Golden Notes

Misc. Pictures

2007-10-13T10:22:00.001-06:00

"Saturation" - a changing factor

2007-07-02T10:38:00.000-06:00

Philadelphia...known in the U.S. as the City of Brotherly Love...of course it's not the only city of that name in the world...How about "Filadelfia" on the Nicoya Peninsula in Guanacaste, Costa Rica? I don't know what the nickname of that little town is, but I do know that now they can know of God's love for each of them.

Last week a team from Washington state spent three intense (and hot) days distributing the gospel of John door to door and three nights showing movies that speak of God's love. This is not all that unusual an event, because several teams come to Costa Rica throughout the year doing similar projects. The impressive thing about this particular project is that the team covered virtually every house in the town...and a few outside town. The observation was made that the entire town received the gospel in those three days. They "saturated" the town with the gospel.
How many of those approximately 6-7,000 residents will actually read the gospel and accept Christ as their personal savior? Only the Lord knows. But if only a small percentage do, it could transform the whole town.
Someone who studies those type things has stated that 2% of any population, wholly dedicated to their cause, can change a society. I don't know if that's true or not, but I do know that people who are passionate in their beliefs can certainly influence society.
We have only to observe history and current events to see that is true. The world was changed by Christians who observed a risen Christ and proclaimed the fantastic message. Racial rights activists have influenced the world.

Of course, there are negative passions too. Who can say that the ill-passioned terrorists haven't influenced the world. I won't even get into the effects of abortion activists, promoters of homosexuality, or media images of promiscuity.

I am glad that people are all over the world speaking of Christ, showing His love, and proclaiming the truth of a living God. Pray for a passion of believers that exceeds that of murderous terrorists and of those who would press their "alternate" lifestyles on a regrettably indifferent society.

Living in Darkness

2007-05-01T20:41:00.000-06:00

Selected blackouts...that's what we've been experiencing in Costa Rica lately. It's a process of methodically turning off the power in varying parts of the country and city in order to conserve power. This annoying tactic has been caused by less than normal rainfall, especially in the mountains. The power in Costa Rica is generated solely by hydroelectric plants. Less water...less power. So engineers have adopted this plan to try to avoid a power crisis. Hopefully, as soon as the rains commence, the crisis will go away, and we can return to normal...leaving all the lights on all the time, running three computers, having hot water anytime of the day or night...you know, all the necessities of life.

But it does afford me an opportunity to make some observations, one of which is that the only problem is not the occasional few hours without power. First, the lack of rain causes less power. Less power causes the need to use less power. To accomplish this, the city turns off street lights and traffic lights in parts of the city. This causes more accidents, not to mention the several fires caused by overturned candles in houses. There is more stress for drivers because they are having to maneuver through ungoverned streets and intersections. This causes them to arrive at home already irritated, to a cold supper because there is no electricity to cook with. I don't know yet if there have been more accidents during this time. There have been no studies to learn if there is more family conflict related to the blackouts. (Of course, on the other hand, with no television to watch or computers to play with, there may be a rash of births 9 months from now. Only time will tell about that.)

My analogy is this: The power shortage is not an isolated or contained problem. It affects other areas of life. There is a chain reaction of events. One thing leads to another. The same thing is true with our choices in life...sinful choices in particular. When there is a lacking of discipline (power)or deliberate sin (lack of obedience to God) in our lives, it causes subsequent problems...consequences directly related to the original failure. We cannot have a lack of power (obedience to God, adherence to God's laws)in a vacuum. Such a lacking or failure always leads to other difficulties. Not without meaning is Jesus spoken of as the "Light of the world" and that "in Him is no darkness at all."

Church in Cahuita

2007-04-16T13:48:00.000-06:00

Center of Sixaola

2007-04-16T13:46:00.000-06:00

Crossing Sixaola River into Panama

2007-04-16T13:44:00.000-06:00

Border crossing into Panama

2007-04-16T13:41:00.000-06:00

Children in Sixaola Church

2007-04-16T13:40:00.000-06:00

Carroll illustrating with soccer ball

2007-04-16T13:38:00.000-06:00

Church in Sixaola

2007-04-16T13:36:00.000-06:00

To Sixaola and Back

2007-04-16T11:57:00.000-06:00

At the risk of making our life sound more "glamorous" than it is, I'm going to relate the events of the week end. Don't get me wrong. We live in a nice house, drive a good car, and have hot water. But, from time to time, we leave the comforts of home and journey to other parts for various reasons...not for fun, I assure you. We aren't campers and don't particularly care to "rough it" without reason. But there are times when our work calls for us to experience spartan accommodations.

This last week end was one of those. Those who live in Latin America (and other places too, I suspect) learn that flexibility is an attribute that is definitely an asset. I guess I should have taken it as a sign that we were in for one of those times when I received the call on Thursday night. One of our regular bus drivers (for when we have volunteer groups) needed me to go with him to the "Tribunal" to pay a ticket he had received the day before. He needed me to testify that he was driving for missionaries that day and not tourists. The policeman took his license plates because he was in a private car which didn't have the "Turistas" sticker on it. He wouldn't accept the driver's word that the gringos in the car weren't sight-seeing, but working with a church in the area. OK. Not a problem. I could go with him even though it was going to make the planned departure for our week end trip a half day late.

After making two fruitless stops, we finally got the ticket paid, but he still didn't have his license plates. That's a whole other story...not related.

Note that all of the plans for the trip had been coordinated with a national missionary...in Spanish...on the telephone...and..."plans" are nothing more than a loose idea of what may happen...among a lot of other things. Compound that with the fact that he had made plans with other nationals as to what we would be doing. So now you have multiple people involved.

I'll try to make this short. I knew we were going to Cahuita, a small village on the Caribbean.(Mitzi and I went there a couple of times in 1999.) It's a, shall we say, different kind of place...full of beach bums, people looking for a good time (at what I'm not sure. There's nothing there.), bars, weird restaurants, and, no doubt, drugs. Several years ago two young ladies were murdered there. Why did we go in "99? Good question. Actually, it's an interesting place. But...I'm getting sidetracked.

We made the 3 hour drive to Cahuita, found the pastor we were to visit with, much to his surprise. He had forgotten. After an hour with him, Daniel, the Tico missionary, indicated we were leaving. This was somewhat of a surprise, because my understanding was that we were going to spend the night there in some cabinas the pastor had. Wrong.

We continued on to Sixaola, which is all the way to the Panama border. I had no idea we were going there, although I did get that impression during the conversation sometime during the day. After another couple of hours driving we arrived at the church in Sixaola.There were a couple of ladies waiting for us there and after a short conversation, I learned that we were staying in an apartment over the church and having a meeting with church people at 6:30 that night.

We went into the center of Sixaola to eat dinner. Well, I don't know if a little village strung out for a quarter of a mile along a gravel road has a center, but we found the bus station and a restaurant...of sorts.

Daniel had asked me if I would tell about our work and how we could work with the church during the service the next morning. I agreed but, in fact, that happened Saturday night during the meeting.

Finally, we went up to the apartment for the night. There was only a single bed in the room where Mitzi and I were to sleep, but there was a little 2 inch foam mattress leaning against the wall. That was to be my bed. I wasn't popular with the Central American tropical cockroaches when I moved the mattress. They scurried in several directions. I hoped they didn't return to claim their mattress during the night. With their size, they could have carried it, and me, off. The bed, and the mattress, had only a mattress cover...no sheets. The little bed had a pillow. I had some wadded up curtains for a pillow.

We thought about taking a shower before we went to bed, but changed our minds when we discovered that there was no hot water. Facing a cold shower twice was more than I wanted to brave. Twice, because we covered ourselves with generous amounts of bug spray before going to bed, and the smell, and feel, would have called for a second shower the next morning.

Surviving the night without incident we arose to another hot day and the prospect of a not too unwelcome cold shower.

I won't go in to all the details about the services on Sunday morning.Suffice it to say that the schedule, as we had understood it, changed at least four times before the morning was over. Rather than tell the adults about our work, I gave an illustration with a soccer ball(not a demonstration...I don't play soccer) to about 35 children.

One more story...On the way home, we stopped in Cahuita to eat lunch. Now, finding a good place there is difficult, because everything looks...well...crummy. We finally settled on a place called "Ingrid's", mainly because that's Daniel's wife's name. We didn't pay any attention to the sign which said "Health Food". Daniel wanted a fruit salad with ice cream...nope. Ice cream isn't healthy. I was having trouble deciding between a tomato, grabanzo, onion sandwich or one with olives, carrots and cheese when the waitress asked for our drink orders. Having gotten the point that this was a health food restaurant, I ordered a "diet" coke. No coke, at least not Coca Cola. I feel sure we could have gotten some of the other kind of coke...or at least marijuana, since that's a plant. Funny how that works. Some of those folks won't eat meat, but will blow their minds away with drugs.

Oh well. We made it home, took a nice hot shower and slept in our own bed with clean sheets.

Please do pray for Manuel, the pastor at Cahuita. He is discouraged, as are the people of the church at Sixaola, because they don't have a pastor.

Kids, Cameras, and Crocodiles

2007-03-26T13:57:00.000-06:00

What do kids, cameras, and crocodiles have in common? Not a lot really, but it seems every kid does have a camera. The crocodiles we'll get to later. I can remember when Mitzi and I first thought about getting a digital camera. It was a big deal. We shopped and finally bought a mid-range Kodak...well, it was mid-range then...kind of outdated now. Not a big deal anymore. Everyone has one.

Last week I had the privilege of working with a volunteer group from Tennessee...mostly young people, 15-17 or so. They had some adults along too of course. Normally, I dread groups with lots of teen-agers. Well, I dreaded this one a little too. One never knows just what you're in for. I needn't have worried.These kids were great. Disciplined, polite, prompt, obedient...speaks well for their parents and leader. And they worked hard without complaining. We had lots of walking, most of it up steep hills. Oh, there was a lot of good-natured kidding about whose hills were the toughest, but I heard no gripes.

The week was good. We distributed somewhere between 400 and 500 copies of the gospel of John, showed two movies in the little church with whom we were working, prayer-walked the whole area, and got to know some new friends. The pastor said 5 people accepted Christ as Savior, and several families were located that expressed an interest in a visit from the pastor and wanted more information. Praise the Lord for that.

Oh yeah...the cameras and crocodiles. Well, virtually each kid had a camera...and knew how to use it. They got pictures of every combination and even were adept at taking pictures of themselves. It's so easy these days.

One day we made the obligatory stop at what is called the "Crocodile Bridge." It's a bridge that passes over a river, which is about 30-40 below. There is always a "herd" (What do you call a bunch/group of crocodiles?) of crocs lying along the river below the bridge. Naturally, the group took a ton of pictures, and...one of the young ladies somehow dropped her camera off the bridge. (Fortunately, it was of the disposable type and not an expensive digital.) She was a little upset. The camera was no big loss, but there were lots of good shots on it. We looked and thought. "How can we get that camera back? There must be a way."

We examined the route from the end of the bridge to the location of the camera. It wasn't in the river, but you would have to cross some pretty muddy area and wade a portion of the river to get to it. Now the mud didn't bother me too much, nor did the water...and the crocs weren't close to the camera, at least not at that time. I just wasn't sure I could outrun a hungry crocodile in mud and knee deep water. We went on to our destination...but we didn't forget that camera. Our driver thought all afternoon about some way to rescue the dropped camera, and came up with an ingenious idea. We could first lower a 2 liter coke bottle filled with sand and place it just behind the camera to brace it. Then we could lower a small plastic trash bucket down and scoop up the camera into the bucket. Seemed like it would work.

So on our way home, some 8 hours later, we stopped again. Sure enough, the camera was still there. Same place,same crocs...except this time they were closer. (I had the thought of lowering someone down on a rope and letting them pick up the camera before the crocodiles could get to them. Bad idea.) We lowered the coke bottle. No problem. We lowered the trash bucket. Well, this caught the attention of the crocodiles. They were sure it was something to eat. After a couple of attempts to lower it between them, one of the largest ones grabbed it in his jaws. When he discovered that it wasn't good to eat, he spit it out, but not before pretty well smashing it.

About that time a river tour boat pulled up. One of the guides told us in no uncertain terms to stop tormenting the crocodiles and not to "feed" them plastic buckets. It would kill them if they ate it. We tried to explain about the camera, and eventually he got the message. But he had a show to do. He got out of the boat, fed the crocs by hand...and even held some fish in his mouth while the crocodile grabbed it out. Finally he finished his "show" and came over and got the camera and put it in the bucket which we lowered, but not before taking a couple of pictures of us from his vantage point on the river bed.

So...all in all the kids had a good week filled with work,fun, picture taking and a story to tell. It's a commentary that we probably will remember the crocodile/camera incident more vividly than we will the people who accepted Christ. I was asked several times how long crocodiles live. I really don't know, but I do know this...not as long as someone who has come to know the Lord and will have eternal life.

Volunteer Groups - In General

2007-02-15T15:27:00.000-06:00

As you may have gathered if you read many of our posts, we often work with volunteer groups from the U.S. It is usually beneficial to the work, encouraging to the national believers, inspirational to the members of the groups...and...always interesting. After a few groups one learns that every group is different...and alike. Each group has its own group personality. But, also, each group nearly always has some common individual personalities.

Virtually every group has at least one person that has a servant's heart. It may be a man or a woman, but this person loves to help. They routinely are asking what they can do or what equipment they can set up. They volunteer to fill everyone's water bottle or keep the materials supplied each day. They pick up the trash left in the bus or offer to carry luggage or boxes.

Then generally there is someone who is the technician. They can help with sound and video equipment. They may not have the most outgoing personality, but they are the resource if you need technical advice or expertise.

Nearly every group has at least one person who has been on mission trips before. These types can vary. Sometimes they have been around enough to know that with each trip, each country, the situation is a little different. Others are sure that their trip to Slombodoviastan was done just the way mission trips should be done, and every trip should follow that pattern.

Most group members are very adaptable and accept whatever the circumstances are for the time they are here. They will put up with cold water showers (and sometimes no water), strange food and customs, hot days, and heavy rain. For them it's an adventure. Then there is the one that can't understand why every village doesn't have a MacDonald's, you can't get waffles for breakfast, every meal comes with rice and black beans and no one speaks English.

Fortunately, most groups have a leader...someone who makes decisions for the group, although sometimes it is just too democratic. What do you do when there are 12 people in a group and 4 want to eat chicken for supper,3 want to go to a typical restaurant, 3 want to just eat some bread from the local panaderia, and 2 want to go to the grocery store and get snacks.

Oh, I almost forgot. There is often a designated photographer in the group. For this I'm thankful. (Although it hasn't helped me get photos of the project. I nearly always ask the group to send me 6-12 of their best pictures by email after they get home. Guess how many have actually done it...two...out of about a dozen groups. Out of sight, out of mind.) Having a group picture taker keeps everyone else from having to constantly stop working to take pictures.

And, oh the benefits of technology...except on the mission trip. There's really nothing we can do about it these days, I guess. Groups hardly hit the ground until they are looking for phone cards and internet cafes to communicate with the folks back home. I'm thinking about making it part of their orientation before they come to plan on not communicating with home until they get back, unless it's an emergency. I have no doubt that there would still be some clandestine trips to the closest public computer.

For the most part groups are a blessing. They bring with them a great desire to serve the Lord and take the gospel to those who need to hear it. They are sometimes inspirational, sometimes fun, sometimes trying, usually encouraging, and always an interesting experience. I am glad we live in an age when people can see first hand the world and the need for the gospel. I am glad they can go home having experienced the mission field for themselves and missions has become more than something they read in a book or only during times of special offerings.

Coast to Coast

2007-01-04T16:14:00.000-06:00

I never thought I'd be one who commutes to work coast to coast. Yesterday it occurred to me that I have become just that. No. I didn't hop on a jet and fly business class to the west coast one day and then hurry back to the east coast the next. What I did do was drive to the Pacific coast on Wednesday, meeting with a couple of national pastors on the way, and return home Wednesday night...and...had everything gone as planned, I would have driven to the Caribbean coast on Thursday for a meeting. (As it turned out, I went about half way to pick up the pastor who had arranged the meeting only to find out that the meeting had been called off because of some sort of communication breakdown. He had tried to call me before I got there, but there is no cell phone service as I pass through the mountains.) So...my whole illustration lost some of its umph, because, although it's entirely feasible that it could have happened, it didn't. (Of course, this type of traveling is possible in Costa Rica...look at a map.)

How many times in our lives do plans change? things that could have been, don't occur? What a life I would have had if all my plans would have panned out. Just think, in this case I could have bragged about being a coast to coast commuter. I could have said I had dinner on a Pacific beach Wednesday night and breakfast at the Caribbean on Thursday. It would have sounded so good. No need to give all the facts.

Ever feel a need to embellish a story or maybe leave out a few facts, just to make it sound better...actually to make you sound better, or more interesting? Wonder why we do that. You see, it wouldn't have been a lie to say I sometimes commuted coast to coast. But leaving out that one little fact that I live in Costa Rica sort of taints the story.

OK. So I don't really know why I posted this silly thought. Just seemed like there was a lesson there somewhere. I'll let you make your own application.

Rocks in the Road

2006-12-15T10:29:00.000-06:00

A couple of days ago I was coming back from a short trip to Guapiles...a trip which takes me over the mountain and through the cloud/rain forest. It's a pleasant drive most of the time. The scenery is great...forest, waterfalls...nearly always is raining. Driving at night is a little more precarious because of the curvy roads.

This time it was just dusk, not yet dark and I was making good time. As Costa Rica roads go, this one is pretty good. There are passing lanes for up-mountain traffic, which is nice because there are lots of eighteen wheelers and slow vehicles. I was passing one of those trucks on a curve when the truck suddenly locked his brakes and came to a tire smoking stop. Naturally I was shaken out of my driving stupor and at once became alert, not having time to even wonder what was happening. As I passed the truck I saw the reason for his lurching halt. Were it not for his alertness and quick reactions, his cab would have slammed into a rock about the size of a two drawer filing cabinet. Apparently it had fallen off the side of the mountain onto the road.

I stopped in front of the truck, as did another car, and we all got the rock off the road, along with some smaller ones that had accompanied it down, and then we all proceed on our journey.

OK. Allow me to wax philosophical a moment...make a metaphor, if you will. There are times in this life when we are just ginning along at a good pace. Things are going well. Then suddenly, through no fault of our own, there is an obstacle in our path. Fortunately, in this case, the driver of the truck was alert. Was he expecting to see a rock in the road? Probably not. But he was aware that the unexpected can happen, reacted quickly, and stopped. Then he had some choices. He could sit there and bemoan the fact that a rock had fallen in his path. It wasn't his fault. Just rotten luck. Poor me. He could back up and go around the rock, leaving it there for the next vehicle to deal with. After all, again, it wasn't his fault the rock was there. Let every man look out for himself.

Or...he could get out of the truck and move it out of the way. That's what he did...or tried to do. Maybe he could have eventually moved it, but it was so much easier with help. He could have told us, "Hey. It isn't your problem. It's in my lane. I'll deal with it." But no, he gladly accepted extra strength, and together we had it out of the road in a couple of minutes.

Interesting. Not only did the rock get moved and the lane cleared. There was something else that happened. In that two or so minutes, there was sort of a bond created between three complete strangers. We had participated in a team effort to do something that needed doing...something good. We were all thanking each other and smiling.

OK. Applications: Unexpected obstacles and/or events come into our lives. One shouldn't live scared, but should be alert to danger. We can let them wreck us, or we can deal with them and proceed on our way. We can try to do something that will help the one coming along behind us. Sometimes we need help to get the problem solved.
Helping others is a good thing. Removing rocks from our road could just help someone coming along the same way later.

A Busy Three Months

2006-12-02T09:49:00.000-06:00

The last three months have been pretty crazy...but productive. Here is a summary for those interested.

In September I showed a children's video for a church in Ipis. The next week we began a project with a volunteer group from FBC, Middleton, TN in conjunction with that church in Coronado, an area near the church. The team distributed 1000 gospels of John. There were 3 recorded professions of salvation; 8 homes indicated an interest in a Bible study, and several more (maybe 12-15) indicated some interest in further contact. My hope, and my discussion with the pastor, is that they will follow up and begin cell Bible studies. This area was somewhat less receptive because of being a city area.

October: I preached in Atenas, at the church of a young pastor with whom we work and at PIB, Guadalupe, the church we attend.
We worked with the group from Central BC, Meridan, MS in Upala. Upala is a small town with no Baptist church. near the Nicaraguan border, There are several Pentecostal churches. There we distributed 1100 gospels, working in the town of Upala and the rural area of Moreno Cañas, where there is a small Baptist church. We showed two videos there. Also, we were able to acquire use of the central park of Upala and showed the Jesus film in the Kiosko there. An estimated 250 people viewed that showing. In all, approximately 30 people indicated a decision for Christ, most of which we got good follow up information. The pastor of the rural church in Moreno Cañas will follow up on the decisions. As a result of the effort, he already is leading 20 young people in a weekly Bible study.

I spent one week in Tennessee with my mother, who had knee replacement surgery.

Three days were spent with a research group from Mt. Airy BC in Easley, SC. We went to several villages and talked to various people about world views. Interestingly, we found that one town had two fairly large and active non-denominational churches that we knew nothing about. (I wonder how many more there are out there.) We had the opportunity to talk to the pastor of one of the churches and a member of the other one. Both indicated what seemed to be sound doctrine.
November: We spent a week in Panama attending a meeting and doing some sight-seeing.
Spent 3 days in San Carlos with a group from New Century BC, Roanoke, VA. 500 gospels were distributed, 27 decisions for Christ registered, 21 people indicated an interest in a Bible study and 12 were interested in further contact.

On November 17 we held a missions conference in San Jose. presenting a Biblical mandate and basis for missions and also the need in Costa Rica and the world.
Also in November, I brought a message at a joint worship service of Costa Rica missionaries and language missionaries.

I worked with a group from Abilene BC, Martinez, GA for a week in Orotina. We distributed 1135 copies of the gospel of John. Four decisions for Christ were reported and many names were taken as possibilities for follow up. A young pastor living in the area, with whom we have a good working relationship will follow up. One interesting occurrence... As we went door to door, one group found a lady who is currently leading a Bible study of 20 people. She stated that she had been praying for someone lead the group. Jaime (the pastor) has already talked to her by phone and has an appointment to talk further. I feel pretty positive about this area. Jaime is an active and progressive young man and I believe will actively follow up.

We also showed videos in one school and at the rural church in Cebadilla. On Friday, the ladies of the volunteer group helped give a baby shower for one of Jaime's neighbors and a member of his church.

I believe that about sums up the last two months.

God's good timing

2006-11-09T11:18:00.000-06:00

The foreknowledge of God is amazing. Several weeks ago I was looking at my calendar trying to find a day to go visit with a pastor a couple of hours away. A volunteer group is going to work with him in his area soon, and we needed to get "our ducks in a row." I wrote the visit in my calendar about 3 weeks before I was to go.

Because Mitzi has such a heart for the pastors' wives, she decided to go with me, so we made the trip planning to take the pastor and his wife out for dinner...nothing fancy, just a chance for them to have a treat. In reality, there's nothing even close to fancy in the area. We arrived about 4 o'clock in the afternoon and the wife was sitting outside under the shelter they use for services leading another young lady in a Bible study. The pastor was inside cleaning up their three year old daughter. As soon as we arrived he came out, and we began to visit.

Well, it seems God's timing was at work. Not too many days before, the wife had experienced a "meltdown." You see, their little house (two rooms,so humble) is just in front of the shelter they have built for the church to meet. When I say just in front, I'm talking maybe 10 feet in between the two. Now, first of all, this little wife is a city girl and they live in the campo...the country. They have no car. The only means of travel is by foot or bus, to which they have to walk almost mile.

The young pastor is a very loving, gregarious guy. He cares for his wife and little girl deeply. Problem is, he cares for everyone...and...like so many young husbands (and some not so young), he is sometimes insensitive to his wife's needs. It never occurred to him that a woman's house and "stuff" is special to her, and he thought nothing about inviting people into her kitchen to use cooking utensils, the blender, and anything else that might be needed. He also sometimes made plans that involved her participation without asking her first.

Add to that the instances when people just wandered into the house and children peered in the windows when she was dressing and...well...one day she lost it. She broke down, was crying and it was just too much. He was saying, "¿que hice? ¿que hice?" "What did I do?" Of course, she didn't blame him...well, not completely.

Anyway, for two hours they talked to us about how hard it was, how difficult the work is, how she feels she has no privacy...on and on. Mitzi comforted her with great understanding due to her 25 years as a pastor's wife. I tried to help him to understand how sensitive he should be to her needs and individuality. The point is, we showed up at exactly the right time, and, I believe, not by coincidence.

Finally after about two hours, I interrupted and asked if they would like to go eat with us. Carla said, "I was just wondering what I was going to cook for us to eat." We went about two miles down the road to a pizza place,the closest restaurant to them. They had never been there, and the little girl had never eaten pizza.

God's timing is good.

Waiting for the movie

2006-10-28T22:37:00.000-06:00

Baptist church in Moreno Cañas

2006-10-28T22:36:00.000-06:00

Gabriela and Aron (Pastor's wife and son)

2006-10-28T22:34:00.000-06:00

children of Moreno Cañas

2006-10-28T22:28:00.000-06:00

Greg and children of Moreno Cañas

2006-10-28T22:24:00.000-06:00

Up in Upala

2006-10-28T21:56:00.000-06:00

We were UP in Upala, near the Nicarauga border...the temperature was up; the work was up; the activities were up...
A group of volunteers from Mississippi worked all week distributing the gospel, promoting videos that were shown in various places, and making new friends. It was a full week. We showed videos in two schools, twice in a small rural church, and on Friday night, in the central park of the little town of Upala.

I have to admit, I was skeptical about getting to show the Jesus movie in the park. Not that I thought we wouldn't get permission, but more that it would all come together. There was a large kiosk, or gazebo, type structure in the center of the park. It was covered and large enough for a big crowd...only one problem,there was no power. There were connections and outlets, just no power. A resident and a pastor who worked with us were assured by the city officials that they would get the power on in time for the movie, which was at 7 p.m. By 6 they still hadn't turned it on. I already had been figuring out alternatives, oh me of little faith. Sure enough, shortly after 6 we had power. Over 250 people watched the movie and several (8 or 10) accepted Christ afterwards.

Another "power" situation occurred earlier in the week. We were to show a video to school children in a sort of recreation area. Same deal kind of...there was power sources, but not hooked up. The group decided to gather and pray for the situation and just as they finished the prayer, the man got it hooked up, and we had electricity. Coincidence?

The group distributed 1100 copies of the gospel of John. Seed was sown, and our prayer is that a harvest will come.

Baptist church in Ipis

2006-10-03T15:29:00.000-06:00

Eden ???

2006-10-03T15:27:00.000-06:00