June 10 - 14, 2012

June 10 – 14, 2012

Sunday (6/10) started with Mary and Mike leaving the team house about 6am to pick up translators and heading to Estelí. The interns started the cleaning process on the team house after the Pastor’s conference from the weekend. They stripped the sheets off of all the 60+ beds, gathered dirty towels, trash and other items so that the rooms would be ready to be swept, mopped and prepared for the team coming in a week. We went to La Quimera church and Rachel gave her testimony and the three girls sang. Then all 5 interns helped with the kids’ church. Sherry had our lunch ready when we got home and then we had time in the afternoon to relax. The interns hit the pool and also kept up with washing load after load of towels. Mike had to come back to León to get some supplies that didn’t make it on the van, so he brought Rick Dean, one of our boardmembers to see the team house and feeding centers. I got to meet Rick and had a wonderful conversation with him. Rick and Mike left at 4am the next morning.

Monday (6/11) Auxiliodoro and Pastor Pedro both came early to pick up meat for their feeding centers. I dropped the interns off at the Shalom preschool for some VBS time, ran to La Union to get snacks for the VBS and while I was checking out, Sherry called me with a need for the team house. I checked the grocery bags and ran back to the meat department to get chicken for our lunch. Then I dropped the supplies off at the VBS and took the chicken to the team house and returned to VBS to pick up the interns. I’m thankful it was all on the way and I didn’t have to try to get back and forth across town. The VBS went really well. The kids are so sweet! I then dropped Mayela, Calen and Rachel off at the Monte Horeb Feeding Center (for pics and info) and took the guys and Haley with me to shop for men’s shoes for Mary to give to a little man at San Jacinto community. We found a good deal (a God thing) and went back for the girls at Monte Horeb. After lunch, I took a taxi to get my haircut and had a great time there by myself. The lady and I talked about her family and my family and did quite well without a translator. The interns helped sort and bag the veggies for the Feeding Centers. I took Lesly and Mayela with me for errands and then dropped Lesly off to go home and took Mayela on another errand and dropped her at the Bus Terminal. I got back for dinner and then printed off IDs for the San Jacinto Feeding Center. The interns worked on them while chatting in the evening.

Tuesday (6/12) The Interns went back to the Shalom preschool VBS. We ran a few errands and then got gas and headed to the La Quimera Feeding Center. Afterward, we dropped Estefanie off so she could attend her afternoon classes at the university. After lunch we weighed and measured the monthly staples (rice, beans, sugar, etc) for the feeding centers. We used the Nica scales, which are a bowl attached by string to a wooden stick. By holding the tool by specific pieces of string, you can weigh from ½ pounds to 4 pounds in the bowl. Pretty neat. I did some computer work and then found out that our evening church service was cancelled. I dropped the interns downtown for some quick shopping and took Mayela to the Bus Terminal and then went back for the interns. I got a little shopping done while waiting on them (elastic for sewing class, sharpies, bookends, snacks for Bible study). I enjoyed the evening in my room hemming 2 pairs of pants for Lesly. (I love having hand work to do while watching a video). I got the chance to talk to my Mom twice by phone.

Wednesday (6/13) I called and talked to my sister Sandy. We’ve been having phone and internet issues lately for some reason, so I take advantage of the opportunity to connect. Calen, Austin and I took the monthly food to Monte Horeb and got more pics and info. Calen and Haley went with me to the Women’s Bible Study at Las Quimeras. They shared their testimonies and we had a really good time with the ladies. There were only about 10 there, I think due to the rainy weather, but it was fun. We had brought the monthly food for that feeding center, so we hurried and unloaded it all before the rain got too strong. I did computer work that night and also called my sweet ‘daughter’ Kelly, whose husband, my sweet ‘son’ Jeremy, was in Estelí for the week. She was doing well with him gone by having friends spend lots of time with her. It was good to hear her voice.

Thursday (6/14) Our regular cook, Lydia, is sick and Sherry was working with Erika (an assistant to Lydia when we have teams) for cooking for us when the teams arrive. Erika was game, but the next day had to quit because her husband is going out of the country for a little while and she has 2 small children to take care of. So Sherry was scrambling to find a replacement just days before we start our back to back teams for the summer. Liana has helped us before and Sherry sent me and Erika and Jassiel to find her. We got to her neighborhood and found a teenaged boy to help us find her house. He jumped in the Sportage with us and directed us. His directions were pretty comical. We found Liana and she agreed to come to talk to Sherry. She jumped in the car and off we went. Before we got back on the highway, they all were yelling at me to stop. I had forgotten to let the boy get out of the car. He must have thought that I was kidnapping him! LOL Anyway, Liana came to talk with Sherry and all is well. She will cook for us this summer while Lydia is sick. I took Saturnino to the Monte Horeb feeding center to spray for bugs. While there, the neighbor girl wanted us to come and spray her mom’s house, too. I think if we would have done that, we would have ended up doing the whole community. Which is kind of a neat mission for the future… Sherry took Mayela, Lesly, Jorge and all the interns to the beach and horseback riding for their last quiet afternoon. I stayed back at the team house and got tons of work done (love my quiet time) and finished my laundry (including sheets) and was a happy camper! They ate dinner at Suyapa and I had yummy left overs from the fridge. Everyone was satisfied.

Tomorrow will bring a new phase to the summer missions. Ready for the busy season! Ready for the Harvest!!!