.

 

We left the hotel at 4:00 and arrived at the neighborhood for the family festival about 5:00 a.m.  Although the traffic is not as bad as Colombia or Guatemala, it's still not easy to get across town.  The team visited homes, invited the adults and children to the family festival and shared the gospel with as everyone who would listen.  The festival was well-attended and there were 25+ decisions for the evening.

Costa Rica Campaign--Monday

We spent Saturday and Sunday with the team in Guatemala and then flew to Costa Rica early Monday morning.  We arrived about 10:30 and Pastor Rodolfo was there to pick us up and take us to the hotel.  A walk to Subway for lunch was just what we needed; after which, we met with Pastor Steve to share info on the Guatemala trip and learn what had been happening in Costa Rica.  He flew to Nicaragua about 3:30 p.m., but we were our paths crossed if even for a short time.

The team in Costa Rica is one person larger than Guatemala--47.  They came from Murrels Inlet Baptist Church, Murrels Inlet, South Carolina; First Baptist Church, Foley, Alabama; Ridge Avenue Baptist Church, West Monroe, Louisiana and Woodland Park Baptist Church, Hammond, Louisiana.  As always there were both familiar faces and new faces--just the way we like it.

Last year and again this year we spent August 1 handing out tracts and praying for all of the people who were making the journey to the national cathedral in Cartago, Costa Rica.  Here's a recap of what this pilgrmage, called the Romeria, is all about:  

In August the Basilica of our Lady of the Angeles is the object of extensive pilgrimage and visitation by about 2.5 million believers throughout Costa Rica and other surrounding countries, many of whom join in the celebrated 22-kilometer walk to the basilica during the Romería. Though many people start the pilgrimage from locations all over Costa Rica, some, as a demonstration of their piety, choose to crawl the 22 kilometers on their hands and knees.  (Click here to read more about it.)

We started by forming small groups and praying together and then for thirty mintues we walked along with the group and passed out a tract called "The Words of Mary,"  after which we walked against the flow (still passing out tracts) until we returned to the park.  Because we want to be sensitive to the event, we only stop and share the gospel with people who are not participating in the walk.  

August Campaign--Guatemala

We rode the church bus to Guatemala on Saturday, July 30, with the rest of the team from Vida Nueva, San Salvador.  The trip was uneventful--just the way we like it.  We arrived with about a half hour to spare before the scheduled evening event.  

Forty-six people from four different churches (First Baptist, Ferguson, MO; First Baptist, Gulf Shores, AL and Bell Shoals Baptist, Brandon, FL) came to Guatemala to help us share the gospel and help our Guatemala church.  

Instead of a regular family festival, after a short meeting to assign translators, the team went out on the streets around the hotel to share one-on-one.  It was awesome to see the group jump right in and share with the people on the street.

There was a 5K road race near the hotel on Sunday morning, so after orientation, the group picked up some bottled water to pass out and headed over to the park.  Although the church had a regular church service, it was the first time I can remember not joining them for worship.  There were hundreds of people in the race so there were many opportunities to share with the runners and their families and friends who came to watch.  Even when the race finished, this area of the city is full of families who spend their Sunday running, walking and visiting.  

  
After a quick lunch break and a short rest, we all returned to the park for the afternoon.  The crowds seemed even larger in the afternoon.