October 5, 2013
Today was a wonderful Sabbath! Unfortunately, there wasn’t an Adventist church in Copacabana, though. So since I couldn’t attend a local church, I did the next best thing...I attended my home church in Milledgeville, GA! Technology is a wonderful thing! :) It was so good to see everyone’s faces and to hear the Sabbath School lesson and sermon. I truly miss the Sabbaths with this wonderful group of people! But it did my heart good to share service with them today. After the service, I was able to skype with them and talk to each person. That was a special blessing!
In the afternoon, I took a walk around town. It was a beautiful day. Then, in the evening, I arrived in La Paz again. I met up with my friend Samuel and am staying at his house tonight. We ran a couple of errands and then went and got supper. It was a great day.
God bless!
Maranatha!
October 6, 2013
Today, Samuel and I spent a good portion of the day at a local hotel in La Paz. Samuel’s father is a pastor in Peru and he has been involved with the conference and mission field all of his life, so he has many contacts there. Well, a friend of his (who works at the conference office) called him and said that 79 of the conference staff was going to be arriving in La Paz today and they needed Samuel to find a hotel for them to stay at. So we went around, looking for a hotel that could accommodate a large group today and tomorrow. We finally found one in their price range and made all of the arrangements and got everything set up. This took several hours. Then, we went to El Alto, a city just up the mountain from La Paz (a 10 minute bus ride) to the open market to do some shopping. The market was HUGE!! I mean, it was big! We were there about 3 hours and didn’t even see 1/8 of the market. And they had everything you can imagine...clothes, shoes, hardware supplies, kitchen and home items, pet supplies, fresh food, etc. And the amazing thing is this market is only open on Sunday and Thursdays...it is made up of small kiosks/tents and is completely set up and taken down every Sunday and Thursday. It was a fun experience! Plus, I was able to get a couple of things I needed for a fraction of the cost in Rurre. God is Good!
Once back home, we got supper and then said our goodnights. We were tired. And Samuel has to start a new rotation at a new hospital tomorrow (he’s in his last year of med school) and I’ll be heading back to Rurre tomorrow. So we both needed to get rest. Talk to you tomorrow. God bless!
Maranatha!
October 7-8, 2013
Traveling here never ceases to amaze me. I’ve come to expect for something to happen while I’m traveling, as it always does. :) But God is SO Faithful and always protects me. It always humbles me to see His Hand over me as we travel. This morning, I had to buy a couple of more things for our Pathfinder club before heading home. So I was a little late getting to the car that leaves for Rurre. As a result, I had to wait longer to leave and we didn’t leave until a little before 1:00 pm. We get an hour into the trip and we have a flat tire. The driver gets it changed and the spare put on and we set off again. Then, a few minutes later, we get to a roadblock, due to construction. The road was closed for 3 hours. So we just sat there, waiting for it to open. Finally, it did and we were off again. This time, the danger didn’t come in form of a landslide or falling rocks, but in a driver that was in a hurry! He was going 50-55 mph on Death Road...way too fast! Every time we went around a curve, the tires (and one being a spare tire, mind you!) screeched. You have thought we were in the Indy 500! :) We all asked him to slow down, but to no avail. I just prayed and asked God to protect us. There were several times when we came extremely close to the edge of the mountain. But, again, praise be to God for His watch-care over us! We arrived in Caranavi around 7:30 pm and then had to switch cars and drivers. We left there around 8:30 pm for Yucumo. No sooner had we started on the trip than we get to a landslide that had occurred earlier in the day. Luckily, the work crew had been working on it for a while, so we only had to wait about an hour. The roads were muddy, so we didn’t get to Yucumo until 2:00 am. Then, at the police check point, the officer gave me a hard time because I didn’t have my passport. I explained that it was in immigration, being process with my extended visa, and I gave him a copy of my passport, the immigration receipt (verifying this information) and a few other documents I had. He was a bit upset because I didn’t have my passport copy legalized. But, finally, let me go without any problems. I was glad, too. We get to the drop-off point and change cars again to head to Rurre. I finally get to Familia Feliz at 5:00 am. It’s been a LONG day and I was pooped! I got in my house, brushed my teeth, changed clothes and went to bed! I slept until about 9:30, then got up, unpacked my things and went to check in with everyone.
It is really nice to be back home. The kids (and staff) were excited to see me...and I, them. I truly am blessed to work in such a wonderful, family environment!
In the afternoon, I worked on school records and grades with Jodi and Nickisha. Then, I took a shower and got ready to go. Sergio, the owner of Narguila’s (the restaurant in town that we always go to) invited us to his birthday party tonight. We get to town and head to the restaurant, as I thought the party was there. It turned out that it was at another place in town. When we pull up, I was blown away! There was a large tent set up (that enclosed almost the whole lot) and table and chairs, covered in cloth and bows, were nicely arranged on the lawn. There were 8 cakes beautifully decorated on the front table, a food table up front, a pinata, etc. It looked almost like a wedding reception! He also brought in an Adventist trio group from La Paz to sing for us. There were games, contests, singing, great food, and wonderful fellowship. There were probably 125 people there. It was a pretty big deal. It started at 7:00 and we left a little after midnight, and they still had not played several games nor cut the cake yet! But we have to get up early in the morning, so we couldn’t stay until the end. But Sergio was so happy that we had gone. He said that really made his day. :) It was a blessing for us as well. We had a really good time!
Familia Feliz Missionaries and our restaurant staff friends!
Me and Sergio, the birthday boy. :)
But, now it’s time for bed. I’m exhausted after all the traveling and today’s activities and I know that 5:30 is going to come all too soon! Good night all!
God bless!
Maranatha!
October 9, 2013
I started back teaching today. The kids seemed to be happy to see me back in the classroom. That’s always a good sign. :) I’m extremely grateful to Chris and the excellent job he did in teaching my classes while I was gone. Thanks Chris! :)
After lunch, Jodi, Nickisha and I worked on student records and past grades. We are trying to update all of our records and organize things better. This wasn’t done in past years and, to be honest, it’s a big mess. But, through God’s grace, we are making big strides in improving.
We had prayer meeting tonight and it was nice to share that moment with everyone here at Familia Feliz after being gone last week. Vilissa had the devotional thought and did a good job. She spoke about the power of prayer. It was a very nice and timely reminder!
So another good day in the jungle comes to an end. Thank you Lord for Your Goodness and Mercy towards me! God bless you all!
Maranatha!
October 10, 2013
Today was a busy day. In school, both of my boys were disrespectful in class and refused to do what I asked them to do, so I had to send them to work for the day and talk to them. Then, after my last class, Melissa informed me that both of them snuck out of the house last night after we had gone to bed and went to her house and said that I had given them permission to go over and watch a movie (which, obviously, didn’t happen!). Melissa knew better and didn’t let them stay there but brought them back to the house. I was so upset. I’m not sure what happened last night and today to make them “rebel” like this, but we had to have a LONG talk today. They’ve lost a big part of my trust now and, unfortunately, many things are going to have to change. I think they realized the seriousness of it all...at least, I hope they did. Jodi talked to them too. I’m praying for wisdom and for them to do what they are supposed to do. I appreciate your prayers about this as well.
In the afternoon, Jodi, Oriel, Melissa, Emi and I went to town. We had to run some errands. I had to send the final well quotes to the organization that is giving us the money for the well, as well as email the pastor that is coming from the U.S. to visit us this Sabbath. I also had to buy some things for the orphanage and talk to a few people. So it was a busy afternoon. And an very HOT one too! When I got to town and checked my email, though, I received some bad news. My uncle, Edsel Douglas, died yesterday. :( I wasn’t expecting that! My heart broke. I wanted so badly to be there for/with the family and felt helpless being so far away. But all I can do is pray and ask God to do what I cannot do. I’d appreciate it if you would keep our family in your prayers during this difficult time. Thank you very much.
Boy, am I looking forward to that day when there will be no more death, sickness, sadness, hurt, pain, tears! Even so, come Lord Jesus!
God bless.
Maranatha!
October 11, 2014
Today as a full day. I got up, had worship, got the boys ready for school and then went into the kitchen to help there. On Fridays, we always prepare Sabbath breakfast and lunch, in addition to the normal day’s meals. And this Sabbath, we’ll be having guests here, so a little extra help was needed. Tomorrow, Pastor Jorge Aguero and his wife, Amalia, will be arriving from New Jersey to spend the day/night with us. We also invited some of the soldiers to come, if they are able. So, in the morning, we got everything ready meal-wise that we could. All of this, mind you, without any water! Yep...after more than a month of not having any problems, we’re officially without running water again. :( Nothing. Hopefully they will get the problem fixed by tomorrow. Fingers crossed.
Then, in the afternoon, I headed into town to run some errands and to give the Bible study at the army base. I truly love studying with these men! Their enthusiasm and zeal for learning is quite contagious. It was a very blessed evening!
I’m looking forward to tomorrow and all the activities it brings. God is Good!!
God bless!
Maranatha!
October 12, 2013
Wow! What a day! It was FULL of activities, responsibilities, blessings and even an injury! But God is Faithful and True and to Him be all the honor and glory!
There’s still no water today. :( That isn’t what you want to happen when you have guests coming to visit and spend the night. But God knows the situation and is in control...All things worked together for good, right?! :)
Jodi and I went and picked up Pastor Jorge and his wife from the airport this morning. Such a delightful and consecrated couple! And when I have more time, I’m going to tell you how God worked things out for them to even come to our little place in the jungle! There are no coincidences...God is ordaining events! Just an amazing story, in my opinion.
We got back to the campus during Sabbath school and I introduced them to the children and staff, then we dismissed to our separate classes. That’s when I realized I was in charge of the adult sabbath school class today! I was gone last week when the October schedule was posted, so I didn’t see it. But God came through, as He always does, and we had a very profound lesson together.
Jorge offered to have the sermon and we gladly accepted. His wife also did the children story and everyone loved that. The children behaved themselves very well. :)
We also had one soldier come to spend the day with us. There would have been more, but the water went out in town and they weren’t able to take showers and didn’t want to come without bathing. So maybe next time. But the one that did come thoroughly enjoyed himself. Actually, he ended up spending the night with us and sleeping with the boys in the boys dorm! :) We had a lot of fun.
After church, there was a misunderstanding between some of the boys and one of them grabbed the broomstick and hit another one on the head with it, busting his head open. :( Armando has a nice little gash in his head, about 2-inches long. Thankfully, it wasn’t deep and no splinters (from the broomstick) got lodged in there. We cleaned it up, got it medicated with antibiotic cream and calmed Armandito down. Turns out they were arguing over who ate an avocado! lol. Boys will be boys. The funny things is, though, a little while later, the two were best friends again, playing as if nothing ever happened! Oh, the lessons we, as adults, can learn from kids!
After lunch, the pastor and his wife had some needed down time after their long trip while the kids went on a short hike. Then, Jorge and Amalia brought out all the stuff they brought for the kids....wow!! God is indeed SO good! Let me share with you what they brought (that they and other kind individuals sent):
-School supplies
-Welch’s fruit gummy snacks
-Scripture lollipops
-Key chains
-Toy car for every boy
-Small baby doll for every girl
-Toothbrush and toothpaste for every child
-10 beautiful handmade fleece blankets, donated by Turn-About Ranch in Utah
-10 homemade wooded cars, also donated by Turn-About Ranch in Utah
-Four DVD’s of hymns
-One religious movie
-Totebags
-Deodorant, soap, razors, etc.
And as if that wasn’t enough, they were able to raise $1500 usd to replace on of the thatch roofs on the property with a metal roof!! Then, they generously donated an additional $500 usd to help with our food cost for the month!! Praise God!!
You know, oftentimes it’s hard to truly appreciate someone else’s blessing, since we are not directly involved. But let me just try to explain tell you how much of a blessing this was for us. (It’s a good thing this is a written blog, as my eyes are starting to water up just thinking about God’s Goodness.) You see, this month, we only had $597 usd in donations come in. That means, we have $597 with which to feed, cloth, and maintain 41 children and 16 staff members for the whole month. Add the that, the expense of gasoline, diesel, truck parts, water bill, light bill, etc. and it is very easy to see that there is no way that we can make it stretch that much. We need at the very minimum $2000 usd every month to meet our needs. That doesn’t include maintenance, repairs, medical expenses if a child gets sick, etc. That’s just basic needs. And we barely received a fourth of that. Luckily, we had saved some from last month for this month, but it still wasn’t what we needed. So we just prayed that God would meet our needs and we moved forward in faith. [Side note -- you know, that is easier said that done a lot of times. “Moving forward in faith.” But when you have 56 57 mouths to feed for 90 meals and you only have $597 with which to do it, your faith truly is tried. Truly!]
Fast forward to this afternoon when the pastor presented us with these blessings and you can imagine the happiness and gratefulness we felt in our hearts! But the truly amazing part about all of this is...the pastor and his wife wasn’t really supposed to be visiting our orphanage (according to their original plans). They were coming to visit a child they have been sponsoring through an international organization for the past 3 years. They wanted to visit and help a church or school while they were here and wrote/called several in an attempt to make contact and see how they could help. They didn’t receive any response...from any of them! Not one. Then, he started looking around online for some institution that he thought might need some help. Somehow (he didn’t even remember how it happened), he found our website and sent an email, asking about us, our needs and if they could come and visit. He didn’t even know that we were Seventh Day Adventist and part of the mission field! He was simply looking for someone to visit and help, however they could. I received his email in our mailbox and responded, thinking the whole time that he knew who we were and had “planned” this trip. The total opposite had been the case! The Lord, in His providence, wisdom and love, lead this couple of our little place in the jungle, with the additional $500 usd we needed to make it through the month! Amen!! What a God we serve! And on top of that, we got gifts and supplies for the kids and a new roof for the boys dorm! God truly does take care of His children!!
And as if that weren’t enough, Jorge tells us that he is looking at starting a non-profit foundation to help needy children around the world and would like to continue to help and support us in the future! Is our God Great or what?! And none of this was supposed to happen, according to man’s plan! But once again we see that God’s ways are higher than our ways and that before we even call, He hears and has answered our prayers! Glory be to our God, now and forever!
We had AY service, then closed the Sabbath on the front lawn as we always do. Then, we got all the kids together to give them their gifts. I wish you could have seen the excitement and happiness on their faces! They were on cloud 9! :) Everyone played with their gifts and then played games until supper was done...and then continued playing after supper, while the staff got to know our new family members a little bit better. :)
It truly, truly was a blessed day! And one in which I was constantly reminded, in a real way, of God’s watch-care over each of His children and how He always comes through and meets our needs! I absolutely LOVE working in the mission field!! It is so awesome to see God moving and working, in the small and big ways, to fulfill His will and His work in this time. Thank you ALL for your continued prayers and support!
God bless you all!
Maranatha!
October 13, 2013
Well, we said goodbye to Jorge and Amalia today. We had breakfast, took some more pictures and then headed off to the airport. They got checked in and Jodi and I waited with them until they boarded the plane. We had a very nice conversation and were also able to record some messages for the church conference there in New Jersey, as well as for Turn-About Ranch and others that donated for our children. We truly hope they know just how much we appreciated everything they have done! Soon, it was time for them to board, so we said our goodbyes, thankful that the Lord ordained our paths to cross.
We then took the soldier back to the base. He told me that he had a wonderful time and wants to come back and spend time with us again. He also said he’s thinking about coming and serving as a volunteer after his term in the military is finished. Wow!
We did a couple of things in town and then headed back to Familia Feliz, as it was our Sunday to stay on campus with the kids (with a couple of other staff members).
Thankfully, water was restored on campus late this morning. (Praise God!!) So all the kids washed their clothes and cleaned the houses. Then, after lunch, Oriel took the boys swimming in the creek while the girls stayed and watch a video. Then, later in the afternoon, Ori and I took all the boys to get coconuts. We got 105 this time and I gave one to each child. They love it when they get fresh coconuts!!
By this time, it was time for supper. Then, everyone went to their respective houses to get ready for bed. I sent Jorge and David to take a shower and get things ready for school tomorrow and for bed. As I was putting them in bed, Agustin came and wanted to talk to me. We went outside and talked for 2 hours. He needed some advice and also wanted some help on planning his first sermon. :) He has to preach next Sabbath and is a bit nervous. He also wanted to talk about some issues his family is having. We had a really good talk and ended with prayer. Please pray for Agustin and his family. I truly believe God is using him and has a divine plan for his life. Pray for his siblings as well.
Thanks again everyone for your continued prayers and support! It means more than you know. God bless!
P.S. Armando’s head is doing much better! No need for stitches and no infection. God is Good! :)
Maranatha!
No comments:
Post a Comment