June & July update

In preparing this update I looked back at my notes from June and can’t find where I actually sent a report. Please accept my apologies.

The last two months have been a blur. We are accustomed to this being the busy season, but we stepped off into uncharted territories with sheer numbers of guests hosted this summer. We have hosted 778 North Americans so far this year and have, with God’s guidance and direction, not only survived, but excelled. (In comparison, we hosted 454 in 2012.) Our limits were tested, and although they were stretched, the seams held fast. We walked the edge of exhaustion and lived to tell of it. This is not complaining, this is rejoicing at the strength God provided when He knew we needed it most.

Here’s a breakdown of what our first three Junes and Julys looked like:

·         2012 – 288

·         2013 – 343

·         2014 – 465

For you math whizzes into statistics that is an increase of some percent I do not know how to figure.

This summer, and really going back into the spring, has been a challenge from a more personal standpoint. God has blessed us with a renter for our house, but the stress of the transition created tension in important relationships.

We have seen some seriously Godly people be called up to a better place and feel helpless except to grieve with people who were not only good friends, financial supporters of our work, but incredible prayer warriors at the Masters’ feet. I can’t help but feel that Janis Black and Marsha Swenson continue to champion our small portion of what we are doing here directly to the King Himself.

We continue to lift up dear friends such as Hannah Jackson and Kathy Latta who we have learned are fighting (and beating) cancer. Not only are they winning the battle, they are doing so graciously and honoring God in all they do. The battle belongs to the Lord.  

We missed the opportunity to celebrate with Sarah and Madison, my niece and her new husband, as they wed just a couple weeks ago. As I looked over pictures of the wedding I had a rush of memories as the wedding took place in a private banquet hall that once housed the West Berry church family that meet on Fort Worth. This was a structure my grandfather built as the general contractor. It was my father’s childhood church home, and my grandparents were charter members.

Concurrently the newly established family of Jarrett and Courtney Stone – kids form my children’s ministry days – also was formalized. Few children have had the impact on my life Jarret Stone has, and this is in no small part to the spiritual dedication of his brother, Damon and parents Jim and Stacy. Sheila and I are left to sit idly from afar and watch. Know that our hearts are with you.

We have been blessed to meet up with people we have known from past times and friends we have made since we have been part of the Mision Para Cristo family. Sheila has encountered college friends and I keep running into folks from days gone by. We have also been greatly blessed by the friendship and encouragement brought by the summer interns. This excellent group of young people has not only modeled selfless service, but have helped the loooooong workdays pass with joy and laughter. We are proud to call them our friends. Truly God was looking out for us by sending this particular group here for the summer.

We have been blessed with relatively good health throughout the summer and even though the pace doesn’t appear to be slacking up much over the next two weeks, we continue to see that God is in control.

I recently received photos of blessings in the form of school supplies that are being prepared to be shipped here. Just so you know, the used supplies are what we put in our churches for support of the children’s programming.

 You may recall that in May we started a new Sunday outreach program to children in the community. The goals were simple: Reach out to the disenfranchised youth of the local church (that encompasses just about anyone who is aged 12 years -25 years, or so) by giving them a place to serve; Reach out to the children of the community, specifically those who live nearby and the market families; Teach our youth better methods of teaching and learning the Bible. We consistently have between 70 and 80 in attendance every Sunday afternoon. I have been stepping aside a little more each week as the crew becomes more confident and empowered to lead this program. Women from the church have stepped up and are preparing snacks for the children and meeting and having Bible studies with parents of the children as they wait during the class time. The group continues to change weekly and this week we added some new students who we met through the vision screenings we conducted at schools over the last two weeks.

Additionally, we continue to coach many of the local ministers in more modern Bible class teaching methods for children. A surprise donation from the 9^th Street congregation in Deming, NM has allowed Sheila to organize a library of packets of non-consumable Bible class materials to be distributed to the various congregations we serve. Donations of out-of-service curriculum from the Highway congregation in Judsonia, AR and 4^th Ave. congregation in Franklin, TN have provided the beginnings of materials for the packets.

The months of June and July were busy in the vision clinic as we saw a total of 926 clients. Over the course of the last two weeks we were able to screen the vision of 646 children at three Jinotega schools. Our screening methods have improved greatly thanks to the generous donation of updated acuity charts and stereo testing courtesy of Dr. Kent Wilson from Terrell, TX. Dr. Wilson purchased equipment needed for exams based on some valuable, practical screening information provided by Dr. James Chamberlain of Fernandina Beach, FL. Of those, 94 were referred to our vision office for a follow up and over half of those were sent for new glasses. All referrals come with an invitation to the children’s spiritual, congregational-based events. This past week we had 8 children join us for Sunday School as a direct result of the vision screenings. This is a specific manifestation of your prayers and donations at work here in Nicaragua.

The long hours have made enjoying our new home a challenge, but we anxiously anticipate the slightly slower fall season so we can move at a slightly slower pace. The lemon and guyaba tree continue to produce fruit and the mango count is OUTRAGEOUS!!! We are hoping to have bananas, limes and avocados soon. I have built a futon…I’m not a carpenter and I have the furniture to prove it, but we are slowly getting accustomed to quieter nights outside of the mission and market area.

This Month’s Thanksgivings:

·         Good health

·         Progress in teaching the teachers

·         Positive impact on the community using student leadership

·         End of a successful summer campaign

·         Your continued prayers and support

·         Renter in place (and paying!)

This Month’s Requests:

·         Continued good health

·         Continued progress in all things spiritual – personal and otherwise

·         Safe trip on the Rio Coco (Aug 8-15 2014)

Our wish list:

·         Do you have DVDs you are finished with? We want them! We are always on the lookout for videos the North Americans serving here can enjoy. Anything you are done with we will gladly accept. We don’t want you to buy anything. Just pass on the old ones.

·         The final amounts needed to secure a machine named SPOT. SPOT is a portable device that allows vision screening for early childhood (3 months) through adult. It provides extremely reliable, very specific, information regarding ocular development. We are closing in on the $8,000 price tag.

·         Time: We have also been provided an eyeglass inventory tracking system and need time to input all the used eye glasses we have in our inventory.

·         Specific elements of Bible class curriculum from your storage. Our needs are fairly specific so please contact Sheila before sending anything. She will give the low-down on what is needed as well as how to get it to us. coachandsheila@gmail.com.