Spike!

We awoke this morning to more scattered rain showers and a hearty meal of oatmeal.  The kitchen crew has been so hardworking and careful with our meals, making sure that Taber doesn’t get any gluten, Greg doesn’t get any corn, Holden isn’t getting peanuts, and everyone is well fed.  We have commented often that in past years we have expected to loose a few pounds while here.  But they feed us so well it’s more likely we would gain weight even with all the trenching we participated in this week.

Speaking of Hard work, we got to play volleyball at the school today.  It was included as part of the PE unit the kids have been working on and they are pretty good.  As we arrived at the school the sun broke through the clouds and blessed us with 2 hours of bright, hot, steamy sunshine to enjoy playing with them.  A number of the kids are those who we have known for years and even some of our sponsored kids.  It is something else to see the likes of Angelo, Juan Armando, Jairon, Daniella, Juan Francisco, Anna Rosa, and so many more.  We are encouraged to see them continue to grow and mature and have real hope to overcome poverty.

After lunch we had invited church and community leaders to join us for a training time.  The meeting started with 15 leaders from 3 different churches and a number of community organizations as well as some interested folks from the community.  By the time Greg wrapped up lessons in leadership from the book of Joshua, there were over 25 folks in attendance.  We were able to connect again with Pastor Juan from the church we originally stayed in. 

In our reminiscing, we were thinking back to the first time we met Silah and her 3 daughters and son.  The 2nd year Cornerstone sent a team to Sierra Prieta we renovated their home and were able to purchase new mattresses for them so they could get rid of the infested ones they were using.  The Chandler family has now been sponsoring Elva, one of the daughters for a number of years.  During Bob’s visit to their home this year Elva shared that she will graduate from High School in September and then plans to attend University and hopes to get a job in an office in the capital.  We probably wouldn’t have imagined that kids growing up in that home would have a chance to overcome the poverty and squalor of that home so many years ago.

Our internet got really squirley Thursday night but we should have regular exposure to Wi-Fi for the rest of the trip.  Thank you for all of your prayers and support.

Last night a stomach bug hit Taber and by this morning Holden and Andrew caught some too. Pray they feel better soon and that no one else catches it.