7:30 AM
A quick once over of a long day:
La Angostura was great, and a lot was explained about the program and how the talapia farming works (not scientifically, although a bit in regards to the system and how the farming is done, but much more in principle of the ministry, it's function and what the farm accomplishes as well as the things God has already done with the farm's creation alone, even in its unfinished state.
(hinthint: Those taking part in Ignite360 starting July next year will see the finished farm. ;)
We got back in the bus.
More bus.
Went to the hotel the PF people are staying at and the girls went back to the house to get themselves and those who needed it a change of clothes for church while the guys stayed at the hotel. We then took Dawn Marie, Jenna, Christa and Peter to the church and helped set up for The Potter's Field presentation: Spanish Edition (totally made that name up just now).
Then the presentation, which as usual was amazing. This being my third time seeing it, I am starting to realize that each time Pastor Mike and Pam Rozel seem to have something different to say or new to add. I'm really thankful for their ministry.
8:37 AM
Bird song
We're just sitting by the bungallo waiting for Trevor to get the trash bags so we can do a quick once over the property, and I'm just sitting here listening to the birds, looking at the carefully kept grounds and flowers thinking, "This is such an amazing place that God has blessed these children with."
4:25 PM
A lot can happen in half an hour. . .
. . . and even more over the course of a day.
We got a ton of work done. Heading to the church now to help with Pastor Mike's second presentation and we just finished raking part of the front property in preperation for the pastor's conference.
To back up, Trevor had Jaymi and I switch jobs. That may or may not have been a good idea. Instead of trash duty I was spot painting one of the buildings, spot painting meaning, "Not the whole wall, just spots that look like they need it after you've wiped the dust off with a rag."
And I was told to do the entire building. Except I only almost finished the wall I started on. I am an extremely detail oriented individual who happens to lack time sensitivity, something not very helpful while sprucing up for a Pastor's conference happening the next day, and something I've known I need to work on but am reminded of again in a whole new way.
Trevor never said anything, so I'm hoping he didn't actually expect the entire building to be finished. (Except, you know, he totally did and I won't pretend otherwise. ):
After lunch we split up, I joined Pastor Steve in his tour of the property to see the rain damage and find out about the future plans to replace the drainage system. (Remember the canyon?)
And so we return to the beginning by, once again, speaking of the end: We finished up the day by raking and making a path area look all pretty like. <3
Friday, November 11, 2011
Nov. 2, Wednesday
10:56 AM
MINI BUS!
Or short bus. Chris says our white van is actually a mini bus so. . . Call the vehicles what you will.
Last night we picked up the Potter's Field people from the airport and were treated to this REALLY great restaurant. Tortillas, chicken, steak and pico de gallo, plus othe stuff to make your dinner with as we please. Soooooo good! (And we were given a sizable portion of the leftovers!!) My first time having quality flan too. With strawberry slices on top. Yum~
I finally understand its gelatinous beauty. <3
We have met them at the hotel and all piled into the short bus they rented for travel and are on our way to La Angostura to see the tilapia farm and one of the Potter's Field Kids program. (10 of them plus the nine of us plus Pastor Dave, his wife and Peter plus Violeta all going to the same place? Come on, ya' gotta love the short bus.)
With the storm when we first arrived in El Salvador and all our preparations for the Pastor's conference this will actually be our first time going to La Angostura as well, although in the future we will be going to work and minister to the kids from time to time.
It's really nice to see everyone again. ^__^
Our wonderful guests from PF are. . . Pastor Mike and Pam Rozel, Pastor Steve Venable, Christa, Pastor G and Margerett, Jenna, Pastor Don McClure. With them was also Pastor Walter, invited to come as translator for Pastor Mike's presentation after having worked with them previously at his own church, Calvary Chapel Oceanside, to their mutual enjoyment.
(And he's from the Bronx! Accents!!1 XD
He, Pastor G and Karin have so much fun together. :)
MINI BUS!
Or short bus. Chris says our white van is actually a mini bus so. . . Call the vehicles what you will.
Last night we picked up the Potter's Field people from the airport and were treated to this REALLY great restaurant. Tortillas, chicken, steak and pico de gallo, plus othe stuff to make your dinner with as we please. Soooooo good! (And we were given a sizable portion of the leftovers!!) My first time having quality flan too. With strawberry slices on top. Yum~
I finally understand its gelatinous beauty. <3
We have met them at the hotel and all piled into the short bus they rented for travel and are on our way to La Angostura to see the tilapia farm and one of the Potter's Field Kids program. (10 of them plus the nine of us plus Pastor Dave, his wife and Peter plus Violeta all going to the same place? Come on, ya' gotta love the short bus.)
With the storm when we first arrived in El Salvador and all our preparations for the Pastor's conference this will actually be our first time going to La Angostura as well, although in the future we will be going to work and minister to the kids from time to time.
It's really nice to see everyone again. ^__^
Our wonderful guests from PF are. . . Pastor Mike and Pam Rozel, Pastor Steve Venable, Christa, Pastor G and Margerett, Jenna, Pastor Don McClure. With them was also Pastor Walter, invited to come as translator for Pastor Mike's presentation after having worked with them previously at his own church, Calvary Chapel Oceanside, to their mutual enjoyment.
(And he's from the Bronx! Accents!!1 XD
He, Pastor G and Karin have so much fun together. :)
Nov. 1, Tuesday
8:48 AM
TREAT!
Karin and Randy were so cool! A few of us were hoping to stop somewhere and grab some candy for Halloween, but we didn't have time because Randy and Karin had to leave at 6:30 to meet with some people.
But after their meeting, Randy mentioned to Karin that we had been hoping to buy some and on their wayhome stopped to buy us cookies and candy, then before going to bed Karin made an origami box for each of us!
I took some pictures of the boxes and everything, and even got some footage of Ben and Noah finding theirs. So thankful and glad to have the Gilberts with us! :D
And a (specific) problem I have with communication was brought to my attention that I hadn't been previously aware of. So I need to work on that now.
5:19 PM
Untitled Note
We were raking leaves today, and Pastor Dave Eason called us over to pray for the contractor's son. I'm not sure exactly what it was, but his son had been checked out at the hospital and it was determined that he had a disease of some sort in the stomach.
I had a very rough time at the beginning of the day, partly because of what I mentioned in my early journal entry and partly because of a separate but related issue that was brought to my attention soon after we arrived at the boy's home. I was beating myself up a lot.
However Peter, a missionary from San Diego, spoke to me shortly after Pastor Dave prayed about a few things, asked me some questions about my walk with God now and in the past and about how I feel being on the mission field and prayed for me and God's leading in my life. I had really needed it and thank God for placing Peter their today.
I'm not sure how I feel about sharing this publically, but because of the very nature of this blog as having a two-fold purpose, being both my journal and a way of sharing the good news of the things happening here, felt it would be wrong to leave out.
TREAT!
Karin and Randy were so cool! A few of us were hoping to stop somewhere and grab some candy for Halloween, but we didn't have time because Randy and Karin had to leave at 6:30 to meet with some people.
But after their meeting, Randy mentioned to Karin that we had been hoping to buy some and on their wayhome stopped to buy us cookies and candy, then before going to bed Karin made an origami box for each of us!
I took some pictures of the boxes and everything, and even got some footage of Ben and Noah finding theirs. So thankful and glad to have the Gilberts with us! :D
And a (specific) problem I have with communication was brought to my attention that I hadn't been previously aware of. So I need to work on that now.
5:19 PM
Untitled Note
We were raking leaves today, and Pastor Dave Eason called us over to pray for the contractor's son. I'm not sure exactly what it was, but his son had been checked out at the hospital and it was determined that he had a disease of some sort in the stomach.
I had a very rough time at the beginning of the day, partly because of what I mentioned in my early journal entry and partly because of a separate but related issue that was brought to my attention soon after we arrived at the boy's home. I was beating myself up a lot.
However Peter, a missionary from San Diego, spoke to me shortly after Pastor Dave prayed about a few things, asked me some questions about my walk with God now and in the past and about how I feel being on the mission field and prayed for me and God's leading in my life. I had really needed it and thank God for placing Peter their today.
I'm not sure how I feel about sharing this publically, but because of the very nature of this blog as having a two-fold purpose, being both my journal and a way of sharing the good news of the things happening here, felt it would be wrong to leave out.
Oct. 31, Monday
9:18 PM
Finished painting!
Sort-of.
Colin, Chris and I finished painting the office roof, Randy and Trevor finished painting some other things and Jaymi and Kayla finished painting the outdoor picnic tables.
Except the office roof is technically only finished as far as can be seen. . . We were running out of paint on the last section and were told to just do what can be seen of that last part, the edge. I'll make sure to snag pics of some of the things we finished tomorrow.
Finished painting!
Sort-of.
Colin, Chris and I finished painting the office roof, Randy and Trevor finished painting some other things and Jaymi and Kayla finished painting the outdoor picnic tables.
Except the office roof is technically only finished as far as can be seen. . . We were running out of paint on the last section and were told to just do what can be seen of that last part, the edge. I'll make sure to snag pics of some of the things we finished tomorrow.
Oct. 30, Sunday
12:45 PM
Classroom cHaOS!?!!.!_ _~_
(Well, only really during question time.)
Today instead of going to the football ministry after serving breaktast like last Sunday, I went from the church with Kayla and Jaymi to help at the Campos Blancos we visited last week (a neighborhood outreach for those unable to attend church, primarily focused at kids, giving the morning's teaching and a small snack) and from there went back to the church. We met up with Colin who had been playing guitar with the worship team and split up, Kayla and Jaymi in one classroom with Colin and I in another.
The class taught us some songs in Spanish which was really fun, then went into THE longest kids Sunday school lesson in Spanish that I had to stand there and look like I was paying more attention than I actually was (or was even able to) so that I could act like a good role model to the little Sunday school kiddies. Very hard at times when everything is in Spanish. The lesson was Exodus 32, on the Isrealites and the golden calf, and seemed almost like what the teaching at an adult service would be like. Kids were really good for it too. Some of them were bored at times, but they'd come back to attention without the teacher forcing it or anything.
Something else I found interesting but couldn't quite place until overhearing Kayla and Jaymi talk about it later, all the eight and nine year olds had Bibles. That they used for class. And read from. Jaymi mentioned how they actually teach the kids verso a verso (verse by verse), and even though they are in the Old Testament the teaching wasn't 'story oriented'.
At the end the teacher gave the kids a question time with us. So cute, and sooooo excited. It felt really weird being asked if I had been in a war, was married or had a girlfriend and if I had kids (to name the ones that stood out).
One of those funny, "Wow, I really have been out of high school for two years." moments.
Classroom cHaOS!?!!.!_ _~_
(Well, only really during question time.)
Today instead of going to the football ministry after serving breaktast like last Sunday, I went from the church with Kayla and Jaymi to help at the Campos Blancos we visited last week (a neighborhood outreach for those unable to attend church, primarily focused at kids, giving the morning's teaching and a small snack) and from there went back to the church. We met up with Colin who had been playing guitar with the worship team and split up, Kayla and Jaymi in one classroom with Colin and I in another.
The class taught us some songs in Spanish which was really fun, then went into THE longest kids Sunday school lesson in Spanish that I had to stand there and look like I was paying more attention than I actually was (or was even able to) so that I could act like a good role model to the little Sunday school kiddies. Very hard at times when everything is in Spanish. The lesson was Exodus 32, on the Isrealites and the golden calf, and seemed almost like what the teaching at an adult service would be like. Kids were really good for it too. Some of them were bored at times, but they'd come back to attention without the teacher forcing it or anything.
Something else I found interesting but couldn't quite place until overhearing Kayla and Jaymi talk about it later, all the eight and nine year olds had Bibles. That they used for class. And read from. Jaymi mentioned how they actually teach the kids verso a verso (verse by verse), and even though they are in the Old Testament the teaching wasn't 'story oriented'.
At the end the teacher gave the kids a question time with us. So cute, and sooooo excited. It felt really weird being asked if I had been in a war, was married or had a girlfriend and if I had kids (to name the ones that stood out).
One of those funny, "Wow, I really have been out of high school for two years." moments.
Oct. 28, Friday
5:07 PM
My eye still isn't twitching!
Yay~ <3
I messed up last night / this morning. :p
Got rebuked, learned from my mistake, found out how to not be a hindrance and got a semi-random exhortation at the end of the day letting me know that I've been doing a good job and making good time painting the roof and that so long as I accept what I was told and will try and learn from it everything's good.
Some of it hurt, but I needed all of it. ^___^
Oh, and us guys had some dude time at lunch and talked about a bunch of different topics. It was then continued on the way home when everyone else went to the basketball game Randy and Trevor take part in every Friday. Our reasons ranged from doing the 'homework' we rarely seem to have time for to taking some chill time.
Today was sweaty. The heat. IT IS COMING.
My eye still isn't twitching!
Yay~ <3
I messed up last night / this morning. :p
Got rebuked, learned from my mistake, found out how to not be a hindrance and got a semi-random exhortation at the end of the day letting me know that I've been doing a good job and making good time painting the roof and that so long as I accept what I was told and will try and learn from it everything's good.
Some of it hurt, but I needed all of it. ^___^
Oh, and us guys had some dude time at lunch and talked about a bunch of different topics. It was then continued on the way home when everyone else went to the basketball game Randy and Trevor take part in every Friday. Our reasons ranged from doing the 'homework' we rarely seem to have time for to taking some chill time.
Today was sweaty. The heat. IT IS COMING.
Oct. 27, Thursday
9:14 AM
Donuts, scrambled eggs, beans, milk and orange juice.
Our breakfast at Trevor and Eric's house. Yum~ (She mixed so much in with the eggs I could barely taste 'em. <3 ) The beach was just the break we all needed in this lack of consistency that is our time so far in El Salvador, and we are now heading back to the house to open some windows and air things out then it is off to San Martin for another day of work. Not sure what we are doing for lunches though. We bought more bread this morning, so maybe we'll make our lunches there? (Though I think the plan was to make sandwiches at Trevor and Erica's house. . .) Everyone had a good time, accept I wanted to tempt fate just once before leaving the water for good and gave the water a sweeping kick to make a splash just for fun. The splash came up, and part of it came back on my face. Spent the next few hours laying down trying to make sure that what little bit of water went in came back out. Boring, but I learened my lesson, earned an excercise in patience, got some rest I was probably needing more than I realized and got to work on my tan. So a good day despite that little mess up. Oh! And my eye didn't twitch at all until we were on our way back at night and I was overthinking some things. I stopped myself and calmed down, and for the rest of the night was fine. I want to work on Spanish, but hope to avoid listening to much for a little while today so as to rest my brain awhile longer. Hey, it sounds bad, but you aren't the one with the twitching eye. :( 7:05 PM
Mini journal
Abandoned journaling in favor of talking with Noah on the way home. Figured he could use it, and I'm little more than a big kid anyway so it was fun. Oh the reminiscing of cartoons! ;)
A few quick highlights:
Colin stayed back today because while swimming he accidentally swallowed an unknown quantity of salt water throughout the day. He threw up last, but was gradually feeling better over the course of the morning before we left.
Karin took Ben in the other van to pick up Arele, the woman who offered to come and help us by precooking some of our meals (I think the spelling for her name is getting closer?), and go shopping. She happened to run into a couple who had worked security at the embassy and apparently had all sorts of fun stories and tips for safety about living in and traveling around El Salvador. I choose to think of it as a good reminder to not grow lax in what reasonable security measures we can take, and more importantly, to not grow lax in our prayers for safety. Beyond that, to not grow lax in our other prayers as well. We haven't had anything happen personally that makes us question our safety, but we are beginning to understand that despite our not seeing it there are very real dangers.
And Kayla has officially upgraded from ninja robot to ningel. She's a Ninja angel!
Donuts, scrambled eggs, beans, milk and orange juice.
Our breakfast at Trevor and Eric's house. Yum~ (She mixed so much in with the eggs I could barely taste 'em. <3 ) The beach was just the break we all needed in this lack of consistency that is our time so far in El Salvador, and we are now heading back to the house to open some windows and air things out then it is off to San Martin for another day of work. Not sure what we are doing for lunches though. We bought more bread this morning, so maybe we'll make our lunches there? (Though I think the plan was to make sandwiches at Trevor and Erica's house. . .) Everyone had a good time, accept I wanted to tempt fate just once before leaving the water for good and gave the water a sweeping kick to make a splash just for fun. The splash came up, and part of it came back on my face. Spent the next few hours laying down trying to make sure that what little bit of water went in came back out. Boring, but I learened my lesson, earned an excercise in patience, got some rest I was probably needing more than I realized and got to work on my tan. So a good day despite that little mess up. Oh! And my eye didn't twitch at all until we were on our way back at night and I was overthinking some things. I stopped myself and calmed down, and for the rest of the night was fine. I want to work on Spanish, but hope to avoid listening to much for a little while today so as to rest my brain awhile longer. Hey, it sounds bad, but you aren't the one with the twitching eye. :( 7:05 PM
Mini journal
Abandoned journaling in favor of talking with Noah on the way home. Figured he could use it, and I'm little more than a big kid anyway so it was fun. Oh the reminiscing of cartoons! ;)
A few quick highlights:
Colin stayed back today because while swimming he accidentally swallowed an unknown quantity of salt water throughout the day. He threw up last, but was gradually feeling better over the course of the morning before we left.
Karin took Ben in the other van to pick up Arele, the woman who offered to come and help us by precooking some of our meals (I think the spelling for her name is getting closer?), and go shopping. She happened to run into a couple who had worked security at the embassy and apparently had all sorts of fun stories and tips for safety about living in and traveling around El Salvador. I choose to think of it as a good reminder to not grow lax in what reasonable security measures we can take, and more importantly, to not grow lax in our prayers for safety. Beyond that, to not grow lax in our other prayers as well. We haven't had anything happen personally that makes us question our safety, but we are beginning to understand that despite our not seeing it there are very real dangers.
And Kayla has officially upgraded from ninja robot to ningel. She's a Ninja angel!
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