This is the correct spelling. He arrived yesterday morning. His room is the new one at the back with his private entrance and private bath. The English translation is Hezekiah. You may read about King Hezekiah in 2nd Kings 18-20. The Spanish translation for king is rey, so we have decided to call Ezequỉas ‘Rey’. We spent most of the day talking, that is, Joy and Ezequias talked, and I listened. He brought a couple of glowing letters of recommendation from his two previous churches. We will translate those and send them to the elders and any who would lie to read them. He has worked mainly as a youth minister, but is an excellent songleader, preacher and teacher. He is young but we intend that ‘the plan’ be predominantly his, after all he is Panamanian.
We went to David today to work on Sister Lydia’s house, but they were not ready to lay block because of some electrical conduit that needed to be set, so we went on a study. We visited with a friend of Brother Jamie’s. In the past he had been a coworker, but 3 years ago had a massive stroke, and has been housebound since leaving the hospital. He is in a
wheelchair, but can speak some, and certainly understands everything. He was there with his wife and the housekeeper.
We read some Scriptures, sang some songs, shared a few words of encouragement, prayed and went on our way. We did not spend the whole morning with the group because we had to visit our brother, the mechanic.
We had begun losing oil in a pretty big way (10 quarts in 2 weeks), and could not find out why, or where it was going. Javier found it quickly when the car was on the lift, sent us 4 blocks away to buy the part – a sensor I think- the slapped it in and charged us $2.00. We headed to McDonalds for lunch, then up the mountain where it was much cooler!
We finished off the day with a birthday for our neighbor Franciny (above) who turned two. She was absolutely adorable in her new dress. There were probably 50-75 people at the party. We were the only ones with white faces. Many there did not know us, so it was really a great opportunity to meet more of the neighbors and families. We had grilled beef strips and boiled yuka in onion and lemon sauce. It was …different, and very typical party food. It rained the entire time, but the horse stables helped relieve congestion problems on the front porch. We were happy that we had all the chairs that we bought for the team, as we offered them to help out, and they were a lifesaver. There was a huge piñata of… you would never have guessed… Barney. It stood 3 feet high and was loaded with goodies. An interesting difference in birthday parties here is that the birthday boy or girl does not open the gifts in front of everyone. They are accepted with thanks, but put away to be opened later in private. Neat idea I thought, for more than one reason!
We were really tired (after 4.5 hours) so left after singing Feliz Cumpliaños´ but before the cake was cut. We had not been home 15 minutes before the birthday girl’s mom was at the gate with cake and ice cream and gelatin for us – in the rain she had walked over to make sure we had the full party effect.
We began this letter right after the party, but now it is Sunday evening, and we had better send it off! Today was great. We worshipped in David. All the church was glad to see Ezequias. He led part of the song service, and we saw again just how blessed we are to have him working here with us.
Tomorrow is a busy day. The small team will be here in 5 days, Ez needs to get registered for classes, lessons to prepare, and his work begins.
For those who have requested it, here is our mailing address:
Lynn & Joy Nelson
Apartado 0424-00077,
Volcan, Chiriqui, Panamá.
Expect your mail to reach us 3-4 weeks after you send it. We hope.
The home phone here is 011-507-771-5903. Our cell is 011-507-6695-7812.
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