Everyone, thank you so much for your prayers.
I´m currently writing you all from an internet cafe in El Salvador in the local village.
Things have been interesting this week. God called the pastor of La Esperanza (the church we´re with) on to a new church in a nearby city, so we´re in a transition period for the church.
Since new Elders for the church havn´t been appointed yet, the task of running the church and keeping everything in order has temporarially fallen on us, the gringos. So we´re cleaning and organizing the place, which has been a lot of work. I was in a small dark cabinet area cleaning every object out... with my bare hands. Of course, this is no problem in the states, but here in El Salvador? My prayer was: Yea though I climb through the valley of scorpions, I will fear no sting.
I´ve gotten quite used to the idea that this is my home surprisingly quickly. I credit God to that, because as a friend of mine pointed out, ¨Man, we really put up with things here that we wouldn´t in America.¨
For example, things like having bugs in our room constantly, no air conditioning, and always having that sneaking suspicion that when you step out of your bed at night, you´ll land on an angry scorpion.
And oddly enough, despite the cleaning and everything we havn´t seen a scorpion yet. I´m betting they´re just waiting to surprise welcome us...
Thankfully, from the moment we arrived until today, it´s rained nearly every day, which means that the normally murderous temperatures have been much more mild. Still, it´s gotten almost comical, ¨Hey guys! MORE rain. Who would have thought?¨
On Friday, we visited an orphanage and played with the kids for some time. They are so attention starved that we hardly get a moment to catch our breath. Mike, the missionary says they have ADD (AFFECTION Deficit Disorder). I´m confident that places like that are the places Jesus has called us to. The orphans have no hope apart from Him, so we´re more than happy to go and get exhausted and dirty playing with and showing orphans love.
Mike is adopting a young orphan girl named Sophia from the orphanage there, and he hopes to take her home by the end of the summer, but things aren´t working out with the officials, and it looks like he might have to wait another 6 months. Please be praying for the adoption process. It´s already been two years since they started. She is HIV positive, so the sooner they can get her to the states, the better her condition.
The elders we´re training are hungry to learn more about their Biblical role. We had a meeting this past monday, and at the end, we asked them when they could meet again, thinking it would be at least a week. They talked amongst themselves for a few minutes, then told us that they were expecting to meet every Monday, Friday, and Saturday. Mike and I just looked at each other, shocked.
Their enthusiasm for the gospel and for the work of God is amazing! Their lives are already busy and difficult with work, family, and helping with the church, yet they´re putting aside three evenings a week so that they can serve the Lord. Pray for these men!
Their names are Eduardo, Renee, and Alex. There are two others who may be joining.
In any case, I´ve rambled far enough. Thanks so much for your prayers. Be encouraged, the Lord is working in my life and the lives of the people here.
Keep seeking and serving Him
