My last night here in Nicaragua until June. Every time I leave, it feels less and less sad, because I know I'll be back soon. I started out joking that I was just visiting the states and that this is home. But, as time goes on, God makes this more true.
Mary, Beth and I worked the last few days getting the house ready to shut down for a couple of months. I split my time between working on packing the house and also helping Beth with sorting and packing all the great ministry supplies that FBCR brought down with them. We're ready for the summer! It was a good chance to talk and catch up and find out more about each other, too. I've only gotten to work with Beth for 4 weeks last summer. This time of working without the demands of a team really help to solidify our relationships with each other.
I took a little nap today, while the electric was off again. It was pretty warm in the room, but I managed to fall asleep. I awoke when the power came back on and I could feel a wonderful breeze from the fans. German had just gotten here and we had a little meeting with Saturnino and Araceliz. We're working on some challenges to help the house and other aspects of the ministry run better. As we grow and get busier, it will be important to run as smoothly as possible so that the little hiccups that come from being in a third-world country will be manageable.
I finished up my bookkeeping duties tonight and got that emailed to German and Mike. I'm all set to go.
I'm sad that I didn't get to see all my friends here this trip. But I know I'll see them in a few months. I'm very blessed with wonderful people here in Nica.
Mary, Beth and I took our last sunset beach walk together tonight. We were down at the inlet, and the water was way out. We were standing there in ankle deep water looking for seashells and a strong surge (not quite a wave) came in and hit us at the top of our legs. It was so strong that it knocked Mary over. I grabbed one arm and Beth grabbed the other and we held on. A nearby fisherman had jumped up and was coming to our rescue, but we were okay. Mary was not hurt and we had a good laugh.
We got home and took showers and threw our clothes in the washer. We had a dinner of leftovers and I shared my last chocolate puddings with Beth. I've saved some instant oatmeal for breakfast in the morning. Beth will eat some of the other left overs while she stays another couple of days and then she'll share the rest with the workers.
We had some drinks and cookies left over from VBS, so we are sharing them with the kids who live on our street.
We're leaving for the airport at 7am tomorrow. We have to make a quick stop to meet with Manuel and pick up a watch that one of the team members left on his van. Beth will go with Manuel & Cecila to Granada for a few hours while German is getting his van worked on. Then she'll come back to the house for the next few days. The plane for me and Mary leaves at noon, so we have to be there by 10am. It takes about 1.5-2 hours to get to the airport, so we'll be doing good. I hope to grab a little sandwich at the airport before we board. It all depends on the line at check-in. It has taken up to 1.5 hours just to check in before.
I'll get home tomorrow night about 9pm. Becca is picking me up at the airport. It always seems weird to think I'll be in my own bed tomorrow night. Friday will be a very busy day and the rat-race will begin anew.
We have a big summer planned with VOH here in Nica. It will be exhausting at times, but wonderful. God is moving in mighty ways here and blessing the ministry as well as the people living here. I'm so blessed to be a part of it. I love Kingdom work!
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Tuesday, 3/29 in Nicaragua
Another short and sweet report.
I stayed here at the house all day today. Woke up early still feeling sick, but got some work done on sorting, organizing and packing. Beth is working on getting the toys packed and ready for fiestas for the summer teams. The clothes are all sorted and packed and ready for distribution this summer, too. Beth loves doing all that stuff and we let her have at it!
I laid down for a nap and Mary woke me up and scared me to death. I think I scared her, too, when I almost screeched. I didn't feel up for the bus ride into town. I hated that. I really wanted to go see my friends, but I'm glad that Mary and Beth got to go. They had a time trying to find the bus. It wasn't on it's schedule (which isn't saying much), but it was extremely hot today and they had to walk a ways to finally catch it. Mary said it was a good thing I didn't try to go. They had a good time and then German brought them home.
I ate a little bit off and on to test my stomach and started feeling a little better. I was finally able to get on internet and downloaded some commentary for my Bible study. I also caught up on emails for work. Then I spent a few hours posting receipts and expenses for the ministry money these past 2 weeks. It has come out pretty good. I was starting to lose sunlight working in the breezeway. Mary and Beth got home about then.
I had some soup for dinner and a snack pack pudding. Yum. My tummy questioned my choices, but cooperated. I think I'll feel almost back to normal tomorrow. yay!
Beth and Mary both got on internet for a while this evening, since it was back up and working. I usually get the USB connector back when they go to bed, since I get on here later at night. I worked on my Bible study a little more and then browsed through facebook. I'll be going to bed soon.
Tomorrow will be our last day here. I don't get sad anymore, since I know that I'll be back in a few months. This is home in my heart. I love my God and the way He allows me to serve. I will be plenty busy when I get back to Rogers. Time will fly by quickly. I pray that I will accomplish all that He has for me to do. I am blessed in so many ways. He is awesome in EVERY way.
I stayed here at the house all day today. Woke up early still feeling sick, but got some work done on sorting, organizing and packing. Beth is working on getting the toys packed and ready for fiestas for the summer teams. The clothes are all sorted and packed and ready for distribution this summer, too. Beth loves doing all that stuff and we let her have at it!
I laid down for a nap and Mary woke me up and scared me to death. I think I scared her, too, when I almost screeched. I didn't feel up for the bus ride into town. I hated that. I really wanted to go see my friends, but I'm glad that Mary and Beth got to go. They had a time trying to find the bus. It wasn't on it's schedule (which isn't saying much), but it was extremely hot today and they had to walk a ways to finally catch it. Mary said it was a good thing I didn't try to go. They had a good time and then German brought them home.
I ate a little bit off and on to test my stomach and started feeling a little better. I was finally able to get on internet and downloaded some commentary for my Bible study. I also caught up on emails for work. Then I spent a few hours posting receipts and expenses for the ministry money these past 2 weeks. It has come out pretty good. I was starting to lose sunlight working in the breezeway. Mary and Beth got home about then.
I had some soup for dinner and a snack pack pudding. Yum. My tummy questioned my choices, but cooperated. I think I'll feel almost back to normal tomorrow. yay!
Beth and Mary both got on internet for a while this evening, since it was back up and working. I usually get the USB connector back when they go to bed, since I get on here later at night. I worked on my Bible study a little more and then browsed through facebook. I'll be going to bed soon.
Tomorrow will be our last day here. I don't get sad anymore, since I know that I'll be back in a few months. This is home in my heart. I love my God and the way He allows me to serve. I will be plenty busy when I get back to Rogers. Time will fly by quickly. I pray that I will accomplish all that He has for me to do. I am blessed in so many ways. He is awesome in EVERY way.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Monday, 3/28 in Nicaragua
Home and tucked in early after a long and uncomfortable day traveling. I hate that I get car sick so easily. Riding in the front seat seems to cause issues with some people and I tried a different seat today. I was sick before we hit León, and we still had 3 hours of driving to get to our destination. I ended up riding in the very back of the van so that I could lay down the whole way. But the trip was worth it.
We made it to Jinotega before 10am (we had left the house at 6:30am). We met a Pastor who will be instrumental in the crusade there in June. We toured a couple of hotels, just to see what was available. Then we went to the Young Life Camp, where we will probably be staying for that first week in June. It a pretty cool place, especially by Nica standards. We took pictures and video to send to Mike and Sherry. Beth is better videoing than I (who can only turn on and off and open the lens cover), so she did that part and I took still photos. The newer dorm rooms are livable, the dining room has a cute train track hanging from the ceiling, there is an auditorium for meetings, a game room, a baseball field, a rock climbing wall, a vertical 'play' apparatus, zip line, a maze, canoes and a basketball gym. Pretty cool.
We stopped for lunch at a nice place, but I was too nauseous to eat, so I stayed in the van and took a nap. It felt good to lay there without the van moving. I actually fell asleep for a little bit and when I woke up, I couldn't for the life of me figure out where I was. It took a few minutes. whew!
We made the curvy 3 hour drive back to León and I held on in the back seat. We stopped to pick up German's family and then ran some errands for the house, like getting a few groceries. Then we headed for home!
I was excited that La Unión had chocolate snack pack pudding. Just one package, but I bought it to save for when I feel better. I can't wait! I also got some soup and a 7UP. I only drink 7UP and Sprite when I have a sick tummy, so it's not really a splurge. I got home and made some soup and ate a piece of plain bread. It has stayed down, but my tummy is not too happy. But it will be good for me to skip a few meals. :)
I can't believe that we leave in a few days. Time just comes and goes. I still feel that I live here and my trips to the States are vacations. :)
I worked on the computer and some bookkeeping. Now I'm actually going to go to sleep before 9pm. I hope I wake up feeling good tomorrow. For now, I'll rest in God's cradling hands. No better place to be!
We made it to Jinotega before 10am (we had left the house at 6:30am). We met a Pastor who will be instrumental in the crusade there in June. We toured a couple of hotels, just to see what was available. Then we went to the Young Life Camp, where we will probably be staying for that first week in June. It a pretty cool place, especially by Nica standards. We took pictures and video to send to Mike and Sherry. Beth is better videoing than I (who can only turn on and off and open the lens cover), so she did that part and I took still photos. The newer dorm rooms are livable, the dining room has a cute train track hanging from the ceiling, there is an auditorium for meetings, a game room, a baseball field, a rock climbing wall, a vertical 'play' apparatus, zip line, a maze, canoes and a basketball gym. Pretty cool.
We stopped for lunch at a nice place, but I was too nauseous to eat, so I stayed in the van and took a nap. It felt good to lay there without the van moving. I actually fell asleep for a little bit and when I woke up, I couldn't for the life of me figure out where I was. It took a few minutes. whew!
We made the curvy 3 hour drive back to León and I held on in the back seat. We stopped to pick up German's family and then ran some errands for the house, like getting a few groceries. Then we headed for home!
I was excited that La Unión had chocolate snack pack pudding. Just one package, but I bought it to save for when I feel better. I can't wait! I also got some soup and a 7UP. I only drink 7UP and Sprite when I have a sick tummy, so it's not really a splurge. I got home and made some soup and ate a piece of plain bread. It has stayed down, but my tummy is not too happy. But it will be good for me to skip a few meals. :)
I can't believe that we leave in a few days. Time just comes and goes. I still feel that I live here and my trips to the States are vacations. :)
I worked on the computer and some bookkeeping. Now I'm actually going to go to sleep before 9pm. I hope I wake up feeling good tomorrow. For now, I'll rest in God's cradling hands. No better place to be!
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Sunday, 3/27 in Nicaragua
A very lovely day. Resting in the Lord and other blessings.
I woke up a few times during the night when the electricity went out and the heat would wake me up and then when the power came back on the fans started up again. I think this happened about 3 times (6 wake ups). I finally stayed up at 7:30am and began my day with laundry and catching up on my Bible Study. It was a beautiful way to spend my last Sunday here. Seeing the ocean, feeling the breeze and sun and listening to the birds and geckos and reading God's Word.
I had 11 days of laundry to do and was happy to get the last of it on the clothesline. Then I started in on organizing and packing some ministry stuff in my (Mike and Sherry's) room. Then I helped Beth with sorting some of the 10 tubs/suitcases of clothes for give aways this summer. Mary washed a million sets of sheets today and worked around the house.
We all snacked for breakfast and mid-morning. Then we had grilled chicken dinners from Suyapa restaurant. Saturnino was so sweet to go pick up our meals on his bicycle. We tried to buy his lunch, but he said no. So Mary gave him a 'tip' for delivering our food. This way, he will take that money and get groceries for his family. He is so good to us when we are here, with or without a team.
I took a little nap before lunch. After lunch, we worked more on the house and ministry supplies. Then about 5pm, we took our sunset walk on the beach. There was quite a few people out today. But, we are never on the beach on Sundays, so we hadn't really thought about it. After our walk, we all got showers and settled in for the night. We have a 5am wake up call tomorrow, so we are going to hit the sack a little early.
German will pick us up at 6am to go to Jinotega, where we will be having a crusade in June. We will check out the camp that we will probably stay at during that week, and also check out the rest of the town. We're going to send Mike and Sherry a video of the excursion. It will be a long drive, so we are taking pillows to take naps on the way. I hope German is wide awake!!!
I'm enjoying being here with Mary and Beth and getting some prep work done for the summer teams. It's nice not to have to rush around right before the teams get here. And it's nice to have time to work together without the pressures of working with a team. These next few days are a blessing.
It's been great to be here these last 2 weeks. I really feel attached here and don't mind leaving when I know that I will soon be back. I'm thankful for the life that God has given me. I pray that I honor Him and follow His plans.
I woke up a few times during the night when the electricity went out and the heat would wake me up and then when the power came back on the fans started up again. I think this happened about 3 times (6 wake ups). I finally stayed up at 7:30am and began my day with laundry and catching up on my Bible Study. It was a beautiful way to spend my last Sunday here. Seeing the ocean, feeling the breeze and sun and listening to the birds and geckos and reading God's Word.
I had 11 days of laundry to do and was happy to get the last of it on the clothesline. Then I started in on organizing and packing some ministry stuff in my (Mike and Sherry's) room. Then I helped Beth with sorting some of the 10 tubs/suitcases of clothes for give aways this summer. Mary washed a million sets of sheets today and worked around the house.
We all snacked for breakfast and mid-morning. Then we had grilled chicken dinners from Suyapa restaurant. Saturnino was so sweet to go pick up our meals on his bicycle. We tried to buy his lunch, but he said no. So Mary gave him a 'tip' for delivering our food. This way, he will take that money and get groceries for his family. He is so good to us when we are here, with or without a team.
I took a little nap before lunch. After lunch, we worked more on the house and ministry supplies. Then about 5pm, we took our sunset walk on the beach. There was quite a few people out today. But, we are never on the beach on Sundays, so we hadn't really thought about it. After our walk, we all got showers and settled in for the night. We have a 5am wake up call tomorrow, so we are going to hit the sack a little early.
German will pick us up at 6am to go to Jinotega, where we will be having a crusade in June. We will check out the camp that we will probably stay at during that week, and also check out the rest of the town. We're going to send Mike and Sherry a video of the excursion. It will be a long drive, so we are taking pillows to take naps on the way. I hope German is wide awake!!!
I'm enjoying being here with Mary and Beth and getting some prep work done for the summer teams. It's nice not to have to rush around right before the teams get here. And it's nice to have time to work together without the pressures of working with a team. These next few days are a blessing.
It's been great to be here these last 2 weeks. I really feel attached here and don't mind leaving when I know that I will soon be back. I'm thankful for the life that God has given me. I pray that I honor Him and follow His plans.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Saturday, 3/26 in Nicaragua
Well, this past week has just flown by! The team FBC Rogers AR left this morning on a 6am flight. We left the team house at 2:30am for the 2 hour drive to the airport. Hugs all around and then they disappeared into the building. They made it home fine this evening. We had a good week and I'm very happy with the blessings that God bestowed on us and the people of León and the surrounding areas.
We spoke, performed and gave testimonies in 13 churches, did VBS in 8 neighborhoods, provided feedings in 3 areas, provided materials for and helped lay cement blocks at one church, and tried to get a little relaxation and fun time in the last week. It's been action packed and we had great travel mercies and overall health. God took very good care of us.
After dropping the team at the airport, we took a van to get the A/C worked on. The guy agreed to meet us at 5:00am. Wow. German, Danilo, Manuel and I went to an On the Run for a breakfast sandwich and coffee combo. (I usually don't drink coffee, but I enjoyed this!). Manuel's wife and son met us and we had a great visit. We went back for the van and sat around and talked until it was ready.
I was so tired after only getting a couple of hours sleep at home (in my clothes), then about an hour off and on in the van. We needed to find somewhere to chill out while waiting for Beth's plane around noon, so we went to the parking lot at the mall and sat in the van and dozed off a little bit more. (I had packed my pillow!) We finally got into the mall when it opened about 10am. We sat at the food court where we could free wireless signal for German's new phone. He looks like a kid with a DS handheld game. About 11am we left for the airport. Beth's plane got in and then she had to wait to find her luggage. One of the pieces was ripped open and the other one was not found. It took quite a while to get squared away. And then we left for lunch. I sat in the first seat behind the driver, instead of the shotgun seat, so that I could put my swollen ankles up. I just got a little bit nauseas. Beth and I chatted a little bit and dozed a little bit. She had been traveling since 3:30am. Even German dozed in the front seat. We stopped by John and Vanessa's house to drop off some donated items from Beth's church. A quick hello and we were back on the road.
It was so good to get home. Mary had spent a relaxing day of doing a few loads of a million towels and sheets. She did get to work on her computer and check out facebook and read some. I'm sure she enjoyed it. She said she felt sorry for me when we all left this morning. If it hadn't been for the fact that this was my home church team, I would have probably stayed home. But I was glad to go with the team to say goodbye.
Beth got all settled in and went to bed. I grabbed a very much needed shower and changed my sheets. Mary and I ate some leftovers from the team meals and chatted a little bit. Then I just had to get my feet up. So I'm laying on the bed trying to stay awake long enough to type. It's not even 8pm here and I'm ready to call it a night.
It's been such a good week. And we got word on a couple of good teams to add to our schedule for the rest of the year. God is blessing Voice of Hope Ministry with many opportunities to share Jesus here in Nica. There are always struggles and challenges in the worldly realm of ministries, but being faithful to complete the work is the main thing. God will work all things out to His plans. He is faithful and sovereign.
I was just thinking earlier about the day that I met the Hulseys. It was at a Global Impact Celebration at FBC Rogers. I was in from NYC where I was serving with a church plant. I was placed next to the Hulseys in the missionary seating area and my heart was tweaked by the thought of possibly working with them in the future. At the time, I had no idea how much longer I would be in NYC. I remember when we were all on stage and then the congregation stood up and applauded for us. I was overcome with emotion and started crying. Sherry was a couple of steps in front of me and a little to the left. She happened to look back and I saw that she, too, was crying. I knew we had a connection then. It was a while before I came back to Rogers and really got to know them. God has worked it out for me to be a part of VOH ministry. I'm very humbled and honored to work with everyone with VOH. I'm glad that God had this in His plans for me.
I'm going to sign off for now and fall asleep listening to Spanish praise music and feeling the fans blowing over me and my clean sheets. Ahh, a little touch of Heaven.
We spoke, performed and gave testimonies in 13 churches, did VBS in 8 neighborhoods, provided feedings in 3 areas, provided materials for and helped lay cement blocks at one church, and tried to get a little relaxation and fun time in the last week. It's been action packed and we had great travel mercies and overall health. God took very good care of us.
After dropping the team at the airport, we took a van to get the A/C worked on. The guy agreed to meet us at 5:00am. Wow. German, Danilo, Manuel and I went to an On the Run for a breakfast sandwich and coffee combo. (I usually don't drink coffee, but I enjoyed this!). Manuel's wife and son met us and we had a great visit. We went back for the van and sat around and talked until it was ready.
I was so tired after only getting a couple of hours sleep at home (in my clothes), then about an hour off and on in the van. We needed to find somewhere to chill out while waiting for Beth's plane around noon, so we went to the parking lot at the mall and sat in the van and dozed off a little bit more. (I had packed my pillow!) We finally got into the mall when it opened about 10am. We sat at the food court where we could free wireless signal for German's new phone. He looks like a kid with a DS handheld game. About 11am we left for the airport. Beth's plane got in and then she had to wait to find her luggage. One of the pieces was ripped open and the other one was not found. It took quite a while to get squared away. And then we left for lunch. I sat in the first seat behind the driver, instead of the shotgun seat, so that I could put my swollen ankles up. I just got a little bit nauseas. Beth and I chatted a little bit and dozed a little bit. She had been traveling since 3:30am. Even German dozed in the front seat. We stopped by John and Vanessa's house to drop off some donated items from Beth's church. A quick hello and we were back on the road.
It was so good to get home. Mary had spent a relaxing day of doing a few loads of a million towels and sheets. She did get to work on her computer and check out facebook and read some. I'm sure she enjoyed it. She said she felt sorry for me when we all left this morning. If it hadn't been for the fact that this was my home church team, I would have probably stayed home. But I was glad to go with the team to say goodbye.
Beth got all settled in and went to bed. I grabbed a very much needed shower and changed my sheets. Mary and I ate some leftovers from the team meals and chatted a little bit. Then I just had to get my feet up. So I'm laying on the bed trying to stay awake long enough to type. It's not even 8pm here and I'm ready to call it a night.
It's been such a good week. And we got word on a couple of good teams to add to our schedule for the rest of the year. God is blessing Voice of Hope Ministry with many opportunities to share Jesus here in Nica. There are always struggles and challenges in the worldly realm of ministries, but being faithful to complete the work is the main thing. God will work all things out to His plans. He is faithful and sovereign.
I was just thinking earlier about the day that I met the Hulseys. It was at a Global Impact Celebration at FBC Rogers. I was in from NYC where I was serving with a church plant. I was placed next to the Hulseys in the missionary seating area and my heart was tweaked by the thought of possibly working with them in the future. At the time, I had no idea how much longer I would be in NYC. I remember when we were all on stage and then the congregation stood up and applauded for us. I was overcome with emotion and started crying. Sherry was a couple of steps in front of me and a little to the left. She happened to look back and I saw that she, too, was crying. I knew we had a connection then. It was a while before I came back to Rogers and really got to know them. God has worked it out for me to be a part of VOH ministry. I'm very humbled and honored to work with everyone with VOH. I'm glad that God had this in His plans for me.
I'm going to sign off for now and fall asleep listening to Spanish praise music and feeling the fans blowing over me and my clean sheets. Ahh, a little touch of Heaven.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Friday, 3/25 in Nicaragua
Fun Day for the team. We got up early and had poptarts (which I brought from the states) for breakfast. Some of the team had bought some snacks for breakfast last night. We left the house at 6:30am and picked up 3 translators and headed east.
It's about 3 hours to the Canopy Tour (zip line) near Granada. We got there and were set up immediately for the adventure. 3 of the team chose not to 'zip' and settled down at comfy tables and chairs on the porch outside the office to read and rest while waiting for the zippers. Mary, Michael and I walked along some of the trails to get pics from the ground while the team was zipping by. Manuel's wife and son met us there and brought Tres Leches Cake for the VOH people. I shared bites of mine with the team. They really liked it.
We all headed over to Narcy's restaurant for lunch. The group got various meals including pizza and stuff from Papa John's and chicken dishes from Narcy's chicken portion of the restaurant. It was yummy. They are notorious for taking forever to process the check and payment process. So we ordered by table and the translators determines each person's total (except for one obstinate table). The speeded up the process very much. We were out of there in record time and on our way to shop!!
We spent an hour at the Gringo Market and everyone seemed to find all they needed and wanted within that time frame. I picked up a few more bags of various designs (I use bags for everything!) and a few gifts as well as a couple of tops to keep here to wear to church.
After the market, we went to the volcano. The sulphur was horrendous! We were coughing like crazy. Some of us chose to get back in the vans while others went up the steps to the cross to take pictures. We then stopped at the museum at the entrance to the national park and walked through the exhibits and made good use of the 'facilities' before the long ride home.
It was a great day with no stress about meeting the schedule (to make sure we could fit it all in) and enough time for everything. Manuel was tickled to death all day long. We stopped at On the Run so that everyone could purchase their dinner and then we headed home.
After a quick team meeting, everyone broke up to shower, sign the wall, download pictures, pack suitcases. The team hit the sack about 9:30pm. The drivers went to bed about 8pm. Everyone will be back up in just a few short hours and I'm not sure I'm going to try to sleep or not. Maybe a little nap...
Anyway, it's been a great week working with this team from my home church of FBC Rogers. I am blessed to be able to serve here in Nica and be with friends from home at the same time.
God is good. Everywhere!!
It's about 3 hours to the Canopy Tour (zip line) near Granada. We got there and were set up immediately for the adventure. 3 of the team chose not to 'zip' and settled down at comfy tables and chairs on the porch outside the office to read and rest while waiting for the zippers. Mary, Michael and I walked along some of the trails to get pics from the ground while the team was zipping by. Manuel's wife and son met us there and brought Tres Leches Cake for the VOH people. I shared bites of mine with the team. They really liked it.
We all headed over to Narcy's restaurant for lunch. The group got various meals including pizza and stuff from Papa John's and chicken dishes from Narcy's chicken portion of the restaurant. It was yummy. They are notorious for taking forever to process the check and payment process. So we ordered by table and the translators determines each person's total (except for one obstinate table). The speeded up the process very much. We were out of there in record time and on our way to shop!!
We spent an hour at the Gringo Market and everyone seemed to find all they needed and wanted within that time frame. I picked up a few more bags of various designs (I use bags for everything!) and a few gifts as well as a couple of tops to keep here to wear to church.
After the market, we went to the volcano. The sulphur was horrendous! We were coughing like crazy. Some of us chose to get back in the vans while others went up the steps to the cross to take pictures. We then stopped at the museum at the entrance to the national park and walked through the exhibits and made good use of the 'facilities' before the long ride home.
It was a great day with no stress about meeting the schedule (to make sure we could fit it all in) and enough time for everything. Manuel was tickled to death all day long. We stopped at On the Run so that everyone could purchase their dinner and then we headed home.
After a quick team meeting, everyone broke up to shower, sign the wall, download pictures, pack suitcases. The team hit the sack about 9:30pm. The drivers went to bed about 8pm. Everyone will be back up in just a few short hours and I'm not sure I'm going to try to sleep or not. Maybe a little nap...
Anyway, it's been a great week working with this team from my home church of FBC Rogers. I am blessed to be able to serve here in Nica and be with friends from home at the same time.
God is good. Everywhere!!
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Thursday, 3/24 in Nicaragua
Ok, I'm back to being really tired again. But that's okay. We had a full day and many blessings.
We went to a site for VBS this morning and found out that one of the church members had died and the congregation would be going to the family's home tonight. German offered to change our plans, but they wanted us to come to their service anyway. While getting all the details, we were invited to a courtyard of someone's home and given wonderful fruit to eat. Very hospitable, and Yummy!
The VBS went well and the team had a great time with the kids. The street witnessing team was fruitful, too. I really enjoyed the Pastora. She is so friendly and we had a good connection from the start. We did the usual story, crafts, games, music and snacks. Jennifer shared with the women gathered, who were all Christians, and enjoyed hearing about Jennifer's testimony and life as a Christian woman in the US. Rydder came up with some great Bible trivia questions, for which, the prizes were the acrylic tags that Jerry had made, which said Jesús te Ama and Jesús Vive. I got to talk to a young man for a while (all in Spanish) and learned about where he lives, works, his family, etc. It turns out that he is a cook at the cool restaurant that Mary, German and I visited back in December. We've all made some neat connections this week.
Our next stop was Las Quimeras. The kids were all down the road at the school getting vaccinations for the first 1/2 hour, so we went out inviting kids to the VBS and doing street witnessing. Some of the team had come over earlier and started helping lay the blocks for the church building. We had a good time of VBS and sharing. It was a lot of fun. I met Sergio, who is the new Pastor of the church. He took over for Pastor Miguel who was going to be moving to Costa Rica. We were very blessed to be involved in purchasing the helping to lay the blocks. I'm sure the workers were glad when we left them alone to work more efficiently, but it was very special to be a part of that little church.
We got home for lunch, a quick team meeting and the last day of beach time for the team. I almost got a nap in, but alas, duty called in the form of team members needing Ms Vickie for various things. I did get to lay on the bed for about 20 minutes, so that was appreciated. I had the chance to call my sister Pam and she is feeling better all the time. I'm so thankful for that.
We went back to both VBS locations this evening for church services. I loved Pastora Patricia's words and her singing voice. We had church outside on the concrete slab where we had done VBS this morning. It's also where the neighborhood kids play games and such. At the beginning of our service, we had someone chase a ball across the front of the area. We also had various dogs walking through. Lights were attached to tree branches and a sound system was set up. It was nice worship and our drama keeps on getting better.
After service, we high-tailed it to On the Run to meet the other van and for all the team members to say goodbye to the translators. That's usually a hard thing to do for some people. I'm glad that I'm able to look at it like I'm living in Nic and just visiting the US when I leave. :)
We got back to the house and had dinner and a little bit of share time. We're getting up early in the morning to leave at 6:30am for the zip line, lunch, shopping and volcano. It will be a packed day, but it will be fun.
It's hard to believe the week is almost over, but I say that with every team. God blesses us with lots of work to do and people to see. It's always good serving with the teams. Especially, this one from my home church.
I'm falling asleep between sentences, so I'm signing off for tonight. God is so faithful. I love Him so.
We went to a site for VBS this morning and found out that one of the church members had died and the congregation would be going to the family's home tonight. German offered to change our plans, but they wanted us to come to their service anyway. While getting all the details, we were invited to a courtyard of someone's home and given wonderful fruit to eat. Very hospitable, and Yummy!
The VBS went well and the team had a great time with the kids. The street witnessing team was fruitful, too. I really enjoyed the Pastora. She is so friendly and we had a good connection from the start. We did the usual story, crafts, games, music and snacks. Jennifer shared with the women gathered, who were all Christians, and enjoyed hearing about Jennifer's testimony and life as a Christian woman in the US. Rydder came up with some great Bible trivia questions, for which, the prizes were the acrylic tags that Jerry had made, which said Jesús te Ama and Jesús Vive. I got to talk to a young man for a while (all in Spanish) and learned about where he lives, works, his family, etc. It turns out that he is a cook at the cool restaurant that Mary, German and I visited back in December. We've all made some neat connections this week.
Our next stop was Las Quimeras. The kids were all down the road at the school getting vaccinations for the first 1/2 hour, so we went out inviting kids to the VBS and doing street witnessing. Some of the team had come over earlier and started helping lay the blocks for the church building. We had a good time of VBS and sharing. It was a lot of fun. I met Sergio, who is the new Pastor of the church. He took over for Pastor Miguel who was going to be moving to Costa Rica. We were very blessed to be involved in purchasing the helping to lay the blocks. I'm sure the workers were glad when we left them alone to work more efficiently, but it was very special to be a part of that little church.
We got home for lunch, a quick team meeting and the last day of beach time for the team. I almost got a nap in, but alas, duty called in the form of team members needing Ms Vickie for various things. I did get to lay on the bed for about 20 minutes, so that was appreciated. I had the chance to call my sister Pam and she is feeling better all the time. I'm so thankful for that.
We went back to both VBS locations this evening for church services. I loved Pastora Patricia's words and her singing voice. We had church outside on the concrete slab where we had done VBS this morning. It's also where the neighborhood kids play games and such. At the beginning of our service, we had someone chase a ball across the front of the area. We also had various dogs walking through. Lights were attached to tree branches and a sound system was set up. It was nice worship and our drama keeps on getting better.
After service, we high-tailed it to On the Run to meet the other van and for all the team members to say goodbye to the translators. That's usually a hard thing to do for some people. I'm glad that I'm able to look at it like I'm living in Nic and just visiting the US when I leave. :)
We got back to the house and had dinner and a little bit of share time. We're getting up early in the morning to leave at 6:30am for the zip line, lunch, shopping and volcano. It will be a packed day, but it will be fun.
It's hard to believe the week is almost over, but I say that with every team. God blesses us with lots of work to do and people to see. It's always good serving with the teams. Especially, this one from my home church.
I'm falling asleep between sentences, so I'm signing off for tonight. God is so faithful. I love Him so.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Wednesday, 3/23 in Nicaragua
What a difference a day makes! This time yesterday I was so exhausted that I couldn't hardly type. And this morning, I had a poptart for breakfast because I was too tired to make instant oatmeal. :( But, today's schedule was easier by just an hour hear and an hour there, and it really made a difference in stamina. God is faithful to refresh these bodies that He created.
We went to La Padrera (near the Sewer Ponds) for VBS. We haven't been there much, but we did do a Fiesta there in December. There is no church to work with, so we set up in the dusty street on the corner. This is a very poor neighborhood that is rich in harvest. We did the VBS stories, crafts, music and games, then gave out snacks and candy. Some of our team went street witnessing. It was really hot and dusty. That's just how it is in the dry season.
Next we went just down the road a little ways to the Sewer Ponds neighborhood (Monte Horeb), one of my favorites. Two of the team members have been here before. Stacie was here last March when things looked just like now. Kearsten was here in July during the rainy season. Kearsten actually got to spend 2 days at the Sewer Ponds, but didn't recognize it at all, because of the difference since it's the dry season. She was amazed. She did recognize some of the people, though.
We did VBS there and then handed out food to the community. It was great to be the ones working on giving it out. Our cooks daughter prepared the rice dish in big pots outside here at the house all morning. One of the vans came back to the house to pick it up during the VBS and we served the food out of the van. There was also drinks and cookies and candy. Everyone was fed and we had some left over to offer seconds to a few people. It was a good time of serving.
We got back home about an hour before lunch (we eat around 1:30), so we had a quick team meeting and ate and then everyone got some extra 'down' time. Many went out to the beach again. Only gringos are on the beach in the middle of the day. :) I, for one, stretched out on my bed and did some computer work and posted a few pics on facebook. I never took a nap, but it sure felt good to put these heat-swollen ankles up for a while.
We had an early dinner and then headed for town to take a drive up to El Sapote. We wanted the team to see the water well system that was provided by FBC Rogers Youth last year. The main road into the town was shut down for repair, and the only other way in is to take a very long detour through town, down the highway, through some fields and then to the neighborhood. It would take much longer than we had time for before church. Soooo, plan B was to go to Eskimo for ice cream again. The team cheered at this news. We enjoyed our surprise snack and headed off to our two church locations.
I was blessed to visit Iglesia Mi Redentor with the drama team again. I did get a little teary, but not as much tonight. The drama team did a great job again. I'm so proud of them. John, Abby, Mariano, Jerry, Rebekah, Grace and Laura - You ROCK!!! The church applauded when Jesus overcame the sin to restore Abby's life. With the music, it makes a powerful moment. Speaking of the music, we use an iPod and usually a church will have a cable to plug it into their sound system (if they have one). This church didn't have a cable, so we had taken my little travel iPod speaker and it worked wonders with the microphone. Thank You Lord for blessing me with this wonderful item.
Abby gave the message, using the props for a visual presentation that her dad uses, too. She was a little nervous, but the ice was broken when her translator, Jaasiel, accidentally started repeating the English into English. It was a funny moment and Abby said that she instantly felt the nerves go away and was ready to speak. She did an excellent job. The music tonight was great and I have most of the songs on my iPod. I love listening to Spanish praise music. At the end of the service, Jerry asked the Pastor if we could pray for any of the congregation who had prayer needs. Some people of all ages came forward with various requests for healing, safety, etc. One little girl asked for happiness. Laura has a hilarious story about praying with this girl. Ask her to tell it to you when you see her at FBCR. I was blessed to pray with a lady, named Josepa, who was ill and was asking for healing. I prayed with her entirely in Spanish. I know my grammar was not perfect, but I'm sure God forgave me for that. The Holy Spirit intercedes for us, so I know He cleaned up my language limitations. Josepa was in tears as we blessed the name of our Creator and Healer. We prayed together this special night and I know we will rejoice together in Heaven some day.
Since the churches were between the house and León, we got to get home fairly early (before 9pm). It was nice to sit around and rest and chat. Mary made one last run to the grocery store for tomorrow's meals. Everyone was ready for bed by 10pm and we will all rest well tonight.
While at the Sewer Ponds neighborhood today, I got to see some familiar faces and marvel at how the kids are growing up. I hope we get to see them a lot this summer, too. Dariela and her family were there. I got to get my picture taken with them. Kearsten got to hold her last summer and she can't believe how much she has grown. I now have 3 different pictures of her over the last year to see her progress. She will be 1 year old on April 20. I told her mom and dad that I would pray for her especially on that day. What a sweet connection.
I also got to see another sweet girl again. I can't remember her name, but she is special. She has Downs Syndrome. I got to get my picture taken with her. I made sure that Becca Janes got to see that picture. God has planted these precious lives all around His world to bring sunlight into those places.
It's almost 11pm here, and if I sign off now, I might get a little over 5 hours sleep tonight. So I'll say goodnight and sweet dreams and pray God's blessings all over Nicaragua, León, Voice of Hope ministries, the FBCR team and everyone praying for us while serving this week. God is faithful. He has much to teach us. And He is worthy of our best efforts to glorify Him. I'm so thankful for the opportunities.
We went to La Padrera (near the Sewer Ponds) for VBS. We haven't been there much, but we did do a Fiesta there in December. There is no church to work with, so we set up in the dusty street on the corner. This is a very poor neighborhood that is rich in harvest. We did the VBS stories, crafts, music and games, then gave out snacks and candy. Some of our team went street witnessing. It was really hot and dusty. That's just how it is in the dry season.
Next we went just down the road a little ways to the Sewer Ponds neighborhood (Monte Horeb), one of my favorites. Two of the team members have been here before. Stacie was here last March when things looked just like now. Kearsten was here in July during the rainy season. Kearsten actually got to spend 2 days at the Sewer Ponds, but didn't recognize it at all, because of the difference since it's the dry season. She was amazed. She did recognize some of the people, though.
We did VBS there and then handed out food to the community. It was great to be the ones working on giving it out. Our cooks daughter prepared the rice dish in big pots outside here at the house all morning. One of the vans came back to the house to pick it up during the VBS and we served the food out of the van. There was also drinks and cookies and candy. Everyone was fed and we had some left over to offer seconds to a few people. It was a good time of serving.
We got back home about an hour before lunch (we eat around 1:30), so we had a quick team meeting and ate and then everyone got some extra 'down' time. Many went out to the beach again. Only gringos are on the beach in the middle of the day. :) I, for one, stretched out on my bed and did some computer work and posted a few pics on facebook. I never took a nap, but it sure felt good to put these heat-swollen ankles up for a while.
We had an early dinner and then headed for town to take a drive up to El Sapote. We wanted the team to see the water well system that was provided by FBC Rogers Youth last year. The main road into the town was shut down for repair, and the only other way in is to take a very long detour through town, down the highway, through some fields and then to the neighborhood. It would take much longer than we had time for before church. Soooo, plan B was to go to Eskimo for ice cream again. The team cheered at this news. We enjoyed our surprise snack and headed off to our two church locations.
I was blessed to visit Iglesia Mi Redentor with the drama team again. I did get a little teary, but not as much tonight. The drama team did a great job again. I'm so proud of them. John, Abby, Mariano, Jerry, Rebekah, Grace and Laura - You ROCK!!! The church applauded when Jesus overcame the sin to restore Abby's life. With the music, it makes a powerful moment. Speaking of the music, we use an iPod and usually a church will have a cable to plug it into their sound system (if they have one). This church didn't have a cable, so we had taken my little travel iPod speaker and it worked wonders with the microphone. Thank You Lord for blessing me with this wonderful item.
Abby gave the message, using the props for a visual presentation that her dad uses, too. She was a little nervous, but the ice was broken when her translator, Jaasiel, accidentally started repeating the English into English. It was a funny moment and Abby said that she instantly felt the nerves go away and was ready to speak. She did an excellent job. The music tonight was great and I have most of the songs on my iPod. I love listening to Spanish praise music. At the end of the service, Jerry asked the Pastor if we could pray for any of the congregation who had prayer needs. Some people of all ages came forward with various requests for healing, safety, etc. One little girl asked for happiness. Laura has a hilarious story about praying with this girl. Ask her to tell it to you when you see her at FBCR. I was blessed to pray with a lady, named Josepa, who was ill and was asking for healing. I prayed with her entirely in Spanish. I know my grammar was not perfect, but I'm sure God forgave me for that. The Holy Spirit intercedes for us, so I know He cleaned up my language limitations. Josepa was in tears as we blessed the name of our Creator and Healer. We prayed together this special night and I know we will rejoice together in Heaven some day.
Since the churches were between the house and León, we got to get home fairly early (before 9pm). It was nice to sit around and rest and chat. Mary made one last run to the grocery store for tomorrow's meals. Everyone was ready for bed by 10pm and we will all rest well tonight.
While at the Sewer Ponds neighborhood today, I got to see some familiar faces and marvel at how the kids are growing up. I hope we get to see them a lot this summer, too. Dariela and her family were there. I got to get my picture taken with them. Kearsten got to hold her last summer and she can't believe how much she has grown. I now have 3 different pictures of her over the last year to see her progress. She will be 1 year old on April 20. I told her mom and dad that I would pray for her especially on that day. What a sweet connection.
I also got to see another sweet girl again. I can't remember her name, but she is special. She has Downs Syndrome. I got to get my picture taken with her. I made sure that Becca Janes got to see that picture. God has planted these precious lives all around His world to bring sunlight into those places.
It's almost 11pm here, and if I sign off now, I might get a little over 5 hours sleep tonight. So I'll say goodnight and sweet dreams and pray God's blessings all over Nicaragua, León, Voice of Hope ministries, the FBCR team and everyone praying for us while serving this week. God is faithful. He has much to teach us. And He is worthy of our best efforts to glorify Him. I'm so thankful for the opportunities.
Tuesday, 3/22 in Nicaragua
Another early day. I knew the team would be sleeping hard after the night of celebrating with Rose of Sharon church, and would be hard to get going. I decided to give them a little help waking up. I have the songs from last night at church on my iPod and I plugged it into my little speaker and turned it on full blast at 5:30. (keep in mind that breakfast is at 6 and we leave at 6:30, so something drastic was in order lol) I got a few mean looks and heard some groans, but it did the trick and the team got up and got ready. Sherree and Jennifer knew I was going to do it, but it was a surprise for the rest of the team. I think they have finally forgiven me.
After breakfast and loading the van we took off to pick up translators and have our last bathroom stop at OTR. We had told everyone that we really needed to get on the road quick, as we had a ways to drive today. We asked that they just use the bathroom and not buy anything unless they really needed to. (the checkout service is very slow and I didn't want to waste time in line). Mary repeated the instructions to her van and then German reminded them again. Wouldn't you know it, a few people, who shall remain nameless, ordered muffins and such. In their defense, they thought that the process would be like in the states. BUT, we who live here know about the slow service and therefore had asked that this process was avoided. The culprits have repented and been forgiven, and I think everyone is learning that there is a reason behind our requests. Of course, after all that, German ordered a breakfast sandwich and coffee and was the last one on the bus. But he was punished when he was trying to share his breakfast in with Mary in the van (I think he was kissing up) and he ended up dropping part of it and then spilling his coffee on Mary. I guess she got the punishment... Anyway, it was an interesting morning and we hadn't even gotten out of town yet.
The first stop was at Pastor Yader's church in a forgotten neighborhood. It is a little area and most of the kids were in school, but we had over 20 kids (whose parents had kept them home from school to come to VBS. school here is not mandatory like in the states) and another 20 teens and adults come. We got to do the VBS inside the building which was great since we were in the shade. Having a smaller group meant that more of our team could go out street witnessing, which was perfect for this location. The kids absolutely loved the VBS. John and the girls do a great job of leading music with the funny songs. They kids listened intently to the Bible stories and know most of them. Everyone loved making the tambourines. It's amazing how much 'music' they make when you have 20+ of them rattling at the same time. I loved seeing the laughing faces of the kids and parents. This neighborhood doesn't get visitors. They were soooo thankful that we would care enough to come at all and to invest time and energy in them. We left craft supplies for the kids who were in school. The Pastor will make sure that they get to make their own things. We didn't want them to be left out. While the kids were doing games outside, I was blessed to share my heart with some ladies. I noticed some older teen boys hanging around watching everything going on. I gave them snacks when we passed them out. I asked them to come inside to the shade, but they preferred to stay outside. When John was through with leading music, I asked him to come out to speak with them. (They would relate to him much more than me!) He had a good talk with them and passed out New Testaments. I haven't had the chance to ask about decisions, but I know he planted some good seeds. He spoke with them a long time. We had to jump on vans to get to the next place. So we were off like a herd of turtles...
At the next church, which was more in town, we met with Pastor Oscar from Todopoderoso church and his people. They are instrumental in this church plant. They always do a great job of decorating the location with balloons and having a piñata and lots of their membership to help us. We ended up with a lot of kids who enjoyed all the VBS activities. We were inside a medium size building so it was a little cooler. There was room to have group jump rope fun with the kids as they arrived. We also got the chance do more street witnessing. The team is doing really well adapting to the different locations and limitations and challenges of each site. We got to help with the feeding. Which means we get to help pass out the food that very hard workers have spent hours preparing. They are thankful to us for the money to provide the food. We are thankful to them for preparing it. We are all thankful to God for allowing the blessing. I love it when we can have feedings.
We got in the vans for the sort of long drive back to León. Part of the people in our van fell asleep and we took the usual pictures of the sleepers. It's a tradition with us to catch snoozing people on film. :) We stopped at La Unión to drop off the translators. Mary and German kept a few people with them to help buy food for the feeding on Wednesday and also some groceries for the team meals. I went with the other van to get crema and queso for our lunch on Wednesday and to pick up some ice. Then we made it home to enjoy lunch. Everyone was so tired and I think the trip to the beach was a quick one and everyone rested a little more this afternoon. Sherree got a good nap and I laid down for about 90 minutes and slept maybe 45.
We had a team meeting before heading out for church. Everyone is experiencing God's hand in the work this week. I love to hear them share about it.
We went to 2 different churches with 2 different experiences. One church service didn't last very long, but was good. The church I went to with my half of the group was wonderful. You could feel the sweet presence of the Holy Spirit as soon as we walked in. The Pastor was very nice. The church was so thankful for us to come and share with them. They were minus a keyboard player and Jeremy, one of our translators (who happens to be the worship pastor at his church) stepped in. The worship leader at the church was very talented and the songs were ones I knew and love.
I spoke a little about Voice of Hope Ministries and the team. They kids did the drama again and it brought tears to my eyes again. The church loved it to. It is so simple and powerful. And it shows how Jesus took on so much to protect us from sin. He is so precious!
Grace and Bethany both gave their testimonies and Mariano gave his testimony and then the message. All were very heartfelt and genuine and honoring to God.
When we were leaving, they gave us a bag of mangos. Yum! We are sharing them with the team for breakfast. We finished up at the church about 9:15 and headed towards home. We dropped off the translators near their homes on the way. It was close to 10 when we got home. The other team had been home for a couple of hours. It was good for them to get some down time. Our van was engrossed in some riddles and guessing games with the translators. Some of them were pretty hard to figure out. Rydder had some good trivia questions about people in the Bible. Jeremy set up his scenario right before leaving the van. The team came home and part of them worked diligently to figure out the answer to it. They are proud to be able to tell him today that they figured it out. We have a great time with our translators. I'm glad to be able for the team to interact with them when we are traveling.
I don't have totals of salvations yet. They are being kept track of, but I just haven't had the time to find out for myself. I'll post that info later. What matters most is that God is working, people are being saved, encouraged, fed and blessed. And God is being Glorified!!
After breakfast and loading the van we took off to pick up translators and have our last bathroom stop at OTR. We had told everyone that we really needed to get on the road quick, as we had a ways to drive today. We asked that they just use the bathroom and not buy anything unless they really needed to. (the checkout service is very slow and I didn't want to waste time in line). Mary repeated the instructions to her van and then German reminded them again. Wouldn't you know it, a few people, who shall remain nameless, ordered muffins and such. In their defense, they thought that the process would be like in the states. BUT, we who live here know about the slow service and therefore had asked that this process was avoided. The culprits have repented and been forgiven, and I think everyone is learning that there is a reason behind our requests. Of course, after all that, German ordered a breakfast sandwich and coffee and was the last one on the bus. But he was punished when he was trying to share his breakfast in with Mary in the van (I think he was kissing up) and he ended up dropping part of it and then spilling his coffee on Mary. I guess she got the punishment... Anyway, it was an interesting morning and we hadn't even gotten out of town yet.
The first stop was at Pastor Yader's church in a forgotten neighborhood. It is a little area and most of the kids were in school, but we had over 20 kids (whose parents had kept them home from school to come to VBS. school here is not mandatory like in the states) and another 20 teens and adults come. We got to do the VBS inside the building which was great since we were in the shade. Having a smaller group meant that more of our team could go out street witnessing, which was perfect for this location. The kids absolutely loved the VBS. John and the girls do a great job of leading music with the funny songs. They kids listened intently to the Bible stories and know most of them. Everyone loved making the tambourines. It's amazing how much 'music' they make when you have 20+ of them rattling at the same time. I loved seeing the laughing faces of the kids and parents. This neighborhood doesn't get visitors. They were soooo thankful that we would care enough to come at all and to invest time and energy in them. We left craft supplies for the kids who were in school. The Pastor will make sure that they get to make their own things. We didn't want them to be left out. While the kids were doing games outside, I was blessed to share my heart with some ladies. I noticed some older teen boys hanging around watching everything going on. I gave them snacks when we passed them out. I asked them to come inside to the shade, but they preferred to stay outside. When John was through with leading music, I asked him to come out to speak with them. (They would relate to him much more than me!) He had a good talk with them and passed out New Testaments. I haven't had the chance to ask about decisions, but I know he planted some good seeds. He spoke with them a long time. We had to jump on vans to get to the next place. So we were off like a herd of turtles...
At the next church, which was more in town, we met with Pastor Oscar from Todopoderoso church and his people. They are instrumental in this church plant. They always do a great job of decorating the location with balloons and having a piñata and lots of their membership to help us. We ended up with a lot of kids who enjoyed all the VBS activities. We were inside a medium size building so it was a little cooler. There was room to have group jump rope fun with the kids as they arrived. We also got the chance do more street witnessing. The team is doing really well adapting to the different locations and limitations and challenges of each site. We got to help with the feeding. Which means we get to help pass out the food that very hard workers have spent hours preparing. They are thankful to us for the money to provide the food. We are thankful to them for preparing it. We are all thankful to God for allowing the blessing. I love it when we can have feedings.
We got in the vans for the sort of long drive back to León. Part of the people in our van fell asleep and we took the usual pictures of the sleepers. It's a tradition with us to catch snoozing people on film. :) We stopped at La Unión to drop off the translators. Mary and German kept a few people with them to help buy food for the feeding on Wednesday and also some groceries for the team meals. I went with the other van to get crema and queso for our lunch on Wednesday and to pick up some ice. Then we made it home to enjoy lunch. Everyone was so tired and I think the trip to the beach was a quick one and everyone rested a little more this afternoon. Sherree got a good nap and I laid down for about 90 minutes and slept maybe 45.
We had a team meeting before heading out for church. Everyone is experiencing God's hand in the work this week. I love to hear them share about it.
We went to 2 different churches with 2 different experiences. One church service didn't last very long, but was good. The church I went to with my half of the group was wonderful. You could feel the sweet presence of the Holy Spirit as soon as we walked in. The Pastor was very nice. The church was so thankful for us to come and share with them. They were minus a keyboard player and Jeremy, one of our translators (who happens to be the worship pastor at his church) stepped in. The worship leader at the church was very talented and the songs were ones I knew and love.
I spoke a little about Voice of Hope Ministries and the team. They kids did the drama again and it brought tears to my eyes again. The church loved it to. It is so simple and powerful. And it shows how Jesus took on so much to protect us from sin. He is so precious!
Grace and Bethany both gave their testimonies and Mariano gave his testimony and then the message. All were very heartfelt and genuine and honoring to God.
When we were leaving, they gave us a bag of mangos. Yum! We are sharing them with the team for breakfast. We finished up at the church about 9:15 and headed towards home. We dropped off the translators near their homes on the way. It was close to 10 when we got home. The other team had been home for a couple of hours. It was good for them to get some down time. Our van was engrossed in some riddles and guessing games with the translators. Some of them were pretty hard to figure out. Rydder had some good trivia questions about people in the Bible. Jeremy set up his scenario right before leaving the van. The team came home and part of them worked diligently to figure out the answer to it. They are proud to be able to tell him today that they figured it out. We have a great time with our translators. I'm glad to be able for the team to interact with them when we are traveling.
I don't have totals of salvations yet. They are being kept track of, but I just haven't had the time to find out for myself. I'll post that info later. What matters most is that God is working, people are being saved, encouraged, fed and blessed. And God is being Glorified!!
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Monday, 3/21 in Nicaragua
This morning started off early again. 6am breakfast. 6:30am leave for the stoplight in León to pick up the translators. The team was slow moving this morning, but everyone was ready for our first day of VBS and feedings.
When we picked up the translators, it gave us the chance to introduce them to the team. We all scrunched into the 2 vans with the VBS tubs and a giant cooler to hold the drinks and ice for the kids’ snacks. We stopped at On the Run for the last bathroom break for until noon, and for drinks for the translators and any snacks the team wanted to take with them.
We got to our ministry area and the roads are too bad for the vans, so we walked about a half mile to the little school in the neighborhood. We made a few adjustments to our plans and enjoyed our first VBS event.
We had music (with action songs) for the whole group. John Doss did a wonderful job playing the new guitar the team bought for VOH ministries. A bunch of the team demonstrated the actions for the songs. Everyone had a wonderful time.
Then we split into 2 groups, Bible Story time and Crafts. The team did a good job on these sessions. Then we switched the kids so they could do the opposite sessions. We ran out of time for games, but we did get to present to the school some Frisbees and a couple of soccer balls for the neighborhood kids to play with.
Some quick distribution of cookies, drinks and candy, and we were on our way walking back to the vans, which were able to get a little closer on a different road. We were missing Ms Mary, Stacie and Oscar, who were still street witnessing. The other street witness groups had come back by now. We finally saw the 3 coming out of the trees and heading our way. On the road back to the highway, there was a couple inclines that the vans would not be able to make with a load like ours, so we got out and walked for a bit. Then we got back in the vans and hit the highway.
We did the second VBS at Posoltega and worked along side the Todopoderoso church. I just love this church. We had an excellent time there. They had the area ready with balloons on trees and a piñata and tables for the food and a sound system. Everyone went out (our team + translator + people from the Todopoderoso church) to gather kids to the area. Then when we started the VBS sessions, 3 groups of street witnesses went out. Everything went very smoothly. We had another great time sharing Jesus.
There was a mango tree on the site, and some of us got the blessing of eating them right off of the tree. Oh my! How good!
There were so many fun and funny things that happened today, but I can’t remember them at the moment. God has really blessed us today.
We helped with the feeding and even got to try some of the food today. It was delicious! We were very honored and blessed that we could provide the money for the food and work with the hard workers who prepared it. It’s so great to serve together with God’s workers all across the world. We have a common bond that no one without Christ could really understand. And we’ll all be together in Heaven one day. I wonder if we will get the chance to remember the times we worked together. Hmmm.
We made it back to On the Run for a much needed bathroom break (after 5 hours) and some sodas and snacks for the teams. Then we got home and had lunch. We Kirstie did a nice devotion and we had a quick team meeting. Then everyone went their own ways to the beach or to nap (or in my case, to take care of some computer work and emails).
We had some issues with the water this afternoon and the line for showers was building as the water was drizzling and stopping all together. We never did figure out what was going on, but everyone finally got showered and ready for church.
We left at 4:30pm to meet at the stoplight at 5 to pick up a few of the translators. Then we headed to the park to sightsee a little of the old buildings and to look at the vendors’ wares. I bought a few more woven zipper bags that I love. One is just perfect to hold my Kindle. We walked around a mural and listened to Rydder explain the meaning and history of Nicaragua and León. Then we trotted a block over to have some Eskimo ice cream. It was yummy. It took about 30 minutes to get everyone their ice cream, but we had time to enjoy sitting in the open restaurant with the breeze flowing through.
We made it to Rose of Sharon church on time, which means we were early, and we listened to the band tune up. This is a great band and I love to hear them play. People kept arriving. Then we say a group of North Americans (we kind of stick out, you know) and saw that it was a missionary that we often run into at the church. He had a group from Fort Smith AR of all places! Our group met their group before the service started. We listened, sang, danced and worshiped together with the help of the wonderful band. Our team did the drama/creative movement thing again tonight and it brought tears to my eyes again. What a beautiful expression of what God does in our life. One of the other NAs sang a song which moved us and all the NAs ended up standing and raising our hands as we sang the words we know so well, He Is Mighty To Save. Then John Doss gave his testimony, which was very good and meaningful to many. There was a moving testimony by a girl on the other NA team. Then the Youth Pastor of the Fort Smith church gave the message. We had the chance to pray for people with special requests for prayer. It was a privilege to pray with Mariano, whom I’ve come to admire and respect very much. More wonderful music by the band, lots of dancing and singing and handclapping. Even a little jaunt around the room for the hearty people. (this was a Youth service, after all!) The kids had a great time worshiping together up front. After the service the two NA teams got to chat a little with each other. We finally got our team out the door and to the vans.
A couple of cute things happened tonight at church. One was that a little girl, may 2 years old or so, came up by Jaasiel and me and was dancing and clapping to the music. She was adorable! She saw the construction hat that German was using for his motorcycle helmet. (I was keeping it safe by my chair.) The little girl picked up the hat and handed it to me. Then she picked up my Bible bag which was a little heavier, and then she picked up the small backpack I take to church. She noticed how heavy it was and her little mouth made a cute ‘o’ expression. So cute. She picked up the hat again and I put it on her head. We did this a couple of times and then she walked back to her mom with the hat on. German was sitting a couple of rows back and snagged the hat. She was such a cutie!
Another funny thing was during the music at the end of the service, when the youth was mostly up front dancing and worshiping, it looked like a concert and a mosh pit. I had just said this to Jennifer when we saw that someone was holding up a toddler and it looked like they were going to start handing him back. This made us laugh. Of course, the person kept a hold of the child and there was not danger. It was just funny to see it.
We got back to the house tonight and had hamburgers and chips for dinner about 9:30pm. Everyone hit the bed by 10:30 (except for me, of course). Someone was going to be using the USB thing for internet, so I decided to just type this up in a word document (so I wouldn’t forget anything) and post it tomorrow.
I’m good and tired, not exhausted, but I know that the 5 hours of sleep for tonight won’t be near enough. But God will get us all through the long days and give us rest in the afternoons as we need it.
I praise Him for all He has created. All He allows us to do in His name. I thank Him for the wonderful fellow Christians here in Nica and for the relationships we enjoy with each other.
I pray that everyone will get the rest they need tonight and will feel refreshed tomorrow. I can’t wait to see the blessings that He has in store for us. He is every faithful.
When we picked up the translators, it gave us the chance to introduce them to the team. We all scrunched into the 2 vans with the VBS tubs and a giant cooler to hold the drinks and ice for the kids’ snacks. We stopped at On the Run for the last bathroom break for until noon, and for drinks for the translators and any snacks the team wanted to take with them.
We got to our ministry area and the roads are too bad for the vans, so we walked about a half mile to the little school in the neighborhood. We made a few adjustments to our plans and enjoyed our first VBS event.
We had music (with action songs) for the whole group. John Doss did a wonderful job playing the new guitar the team bought for VOH ministries. A bunch of the team demonstrated the actions for the songs. Everyone had a wonderful time.
Then we split into 2 groups, Bible Story time and Crafts. The team did a good job on these sessions. Then we switched the kids so they could do the opposite sessions. We ran out of time for games, but we did get to present to the school some Frisbees and a couple of soccer balls for the neighborhood kids to play with.
Some quick distribution of cookies, drinks and candy, and we were on our way walking back to the vans, which were able to get a little closer on a different road. We were missing Ms Mary, Stacie and Oscar, who were still street witnessing. The other street witness groups had come back by now. We finally saw the 3 coming out of the trees and heading our way. On the road back to the highway, there was a couple inclines that the vans would not be able to make with a load like ours, so we got out and walked for a bit. Then we got back in the vans and hit the highway.
We did the second VBS at Posoltega and worked along side the Todopoderoso church. I just love this church. We had an excellent time there. They had the area ready with balloons on trees and a piñata and tables for the food and a sound system. Everyone went out (our team + translator + people from the Todopoderoso church) to gather kids to the area. Then when we started the VBS sessions, 3 groups of street witnesses went out. Everything went very smoothly. We had another great time sharing Jesus.
There was a mango tree on the site, and some of us got the blessing of eating them right off of the tree. Oh my! How good!
There were so many fun and funny things that happened today, but I can’t remember them at the moment. God has really blessed us today.
We helped with the feeding and even got to try some of the food today. It was delicious! We were very honored and blessed that we could provide the money for the food and work with the hard workers who prepared it. It’s so great to serve together with God’s workers all across the world. We have a common bond that no one without Christ could really understand. And we’ll all be together in Heaven one day. I wonder if we will get the chance to remember the times we worked together. Hmmm.
We made it back to On the Run for a much needed bathroom break (after 5 hours) and some sodas and snacks for the teams. Then we got home and had lunch. We Kirstie did a nice devotion and we had a quick team meeting. Then everyone went their own ways to the beach or to nap (or in my case, to take care of some computer work and emails).
We had some issues with the water this afternoon and the line for showers was building as the water was drizzling and stopping all together. We never did figure out what was going on, but everyone finally got showered and ready for church.
We left at 4:30pm to meet at the stoplight at 5 to pick up a few of the translators. Then we headed to the park to sightsee a little of the old buildings and to look at the vendors’ wares. I bought a few more woven zipper bags that I love. One is just perfect to hold my Kindle. We walked around a mural and listened to Rydder explain the meaning and history of Nicaragua and León. Then we trotted a block over to have some Eskimo ice cream. It was yummy. It took about 30 minutes to get everyone their ice cream, but we had time to enjoy sitting in the open restaurant with the breeze flowing through.
We made it to Rose of Sharon church on time, which means we were early, and we listened to the band tune up. This is a great band and I love to hear them play. People kept arriving. Then we say a group of North Americans (we kind of stick out, you know) and saw that it was a missionary that we often run into at the church. He had a group from Fort Smith AR of all places! Our group met their group before the service started. We listened, sang, danced and worshiped together with the help of the wonderful band. Our team did the drama/creative movement thing again tonight and it brought tears to my eyes again. What a beautiful expression of what God does in our life. One of the other NAs sang a song which moved us and all the NAs ended up standing and raising our hands as we sang the words we know so well, He Is Mighty To Save. Then John Doss gave his testimony, which was very good and meaningful to many. There was a moving testimony by a girl on the other NA team. Then the Youth Pastor of the Fort Smith church gave the message. We had the chance to pray for people with special requests for prayer. It was a privilege to pray with Mariano, whom I’ve come to admire and respect very much. More wonderful music by the band, lots of dancing and singing and handclapping. Even a little jaunt around the room for the hearty people. (this was a Youth service, after all!) The kids had a great time worshiping together up front. After the service the two NA teams got to chat a little with each other. We finally got our team out the door and to the vans.
A couple of cute things happened tonight at church. One was that a little girl, may 2 years old or so, came up by Jaasiel and me and was dancing and clapping to the music. She was adorable! She saw the construction hat that German was using for his motorcycle helmet. (I was keeping it safe by my chair.) The little girl picked up the hat and handed it to me. Then she picked up my Bible bag which was a little heavier, and then she picked up the small backpack I take to church. She noticed how heavy it was and her little mouth made a cute ‘o’ expression. So cute. She picked up the hat again and I put it on her head. We did this a couple of times and then she walked back to her mom with the hat on. German was sitting a couple of rows back and snagged the hat. She was such a cutie!
Another funny thing was during the music at the end of the service, when the youth was mostly up front dancing and worshiping, it looked like a concert and a mosh pit. I had just said this to Jennifer when we saw that someone was holding up a toddler and it looked like they were going to start handing him back. This made us laugh. Of course, the person kept a hold of the child and there was not danger. It was just funny to see it.
We got back to the house tonight and had hamburgers and chips for dinner about 9:30pm. Everyone hit the bed by 10:30 (except for me, of course). Someone was going to be using the USB thing for internet, so I decided to just type this up in a word document (so I wouldn’t forget anything) and post it tomorrow.
I’m good and tired, not exhausted, but I know that the 5 hours of sleep for tonight won’t be near enough. But God will get us all through the long days and give us rest in the afternoons as we need it.
I praise Him for all He has created. All He allows us to do in His name. I thank Him for the wonderful fellow Christians here in Nica and for the relationships we enjoy with each other.
I pray that everyone will get the rest they need tonight and will feel refreshed tomorrow. I can’t wait to see the blessings that He has in store for us. He is every faithful.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Sunday, 3/20 in Nicaragua
What a great day of Worship.
We were scheduled to visit and speak at 2 churches this morning and 2 churches this evening. We got a call a couple of days ago to add a church to the schedule, so we started the day thinking we would have 5 for the day. One group went to Rose of Sharon church and the other went to a new (to us) church. While waiting for the service to start, the Pastor asked German if he could 'share us' with another small church plant. We asked if anyone else wanted to 'preach' at the surprise church. Mariano stepped right up and volunteered. 5 of us, plus German went to the little church and had a great time of worship. Laura and Malorie shared their testimonies and Mariano gave a message. I spoke on behalf of VOH. They called me Pastor Vickie. They also asked at the end if I would come forward to pray over their music leader for his birthday. They also asked if we could come to another church plant at 5pm, but we were already spread between 3 churches with 2 vans, so we couldn't accommodate that request on this trip. They were very impressed with Mariano, Laura and Malorie. They think they are a great example to the youth of Nicaragua and also to adults. We enjoyed spending the morning worshiping with them.
We got back to the house before the other 2 teams and got changed for the afternoon. By then the other van came home and we enjoyed some yummy grilled chicken, rice, beans, slaw and tortilla. Then the team went out to play on the beach a little while. A few of the team helped me unpack the ministry supplies that they brought down. The VBS teams got their stuff ready for the week. A few people took naps. 2 fell asleep on the tile floor in the middle of everyone coming and going. They were really tired!!!
We got ready for evening church and did relays to get everyone where they were supposed to be going. At the Iglesia de Dios de San Felipe, where I went, Katie gave the message and Joe gave his testimony. I was blessed to speak on behalf of Voice of Hope Ministries. Everyone in the congregation was glad we came and was thankful for the work that the team is going to do this week.
We finished first (since our church started earlier), so we went over to Todopoderoso church and joined in their worship. The VBS story team has a great drama/interpretive movement thing that brought me to tears. I was so proud of them! The church erupted in applause (for God) when they were through. It was impressive. God was really working through them!
I have been loving the worship music and especially getting to see old friends at the churches. My heart is truly here. Jeremy came and gave me a huge hug. He also calls me his 'second Mom'. He and his wife Kelly are such an exciting and sweet couple! God is going to use them tremendously! Jeremy said they have missed me while I'm gone from Nica and not to do that again! I wish I could live here full time. I really feel that God is leading me to that someday soon. Pastor Oscar and his wife both gave me big hugs. She told me that I am family to them. So sweet. Sometimes people say those things in your life, but there is such a warmth to these relationships that I can feel the Holy Spirit in them. I am truly blessed.
A girl named Celeste asked that I pray for her. I had Mariano come over to speak to her and translate for me. He ministered to her and also told her what I said. Then we prayed for her. Please lift up Celeste in your prayers.
We made it home and had sandwiches and chips for dinner. The team played around for a while and then everyone turned in at 10pm. We have to be ready to leave by 6:30am tomorrow. Which means that everyone will need to be ready to go before they eat breakfast at 6am.
It will be interesting to see how our 1 shot VBS events go. We'll play it by ear. God knows His plans and we will be ready for what He asks us to do. I think it will be a lot of fun. We will definitely use our flexibility muscles tomorrow! As long as HE is glorified, that is what matters!!!
Time to call it a night. Bendiciones a todos, en el nomber de Christo Jesus.
We were scheduled to visit and speak at 2 churches this morning and 2 churches this evening. We got a call a couple of days ago to add a church to the schedule, so we started the day thinking we would have 5 for the day. One group went to Rose of Sharon church and the other went to a new (to us) church. While waiting for the service to start, the Pastor asked German if he could 'share us' with another small church plant. We asked if anyone else wanted to 'preach' at the surprise church. Mariano stepped right up and volunteered. 5 of us, plus German went to the little church and had a great time of worship. Laura and Malorie shared their testimonies and Mariano gave a message. I spoke on behalf of VOH. They called me Pastor Vickie. They also asked at the end if I would come forward to pray over their music leader for his birthday. They also asked if we could come to another church plant at 5pm, but we were already spread between 3 churches with 2 vans, so we couldn't accommodate that request on this trip. They were very impressed with Mariano, Laura and Malorie. They think they are a great example to the youth of Nicaragua and also to adults. We enjoyed spending the morning worshiping with them.
We got back to the house before the other 2 teams and got changed for the afternoon. By then the other van came home and we enjoyed some yummy grilled chicken, rice, beans, slaw and tortilla. Then the team went out to play on the beach a little while. A few of the team helped me unpack the ministry supplies that they brought down. The VBS teams got their stuff ready for the week. A few people took naps. 2 fell asleep on the tile floor in the middle of everyone coming and going. They were really tired!!!
We got ready for evening church and did relays to get everyone where they were supposed to be going. At the Iglesia de Dios de San Felipe, where I went, Katie gave the message and Joe gave his testimony. I was blessed to speak on behalf of Voice of Hope Ministries. Everyone in the congregation was glad we came and was thankful for the work that the team is going to do this week.
We finished first (since our church started earlier), so we went over to Todopoderoso church and joined in their worship. The VBS story team has a great drama/interpretive movement thing that brought me to tears. I was so proud of them! The church erupted in applause (for God) when they were through. It was impressive. God was really working through them!
I have been loving the worship music and especially getting to see old friends at the churches. My heart is truly here. Jeremy came and gave me a huge hug. He also calls me his 'second Mom'. He and his wife Kelly are such an exciting and sweet couple! God is going to use them tremendously! Jeremy said they have missed me while I'm gone from Nica and not to do that again! I wish I could live here full time. I really feel that God is leading me to that someday soon. Pastor Oscar and his wife both gave me big hugs. She told me that I am family to them. So sweet. Sometimes people say those things in your life, but there is such a warmth to these relationships that I can feel the Holy Spirit in them. I am truly blessed.
A girl named Celeste asked that I pray for her. I had Mariano come over to speak to her and translate for me. He ministered to her and also told her what I said. Then we prayed for her. Please lift up Celeste in your prayers.
We made it home and had sandwiches and chips for dinner. The team played around for a while and then everyone turned in at 10pm. We have to be ready to leave by 6:30am tomorrow. Which means that everyone will need to be ready to go before they eat breakfast at 6am.
It will be interesting to see how our 1 shot VBS events go. We'll play it by ear. God knows His plans and we will be ready for what He asks us to do. I think it will be a lot of fun. We will definitely use our flexibility muscles tomorrow! As long as HE is glorified, that is what matters!!!
Time to call it a night. Bendiciones a todos, en el nomber de Christo Jesus.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Saturday, 3/19 in Nicaragua
This will be short and sweet since it's midnight here and I have to be up at 5:30a to be ready to wake the team for 6am breakfast.
Mary and I had a last quiet day of preparing for the team. We also did some laundry, read, studied, rested and then left with Danilo in the van to pick up German and head to Managua to pick up the team.
When the team was boarding the plane in Houston, we were heading to the airport. We actually took about 45 minutes to stop at the big mall (I had not seen it before) and grabbed dinner at the food court. Then we scooted over to the airport. On the way, Danilo got pulled over for making a questionable lane change, but the policeman let us go when he found a bigger fish to fry...someone driving without lights. We did see a couple of accidents between motorcycles and cars. Regular big city driving. Although they drive crazy everywhere in Nicaragua, we don't see hardly any accidents in León and the surrounding areas. Anyway...
We made it to the airport and found that the plane had made it in about 15 minutes early. The team got through all of their checkpoints and gathered the 36 checked bags and headed out the door to meet us. We put all the luggage in one van and split the team up between 2 other vans. A quick stop at On the Run for drinks and snacks and trips to the bathrooms, and we were on our way for the 2 hour drive home. Unfortunately, it was in the dark and when the team goes back to the airport next Sat at 2am, it will be dark again. They won't get to see some of the scenery on the way. But they will get to see lots around León and the neighborhoods that we will be serving in.
We got the girls all settled in 2 rooms and 1 porch room downstairs and the guys in 1 room upstairs. Everyone has a clean bed and their own personal floor fan. We had a very quick meeting about things they need to know for tonight and early tomorrow. We'll fill them in tomorrow about the rest of the house rules. I think everyone is probably asleep by now. They were tired, but not exhausted. I hope they sleep well. I personally love sleeping with the fans, especially compared to A/C.
It is good to have everyone here and I look forward to serving with this bunch this week. I don't know everyone on the team very well, just some of them. It will be fun to get to know them on a mission trip. It's a special time and way to bond.
I'm calling it a night for now. I'm very content and think I'll sleep wonderfully! God is soooo good! Can't wait to tell people that tomorrow!
Mary and I had a last quiet day of preparing for the team. We also did some laundry, read, studied, rested and then left with Danilo in the van to pick up German and head to Managua to pick up the team.
When the team was boarding the plane in Houston, we were heading to the airport. We actually took about 45 minutes to stop at the big mall (I had not seen it before) and grabbed dinner at the food court. Then we scooted over to the airport. On the way, Danilo got pulled over for making a questionable lane change, but the policeman let us go when he found a bigger fish to fry...someone driving without lights. We did see a couple of accidents between motorcycles and cars. Regular big city driving. Although they drive crazy everywhere in Nicaragua, we don't see hardly any accidents in León and the surrounding areas. Anyway...
We made it to the airport and found that the plane had made it in about 15 minutes early. The team got through all of their checkpoints and gathered the 36 checked bags and headed out the door to meet us. We put all the luggage in one van and split the team up between 2 other vans. A quick stop at On the Run for drinks and snacks and trips to the bathrooms, and we were on our way for the 2 hour drive home. Unfortunately, it was in the dark and when the team goes back to the airport next Sat at 2am, it will be dark again. They won't get to see some of the scenery on the way. But they will get to see lots around León and the neighborhoods that we will be serving in.
We got the girls all settled in 2 rooms and 1 porch room downstairs and the guys in 1 room upstairs. Everyone has a clean bed and their own personal floor fan. We had a very quick meeting about things they need to know for tonight and early tomorrow. We'll fill them in tomorrow about the rest of the house rules. I think everyone is probably asleep by now. They were tired, but not exhausted. I hope they sleep well. I personally love sleeping with the fans, especially compared to A/C.
It is good to have everyone here and I look forward to serving with this bunch this week. I don't know everyone on the team very well, just some of them. It will be fun to get to know them on a mission trip. It's a special time and way to bond.
I'm calling it a night for now. I'm very content and think I'll sleep wonderfully! God is soooo good! Can't wait to tell people that tomorrow!
Friday, March 18, 2011
Friday, 3/18 in Nicaragua
It's very much bedtime, but I'm just now getting a chance to post for the day. It's been another good day. :)
This morning we headed into town on the bus to meet German at El Callejon, one of my favorite restaurants. The taxi driver asked if we were North Americans. He said that he noticed that we checked the license plate on the taxis before choosing him. If they are a 'legal' taxi, they will have a red and white license plate. The gypsy taxis just have the regular vehicle plate. We made the mistake of riding in an unofficial taxi once. People were not happy. We respect the drivers who are legit. It costs a lot of money for that license plate and takes years to pay off. They deserve our business. Anyway, I was quite pleased to be able to have this discussion with him in Spanish. progress...
We had a yummy lunch. I love the steak with chimichurri sauce. We all got it, rice and beans, steamed veggies and a tortilla. Mary gave German part of her steak (it was a little tough, but I liked it) and some rice, the part of the veggies she doesn't care for (squash, etc) and her tortilla. His plate was full! He ate as much as he could and then got a to-go box. The people at the restaurant are very nice. I enjoy them.
Then we walked over to a music store. We each had our backpacks, German was also carrying his motorcycle helmet and to-go box, Mary ended up carrying some bags for groceries that I started out with and I ended up carrying a guitar that FBCR is donating to the ministry. We were quite the troupe of people walking single file down the narrow sidewalks (and in the street much of the time).
We then went to La Unión Supermercado for groceries for the team. Mary and I had discussed earlier what meals we would like to have and our cook, Yasmina, met us at the store and we filled up 3 carts with groceries. I filled up an additional cart with cookies that the team is buying for VBS next week. Mary's favorite sack boy was not there today, but he greeted her yesterday when we stopped in. We had two very hard working sack boys today. They were loading our groceries into boxes and giant bags. Then they took it straight out to our hired van, who had backed up to the front door of the store. It was hilarious. They've never allowed us to do that before. We got all the food packed away in the van and then Eduardo drove Mary and I home. Saturnino and Eduardo helped us unload everything. Then Mary and I put it all away. It took about an hour in the grocery store and another hour at the house. Grocery shopping for teams is a time consuming event. German will bring out the jugs of water, ice, and sweet bread tomorrow. We'll still have to go by the store mid-week for more groceries (we only have 2 regular size fridges), but we got most of it today.
Mary and I went through some suitcases and tubs to see what we had stored here for the team to use. I did some computer work and then we took off for our last sunset walk on the beach until the team leaves. It was a nice walk. The waves and current were very strong. We met 2 couples from Texas who were vacationing here. We came in and had a bite to eat. I had peanutbutter and apple, since I was still so full from lunch. I got a refreshing shower and Mary got on her computer. I did some bookkeeping chores and read ahead on my Bible Study.
It's the last quiet night here for a week. We're looking forward to the team getting here tomorrow. I've really enjoyed having these extra days to prepare instead of rushing to get ready in just a day or two. God has blessed us with some relaxing, but productive days.
I'm signing off now to enjoy the quiet night. I know the team is excited as they are going to bed tonight in Rogers. God is so faithful and gracious and generous. I'm so thankful that He allows us to be a part of His work.
This morning we headed into town on the bus to meet German at El Callejon, one of my favorite restaurants. The taxi driver asked if we were North Americans. He said that he noticed that we checked the license plate on the taxis before choosing him. If they are a 'legal' taxi, they will have a red and white license plate. The gypsy taxis just have the regular vehicle plate. We made the mistake of riding in an unofficial taxi once. People were not happy. We respect the drivers who are legit. It costs a lot of money for that license plate and takes years to pay off. They deserve our business. Anyway, I was quite pleased to be able to have this discussion with him in Spanish. progress...
We had a yummy lunch. I love the steak with chimichurri sauce. We all got it, rice and beans, steamed veggies and a tortilla. Mary gave German part of her steak (it was a little tough, but I liked it) and some rice, the part of the veggies she doesn't care for (squash, etc) and her tortilla. His plate was full! He ate as much as he could and then got a to-go box. The people at the restaurant are very nice. I enjoy them.
Then we walked over to a music store. We each had our backpacks, German was also carrying his motorcycle helmet and to-go box, Mary ended up carrying some bags for groceries that I started out with and I ended up carrying a guitar that FBCR is donating to the ministry. We were quite the troupe of people walking single file down the narrow sidewalks (and in the street much of the time).
We then went to La Unión Supermercado for groceries for the team. Mary and I had discussed earlier what meals we would like to have and our cook, Yasmina, met us at the store and we filled up 3 carts with groceries. I filled up an additional cart with cookies that the team is buying for VBS next week. Mary's favorite sack boy was not there today, but he greeted her yesterday when we stopped in. We had two very hard working sack boys today. They were loading our groceries into boxes and giant bags. Then they took it straight out to our hired van, who had backed up to the front door of the store. It was hilarious. They've never allowed us to do that before. We got all the food packed away in the van and then Eduardo drove Mary and I home. Saturnino and Eduardo helped us unload everything. Then Mary and I put it all away. It took about an hour in the grocery store and another hour at the house. Grocery shopping for teams is a time consuming event. German will bring out the jugs of water, ice, and sweet bread tomorrow. We'll still have to go by the store mid-week for more groceries (we only have 2 regular size fridges), but we got most of it today.
Mary and I went through some suitcases and tubs to see what we had stored here for the team to use. I did some computer work and then we took off for our last sunset walk on the beach until the team leaves. It was a nice walk. The waves and current were very strong. We met 2 couples from Texas who were vacationing here. We came in and had a bite to eat. I had peanutbutter and apple, since I was still so full from lunch. I got a refreshing shower and Mary got on her computer. I did some bookkeeping chores and read ahead on my Bible Study.
It's the last quiet night here for a week. We're looking forward to the team getting here tomorrow. I've really enjoyed having these extra days to prepare instead of rushing to get ready in just a day or two. God has blessed us with some relaxing, but productive days.
I'm signing off now to enjoy the quiet night. I know the team is excited as they are going to bed tonight in Rogers. God is so faithful and gracious and generous. I'm so thankful that He allows us to be a part of His work.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Wednesday & Thursday 3/16-17 in Nicaragua
Wednesday: Woke up to the sound of the ocean and the birds singing (squawking) in the trees. So wonderful. It starts getting warm early and the fans blowing across the bed felt great.
I started the day with Bible Study and then a poptart. Then it was time to unpack the clothes that I leave here at the team house and the stuff that I brought. It looks like I brought a grocery store, since I can't eat certain things and bring what I can from the states. I have oatmeal, craisins and walnuts (for the oatmeal), prunes, tropical trail mix, mixed nuts, granola bars, tuna, organic crackers, etc. But it sure helps to keep me somewhat healthy, so I don't mind bringing it. I also brought German 2 big boxes of instant oatmeal, which he discovered he liked from my last trip.
Mary and I worked all morning getting things moved around and unpacked at the house. Then I had a pb&j sandwich and took a nap. I got some computer work done (Dubai College team, Community Meal Project, etc) and then visited with Mary downstairs. We sent Saturnino to Suyapa restaurant on his bike for dinner. Grilled chicken and veggies. Yum!
I finished the night on the computer (so glad that God allows internet access here!) and then went to sleep. It was a very peaceful and lovely sleep! God is blessing me with some relaxation after weeks of running around like crazy trying to get many projects in line. It's good to have a little down time.
Thursday: Woke up to those lovely birds again. I enjoy them. Did my Bible study on the veranda upstairs. I love sitting there feeling the breeze and seeing the ocean and palm trees and reading God's word.
Mary and I took the bus into León (about a 45-50 minute ride) and caught a taxi to La Unión grocery store (owned by Walmart). We picked up a couple of things and then met German at Tip Top Chicken restaurant (our favorite) for a lunch meeting. We went over schedules for the team for this coming week. Then we went to the corner to do some money exchanging. German went to teach his Spanish class for missionaries. Then Mary and I went walking around and visited the Central Park, where I bought a few more of the woven zippered bags that I love to use and give as gifts. We then walked over to Eskimo for our special treat of ice cream. Cono Jumbo is a double dip of ice cream on a waffle cone. Last year they raised the price to $1.50 US, but that still isn't bad. I have pictures of Mary and I enjoying our ice cream from two different trips where she is wearing a turquoise shirt. I looked at her funny today and mentioned that she was wearing a turquoise shirt again. Oh well, it was funny to us.
We grabbed another taxi (it costs us about 75 cents each) to the bus stop for Poneloya. We had the driver drop us off at the corner where the bus used to pick up. No bus, no people. hmmm. Then the money taker from the bus walked around the corner and told us the bus now stops just a little ways down the street and showed us the way. I guess someone noticed us and told him we were at the corner. We were glad that he came to get us. Who knows how long we would have stood there! We were lucky to get seats. When we boarded the bus, someone yelled "Mary!". It was a man named Victor from the Jericho church. Mary sat with him and I sat in front of them. I tried translating for them, but it was really hard for me to hear on the bus with the noise and with my hearing loss. We did okay, though. He wanted to know how long we are staying and if we can come to their church mission in Las Peñitas (near Poneloya). We gave him German's number. We don't have the words yet for that kind of conversation.
We got home and put our stuff away and rested a little. Mary got on her computer for a while. She even got news about Searcy AR. She says she can't get that back home. She has to come to Nica for it!
We took our first (for this trip) daily (when a team is not here) sunset walk on the beach. It was nice to walk in the water and look at sea shells. Oh my! How the waves have changed the beach! It was a lovely walk and we met a man from Canada who is here for 4-5 months waiting for the snow to melt back home. He was all tanned. We saw one of the blonde dogs from the area. He's the one we named Happy. We didn't see his brother with 3 legs, who we had named Hoppy. We did see a rather fat cat using the beach for her littler box. She had dug quite a large spot (maybe 3 feet wide). Very ambitious.
Mary ate the rest of her lunch salad for dinner and I fixed a tuna sandwich, organic crackers and a cucumber for dinner. Quite tasty. I grabbed a shower and jumped on the computer. Mary read for a while and now we are both tucked into our rooms for the night.
Tomorrow will be a big day of making up 18 beds, distributing towels, buying tons of groceries and getting ready for the team. Grocery buying day is always an adventure. Putting everything away comes in a close second. We'll take the bus into town to meet German, have lunch and then meet the cook at the grocery store. Then we'll hire a van to bring us and the grub home. We are finding many ways to cut costs, even here in Nica.
I stepped on a bee tonight in my room and my toe is killing me. That darn bee packed a wallop. I don't imagine that he was too happy with my big foot coming down on him, either. At least he is out of his misery. ha
Another wonderful day full of blessings from the Lord.
I started the day with Bible Study and then a poptart. Then it was time to unpack the clothes that I leave here at the team house and the stuff that I brought. It looks like I brought a grocery store, since I can't eat certain things and bring what I can from the states. I have oatmeal, craisins and walnuts (for the oatmeal), prunes, tropical trail mix, mixed nuts, granola bars, tuna, organic crackers, etc. But it sure helps to keep me somewhat healthy, so I don't mind bringing it. I also brought German 2 big boxes of instant oatmeal, which he discovered he liked from my last trip.
Mary and I worked all morning getting things moved around and unpacked at the house. Then I had a pb&j sandwich and took a nap. I got some computer work done (Dubai College team, Community Meal Project, etc) and then visited with Mary downstairs. We sent Saturnino to Suyapa restaurant on his bike for dinner. Grilled chicken and veggies. Yum!
I finished the night on the computer (so glad that God allows internet access here!) and then went to sleep. It was a very peaceful and lovely sleep! God is blessing me with some relaxation after weeks of running around like crazy trying to get many projects in line. It's good to have a little down time.
Thursday: Woke up to those lovely birds again. I enjoy them. Did my Bible study on the veranda upstairs. I love sitting there feeling the breeze and seeing the ocean and palm trees and reading God's word.
Mary and I took the bus into León (about a 45-50 minute ride) and caught a taxi to La Unión grocery store (owned by Walmart). We picked up a couple of things and then met German at Tip Top Chicken restaurant (our favorite) for a lunch meeting. We went over schedules for the team for this coming week. Then we went to the corner to do some money exchanging. German went to teach his Spanish class for missionaries. Then Mary and I went walking around and visited the Central Park, where I bought a few more of the woven zippered bags that I love to use and give as gifts. We then walked over to Eskimo for our special treat of ice cream. Cono Jumbo is a double dip of ice cream on a waffle cone. Last year they raised the price to $1.50 US, but that still isn't bad. I have pictures of Mary and I enjoying our ice cream from two different trips where she is wearing a turquoise shirt. I looked at her funny today and mentioned that she was wearing a turquoise shirt again. Oh well, it was funny to us.
We grabbed another taxi (it costs us about 75 cents each) to the bus stop for Poneloya. We had the driver drop us off at the corner where the bus used to pick up. No bus, no people. hmmm. Then the money taker from the bus walked around the corner and told us the bus now stops just a little ways down the street and showed us the way. I guess someone noticed us and told him we were at the corner. We were glad that he came to get us. Who knows how long we would have stood there! We were lucky to get seats. When we boarded the bus, someone yelled "Mary!". It was a man named Victor from the Jericho church. Mary sat with him and I sat in front of them. I tried translating for them, but it was really hard for me to hear on the bus with the noise and with my hearing loss. We did okay, though. He wanted to know how long we are staying and if we can come to their church mission in Las Peñitas (near Poneloya). We gave him German's number. We don't have the words yet for that kind of conversation.
We got home and put our stuff away and rested a little. Mary got on her computer for a while. She even got news about Searcy AR. She says she can't get that back home. She has to come to Nica for it!
We took our first (for this trip) daily (when a team is not here) sunset walk on the beach. It was nice to walk in the water and look at sea shells. Oh my! How the waves have changed the beach! It was a lovely walk and we met a man from Canada who is here for 4-5 months waiting for the snow to melt back home. He was all tanned. We saw one of the blonde dogs from the area. He's the one we named Happy. We didn't see his brother with 3 legs, who we had named Hoppy. We did see a rather fat cat using the beach for her littler box. She had dug quite a large spot (maybe 3 feet wide). Very ambitious.
Mary ate the rest of her lunch salad for dinner and I fixed a tuna sandwich, organic crackers and a cucumber for dinner. Quite tasty. I grabbed a shower and jumped on the computer. Mary read for a while and now we are both tucked into our rooms for the night.
Tomorrow will be a big day of making up 18 beds, distributing towels, buying tons of groceries and getting ready for the team. Grocery buying day is always an adventure. Putting everything away comes in a close second. We'll take the bus into town to meet German, have lunch and then meet the cook at the grocery store. Then we'll hire a van to bring us and the grub home. We are finding many ways to cut costs, even here in Nica.
I stepped on a bee tonight in my room and my toe is killing me. That darn bee packed a wallop. I don't imagine that he was too happy with my big foot coming down on him, either. At least he is out of his misery. ha
Another wonderful day full of blessings from the Lord.
coming Home to Nicaragua
On Tuesday I began my journey back to Nicaragua. I arrived at XNA airport (Rogers AR) the required 2 hours early for my international flight. As I was struggling with my bags at the back of Deanna's van, a nice gentleman who was waiting for his ride said he would help me if Deanna would watch his bags. He strolled right up to the counter for me. How nice! There was hardly anyone else in the airport. I zipped right through security. No pat downs this time! I grabbed a bagel (for emergencies) and a bottled water and settled in to a somewhat comfortable seat by the tv monitor to await my flight. I made a few phone calls and watched the news and started feeling a little drowsy.
Our flight from XNA to IAH (Houston) was less than half full. The flight attendant told us over the speaker to just sit wherever we wanted. I grabbed a double seat and got comfy. I read my Kindle and dozed off for a little while.
We reached IAH just a few minutes early, so I had the chance to visit the restroom and grab a sandwich to go before heading to my gate, where I met up with Mary (flying in from Little Rock). I had just enough time to get my passport and boarding pass checked and then boarded the plane. I had an aisle seat and the one next to me was empty, so it was nice to have both arm rests to my self. (funny how those little things can make a person happy).
When we arrived in Managua we scurried on to immigration and then to customs. The Ministry of Health was passing out forms asking where you were coming from, what cities you had visited and if you had any of a list of nasty symptoms. I wondered how thorough this process would be, but when I went through the immigration station, the guy took my health form and just set it aside and didn't even look at it. I guess I looked healthy enough. On to getting our baggage and then through customs, which is just a ride for the baggage through an x-ray machine and handing the paper to someone, who also doesn't look at it. Then we were free to traverse the doors of glass that connect to the wall of glass. It was good to see German. He's like a younger brother to me. I love to hear his voice and see his smile.
We made a quick stop at On the Run (convenience store) for water (Pepsi for Mary) and a few things for the morning. Then off for the long ride to the team house. It was the first time Mary and I got to chat and we also caught up with German on things going on down here. We made it to the team house about 11:30 Nica time (12:30 AR time). We unpacked a little and then went to bed. I have to say that I find it funny that the cleaning lady (Araceliz) always put the mattress cover OVER the fitted sheet and I end up remaking the bed. But it's all good. A great night of sleep listening to the ocean waves and the 2 fans blowing in my room. It's good to be back.
God blessed us with good flights, good weather, making our connection in Houston, safe travel from the airport and a safe home to sleep in. He is awesome.
Our flight from XNA to IAH (Houston) was less than half full. The flight attendant told us over the speaker to just sit wherever we wanted. I grabbed a double seat and got comfy. I read my Kindle and dozed off for a little while.
We reached IAH just a few minutes early, so I had the chance to visit the restroom and grab a sandwich to go before heading to my gate, where I met up with Mary (flying in from Little Rock). I had just enough time to get my passport and boarding pass checked and then boarded the plane. I had an aisle seat and the one next to me was empty, so it was nice to have both arm rests to my self. (funny how those little things can make a person happy).
When we arrived in Managua we scurried on to immigration and then to customs. The Ministry of Health was passing out forms asking where you were coming from, what cities you had visited and if you had any of a list of nasty symptoms. I wondered how thorough this process would be, but when I went through the immigration station, the guy took my health form and just set it aside and didn't even look at it. I guess I looked healthy enough. On to getting our baggage and then through customs, which is just a ride for the baggage through an x-ray machine and handing the paper to someone, who also doesn't look at it. Then we were free to traverse the doors of glass that connect to the wall of glass. It was good to see German. He's like a younger brother to me. I love to hear his voice and see his smile.
We made a quick stop at On the Run (convenience store) for water (Pepsi for Mary) and a few things for the morning. Then off for the long ride to the team house. It was the first time Mary and I got to chat and we also caught up with German on things going on down here. We made it to the team house about 11:30 Nica time (12:30 AR time). We unpacked a little and then went to bed. I have to say that I find it funny that the cleaning lady (Araceliz) always put the mattress cover OVER the fitted sheet and I end up remaking the bed. But it's all good. A great night of sleep listening to the ocean waves and the 2 fans blowing in my room. It's good to be back.
God blessed us with good flights, good weather, making our connection in Houston, safe travel from the airport and a safe home to sleep in. He is awesome.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
March 16, 2011
I'm sitting here in my room at the team house in Nicaragua posting on my blog. How wonderful! (as I'm typing this, I'm chatting on facebook with Kearsten, one of the team members coming down from FBCR on Saturday!)
Sunday, I watched FBCR on tv and then went to worship with Cuerpo Vivo. We took advantage of moving the clocks forward and also moved the starting time for church to an hour earlier. We were down a little bit in numbers, but it was a great worship service. It was nice to get out about 12:30 instead of 1:30. The Brock family from FBCR and Kayla attended the service. Unfortunately, the website had not been updated with the time change yet, so they missed the music, but were there for the sermon. It was nice to see their smiling faces.
I was blessed to have lunch with the Treviños. Mark bought my lunch and was happy when they gave me a senior discount. :) It was good company and great food.
I went home and worked some more on getting packed for Nicaragua. I made some turkey meatballs and enjoyed those for dinner. I also worked on my Bible study for Monday morning, since I had an early ear doctor appointment.
Monday, Angela took me to my hearing test. It was nice to catch up with her. The test revealed what we thought, significant hearing loss in my right ear. All the mechanics of the ear are fine and healthy. No fluid or swelling or anything. So the problem seems to be neurological. A problem with the nerves between the ear and the brain. I suspect that there may not be a brain to receive the impulses, but I'm no doctor. :) I have an appointment with Dr Black on April 6. We'll see what he says. I just hope it doesn't cost a lot of money! I'm very thankful that no pain is involved. It is a little frustrating that I'm trying to learn a new language and can't hear very well. But I'm not giving up!!!
Angela dropped me off at the church after my appointment and I got some last minute stuff done for the Nicaragua trip and the Dubai College trip. Kellie took me to the post office to get some boxes to ship training materials to the College team. Then we went to the bank and then had lunch at Rolando's. It was sooo good.
Back to the church for staff meeting. Jaime presented the vision and status of Cuerpo Vivo church. It was very informative and encouraging. I hope it was enlightening for the people who seem to have a problem with God working through this wonderful church. God is blessing the Hispanic ministry tremendously and I'm very humbled and proud to be a part of it.
Monday night I got home and made some roasted chicken breast and some real mashed potatoes. I was craving them! They were pretty good. Then I worked until 11:30 finishing up my packing. I slept pretty well finally.
Tuesday morning, I was blessed to get to share with the Ladies Bible study group about what God has been doing in my life. I'm always excited to brag on God. He is so awesome and uses even a worthless creature like me to shine His glory. Our large group lecture (by Lisa) was wonderful, as always, and our small group discussion time was equally great. I will only miss one session while I'm in Nica, but I know I'll be missing a blessing even from that one week. Great study of God's wonderful Word!
Deanna and Amy and Barbara took me to lunch at Chick-Fil-A. (Thanks Barbara for the meal!) Then Deanna dropped me off at the airport for my trip to Nica.
I'll share more about the trip in the next post. I'm too sleepy now to remember everything.
My God is so wonderful, loving, gracious and generous. He is making my life so happy right now. No matter the circumstances, I am always ecstatic to be serving Him! (remind me of this the next time I whine!)
I love You my Lord.
Sunday, I watched FBCR on tv and then went to worship with Cuerpo Vivo. We took advantage of moving the clocks forward and also moved the starting time for church to an hour earlier. We were down a little bit in numbers, but it was a great worship service. It was nice to get out about 12:30 instead of 1:30. The Brock family from FBCR and Kayla attended the service. Unfortunately, the website had not been updated with the time change yet, so they missed the music, but were there for the sermon. It was nice to see their smiling faces.
I was blessed to have lunch with the Treviños. Mark bought my lunch and was happy when they gave me a senior discount. :) It was good company and great food.
I went home and worked some more on getting packed for Nicaragua. I made some turkey meatballs and enjoyed those for dinner. I also worked on my Bible study for Monday morning, since I had an early ear doctor appointment.
Monday, Angela took me to my hearing test. It was nice to catch up with her. The test revealed what we thought, significant hearing loss in my right ear. All the mechanics of the ear are fine and healthy. No fluid or swelling or anything. So the problem seems to be neurological. A problem with the nerves between the ear and the brain. I suspect that there may not be a brain to receive the impulses, but I'm no doctor. :) I have an appointment with Dr Black on April 6. We'll see what he says. I just hope it doesn't cost a lot of money! I'm very thankful that no pain is involved. It is a little frustrating that I'm trying to learn a new language and can't hear very well. But I'm not giving up!!!
Angela dropped me off at the church after my appointment and I got some last minute stuff done for the Nicaragua trip and the Dubai College trip. Kellie took me to the post office to get some boxes to ship training materials to the College team. Then we went to the bank and then had lunch at Rolando's. It was sooo good.
Back to the church for staff meeting. Jaime presented the vision and status of Cuerpo Vivo church. It was very informative and encouraging. I hope it was enlightening for the people who seem to have a problem with God working through this wonderful church. God is blessing the Hispanic ministry tremendously and I'm very humbled and proud to be a part of it.
Monday night I got home and made some roasted chicken breast and some real mashed potatoes. I was craving them! They were pretty good. Then I worked until 11:30 finishing up my packing. I slept pretty well finally.
Tuesday morning, I was blessed to get to share with the Ladies Bible study group about what God has been doing in my life. I'm always excited to brag on God. He is so awesome and uses even a worthless creature like me to shine His glory. Our large group lecture (by Lisa) was wonderful, as always, and our small group discussion time was equally great. I will only miss one session while I'm in Nica, but I know I'll be missing a blessing even from that one week. Great study of God's wonderful Word!
Deanna and Amy and Barbara took me to lunch at Chick-Fil-A. (Thanks Barbara for the meal!) Then Deanna dropped me off at the airport for my trip to Nica.
I'll share more about the trip in the next post. I'm too sleepy now to remember everything.
My God is so wonderful, loving, gracious and generous. He is making my life so happy right now. No matter the circumstances, I am always ecstatic to be serving Him! (remind me of this the next time I whine!)
I love You my Lord.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
March 12, 2011
Saturday evening. Trying to convince my body that it's an hour later, so that I can go to sleep and wake up at the 'right' time tomorrow.
Thursday was a great day of getting things done at home on the computer and some chores around the house. I got things all ready to hit it hard on Friday. There were 3 interpreters at the medical clinic, so I didn't need to go. I'm not a whole lot of help (quality help, anyway), but I can communicate in a pinch. And I enjoy it.
Friday morning I was up early doing my Bible study so that I could catch a ride with Deanna to the Olive street church offices. She was fussing at me for not wearing my 'green' for St Patrick's Day, until I told her she was a week early. LOL
Once I got to the church with my plastic tub of various items to deal with, I started right in. I made info packets for the parents of the Nicaragua team. Made copies of a corrected flyer for the Friday lunch project, so that the Food Pantry could pass them out. The Food Pantry was in good hands and didn't need my help, so I went over to the kitchen to start some of the food for the lunches. Kaye was there in the kitchen preparing for a banquet for that night. I got to chat with her for a little while, which was nice.
Heidi and Melanie came with their little volunteers and started setting up for the lunches. Melanie ran me to pick up sandwich makings, fruit and cookies. We set up for the lunches in the gym this week, since the Fellowship Hall was set up for the banquet. We didn't have any new people, but we had some new volunteers and it was nice to introduce them to each other. More discussion was shared about plans and procedures and we've made great progress. Now we just need to get the word out more and get ready for lots of guests in the coming weeks.
After the lunch, I went upstairs and started packing suitcases and tubs with ministry supplies to take to Nicaragua. I want to have everything ready so that the team can just grab an extra tub/suitcase on the day they leave for the airport. It will be great to get lots of stuff down there.
When I got home about 3:30, I laid down on the sofa just to rest a minute and I fell into a very deep sleep. Deanna said I was snoring up a storm. It felt good to have that nap.
Today, I did a few more chores around the house and then borrowed Deanna's van to run to some stores to pick up items that I need to take to Nica with me. I spent forever in Walmart getting stuff on my list and using some coupons. I brought everything home and started packing my extra bags with supplies. I have most of my stuff packed now, so it won't be too hard to finish up in the next few days.
I plan on enjoying worship tomorrow and being with friends. Monday will be a doctor's appointment for a hearing test, staff meeting, then a final meeting with Brian S about the Nica team. Tuesday morning will be Bible study, lunch with Deanna and then heading for the airport. It will go by fast.
I have enjoyed so much the Chronological Bible Study. I was excited to realize that my flight is late enough in the afternoon that I could still attend Bible Study that morning. That means I will only miss 1 day while I'm in Nica. I'll be doing my daily study, but I will miss the large group lecture and small group discussion on the last Tuesday of this month.
The earthquake and tsunami in Japan has been quite something. Now there is danger from the nuclear plant there. Life here can change in a heartbeat. I'm so thankful that I know my Savior and Father and have the promise and hope of Heaven. This life is temporary and we need to keep that in mind. I pray that I will keep my eyes on what is lasting and that I can glorify God by sharing that with others.
I'm so thankful for my friends and kingdom family. Being on facebook reminds me of many people who I have been blessed to meet and to know on many different levels. God has been so good to me. I am truly honored to be a Child of the King and to have wonderful brothers and sisters in Christ.
Thursday was a great day of getting things done at home on the computer and some chores around the house. I got things all ready to hit it hard on Friday. There were 3 interpreters at the medical clinic, so I didn't need to go. I'm not a whole lot of help (quality help, anyway), but I can communicate in a pinch. And I enjoy it.
Friday morning I was up early doing my Bible study so that I could catch a ride with Deanna to the Olive street church offices. She was fussing at me for not wearing my 'green' for St Patrick's Day, until I told her she was a week early. LOL
Once I got to the church with my plastic tub of various items to deal with, I started right in. I made info packets for the parents of the Nicaragua team. Made copies of a corrected flyer for the Friday lunch project, so that the Food Pantry could pass them out. The Food Pantry was in good hands and didn't need my help, so I went over to the kitchen to start some of the food for the lunches. Kaye was there in the kitchen preparing for a banquet for that night. I got to chat with her for a little while, which was nice.
Heidi and Melanie came with their little volunteers and started setting up for the lunches. Melanie ran me to pick up sandwich makings, fruit and cookies. We set up for the lunches in the gym this week, since the Fellowship Hall was set up for the banquet. We didn't have any new people, but we had some new volunteers and it was nice to introduce them to each other. More discussion was shared about plans and procedures and we've made great progress. Now we just need to get the word out more and get ready for lots of guests in the coming weeks.
After the lunch, I went upstairs and started packing suitcases and tubs with ministry supplies to take to Nicaragua. I want to have everything ready so that the team can just grab an extra tub/suitcase on the day they leave for the airport. It will be great to get lots of stuff down there.
When I got home about 3:30, I laid down on the sofa just to rest a minute and I fell into a very deep sleep. Deanna said I was snoring up a storm. It felt good to have that nap.
Today, I did a few more chores around the house and then borrowed Deanna's van to run to some stores to pick up items that I need to take to Nica with me. I spent forever in Walmart getting stuff on my list and using some coupons. I brought everything home and started packing my extra bags with supplies. I have most of my stuff packed now, so it won't be too hard to finish up in the next few days.
I plan on enjoying worship tomorrow and being with friends. Monday will be a doctor's appointment for a hearing test, staff meeting, then a final meeting with Brian S about the Nica team. Tuesday morning will be Bible study, lunch with Deanna and then heading for the airport. It will go by fast.
I have enjoyed so much the Chronological Bible Study. I was excited to realize that my flight is late enough in the afternoon that I could still attend Bible Study that morning. That means I will only miss 1 day while I'm in Nica. I'll be doing my daily study, but I will miss the large group lecture and small group discussion on the last Tuesday of this month.
The earthquake and tsunami in Japan has been quite something. Now there is danger from the nuclear plant there. Life here can change in a heartbeat. I'm so thankful that I know my Savior and Father and have the promise and hope of Heaven. This life is temporary and we need to keep that in mind. I pray that I will keep my eyes on what is lasting and that I can glorify God by sharing that with others.
I'm so thankful for my friends and kingdom family. Being on facebook reminds me of many people who I have been blessed to meet and to know on many different levels. God has been so good to me. I am truly honored to be a Child of the King and to have wonderful brothers and sisters in Christ.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
my birthday 2011
Birthdays have taken on a new feeling since I started in my 50s. It seems absurd to be 50, so every year it seems funny to add a higher digit to my age. This year makes 54. So weird!
After Bible study yesterday, many of the ladies ended up at Chick-Fil-A for lunch. As the 4 of us in our group ordered, someone told the manager that it was going to be my birthday today. While we were eating, he brought a balloon tied to a little stuffed cow (their mascot) to my table. Someone started singing Happy Birthday and when the ladies from Bible study (who were spread all over the restaurant) joined in, the other people in the restaurant looked surprised that so many people were singing. It was funny. and a little embarrassing. :) But it made me feel loved... I tried giving my balloon away to some moms when we were leaving, but no takers. So before we got in the car, I made a birthday wish and let the balloon go. We watched it fly way up in the air. It was kind of fun.
Deanna and her grand-daughter, Melanie, took me out to eat last night at Smokin' Joes. It was very tasty! We had fun talking about things that happened when Melanie was little. Deanna always has wonderful stories. I gave my little Chick-Fil-A cow to Melanie for her black and white bedroom.
I started the day with the usual... Wonderful Bible study. Check emails. Super Oatmeal for breakfast. Laundry. Trying to organize my bedroom. Sorting out items to be given away. Lunch. Nap. More emails and work. Dinner at Red Lobster with Nana Ruth. Home. More emails. A little more work before bedtime.
I've had over a hundred birthday wishes on facebook today. I feel so blessed! It was been fun to hear from friends from all over the world and around the country. It makes my heart warm to remember how I've met these people. God has blessed my life so much with these wonderful encounters. God has given me wonderful memories. I enjoyed answering each post.
I received a little birthday money and I'm putting it into my airline account. I'm going to keep a savings account going for plane tickets to travel and work with other missionaries around the world. My next trip (besides serving in Nicaragua, of course!) is a joint trip to India/Dubai. I hope to be able to go in late August through Sept and maybe into October. God is blessing me with opportunities and the desire to go, and I know He will provide the way if it's His will to do it.
I was also blessed with a laptop backpack to give to a friend in Nic. That was a wonderful gift for me! I love being able to bless other people.
I've got a few major projects to accomplish by weeks' end, and it gives me a little anxiety not to have a vehicle to come and go and get things done, but it will all work out okay. I want to get my bags packed for Nic by Sunday. I have lots of tubs and bags to get packed for the team to take. I want to get them done this Friday. I leave on Tuesday and Monday is already filled with a doctor's appointment and staff meeting. I'd like to keep Sunday a day of rest and worship and not packing. :)
My sister Pam is through with her radiation treatments for breast cancer. She is feeling pretty good, considering. Her blood sugar (she has diabetes) has been more stable during the radiation treatments. She's interested to find out how it goes now that her treatments are done. She'll be seeing her doctors in the next weeks to see what the next steps are. I'm glad to hear her feeling better.
My sister Sandy called today after picking up her grandson Conner from preschool, thinking that he would want to join her in singing happy birthday to me. He felt that she could handle the singing by herself. He is funny.
I guess I'll go to bed for now. Getting older makes a person sleepy. I'm very blessed and thankful to my Lord. I hope that He is glorified through my life. He deserves so much more than I can give. My birthday is a celebration of His Love.
After Bible study yesterday, many of the ladies ended up at Chick-Fil-A for lunch. As the 4 of us in our group ordered, someone told the manager that it was going to be my birthday today. While we were eating, he brought a balloon tied to a little stuffed cow (their mascot) to my table. Someone started singing Happy Birthday and when the ladies from Bible study (who were spread all over the restaurant) joined in, the other people in the restaurant looked surprised that so many people were singing. It was funny. and a little embarrassing. :) But it made me feel loved... I tried giving my balloon away to some moms when we were leaving, but no takers. So before we got in the car, I made a birthday wish and let the balloon go. We watched it fly way up in the air. It was kind of fun.
Deanna and her grand-daughter, Melanie, took me out to eat last night at Smokin' Joes. It was very tasty! We had fun talking about things that happened when Melanie was little. Deanna always has wonderful stories. I gave my little Chick-Fil-A cow to Melanie for her black and white bedroom.
I started the day with the usual... Wonderful Bible study. Check emails. Super Oatmeal for breakfast. Laundry. Trying to organize my bedroom. Sorting out items to be given away. Lunch. Nap. More emails and work. Dinner at Red Lobster with Nana Ruth. Home. More emails. A little more work before bedtime.
I've had over a hundred birthday wishes on facebook today. I feel so blessed! It was been fun to hear from friends from all over the world and around the country. It makes my heart warm to remember how I've met these people. God has blessed my life so much with these wonderful encounters. God has given me wonderful memories. I enjoyed answering each post.
I received a little birthday money and I'm putting it into my airline account. I'm going to keep a savings account going for plane tickets to travel and work with other missionaries around the world. My next trip (besides serving in Nicaragua, of course!) is a joint trip to India/Dubai. I hope to be able to go in late August through Sept and maybe into October. God is blessing me with opportunities and the desire to go, and I know He will provide the way if it's His will to do it.
I was also blessed with a laptop backpack to give to a friend in Nic. That was a wonderful gift for me! I love being able to bless other people.
I've got a few major projects to accomplish by weeks' end, and it gives me a little anxiety not to have a vehicle to come and go and get things done, but it will all work out okay. I want to get my bags packed for Nic by Sunday. I have lots of tubs and bags to get packed for the team to take. I want to get them done this Friday. I leave on Tuesday and Monday is already filled with a doctor's appointment and staff meeting. I'd like to keep Sunday a day of rest and worship and not packing. :)
My sister Pam is through with her radiation treatments for breast cancer. She is feeling pretty good, considering. Her blood sugar (she has diabetes) has been more stable during the radiation treatments. She's interested to find out how it goes now that her treatments are done. She'll be seeing her doctors in the next weeks to see what the next steps are. I'm glad to hear her feeling better.
My sister Sandy called today after picking up her grandson Conner from preschool, thinking that he would want to join her in singing happy birthday to me. He felt that she could handle the singing by herself. He is funny.
I guess I'll go to bed for now. Getting older makes a person sleepy. I'm very blessed and thankful to my Lord. I hope that He is glorified through my life. He deserves so much more than I can give. My birthday is a celebration of His Love.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Time keeps marching on and to-do lists get checked off, rewritten and waiver in importance. As things get more completed, I find I can sleep a little better. I'm still waking up in the middle of the night for a few hours, but I'm not worrying as much about the status of the projects. I always do this when I'm busy with multiple projects around the time that I will be traveling. My most constant concern is not meeting people's expectations. Then I go to the Lord and ask forgiveness for taking my focus off of Him and HIS expectations. He's the one who matters.
I enjoyed my time with little Allie on Thursday morning. Nana (Deanna) got home a little before 9am, so I got to enjoy Allie for over an hour. She fell asleep on my shoulder and snuggled up. Once Deanna took Allie, I retired to the den and enjoyed my Bible Study for the day. It has really been good. Leviticus, Deuteronomy, Exodus, Numbers... I can't believe how much God is speaking to me through these books that I have spent most of my life avoiding! His Word is wonderful!!
Thursday I got a lot of work done here at home. The only bad thing was that I ran out of printer ink here at the house. ugh. I went with Becca & Elizabeth Janes to get food for the Friday Community Meals at FBCR. We visited Aldi's and Harps and then went to the church. The Ladies' Cooking Ministry group was in the midst of their monthly cooking marathon, so we just put stuff away and went on home for the night. Elizabeth made the cookies that evening and then Becca went to the church about 6am to make the soup.
I got to the church on Friday about 9:00am. I dropped in at the Food Pantry and they were doing fine. Shirley sent me on over to the kitchen to get ready for the meal. We had some great volunteers come and had the chance for some brainstorming and planning. I very much want this ministry to be put together by the volunteers and not just something that I put in place and dictate procedures. Heidi is doing a great job of organizing the volunteers. Melanie and Bobbi were great with input and help. We had 3 volunteers from Cuerpo Vivo come to translate and share about the Hispanic church. We didn't have any customers for this first day, were not expecting many these first weeks. This type of ministry takes a while to build up. The volunteers got to serve the fellow workers and we invited the staff to come and have lunch, too. The soup was wonderful and the cookies yummy! We froze some of the soup, so we will have it for a backup in the weeks to come. I was very pleased with the day and look forward to next week and the weeks to come as we begin to minister to people with food.
I had taken one of the church vans home on Thursday night so that I could bring a bunch of tubs of ministry supplies for Nicaragua back to the church on Friday. Bobbi helped me move them upstairs to my 'holding area'. We got the chance to chat a while, which was wonderful. I caught a ride home mid afternoon and got a little rest.
Friday night I stepped in for Erika Martínez to oversee the childcare for the Cuerpo Vivo fellowship for couples. We had 15 kids and everything went really well, thanks to 3 great workers from FBCR Youth. I love these girls!
This morning I returned to the church to oversee the childcare for the Hispanic Pastoral Alliance conference. We had 25 kids from ages 2 months to 9 years. It was well again, and thanks again to the girls! We were treated to the lunch that was prepared by Cesar (one of the Abuelos chefs) for the Pastors and wives. It was great fajitas and beans and rice. I got to bring a little bit home for Deanna and I to eat for dinner, too. I enjoyed the kids today, but was ready for a little nap when I got home.
I worked on sorting, organizing and purging my work area in the den tonight. It's hard to keep things looking neat and tidy when there is no where to put them. I tend to have stacks. Like a stack with my Bible study stuff, a stack with Spanish study books, stacks for each project I'm working on for VOH, FBCR, etc. As long as I can keep up with it all, that's all that matters. Then when Deanna's family visits, I try to stash as much as I can out of the way. Especially, when I'm traveling for any length of time.
Tomorrow will be a nice day of worship. Then we have the last training meeting for the Nicaragua Youth team at 5pm. A couple of the girls going on the trip were helping with childcare the last 2 days. It was fun getting to talk with them. I would love to get a nap tomorrow afternoon, but we don't get out of Cuerpo Vivo church until late, so I may have to settle for just sitting on the sofa with my feet up while finishing up preparing for the meeting.
I can't wait to see what tomorrow morning's Bible Study has to say to me. Lovin' that Old Testament!!
I enjoyed my time with little Allie on Thursday morning. Nana (Deanna) got home a little before 9am, so I got to enjoy Allie for over an hour. She fell asleep on my shoulder and snuggled up. Once Deanna took Allie, I retired to the den and enjoyed my Bible Study for the day. It has really been good. Leviticus, Deuteronomy, Exodus, Numbers... I can't believe how much God is speaking to me through these books that I have spent most of my life avoiding! His Word is wonderful!!
Thursday I got a lot of work done here at home. The only bad thing was that I ran out of printer ink here at the house. ugh. I went with Becca & Elizabeth Janes to get food for the Friday Community Meals at FBCR. We visited Aldi's and Harps and then went to the church. The Ladies' Cooking Ministry group was in the midst of their monthly cooking marathon, so we just put stuff away and went on home for the night. Elizabeth made the cookies that evening and then Becca went to the church about 6am to make the soup.
I got to the church on Friday about 9:00am. I dropped in at the Food Pantry and they were doing fine. Shirley sent me on over to the kitchen to get ready for the meal. We had some great volunteers come and had the chance for some brainstorming and planning. I very much want this ministry to be put together by the volunteers and not just something that I put in place and dictate procedures. Heidi is doing a great job of organizing the volunteers. Melanie and Bobbi were great with input and help. We had 3 volunteers from Cuerpo Vivo come to translate and share about the Hispanic church. We didn't have any customers for this first day, were not expecting many these first weeks. This type of ministry takes a while to build up. The volunteers got to serve the fellow workers and we invited the staff to come and have lunch, too. The soup was wonderful and the cookies yummy! We froze some of the soup, so we will have it for a backup in the weeks to come. I was very pleased with the day and look forward to next week and the weeks to come as we begin to minister to people with food.
I had taken one of the church vans home on Thursday night so that I could bring a bunch of tubs of ministry supplies for Nicaragua back to the church on Friday. Bobbi helped me move them upstairs to my 'holding area'. We got the chance to chat a while, which was wonderful. I caught a ride home mid afternoon and got a little rest.
Friday night I stepped in for Erika Martínez to oversee the childcare for the Cuerpo Vivo fellowship for couples. We had 15 kids and everything went really well, thanks to 3 great workers from FBCR Youth. I love these girls!
This morning I returned to the church to oversee the childcare for the Hispanic Pastoral Alliance conference. We had 25 kids from ages 2 months to 9 years. It was well again, and thanks again to the girls! We were treated to the lunch that was prepared by Cesar (one of the Abuelos chefs) for the Pastors and wives. It was great fajitas and beans and rice. I got to bring a little bit home for Deanna and I to eat for dinner, too. I enjoyed the kids today, but was ready for a little nap when I got home.
I worked on sorting, organizing and purging my work area in the den tonight. It's hard to keep things looking neat and tidy when there is no where to put them. I tend to have stacks. Like a stack with my Bible study stuff, a stack with Spanish study books, stacks for each project I'm working on for VOH, FBCR, etc. As long as I can keep up with it all, that's all that matters. Then when Deanna's family visits, I try to stash as much as I can out of the way. Especially, when I'm traveling for any length of time.
Tomorrow will be a nice day of worship. Then we have the last training meeting for the Nicaragua Youth team at 5pm. A couple of the girls going on the trip were helping with childcare the last 2 days. It was fun getting to talk with them. I would love to get a nap tomorrow afternoon, but we don't get out of Cuerpo Vivo church until late, so I may have to settle for just sitting on the sofa with my feet up while finishing up preparing for the meeting.
I can't wait to see what tomorrow morning's Bible Study has to say to me. Lovin' that Old Testament!!
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Sitting in the den and looking around at the plastic tubs that were sorted through today. Stacks and stacks of stuff to take to Nicaragua, a tub of clearance office supplies I have picked up since I work from home, a tub of items I've saved from my trip to Thailand a few years ago & stuff I've saved from living in NYC. Piles of Bible Studies. And stacks of files that I'm currently working on. The room looks like that TLC show about Hoarders-Buried Alive. The cat even got scared as she was investigating! Thankfully, it's all controlled chaos, and much of it will be leaving soon.
Monday I got to babysit for a new family. I watched the cutest little 18 month old boy while his mom ran to a Dr appointment. He was sure busy, but a lot of fun. It was a good morning. Staff meeting in the afternoon was pleasant and informative. That sure makes things nice.
Yesterday's Bible Study was great, as always. Can you believe that I'm finding the book of Numbers interesting?? Studying the Bible chronologically really makes a difference. Large group lecture and small group discussion was so good. I joined Donna, Anita and Monica for lunch at the old location of the Crumpet Tea Room. It was a lot of fun and tasty, too! I came home mid-afternoon and got a lot of work done throughout the evening. It was fun to think about all the different projects that I'm currently working on. God called me to International Missions and allows me to be involved even from the good ole USA. Last night I was working on the new Friday Community Lunch program for here in Rogers, the College Mission Team to Dubai UAE, the Youth Mission Trip to Nicaragua, and planning for my trip to work with missionaries from FBCR in India and Dubai. Even though I'm not living overseas full time right now, I can be involved in sharing Christ around the world. God has blessed me so much.
Today I was blessed to work from home all day. The reason for the tubs all over my den! I had my list of items to accomplish, and actually checked most of them off, but still ended the day feeling behind. Lots of phone calls and emails. But I like being busy. Although, it's starting to interrupt my sleep, when I wake up at 4 and 5am thinking of all the things I need to accomplish before I leave for Nicaragua in 2 weeks. The important thing is to pay attention to what God is asking me to do and when. When it's His plan and His timing, it's not stressful.
One thing that God showed me in Bible Study this morning has really hit home for me. The Israelites were traveling around the desert at God's direction. It seemed uncertain and purposeless to them. They never knew when God would direct them to pick up and move to another place. They never knew how long they would be there. They needed to live as mobile as possible, not encumbered by lots of 'things'. The Bible Study author said it was like 'boot camp' for them, to prepare them for the things to come and be endured in their future.
I thought back over my life of moving and starting over again and again with nothing much (due to long distance moves, divorces that left me with almost nothing, sleeping on people's sofas or screened-in porches, etc). These times have really brought me to the place in my life where I don't want to own much at all in material things, I'm able to sleep just about anywhere on any type of bed or sofa, and embracing the feeling like I'm a citizen of God's world and willing to go wherever God sends me. I'm not sentimental over things anymore. I care more about relationships. I don't get too sad when I have to leave people for awhile (there are some exceptions), and I have a grateful attitude about interacting with people that I might only meet once on this earth. I know that I will see every Christian when we get to Heaven. It's more like all being in the same big house and going into different rooms for a while. You don't see each other, but you know you are together in God's eternal Kingdom. A friend used to say 'see you here, there or in the air'. I just loved that! God's kingdom is not limited by man's territorial boundaries. If we are all children of the King, we are in His creation together forever more!
Tomorrow morning I get to babysit for a short time for Deanna's great-granddaughter until she gets home from taking other grandkids to school. Allie is so cute. It will be fun to play with her little self! Later in the morning I will be talking by phone with a new friend in South Carolina. We were introduced via facebook by a mutual friend that I met while serving in nyc. This lady is beginning a journey in full-time missions and is wanting to discuss support-raising. That's a very humbling subject and a very serious opportunity to fully rely on God for EVERYTHING. I look forward to getting to know MaryLu, even though it's long distance. How fun to meet Christians in any way that God presents them!
Time for bed. If I can find my way through all this 'stuff' in the room. I'll be glad to get it all out of here and to places where it will be put to good use. For now, I'll thank God for His blessings in letting me be involved in blessing people with it. He knows everyone's needs and how to provide for them. What fun to be included in the process!
Monday I got to babysit for a new family. I watched the cutest little 18 month old boy while his mom ran to a Dr appointment. He was sure busy, but a lot of fun. It was a good morning. Staff meeting in the afternoon was pleasant and informative. That sure makes things nice.
Yesterday's Bible Study was great, as always. Can you believe that I'm finding the book of Numbers interesting?? Studying the Bible chronologically really makes a difference. Large group lecture and small group discussion was so good. I joined Donna, Anita and Monica for lunch at the old location of the Crumpet Tea Room. It was a lot of fun and tasty, too! I came home mid-afternoon and got a lot of work done throughout the evening. It was fun to think about all the different projects that I'm currently working on. God called me to International Missions and allows me to be involved even from the good ole USA. Last night I was working on the new Friday Community Lunch program for here in Rogers, the College Mission Team to Dubai UAE, the Youth Mission Trip to Nicaragua, and planning for my trip to work with missionaries from FBCR in India and Dubai. Even though I'm not living overseas full time right now, I can be involved in sharing Christ around the world. God has blessed me so much.
Today I was blessed to work from home all day. The reason for the tubs all over my den! I had my list of items to accomplish, and actually checked most of them off, but still ended the day feeling behind. Lots of phone calls and emails. But I like being busy. Although, it's starting to interrupt my sleep, when I wake up at 4 and 5am thinking of all the things I need to accomplish before I leave for Nicaragua in 2 weeks. The important thing is to pay attention to what God is asking me to do and when. When it's His plan and His timing, it's not stressful.
One thing that God showed me in Bible Study this morning has really hit home for me. The Israelites were traveling around the desert at God's direction. It seemed uncertain and purposeless to them. They never knew when God would direct them to pick up and move to another place. They never knew how long they would be there. They needed to live as mobile as possible, not encumbered by lots of 'things'. The Bible Study author said it was like 'boot camp' for them, to prepare them for the things to come and be endured in their future.
I thought back over my life of moving and starting over again and again with nothing much (due to long distance moves, divorces that left me with almost nothing, sleeping on people's sofas or screened-in porches, etc). These times have really brought me to the place in my life where I don't want to own much at all in material things, I'm able to sleep just about anywhere on any type of bed or sofa, and embracing the feeling like I'm a citizen of God's world and willing to go wherever God sends me. I'm not sentimental over things anymore. I care more about relationships. I don't get too sad when I have to leave people for awhile (there are some exceptions), and I have a grateful attitude about interacting with people that I might only meet once on this earth. I know that I will see every Christian when we get to Heaven. It's more like all being in the same big house and going into different rooms for a while. You don't see each other, but you know you are together in God's eternal Kingdom. A friend used to say 'see you here, there or in the air'. I just loved that! God's kingdom is not limited by man's territorial boundaries. If we are all children of the King, we are in His creation together forever more!
Tomorrow morning I get to babysit for a short time for Deanna's great-granddaughter until she gets home from taking other grandkids to school. Allie is so cute. It will be fun to play with her little self! Later in the morning I will be talking by phone with a new friend in South Carolina. We were introduced via facebook by a mutual friend that I met while serving in nyc. This lady is beginning a journey in full-time missions and is wanting to discuss support-raising. That's a very humbling subject and a very serious opportunity to fully rely on God for EVERYTHING. I look forward to getting to know MaryLu, even though it's long distance. How fun to meet Christians in any way that God presents them!
Time for bed. If I can find my way through all this 'stuff' in the room. I'll be glad to get it all out of here and to places where it will be put to good use. For now, I'll thank God for His blessings in letting me be involved in blessing people with it. He knows everyone's needs and how to provide for them. What fun to be included in the process!
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