A Visit From the States

This past week the Watson family from Teague came to visit us and help get our water purification system installed.  We loved having them here for encouragement and familiarity. They could not have come at a more perfect time. Shannon and I have been a little down and their encouragement and love was such a blessing.  This is especially true for our kids. Maddie and Alie are two of my kid’s most favorite babysitters and they loved on and played with Emma and Tyler. I think our kids have been a little neglected with all that we have going on here and the Watson girls gave them much needed attention.  Janet helped get school stuff lined out so I am now ready to have a classroom and Cliff and Seth worked for three long days on the water system. They go to experience first hand what life is like here.

Sunday we went to a church about an hour from our house on a dirt road up the mountain. The people at San Manuel are Lenca Indians and do not see too many white people. They formed a group and watched as we climbed out of our trucks.  Then they stared all during church… especially the children.  The pastor at that church is extremely evangelical and has seen up to 20 baptisms in one month. At children’s church there were 63 kids!  It was amazing to see that many kids brought before the church. They went outside and had children’s church for the very first time. I am so glad I am not in charge of that many kids at children’s church!  As we left the adults all hugged us.  It is always a little shocking to me because the grown men and women come to about my shoulders- and I am only 5’3″.  I am not sure if this is genetics or malnourishment.  I would like to find out though.

Monday through Wednesday the guys worked on clean water. They had a couple of obstacles such as no electricity, a water leak in the bathroom that caused the wall to be knocked out to get fixed, an O ring broke and there was not enough pressure to send water to our house. All this was overcome and we know have water! YEA!

Thanks for all who have been praying for us. We have seen progress, though it has been slow going.  We know have beds for all of us, Shannon can preach in about 50% Spanish, Emma is slowly making friends with the girls in our neighborhood, I made a weekly menu out of meals that all the ingredients can be found here and Tyler as learned to mow the grass with a machete (the mower of choice here).  Continue to pray for us as we learn the customs and become satisfied with our living conditions and the lifestyle here.  Our house is still a major issue of concern but we are not sure if this is just what to expect or if this house is just really bad. For example, as a type this it is POURING outside as it has for the past three days. Because of this, the ceiling in my bedroom is leaking and the walls in the kitchen and one of the bedrooms are leaking as well.  We are not sure if this is just what happens when we get this much rain.  Pray for us as we try to look at the positive (it is not leaking over my bed) and remember why we are here (three people came to Christ at church this morning- two were in there 80’s). Pray also for the kids that they would not get frustrated at the language barrier but would push forward.