What a Day! Team 2008 arrives

What a Day!

I know that you get tired of hearing me say that, but every Sunday seems to be better than the last. Today it had a whole lot to do with our dear sisters and brothers from Gassville arriving! We met the bus in David at 5:00 this morning. They report an uneventful trip, right up until we showed up – evidently the bus company personnel thought they were leaving Panama City on an earlier bus, so they put their bags on that earlier bus. When they arrived in David, the bags were not found in the storage compartment of their bus. I asked the driver about them and he said, “Oh yes, I forgot! They were sent on the earlier bus and they are at the storage department. You can go there and pick them up.” I asked where that was, and he could not explain to my satisfaction, so he went with Lynn, Monte, Preston and Taz to pick them up while the ladies and I got on the bus to head home. Lynn’s Spanish was evidently satisfactory because while we were waiting in Bugaba for the bus to complete the trip to Volcan, the men pulled up with the luggage, and then headed out ahead of us. So, everyone is here, safe and sound, and very tired from the 24 hour trip. They left Gassville at 6:25am on Saturday and arrived in Volcan at 6:30 am today, Sunday.

At this moment they are snoring away. I will not say who is snoring, but it is coming from the ladies’ room, and I have traveled with Penny before!!!!! The youngsters, of course, are out exploring the town. They left after lunch, and the rain has held off, so they are still out!

We arrived to a breakfast fit for kings. Dani had prepared hojaldras with cheese and ham and Ben fixed up a delicious fruit salad. Topped off by Lynn’s hot coffee, and the team was refortified for the morning!

Church members started arriving at 10 till 9:00. 40 minutes early for classes, which is normal. We had 45 in attendance. With the 9 from the States, we still had a new record of 36 neighbors. We had 15 children in class. Of the 15, 8 had memorized all 4 verses for last month. The two youngest were 6 years old! Only 1 of them can read. It was very impressive! During the worship assembly several of them rose and recited their verses. This was met by great applause, of course.

One hitch in the service this morning was that brother Gilberto felt the need to have a translation of the sermon. I was the only one who had a shot at it, so gave it my best, and it was….tolerable. I often get my 6’s and 7’s mixed up, so Ben helped out with the verses and song numbers. The lesson dealt with how we, as Christians, can have joy in our hearts always. It was brief but very good.

One really neat thing in the service was that two of our young men waited on the table for the first time. Jairo read Scriptures concerning the bread and cup, and Zavier said the prayers for both, as well as for the offering. It was wonderful to me to see this growth in confidence, and in their spiritual lives.

After the worship we shared a meal of beef soup prepared by Dani, with rice. Lynn, of course baked cookies – chocolate oatmeal this time, and as usual, they were a great success. We continued visiting for awhile, then the neighbors left and slow but sure the team retired to their beds. We will meet again at 5:00 for dinner and making plans for the work this week.

The team brought an amazing surprise to me – a huge bag full of books for children – in Spanish! They are beautiful! All very well illustrated, and perfect for our use, as well as the little school in Caña Blanca! What an awesome gift!

So, I am in heaven, I do believe, I have good friends form Gassville snoring in my house, a belly full of great food, my growing church family here all around me, my wonderful husband who, among other virtues, cooks great cookies, one of my sons to keep me happy, and time for a nap, to boot! Ain’t God grand???

Richest blessing to you and yours!