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| Wednesday night the children had an opportunity to participate
in a competition at the church as part of Iglesia Bautista Betania's
"Club de Niños" program. Shown below are a few photos
from the competition. Today is Halloween (as if you didn't
know), but we're not going to be going out tonight. We have
some activities planned for the kids here at home. With the way
things are here in the Valley we believe that is probably the safest
choice for everyone. We've also have a field trip planned for
Saturday to go back to the Museum of South Texas History. They
are having a special celebration for the "Día de los
Muertos" or "Day of the Dead". We've heard a lot
of conflicting stories about exactly what this "holiday" is,
so we have determined to let the Hispanics themselves tell us
what it is, to them. We'll have the camera in tow, so you can
probably expect quite a few photos of that event.
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| This
is August in his classroom waiting for club to start. |
This
is Addie Grace and Denise waiting for club to start. |
August
is waiting his turn to go up front as part of the competition. |
Addie
Grace watches from the pew as her teammates compete. |
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| These
are a couple of the Chiquitos answering questions for the competition. |
These
girls are also part of the Chiquitos class. They recited several
verses for the competition. |
These
kids are from the Detectives class. |
These
kids are from the Defenders class . |
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| Silemy
Torres wins a point for the Detectives. |
Damaris
Durán wins a point for the Developers. |
Emily
Durán waits for an opportunity to answer. |
August
is in this group of Detectives, ready to give the answer as quick as they
can. |
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| Greetings. As usual, not a lot to share today, but a
couple of interesting things. First, I forgot to mention that Bo
had to go in for surgery yesterday. He's a rescue dog, and they
require all of them to have a certain surgical procedure, which he was
too young for when we acquired him. So, they had us wait a few
weeks and then bring him back (at their expense). So, he had
that done yesterday. He was really groggy and slow moving
yesterday, but he's getting a lot of his energy back today. I
also wanted to share a piece of local news. For a while now the
drug cartels in Mexico have been battling the Mexican government in a
drug war. Although they run the drugs through this area,
they've had a more-or-less "hands off" policy in regards to
U.S. law enforcement. However, I saw an article today that
announced a radical shift in that policy. Apparently, U.S.
agents are being so successful that the cartels have ordered their
paramilitary forces to now target U.S. law enforcement. This
means the drug war is officially moving north of the border. The
article indicates that the cartels are bringing in dozens of
reinforcements, complete with assault rifles, bulletproof vests and
grenades. It could become a very "interesting"
situation here in the coming weeks. But, we don't concern
ourselves with that too much, prefering to trust in the Lord for our
protection. And, finally, a prayer request. I've begun
calling churches (again) to schedule a short visit back east to raise
additional support next fall. I'm not 100% sure of the dates
(depends on when the churches can best fit me in). I just began
calling yesterday and was able to schedule 1 meeting. I'd like
the trip to be between 4-6 weeks and have 15-20 meetings. Please
pray that the Lord would quickly fill this schedule with churches that
He can use to help financially support our ministry here in the
Valley.
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| Not a whole lot new to share, but here's what we
have. First, a prayer request for Addie. She was running
through the house (yes, a big no-no) and fell (no, not a big
surprise). She landed on her hand and we thought perhaps she
broke her little finger. We decided to wait until the next day
and see what happened, and it looked better. It's been a couple
of days now and it's continuing to improve, though it is still sore
and swollen. So, a praise that it doesn't appear to be proken,
but a request that it would heal okay. Second, another
praise. Gas prices have continued to fall and today for the
first time they dropped below $2.00 a gallon. I filled up this
morning for $1.99 a gallon. I've been saying I was looking
forward to <$2.00 gas, and it's finally here. Now, I'm
looking forward to <$1.00 gas.......it could happen. Language
school continues, and we are making steady progress. Everyone is
healthy and doing well.
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| Just a quick update to share a few photos that we took
recently. The first few photos are around our property here,
including some work on getting the landscaping work done, as well as
progress on the workshop in the garage. The other photos are of
the ministry shirts, which arrived today. Not much real news to
report, though it has only been 24 hours since our last update!!
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| The
North side of our property, all enclosed with wooden fencing, as it looked
when I signed the purchase contract on February 26, 2008. Use the
chimney on the garage as a landmark to reference with the following
photos. |
The
same side of the property as it looked on August 2, 2008 when the group
from Jetersville Baptist Church took down the wooden fence and tackled the
5' tall grass! |
As
the same area looks now, with the grass under control and this first
flowerbed beginning to take shape. It has very large aloe plants,
cacti and some red-hot pokers (haven't come up yet). |
Same
flowerbed. Directly to the right of the flowerbed there will be a
sidewalk which will go back to the casita to allow easier access for our
services, as well as visiting groups. This sidewalk will also go
between the flowerbed and the garage. |
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| As
cluttered as this looks, it's MUCH better than it has been, due to the
mess caused by the flooding! This front half is the garage/laundry
area and the back half is the workshop. My office is to the
left-back corner, not visible in these shots. |
Another
closer view of the workshop, with the new tables. |
Another
view. It's great to finally have access to my tools without having
to dig through cardboard boxes. |
Melissa's
laundry area is making progress as well. I put the shelf over the
water heater a few days ago. The washing machine will eventually
move right just a little bit to make room for a mop sink to the left. |
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| The
new shirts we just received. They have all of our ministry
information as well as some Scripture. We ordered a small variety of
colors to see which looked best, so that we can order the colors we like
the best in the future. These are the same shirts we will be
suggesting that incoming short-term mission groups purchase, so now we do
have better samples/photos for them to view. |
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| Ever since the flooding we had 2 months ago, we've been
having intermittent problems with our septic system backing up.
It's never actually flooded inside the house, though it has
come up one of the outside cleanouts. However, the water has
started to backup inside, just never overflowed onto the floor.
If we stop using water for a few hours it usually clears up.
However, it's been persistent enough to warrant a call to a septic
company to come check our tank. They did come today and had to
drain both tanks, both of which were 100% full. In fact, as we
started digging down (yes, I even helped) to the first tank the water
was bubbling up around the lid and he had to drain the hole before we
could get to the tank! However, he was able to drain both tanks
and he was fairly confident this would stop all future problems.
He was even very generous with the pricing. He had quoted $250
to drain 1 tank (that's all I thought we had), if the lid was within 1' of the surface. We
wound up digging around to find 2 lids and then he drained both tanks,
and he only charged me $300 total. We also had the opportunity
to talk for a while as we worked, and I had the opportunity to witness
to him briefly. He's a "marginal" Catholic, having
been baptized and taken communion, but he doesn't attend or really
have any faith in the religion, though he does have a strong faith in
"God". In other news, gas prices continue to fall, now
reaching $2.19 a gallon. It's getting ever closer to that $1.99
(or lower) price, and I think we need to have a gas party when it
does!! We also found out today that beginning in January our
language school will be picking up 4 new full-time students, which is
a real blessing to our teacher. Please keep her in your prayers
(her name is Alicia Gilbert) as she works to try and establish this
training ministry for missionaries going to Spanish-speaking
areas.
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| The
pump truck, sitting in our driveway. |
Hoses,
running from the truck, down the sidewalk and behind the house to the
septic tanks. |
The
digging is done, so we get to stand and talk as the truck pumps out the
tank. |
This
is the second tank we are draining. We found this drain lid much
quicker than the first one! |
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| Well, things are bright and sunny right now, but the rain
is on it's way. We had some light showers last night, but they
are calling for locally heavy rain the rest of this week, with totals
up to about 5". So, more damp weather. We continue to
be promised by the locals that this is unusual, but it seems pretty
normal to us so far!! However, we do realize they need the rain, as
they've been in a severe drought for at least the past 15 years, so,
we can't complain too much. The good news is that when the rain
ends Friday we can expect some cooler weather. It's 93 today,
and they expect the highs to fall into the mid 80's for next
week. In other news, we've managed to continue to stay busy recently (go
figure). This past weekend we celebrated Addie's 8th
birthday. She doesn't actually turn 8 until the 16th of
this month, but this past weekend was the best time that we had to
celebrate as a family. Yesterday evening we were invited to have
dinner with the Durán family in Edinburg. They are members at
Iglesia Bautista Betania, where we've been attending. We enjoyed
our time together with Sr. y Sra. Durán, as well as their 7
children. We also appreciated the opportunity to test our
Spanish (more on that below), though they do speak English well. I am
speaking with Pastor Noé Mendoza about having him out to our
home in Rio Grande City next week, to allow us some time to discuss ways we can
work together in ministry here in the Valley. He has some needs
in his church that he'd like to discuss with me, and I equally would like to
find ways that we can cooperate, as he has definitely
accomplished a wonderful work there in Mission, Texas and can provide
me invaluable experience in Hispanic ministry. In local
news, you might be interested in reading the article at the following
link: http://www.themonitor.com/articles/guerra_18600___article.html/mcallen_today.html.
It is a story about the Starr County sherrif (where we live), Rey Guerra, who was
arrested in his office today by FBI agents. He is alleged to be a participant
in a drug ring here in Starr County. We also had something
happen yesterday, but local media is not reporting on it. About
4:15 yesterday afternoon several "law enforcement" vehicles
went by our house, heading East, on Expressway 83, with full
lights/sirens going. About 1-2 minutes later the same vehicles
came back by heading West. They were followed, in various groups
over the next 5-10 minutes, by about 25 more vehicles. I saw
several local police vehicles, state police vehicles, border patrol
vehicles, and quite a few unmarked vehicles. We also heard a
helicopter fly over at one point. We're not sure what they were
doing, since no news reports have come out, but we guess it was drug
related. Of course, it could also have to do with the 17 inmates
that escaped just across the border last week. Or, perhaps, it
has to do with one of the several murders that occured in the area
over the last few days. Always something exciting going on here
in the Valley. We've also been relieved to see the gas prices
continue to fall here locally. When we drove by the station today
it was at $2.47 per gallon. I'm still looking forward to that
< $2.00 price, and it seems like a much more realistic goal each
day! And finally, Spanish classes. They are
continuing. I certainly cannot say it's fun, but it is good to
be learning. We are still concentrating heavily on phonetics,
which is frustrating to me (I don't enjoy phonetics). We've also made some progress on
grammar and vocabulary, which is what is finally allowing me to
understand more of what I hear and to talk more. Of course, I
often make a fool of myself, like I did last night. I tried to
the Mr. Durán that I had a head cold, but instead I told him that I was
sick in the head (mentally). He and his wife did eventually stop
laughing.... But, we will continue to do our part to learn and
trust in the Lord to allow us to grasp this language.
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| Addie
wanted to do some target shooting on her birthday. So, we got out
the slingshot and BB gun and let them have some fun. |
Bo
didn't like the fact that he wasn't allowed to run free while the kids
were shooting. He REALLY doesn't realize it was in his best
interest... |
Braden
takes aim at one of the targets (an empty milk jug). |
Braden
preparing for another shot. |
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| Greetings from sunny Texas! The weather has been an
absolute delight recently, with highs each day around 90 degrees, low
humidity and a slight breeze. I could get used to this kind of
weather!! Another good thing we're seeing down here is the fuel
price. It keeps dropping. The day after the last hurricane
it was over $5.00 per gallon at some places. However, yesterday
I filled up the van at $2.81 a gallon. Much, much better.
It's been dropping about $.03 per day, and I'm still waiting to see it
drop below $2.00. That would be a blessing, since we drive over
800 miles per week! School continues to
progress....slowly. I'm still claiming to be allergic to
Spanish, but I'm getting there. Yesterday I had the opportunity
to "re-meet" one of our neighbors. He had originally
introduced himself the day we moved in by complaining about some work
one of our contractors had done, and then instructed us to make sure
we took care of our yard. It wasn't the best of
meetings. But, yesterday I was watering plants and he was mowing
his grass, so he stopped and came over. We chatted for 5-10
minutes about various things, but it was a much nicer conversation
this time. I also got his name, Lee Perez. He owns a
business just down the road called Perez Logistics (they sell building
materials). Please pray that we will continue to have the
opportunity to witness to this gentleman. In other news,
Braden's a bit of an unhappy camper as he began a 3-year adventure
with braces on Wednesday. The orthodontist put the upper set on
and will do the lower set a bit later. He's not enjoying them
too much right now, though they were desperately needed. Right
now I am recovering from a head cold that's had me feeling completely
wiped out the past couple of days. Today seems to be much
better, so hopefully the worst is behind us.
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| It seems that I'm only able to do updates about once a
week on average. Sorry for the bit of a delay this time.
The biggest thing to report is that I was able to participate in the
men's retreat at Camp Loma de Vida in Edinburg this past
weekend. I enjoyed the time together with these men, and also
the opportunity to experience a more in-depth Hispanic cultural
experience. The food was delicious and definitely authentic
Mexican (I need to remember not to trust a Hispanic person's opinion
when they say that a particular food is not spicy hot). We
enjoyed a variety of games including foosball, table tennis, pool,
volleyball, baseball and target shooting (we never did actually play
soccer, though it was mentioned). I also had the opportunity to
practice my Spanish a bit more, especially when the men said that I
had talked enough in English, so they refused to talk to me in English
any more! That's a very good thing though, as it is extremely
easy to fall into old familiar habits, rather than plunging forward
where I need to be in Spanish. I also had the opportunity to
reinforce Spanish gestures and customs, both of which are extremely
important to learn. Finally, I had the opportunity to see the
camp itself, which is where our children will be attending this
fall. It is a nice facility and those that are running it are
doing a wonderful job. They are currently working on expansion
plans, part of which you will see in the photos below. Other
than that, there is not much to report. Just more language study
and regular day-to-day activities, which keep us plenty busy!
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| On
Saturday the men headed over to property the camp has recently
purchased. They will be moving the entire camp here in the next few
years, as it provides much more space and more opportunities. |
The
men are waiting for the trailer to be ready, which we will be riding into
the camp itself. |
More
men waiting by the vans which we rode to the camp. |
This
little mule is what pulled the trailer back into the camp. It's kind
funny, cause it's so small. In later pictures you will see the
trailer it is pulling. |
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| A
shot of the lake in the camp. The property is an old surface mine
where they processed rock. This hole was left and filled with
water. They have plans to use the lake extensively with the new
camp. |
Another
view of the lake. They actually have several smaller ponds/etc
throughout the property as well. |
Heading
back out to the vans, after our target shooting. There are probably
about 40 people piled onto the trailer....all being pulled by that one
poor mule. |
As
the men begin to unload. |
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| Another
shot of the men unloading. It reminded me of a circus car, where
people just keep coming, and coming, and coming..... |
Our
dorm room. There were 12 people to a room, but they were
comfortable. |
This
is the main foyer for the 4 dorms in this building. I borrowed
Braden's little digital camera, so the quality is not too good..... |
A
view from the outside of this dorm building. The door that is
partially open leads into the foyer in the previous photo. There are
two additional dorms, one on each end of the building. |
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| The
sand volleyball court, with the basketball court behind. The lake in
the distance is a remnant of the recent flooding, and is not really
supposed to be there! |
The
main building, which houses the auditorium, game room, kitchen, dining
hall, bathrooms, office and gift shop. |
Some
of the guys enjoy playing table tennis while waiting for lunch. |
They
also have a few foosball tables and a couple of pool tables. |
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| The
cafeteria. The food was wonderful, especially the Botana that we had
for lunch on Saturday!! |
The
auditorium, which is between the game area and the dining room. |
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