The flame never goes out...

A great day in the LORD yesterday though we were so busy, even skipped breakfast and lunch. Left out at 6am to pick up folks in the city to go with us to the mountain church. Pick up more and more, and shuttle them to another mountain church for a joint service. Thought we fixed a charging problem Sat on the kia. The alternator has not worked for a month. Fixed many others things but not that. Just been charging it at night and driving in the daytime. (old style diesels do not need electric to run). But it burned another wire. So by the end of the day we were push starting it again. The multiple churches attended in several services were filled with soft little pleasantries. I noticed as a whole everyone dressing better for church.. For the first time ever seeing all the ladies in dresses in one church. Makes a difference when you are not just under a tree meeting. Many wanting to sing specials from the hymnals. The teen girl who lost her brother last week singing a special in church. A full offering plate…grant it, it was filled with 5 cent bills…but it was filled! And watching as many make change from the money in the offering… kinda tickles me. Someone giving me a free glass bottle of cold coke to drink on the mountain in a village without electric. Think about that a moment.

The pastor making it a point to pull out his cell turn it off and set it on the corner of the pulpit after making a comment he does not want something of lesser value interrupting our time with God…and several others including young people doing the same. Makes certain lessons easy to teach. A mom of our some of our kids in service highlighting her bible and taking notes, she used to not even want her children. Got a chance to see the baby we helped rush mom off th mountain to deliver. Doing well, but not named yet.
Not a day of great numbers or salvations, but with little blessing testifying of the working of God.  Talked with one of our pastors who has his son visiting from Nicaragua. He is expressing a desire to preach and do the bible institute. Also found out our pastor has been sleeping in the catholic priest’s house doing a bible study with him when he visits the village we are reaching…I had to laugh. He also found a property to purchase and build a church building on in the village…ok’d by the priest. That is a different tune than our first church plant. I shared my desire about running down the Rio Coco, the 450km river between Nicaragua and Honduras, to visit the 114 indian villages that have no road access. The head waters are near us and it exits on the atlantic side. Our pastors want to do it tommorrow. I don’t think so since it will take 2 weeks on the water and at least 200gal of mixed fuel and hire indian navigators and special dugout boats, lots of funds and time to plan and a gallon of repellant ect. A vision at this point. There was another robbery of a pepsi truck in another of the villages we reach. The same thing killed the security guard cut up the drive and robbed them. 4 youth in a red pick up. Now pepsi trucks have 4 police escorts going to those villages. Took a picture of the well our pastor dug. Near 50 foot deep and still a long way (near ½ mile) to haul water. After our years here, seeing how hard most of the world must work just to exist, I cannot look at the simple luxuries without giving thanks. A young person that sleeps in, staggers out of bed, showers in an instant hot shower, wanders to the kitchen pops out something frozen to make it hot in an instant and heads out to school. Here often the kids get up first, 4am to bring water to the rest of family. ½ mile each way on mountain goat paths with a 5 gal bucket on their head so mom and sisters can make food for the husband and brothers to eat and take to work planting the side of a mountain with corn and beans. It is amazing. Ours is a different struggle

The months are always longer than funds, and needs more than supplies it seems. No diapers for 4 babies, need food to feed 25 mouths, need meds for 4 running fevers, need to pay electric and need $500 for Jr's visa... And still fix a kia... Waiting on another raven in the wilderness. But, believe it or not, a really great week with the LORD in 3 churches.
The boys are still making airplanes out of foam plates and straws, but now on their own. This is the last plate and Enrique built a biplane.  Jr got the nursery wired and we held the first church class in it.  pic of our bank today... been this way a week. The rains come, the wind blows, fuel runs empty, but the flame never goes out......