From Storms to Storms...

It has been far too long since we blogged. WE hit the ground running, then lost water and electricity for two weeks, and then, well no excuses, we have just been busy or tired all the time. I will try to hit the highlights of the past month and a half, then try to be more faithful in keeping up!

Remember when we left Arkansas, we were in the midst of a terrible ice storm. the trees were all broken off, no electricity, roads were ice-covered? Well, three days after we got back to Volcan, the storms came here. We promised the folks here that we did not bring them, but not sure they believed us! A three day wind storm hit wiht winds above 100 km per hour day and night. The loss of electricity and water provided several opportunities for ministry;
Lynn had his eye on one of the neighbor’s trees that we actually watched fall, tearing down all the electric lines from our place on down the road. It actually broke a pole three houses from us. It also feel across the road, blocking it entirely. That provided an opportunity for Lynn to work with the other neighbors clearing the tree. Since Lynn doesn’t say much other than hello to the neighbors, they know little about him, or who he is. He worked as hard s any and harder than most getting the tree cut up and out of the road. We don’t have a chainsaw, so he was going after it with his machete. I don’t think he could have done anything better to ‘prove’ his worth in the eyes of the men, than swing that machete. It is the tool of every man here, and Lynn, with years of experience surveying and cutting line, knew just how to make that machete cut! It was a most enjoyable experience for me to watch the men commenting among themselves at how adept he was with it. They had all seen him working on the yard and farm, so knew he was not a lazy man, but he was doing things many of them could not do with a machete. Several of them came and shook his hand before they left. Okay, I was a little proud!
When the tree blew over, it pulled up the main water line for every house from ours on out several miles. That was next on the list. Lynn worked on this problem with the neighbors who owned the tree for several hours. The accepted rule is if it is in front of your house, you are responsible for fixing whatever problems there are. So, this was not our problem, but Lynn has made a habit of helping anytime there is a water problem. This time, because it was our next-door neighbors, we had many hours to visit and chat. I had to go to the store, so brought back sodas for all, which was quite a treat for them. When the job was done, I invited the family to church, explaining that we had children’s class as well. They knew, of course, and had never come before, but on Friday, her three boys came to class, and haven’t missed since. Still haven’t seen the parents, but Grandpa has come once. Progress, little by little. Thank you Lord!!!
The winds are amazingly strong here. The locals say this is the hardest ‘summer’ in years. I bet there are over ten thousand trees down throughout Volcan. They are still falling, but not as much as before. It is bad enough throughout Panama that they have postponed opening day for classes by 1 month. There are still down trees on our little school here in El Valle.