Saturday Catch-up

I am spending today to get all of my online things, and other tasks around Leon complete. We will be back in the village tomorrow afternoon and evening when Pedro begins his 5 week mini series for Adult Sunday night church.

No School & Youth Group

With the kids out of school again today baseball attendance was high and Leo ran a long practice. I got the truck lined up to pickup people from La Isla and Santa Matilde an hour earlier to come and play soccer, volleyball, and basketball before it got dark.

Yasmina and Brenda wore their new shirts and 5 new boys came from La Isla for their first Friday night. We had 2 new people from Santa Matilde and 4 from Candelaria.

After the outdoor game time, we had an opening prayer and Scarleth led some funny games. She did some silly icebreakers and got more of the kids meeting people outside their small comfort zone of 2-3 kids.

Pedro shared from 1 Timothy and spoke on characteristics of young adults. The kids had great attention and he had a lot of fun and jokes mixed in to keep them tentative. The night went very well and more kids are getting comfortable sitting closer to the front instead of on the walls in the very back.

May Already!?!

Can't believe we are already in May. May 1 is actually Labor Day in Nicaragua so Leon is dead. Traffic is almost nothing, and only a few busses are even running today. There is no school for the kids today or tomorrow for a 4 day weekend. We went out for baseball and the numbers were much higher with all the boys who normally have afternoon class ready for practice. After Scarleth shared a Bible story and I got attendance, we went to visit in La Isla.

Three girls we really like from youth group are the Lira Mendoza sisters. Glenda turned 17 mid April and Yasmina 19 last Friday. Maria will be 21 May 31st. The 2 younger sisters are in afternoon class, so I only see them on Fridays with for 2 hours with 100 other people. I got them some birthday shirts and wanted to spend the afternoon visiting, plus record their interviews for Friday night. Scarleth got to spend some time talking with their mom, Rosa, about how things are going in church and Sunday school.

12 year old Rosa from Candelaria who always helps us setting up the church and other things rode out with us. She spent a good hour climbing trees and collecting Mangos from their yard.

Larry to the Village

Oscar and I got up early and met at the Gables house to have a conference call with Linda and Susan in Atlanta. We worked about 2 hours learning more about the PowerChurch software and asking Susan questions, to have a better feel of finances.

In the afternoon, Larry went with Scarleth, Leo, and I to Candelaria. Leo had baseball practice and Larry got to see Pastor Jose and a few others that he hasn't seen in over a year.

Larry is here on his 21st trip in the past 6 years. He has been in Candelaria to see a lot of the original buildings, sports fields, and basically every project that has happened until this year. The dental clinic was new for him, and the lights/fans in the main church. He enjoyed getting to see the new well and the green garden.

I got to go visit with Evenling and Alejandra for dinner and watch Aladdin tonight. I also got to meet their uncle, Juan, who is 25 years old.

TUESDAY OFF

With the Colons long days teaching the Target, and then the final week of getting things lined up for the Gables trip, we have hardly found a minute to rest. I got to sleep in Tuesday and just try and catchup some of my own things around Leon. I got some time to talk with Larry and hangout at Marcela's house.

I got 2 full garbage bags of clothes, toys, books, etc that I had wanted to bring and donate in February and did not have room. My mom got it all to Larry and he brought it to me. I spent some time cleaning up my room and then organizing the gifts for age group and clothing size.

Working Hard to See Gables Off

From sun up until Freddy drove them to the airport at 9 PM, we worked to see the Gables off and make sure everything is in order for May.

I worked all day finishing and burning both of Linda's DVDs, Pastor Tommy's spiritual side of NewSong DVD, and a collaboration DVD of Tim's 5 weeks here with pictures and videos.

Oscar and Linda worked on all the finance things for 2008 for Linda to take and discuss with Susan at ACC.

Gables Last Day in Village

Linda and I worked more all morning on getting the first DVD done, and started on the 2nd for a group of men from Holland that have done a lot in Masayah, Nicaragua who we are hoping to have help us with expenses of the dental clinic.

We went out for Sunday afternoon and the evening service. Pastor Pedro and his wife Maria joined us so that Tommy could introduce them and put him in charge of Sunday nights for the month of May. It was Maria's first time in the village, and she and Pedro enjoyed meeting people there.

Tommy countinued his teaching from 1 John and then the end of the service was about 20 minutes of goodbyes, hugs, pictures, etc. The Gables do not leave until late Monday night, but they will be in Leon all of tomorrow, so the people in Candelaria will not see them for almost 40 days.