January 2012

We've noticed that there are a few places that people can link to our blog.  To have this a little more up to date, and if one wants to get up to speed on what God has been and is doing in and through us, we decided to put our newsletters up on our blog.  So, here you go, from the latest to the earliest. 

Blessings from El Salvador!

November 2011

October 2011

September 2011

 

 

August 2011

A little Video?

A good friend recommended that we put up a video.  So we gave it a go, please enjoy! 

Bendiciones,

Randy, Karen, Noah, Ben

Update from El Salvador - Re-entry

Jan.2/3: Re-entry (Written on Tuesday the 3rd, our first full day back.)   Today I bought Philadelphia Cream Cheese with my birthday stamped on the bottom. A sweet, little welcome back to El Salvador; I literally never know what a day will bring.  We landed last night and made it out of Aduanas/Customs with 8 suitcases, 4 backpacks, 3 carry-ons, and 2 surfboards. Oh yes, it is possible to move internationally and still deal with clutter. Airport workers looked at us with a variety of expressions; to 2 of them I responded,"Si, todos malletas estan para una semana. Mi familia gustan las ropas!" (Yes, all these suitcases are for one week. My family loves clothes!). Then I'd smile and say no, we moved here, in some vague attempt to explain the gross over abundance of luggage...    Today brought a very low, wimpy scorpion count. We stayed in a econo- motel last night because, well, we didn't want to take any chances. Returning to a two week long, uninhabited, log cabin-like home, in a wood-loving scorpion area, at 9:30 at night, is more "Adams Family" than Gilbert family.  Turns out, our home-owner had fumigated not long before we returned, in an effort to reduce surprise "visitors". Sooo, we only found one smallish, deadish scorpion under the stairs (a place where I'm certain that all scorpions are born) and a teeny, tiny, very much alive baby scorpion coming out of a weird-o tunnel nest in the bathroom. That guy, even I could handle.   We lingered awhile this morning at our motel, longer than we wanted to, because a friend called and told us to "stay put, there are a few places where protesters have closed the roads." Turns out that the president, Mario Funes, made an announcement that angered the Yellow Bus companies. So, their drivers parked the long school busses diagonally across a few major roads to register their discontent. We were given the 'all clear' call before lunch; apparently it was a short protest.   The wind has been voracious today, whipping around trees, opening our front door, and slowly but surely, tearing off a good chunk of the dining room roof. Corrugated plastic works just fine in sun, pretty well in rain, and terribly in the lifting, cracking tugs of gusty wind.  Randy has patched (and quieted) the section for the evening, tomorrow we will need to find something more sturdy.  Our interns continue to struggle with medical problems. One girl has been diagnosed with Typhoid Fever, and two others are getting tested today. This is strange because: 1) everyone has been vaccinated 2) cases of Typhoid are almost never heard of in this area 3) everyone has been taught & following specific rules about food and water consumption.  Fortunately, this sickness is not easily transmitted from person to person; hand washing after the potty does the trick. They are all still living apart from us for the time being (in the bungalows they lived in while we were in the States.) Please pray for healing for those who are not well, and protection for those of us who are.  In addition, we receive a new intern Josh, this Friday night. On Saturday, a team of visitors arrives from Southern California for the next week. We will be visiting several sites and leading VBS activities for hundreds of kids. Please pray for our preparedness and ability to share God's awesome love through story-telling, crafts, and games.    So. This is what's going on in San Salvador. Or, at least, 24 hours of what's going on. Hope you are well and will keep me updated, when possible, on your neck of the woods.    Love, Karen