Mennonite Visitors

This past week we had a group of Mennonites from Oklahoma. This group, plus some, had lived with me in the missionary house for a week when they came to visit two years ago. I had no idea back then that we would both be back here at the same time two years later. It was very nice to have them come and spend time here at the Finca. The United States is a big country, and we have various groups from the States come through here- whether it be for a week or a day or a few hours--but there was something special about having people from my own subculture here.

The group..and ironically they are all related as well! (maybe they are related to me too...we didn't play the Mennonite game to figure that out)

My lack of blogging doesn't reflect a lack of activities what I have been busy with..quite the opposite (that and I haven't been taking pictures which usually helps motivate me to post something). With the group here I was a bit busier...one of the reasons being because one of the ladies, originally from Mexico, and I worked together to have some meetings with the girls...so in addition to my normal schedule, I had kids at my house in the evenings for 5 of the 7 days this week...and the other two I was out doing other things like a staff meal and a campfire with all the kids.

I also got to do some other random things like go along to the pool with the elementary students. That was alot of fun as I got to take some of the two and three year olds into the water. It was so fun to watch how much they liked the water, but hard to keep telling the other kids not to splash them in the face. I have also been trying to work on a sign language presentation with some of the younger girls for the anniversary--its been fun so far to practice, and I hope that we can pull it together and have it looking nice by the end of April!

So, that is a brief glimpse of whats going on here...thanks for reading! Please keep praying for all of us here!
God be with you.

Esther Banquet

This evening my Saturday Bible study group celebrated the finishing of our study of the character of Esther with a banquet. It was the celebration of the end of a book study, but I hope that it is the beginning, or continuing, of a movement in their lives to rise up for such a time as this that we are living in.

The beautiful princesses :)

 

 

A Hike

Saturday afternoon I took a group of 10 kids up the mountain. It was nice to get out of the Finca and into nature, and the view at the top of the mountain was beautiful.

Part way up the mountain

 View from the top....Valle de Angeles is the town in the valley.

Another birthday

This Friday we celebrated another birthday, and another new member of the Friday nights group. 

We have been able to continue Friday night game/hang out night at my house even though school started because the evening teachers have been on strike..and that is a story in itself...

The Weekend

 Friday we did a mini-surprise birthday celebration for Alonso, the director. I made a cake, some of the girls made a poster that the kids signed, and all the kids pitched in to give little gifts, most of them being gag gifts...things they found in their pockets. We had a gift for each year, he received stuffed animals, used wallets, coins, and nails, among other random things. It created for a very fun time as all the kids watched him open each one up.

I had game night Friday night (18+) and on Saturday night (15-17yr). Snack for both groups consisted of a fresh fruit salad. I thought the papaya looked neat when I cut it up so I stopped to take a picture. Isn't God so creative?

Saturday night game night (the number of 15-17 year olds is nearing 20 kids...that's alot of youth to have in my house at one time!)

 

Sunday, we had three different groups from very different places come throughout the day. One group came in the morning to give gifts to the children. Then a different group came in the afternoon do to a picnic lunch and play games at the other property (Americans--taught the kids how to play ultimate Frisbee! Yeay, how fun.) Then there was also a group that's visiting for two days who were here in the evening and were able to enjoy the church service and campfire with the kids. We don't usually have so many groups around here, but regardless, life stays interesting!

Youth Reunion (reunion-Spanish for meeting, service etc)

On Saturday we had a meeting with the youth. We meaning Ronal, Jose, and myself....some of the leaders from the youth retreat that we had in November. The other two leaders were not able to attend. We have been trying to meet once a month to continue that contact between leaders and youth, as well as continue to have that spiritual influence of teaching and relating in that setting (it is something like a youth group meeting in a local church-but adjusted for our group of youth). I appreciate the other leaders' willingness and eagerness to share as each month a different leader takes a turn to share a topic of their choice with the youth. This time there were several of the youth who did not want to attend the meeting. So, we need to pray for those youth and that they will have an desire to receive in meetings such as these, and thank God for those who did attend the meeting and pray that God will continue to work in their lives. After the meeting this time we pulled out the volleyball and net and played volleyball for awhile. The kids continued to play the entire afternoon and evening, and the following day they played all afternoon and evening.

Visitors and Visa Run

For the past eleven days I was excited and blessed to have two friends of mine from the States come down to visit me. We timed the trip so that it would work for them to go with me on my visa renewal trip. So, we spent a few days in Belize, relaxing and enjoying one another's company and God's beautiful creation. We spent about as much time traveling as we did in Belize, but the traveling was more enjoyable with friends along.

We also hung out with some of the kids here at the Finca.

Thanks for coming Becky and Karen!