Seattle Vacation, Part 2

Wow! Sorry friends, this is LONGGGGGG overdue! Sometimes time on the mission field has a way of getting away from us!

We hit the ground running once we returned to El Salvador. Busy with medical teams and feeding programs, and the kids going away on mission trips or giras (week long ministry programs)!

But I promised a Part 2 and here it is!

Seattle was so much fun....so many things to see and do! And when you are with awesome friends, makes for double blessings.....what memories we've made!!

We drove around looking at houses in different neighborhoods and found this gem! Had to share the picture because of its uniqueness! This home is in a really nice upscale area.....like million dollar houses!!

We also toured Safeco Field, home of the Seattle Mariners. We even sat in the press box, for a photo!

Better than that, our friend Mary (team nurse for the Mariners), took us to the Mariner/Yankee game! Mariners won!! Awesome seats, as you can see!! And the time spent with our friends, was priceless!

A Gift from a Friend, Our Seattle Vacation!! Part 1

Good friends are gifts from God, and gifts from good friends, are Blessings!! Our friend Mary blessed us with a vacation to Seattle, and we had such a wonderful time!!

We were invited to Seattle by a nurse/friend of ours, that we met 2 years ago when her church brought a 12 person medical team down to El Salvador. The team returned last November, with 11 people, some returned from the year before, but some were new.

When Mary asked us to come and visit her in Seattle, we thought that was really nice of her, but to be honest, we hear that from a lot of people, and aren't really sure if they mean it, or they're trying to be nice! When it came time to schedule our flight home to Ohio (we visit home once a year), we told Mary that maybe we could fly to Seattle first for a weekend, before flying on to Ohio. She told me not to come for less than 5 days, because there was so much that she wanted to show us! That's when I knew she really wanted us to come!

We were there for 1 full week, and ran ourselves ragged, from sun up to sun down, taking in all the sights that Mary had on her schedule for us! From touring Safeco Field, to driving through the neighborhoods, to eating lunch in the Space Needle, and visiting with other team members! We had the time of our lives and loved every minute of our vacation blessing! God Is So Good!

We'd like to share more pictures of where we went and what we saw in Seattle, so we'll have a Part 2 to follow.....maybe even a Part 3!

For now we'll post a couple of family snap shots and one with our friend Mary! The picture of the city with the Space Needle, shows our hotel, The Edgewater, that sits in the bay. The Beatles once stayed at this hotel and fished out of the window in their room! They don't allow fishing out of the windows any more, because people were leaving the fish lay in their rooms, and well, that doesn't make for pleasant smells! Lol!

Blessings From The Prayer Fortress!

We just finished up our week in the Prayer Fortress, with our Compassion Team, headed up by Dr. Boris. We spend 2 full weeks a year, fasting and praying in the Prayer Fortress. In teams of at least two, females separate from males, we pray in increments of 2 1/2 hours at a time, interceding for family & friends, twice a day, 12 hours apart. We also have personal devotions and group devotions, Bible studies and services, throughout the day. A truly tough, and exhausting week, but so many breakthroughs and miracles! God ALWAYS proves faithful! We love hearing the praise reports from those who have asked us to pray!

After years of working the night shift in the hospital, we prefer praying during the night. It's cooler and there are less distractions....well, except for creatures of the night.....bats, bugs (when we say bugs, we mean mucho bugs), mammoth locust/grasshoppers, and moths of ALL sizes! But there are other benefits, too, like the beautiful sunrises on the 3:45 am to 6:15am shift!

God not only answers the prayers we lift to Him, but He paints us pretty pictures in the sky, to remind us just how majestic He is!!

Hello Friends!

Thought we better get an update out....we've been pretty busy lately, seems we can't help but add things to our already busy schedule, but there's just so much to do....so many needs and people to reach! But on a good note, we can't remember the last time we were bored, and at night, when our tired heads hit our pillows, we feel like much was accomplished, for HIS glory!

Two weeks ago, we hosted our very 1st AIM/evangelism team from Canada! We had previously only worked with medical teams, so this, we thought, could be a little challenging, but what the heck.....Missionary life is full of challenges, right?? Turned out to be a lot of "firsts" for us, but such an incredible and fun time!

We spent the week ministering in the streets with dramas and dances, and did a program in an elementary school. We traveled to and spent the night in El Nilo, a small, rural town full of poverty. We camped out all night on the church floor, and had some awesome meals, prepared by the pastor and some of the ladies in the church. We walked throughout the neighborhood, on the dirt roads, distributing food bags and offering prayer to all. Not one person turned down prayer! We also put on a program for children outside of the church and passed out "goody bags" to each of them. That was followed by a women's program, with "goody bags" for each of them, as well.

To wrap up our wonderful work week, we spent our free day zip lining in Apaneca, followed by an awesome lunch at an amazing restaurant situated on a coffee plantation with beautiful gardens.

The team's flight home was rescheduled because President Obama had flown in on the same day, and all flights were postponed. This "Devine Detour" gave us another "free day" with the team. It was a great way for all of us to wind down and relax. We were able to spend some good, quality time in the prayer fortress, which I think all would agree, was a great ending to a great mission trip!

Thank you to our Canadian Missionaries, Scott & Melissa Williams for giving us this opportunity, and trusting us, to work with their team. And a BIG Thank You Maple, for being such a wonderful and fun team to work with! We have all experienced some "firsts" together, and were reminded, on more than one occasion, about the importance of flexibility! We have amazing memories to hold on to, because of this time together! Blessings!!

More Of El Salvador!

We're back with more random pictures of people or things we come across in our daily ventures, as missionaries, here in El Salvador! As mentioned previously, some may make you chuckle, others, may bring a tear to your eye, but either way we hope it helps you catch a glimpse of our journey on the mission field! Enjoy!!

The 1st photo is our Coca Cola Plant.....We think it's pretty unique, because if you look closely to the left, on the roof of the building you can see all the red bottle caps sticking up across the whole plant!!

In the 2nd photo are two men standing in the back of a pick up, probably heading to work. It's very common to see pick up trucks full of people, flying down the highways 50 to 60 miles an hour....something I still cringe at, especially when there are young children among them! We have witnessed some children that looked as young as 3 or 4 years old, standing up in the back of the truck, alone, as it flew down the highway, obviously unaware of the dangers of being thrown out!

The 3rd photo is a beautiful painting that is on a building in a favorite town of ours, called Ataco. There are so many talented artists, among us in this country. Buildings are painted, telephone poles are often painted, and walls along the highways, like those we posted in a previous blog. This little town also had cobblestone streets, with coffee shops and eateries, as well as cute little gift shops.

The last photo is that of a little boy that I snapped, when he came to watch a program that Aaron's Warrior group was performing in a poor area. I just couldn't resist that sweet little face. Some of my favorite photos, are those of the beautiful Salvadoran children!!

Well, we hope you enjoy the pictures that we're sharing with you, as we capture them in our day to day ventures! Blessings!!!

More Sights in El Salvador, For Your Enjoyment!

In this 1st picture you'll see a man selling bread that he carries in the Big basket on his custom made bike. This is a very common sight around El Salvador. It will almost always be a male riding a bike and selling bread or other baked goods. It's rare to see a woman doing this.

In the next picture is an example of the wall art that we see everywhere. This Indian is painted on a wall along a major highway and displays some of the talent we have here.

While driving to the clinic yesterday, we drove up behind a herd of cows on the camp road. You always have to be prepared to stop, as you never know what you might find ahead! On more than one occasion, we have had to stop on the highway, for crossing cattle!

Another common sight around here are vendors, selling fruits and veggies, more than likely, grown on there own property. A necessary way to earn a living around here. It's truly amazing to us, at what little money they make, they can survive on. Such a simple life, yet difficult for us to wrap our minds around.

We're back with more photos snapped during our travels throughout El Salvador! We hope that you will enjoy the beauty of the country and get a good laugh at some of our everyday encounters!

In the 1st photo you can see a very overloaded truck, but got give them credit, it's packed very neatly!

In the 2nd photo, can you see how resourceful this person was, by using wood to build up the sides on the truck, before stacking all the firewood in??

The 3rd photo shows one of the little red, 3 wheel taxis that drive people around, all over the place, and especially in El Congo, where we pass through on our way to the camp, at least 2 days a week. They're cute, but really can be a nuisance, as they often time will pull right out in front of us going about 2 miles an hour!!

Our last photo is another beauty......showing off more of our many volcanoes!

Just a side note: The police will ticket you if you are driving a vehicle without your seatbelt on, or if your windows are tinted too dark, BUT take note of some of the vehicles that I've taken pictures of! Lol! These vehicles drive right by the policemen, with no problems!!

The Sights of El Salvador

There are so many sights to see in El Salvador! We have learned to carry a camera with us, every everywhere we go, because there are so many different things we encounter on a day to day basis, that are so worth sharing.....at least we think so!!

We are blessed to live in such a beautiful country, yet, at the same time, there are so many "different" things that we see, that make us chuckle, or at times pray!! For example, I saw a young family on a motorcycle one day, dad driving with his helmet on, mom behind him with no helmet, and a little girl, no more than 2 years old, up in front of the handle bars......no lie! I didn't get a picture, because I immediately started praying for that little one's protection!

So, I think we'll make this a series, and post new pictures as we take them, to give you a better perspective on what it's like living in a third world country.....get ready to take in it's beauty, or laugh a little, and maybe even say a prayer!

In the 1st picture are some of the many beautiful mountains that we see all around us, with a volcano about 1/4 of the way in from the left side. There are many volcanos here in El Salvador, too.

The 2nd picture is breathtaking, Lago de Coatepeque or Lake Coatepeque. King's Castle Campgrounds sits on this lake that is formed inside a volcano. We never get tired of this wonderful view!

The 3rd picture is just one of the many overloaded pick-ups that is common around here. I think some of the huge white bags are filled with plastic......maybe they're recycling????

The last picture is a picture of a rooster that I saw tied up behind a pastor's house, and thought it was pretty funny. One would think a dog would be the most common animal on a leash, but not true here in El Salvador!!

More to come.............

Blessings!

A Visit To Shalom

We finally made a visit to Shalom, an orphanage located in San Tomas, that I have been wanting to visit for a long time. We had visitors from Missouri here last week working with us, that were going to the orphanage to visit the children and pass out some toys, so we decided to join in on the fun.

We were taken on a tour of the facilities, 1st by a very nice man who spoke only Spanish, but was very easy to understand, because he was kind enough to speak slowly for us. Then, shortly after we got started, he was replaced by Tony, who spoke very good English, and explained thoroughly everything he knew about the operation of the home.

We visited the dorms of both the boys and the girls, which are divided in age groups. Each age group learns different things about taking care of themselves, for example the little girls that are 6-8 years old are already being taught how to make their beds and wash their own laundry. In this country, it is not uncommon for someone this age to be caring for younger brothers and sisters while their parents are away at work. In fact, we were told that there are siblings, that now live at the orphanage, and the 10 year old girl was in charge of her two younger brothers before moving to Shalom. They told us that she had a hard time in the beginning, because she felt she had to be able to see both of her brothers, and this was impossible at bedtime, because the girls and boys are in separate dorm rooms.

We were also shown their music room where several children are learning to play instruments, and their library/computer room. They have a new therapy room, for the special needs children, that was hand painted by the art teacher, and it's amazing.

Outside they started an agriculture program and are trying their hand at growing their own veggies. They will sell some and eat the rest. Looked like they were successfully growing several different things.

From here we were able to join the kids and pass out a toy to each one. They were some of the most patient and well behaved children I have ever seen. After all of the toys were passed out we all gathered around the children and prayed for them, and in return, they prayed for Don who has been battling with health issues. What a precious time we had with them.

We then took a short trip outside the front gate to the private Christian school that the kids attend, and met a team from the US who was painting all of the classrooms in that one day! It was a cute little school, three floors high.

To finalize our visit we traveled about a block away to visit the construction site of their new clinic, which is just in the 1st phase of being built.

We then said our goodbyes and thank yous, and went on our way, knowing that we will someday be back for another visit with our new friends!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Bringing in the New Year Salvadoran style! Shared the evening with a team from Illinois, and many of our missionary friends! Good food, testimonies, prayer and fireworks!

Thankful for an awesome year in 2010....God has so richly blessed us in so many ways and we are honored to move forward with Him, fulfilling our destiny! As part of the King's Castle Team, we are committing to living each day as it were our last, in 2011! Believing for the unbelievable!

Thank you to all of our supporters, both in prayer and finances, who help to make it possible for us to continue in this ministry. We love serving these beautiful people, and bringing His light to the darkness, His hope to the hopeless, His love to All!

We pray that you draw closer to God in this New Year. May it be a year full of surprises from God, as you commit your lives to following in His footsteps. May His joy overflow in you and His compassion flow through you!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!