Riverside in Panama

Meet Carlos

2011-05-10T18:09:00.000-06:00

Carlos Jimenez is our neighbor, our friend, and our dear brother in Christ. He is 19 years old now. He works full time, lives with and provides for his mom, has gone to college at night, and never stops to relax or do for himself. He was raised that way. His dad, Antonio, worked every day we knew him. He worked hard, and in his spare time he befriended us, teaching us how to grow different vegetables and fruit, bringing us food, plants and seeds, taking us to his harvests to get what we wanted, and more. He never quit working until the day he died last Summer. He left his wife, and Carlos, the youngest of his children to take care of each other, and they have done just that. Carlos did not return to school the semester after his father passed away. He said he was just taking a break, and we assumed he was still grieving, along with his mom, but the fact was they did not have the money for him to continue. He needed to work more hours, so he did.
Carlos is now building a new house for his mom. He is building it himself after he gets off work in the evenings, and on the weekends. He stops to worship with us on Sunday mornings, and then heads back to work. He is truly an amazing young man, and we love and admire him greatly. He has never asked us to do a thing for him or his family, but has always given of himself freely when we had a need (just like his dad). We finally have found a way that we can help him in his struggles.
He hopes to go back to college this semester, and we, thanks to Sarah and Brody Blagg, have sufficient funds to offer him a scholarship to help with the expenses. He has agreed that it would be a big help if we could assist in this way. We are grateful and honored to be able to help this young man continue with his dreams of a college diploma. We are grateful that God allows us the opportunity to serve His people here, in the ways that He has blessed us to do so. We are grateful for friends, prayer warriors, and those who support us being here.
Blessings,
Joy & Lynn

Little stuff can be so big!

2011-04-28T12:10:00.003-06:00

I found canning jars!!!!!!
I am so happy! Now I can 'can' some green beans, and squash, and ...whatever I want! Nobody cans here because the climate is good all year long to plant and harvest, but we are gone so much that we can not keep beans and I do hate frozen beans!!!(there are Panamanian green beans available, but they aren't exactly the same)
So, this little blessing makes me VERY HAPPY!

Another little, but big blessing - we found a crock pot too! We are getting down-right Americanized down here! So now I can can my beans and cook them too!!! ;)

We are working hard here on the place right now, and preparing for upcoming missions as well.

Things went well with Fidelia's appointment. They are all home and as happy as they can be with the loss of their little one.

Please remember people you love who are suffering today. Roy and Mary, our hearts ache for you. There are others as well who need a call or a hug.

As Brother Ron says,"Life is hard but God is good!"

Peace to you,joy

Farm Stuff

2011-04-26T12:21:00.001-06:00

Just thought I would let you know how the garden is growing - and the pigs and sheep and chickens...

At present we have corn ,beans, peas, guandu, otoi, bihau, alcachofa, green beans, tomatoes, lettuce, carrots, cabbage, strawberries, potatoes, squash and watermelon up in the garden, and bananas, plantain, narajilla, lemons, ajis, lemon grass, coffee and lots of flowers growing in the yard.

This is Ajis - a mild kind of pepper that all the localsuse to spice everything. We love it, and are thrilled to have a good crop grwoing right outside the back door!

Out back we have 2 pigs at about 200 pounds, 17 chickens, 13 sheep, and 5 dalmatians. And of course, TasselB is in the house, reigning over it all.

We no longer have any helpers on the place. Dani has a new job cooking at the school, and we have never really found a good farm helper since Magdiel went home. All that to say, we are working our hinies off! But it is all coming along and looking good.

Update on Julio and Fidelia

2011-04-25T11:05:00.002-06:00

Update on the family who lost their baby two weeks ago:

We have been out to check on them and take them food twice since the mom got home. We have met all the children now, and put shoes on each of them, as well as their neighbors, who live under the same conditions. The two fathers work 6 days a week in exchange for a roof and $60 twice a month. they do all they can, work very hard, to provide for their families, and they do survive, sometimes. Quite often the children do not. Do not misunderstand - these children are dearly loved, and for the most part they are happy, though they are most often hungry.

We will pick up the mother for her post-op checkup in David tomorrow, so will know better how she is feeling now. Last Wednesday she still could not walk well, and was only out of bed when necessary. She was still in a lot of pain. Hopefully she has begun to make marked improvement. The husband was doing the cooking and the kids said they were ready for mom to get better. He just laughed and said he was too.

The photos I am including were taken with my cell phone (thanks to Chad Chapman's generosity). The quality is not the best, but you get the idea.

Please keep us and this work in your prayers. We also ask you to consider helping us to help these folks with a donation. We do not want to give them the world, but we do want to help them be able to care for themselves and their children. Any help you can give will be used with great appreciation. We rarely, if ever, give money directly, but food and clothing, or medicine and transportation are offered as we can afford it.

Hope the Easter Holiday was renewing for you - spiritually, emotionally, mentally and physically.
You are dearly loved - so much so that Jesus died and suffered for you to have life eternal. Now that is LOVE!

Tough Lessons

2011-04-10T18:25:00.005-06:00

Today, in the teenage girls class, we finished up our class on how to overcome temptations. Their honesty and frank questions were very inspiring and humbling for me. At times I am not sure who is teaching whom, but am very grateful for the opportunity to share in their lives. Our next topic (at their request) will be on being obedient and respectful to our parents and elders. Please pray that I will understand and represent God’s will clearly in this most difficult of topics.

This afternoon was also my turn to lead the ladies’ monthly study. Using Colossians 1:10-14 as our theme Scripture, we discussed how we can be strengthened, what that strength looks like in our lives, and to what purpose we are strengthened in this life. It was a difficult class to teach for me, as I was using examples from my life that were both very personal and very painful, but all to the glory of God who gives me strength every day! Lynn made cookies for the ladies, and they loved them. I am not sure if they wanted his cookies or my lesson more! I enjoyed a couple of the cookies myself, and they were delicious! I was telling Lynn that when I cannot remember much about my class that is when I know that it was a good lesson, because God was in control of my mind and my mouth, and He always gets it right! I don’t remember much of the lesson, so I think it must have been good.

Then the lesson for the day really started!

On the way home I stopped to give a sister, Erica, who could not attend the study, a copy of our Scripture outline. As I was leaving an Indian couple passed by the car – the man in front about 20 paces (as is normal), followed by the woman. The man was carrying a baby and said good afternoon to me, so I returned the greeting with a smile. Then the woman came up almost even with me and began yelling at me to not speak to her husband; that he was taken and I had no business trying to take her man! I was flabbergasted, and she was drunk as a skunk. I was saying good bye to a friend visiting Erica and he said “ Wow! She was really drunk!” I agreed and went on to the truck and toward the house thinking how sad that was.

As I approached our house I saw another Indian couple, and they saw me and started toward me. I had the intention of hurrying into the gate and getting away before they could reach me. I was still thinking about the drunk lady I had encountered and did not even look at them as I almost ran for the gate. The man called out and I resigned myself to speak to him for only a moment. I was tired and ready to change clothes and relax.
I recognized the man as the father of three of the students at Caña Blanca, so felt more at ease as he approached me. I noticed that his wife stayed where she was. I shook his hand and asked how he was. He said ‘bad’. I aked why and he told me in choking sobs that his wife had just had a C-section, and they had lost the baby. Now they were about 5 kilometers from home, walking only hours after the surgery and with the weight of having lost their child. He could find no-one to help them and asked if we could take them to their home. I said of course, and went to get Lynn.

In case you do not remember previous comments about the road to Caña Blanca, it is a terribly rough and rocky road. Lynn and I both feared the pain the ride would cause the woman, but that physical pain was nothing compared to the heart anguish both parents felt. It was heart- breaking to hear them cry and him try to console her. As he could, he shared with us that they had to leave the baby at the morgue because they did not have the money or a vehicle to take him to be buried, that no-one would help them in their suffering until they saw us and they knew that we would help. (remember I was doing my best to avoid them earlier – I asked God’s forgiveness more than once, and pray that I never get so into my own desires that I allow an opportunity to show God’s love to pass unnoticed)

So, take a moment and place yourself (if you can) in this woman’s shoes; you have carried this child in your body for 9 months. You leave your children to go hours away to the ‘good’ hospital with every expectation to return with babe in arms the next day. But something goes wrong and you are told you need a cesarean then when you wake up a few hours later you are told that your child is dead and your husband is waiting to take you home. You know that you live in the mountains miles from any bus, so you take the bus as far as you can then begin the walk to your home and family still several hours away and a few hours after major surgery and losing your child.

Can you imagine this? It is life here for the Indians.
Does it cause you pain? Does it make you wonder if you are doing all you can to help God’s people? Does it move you? It should. It does me. It hurts me deeply. I am so ashamed of who I can be at times. There is so much more to do. Pray that we can do it, and then help us do it. Come down or support our benevolent work. But first pray. God is our only hope in helping. We (all of us) can only be His hands - and then only if we see and follow His direction.

A day of lessons – one that I will not quickly forget, and one I pray that you will not quickly forget either.

Kingdom Kids News

2011-04-07T18:31:00.001-06:00

CAÑA BLANCA
Tuesday we went to Caña Blanca. Joy visited with Señora Elvia, the pre-kinder and kindergarten teacher at the Catholic church. She had only three students that day, but normally has five. She conducts classes three days a week this year. We plan to take food once a month for the student’s lunches every day. One of the mothers will prepare the meals.
We then stopped at the elementary school to see Daysi, the teacher there. She has 17 students this year, considerably more than last year. Of the 17, only two are Latino, the other 15 are indigenous (most of which, in the past, have not gone to school at all in this area). They will meet four days per week. Again we plan to provide food once a month once a month for their daily lunches. Different parents will be assigned to prepare the meals each week.
On the day that we deliver the monthly food we will also teach a class with activities resembling a 3 hour VBS for the children. It will include a bit of English, but mostly center on God’s love.
Joy will not be teaching English once a week as she did last year because of the increase in diesel prices and the decrease in our revenues.
These 20 or so very poor children will be fed lunch every day because of the Riverside ‘Kingdom Kids’ contributions. As usual when we left for home we had additional riders – three this time, one of which was Adelaide’s father. Adelaide is the 12 year old young Indian girl that Kelly Martin provided with her first pair of shoes last year. She was also chosen as the student with best marks for the year and received a scholarship from the government for her hard work!
EL VALLE SCHOOL
Monday Joy talked with the El Valle Elementary Director, Damaris. The director was very upset that Riverside would not be coming to teach about God this year in the school. She asked me to convey her sadness and ask them to please come again next year.
Finally this little school is being noticed by the government! The Ministry of Education is supplying enough money to feed 40% of the student’s lunches, and will eventually provide precooked foods for that same percentage of students. This is based on the percentage of the children below the poverty level in Panama, and specifically in El Valle School. So we the Riverside Kiddos are giving them $320 per month with $100 earmarked for a cook. Our own Dani will be that cook, thus helping a sister in the church as well. We believe this will work out well. We’ll see. The idea is to provide for 100% of the children 100% of the time. In the past there has been a problem finding someone to prepare the food for the children. The food would be there, but no-one would show up to cook it. With the government helping, our same monies will hopefully take care of that problem.
We went to see Joy’s doctor today. He is putting her on a regimen for one month. If her knee does not improve she will have to have an MRI. Without insurance, this will cost about $600, so we are praying that the month of meds and rest will take care of the problem. Good news from the doctor also! Her osteoporosis has improved in the last year – a full point and a half. We know that for some the medication does not help at all, so are very grateful that she is gaining back bone mass with this therapy.
Other thoughts:
 We are hurting with our dear family at Riverside over the loss of loved ones – April and Dirk, we are so sorry to hear about Faith and are praying for you all to have strength and comfort from our Heavenly Father, the Giver of strength as you begin living without her. Roger and Kathy, we hurt for the loss of your Dad, and trust that God will give you all that you need to remember every good thing about him and comfort you as you miss him in your daily lives.
 We really appreciate Ron Morgan keeping us up on the news of our far-away family. What a blessing! Thank you so much for remembering us!
 Things are well underway for the medical group to come to Santa Marta in June! Translators and missionaries standing by!
 Holly Smith plans to come see us in June as well to help out with preparations and house-sitting. We can’t wait to see her.
 Ben may get to come down this summer as well – we are hopeful!
 Yari just finished her next-to last trimester in High School. She has 4 classes before finishing up in June. She walks, and even runs a bit, like normal now, but she still hurts some.

Sometimes all you can do is laugh!

2011-04-02T21:14:00.000-06:00

Okay, so this is the story:
Friday a week ago Brother Quintin called and asked if we could meet and talk. We did and he shared, in a long, drawn out story, that he had lost the keys to the church building, the church van, Frank and Vicky’s house and truck keys, along with about 10 other church-related keys. He had been looking for the whole week and could not find them, and did not know what to do.
Frank and Vicky are in the States for three weeks (this is their final week away) and had left the keys with Quintin to open up the building on Sundays, and pick up the folks for classes. The first Sunday Quintin’s car broke down, so he was flustered as he walked about two miles to get to the van, then he picked everyone up and after services we took him to his car, and helped him get it to a mechanic. The car could not be fixed until Monday, which meant that Quintin had to go down to his house (over an hour away) by bus and return by bus the next day. He did. He picked up his car and went by to drop some things off at the church building then went back to work. That was Monday. That was the last time the keys were seen. He spent the rest of the week looking for the keys. In the mean-time he got sick – a stomach thing, and he had to haul hundreds of gallons of water to his house because the water lines are down and they have about 20 pigs they are raising who need water along with the household needing water to drink and bathe. Then his wife got sick and the car broke again. No wonder he didn’t have his mind on the keys!
So, back to Friday. He told us the story, smiling the whole time. He did not have a clue how it would all work out, but knew that it would, so he smiled. Constantly. Lynn and I were amazed and impressed with his demeanor.
Well, to ‘fix’ the situation, we offered our home for the church meetings, and we used three different vehicles to pick up the folks for classes. It was like old times. We had classes in the front and back porches, in the living room and in the ‘big room’ where the bunkbeds are for mission teams. We had to share songbooks and Bibles, but it was a great service and time of fellowship. There are about 15 members of the church who travel over an hour to come to worship, and normally Vicky (a great cook) fixes them lunch before they head back home, so I thought I should as well. We had 10 can soup – a recipe my Dad sent me (but we used 20 cans for the large group). All went well.
Now, I am preparing for a second week with classes and worship here at our house because the keys still have not been found, and Frank and Vicky are still not home. Yari and Lynn helped get the house ready, and then Yari and I began preparing the food. Okay, I know you are bored, so I will try to get to the point. I wanted to really show off my Panamanian culinary skills, so I am making Arroz con Pollo, a traditional (and time consuming) food along with 3 Color Salad and Tuti Fruti punch. It doesn’t get more Panamanian than that!
So, the problem is I have never made the salad before. I have eaten it and know everything that goes into it; Potatoes, carrots, beets, eggs, mayonnaise, salt and pepper. Yari peeled away for a couple of hours today, and then I diced and cooked the veggies. All together. I asked Yari if it was okay to do so and she said she did not know but thought so. Well, the name of the salad is THREE COLOR Salad. That’s because it has three colors – white potatoes, orange carrots and red beets, right? Nope! Not my salad! Not when you cook them all together. It is RED SALAD. I am so embarrassed! So much for being a Panamanian culinary wiz! When I add the boiled eggs tomorrow it might be a two color salad, but that is the best I can hope for! I also opted to leave out the food coloring in the Arroz con Pollo, so it doesn’t look quite right either. I haven’t fixed the Tuti Fruti punch yet – wonder how I can mess that up?

So I am sitting here thinking of Quintin, and how he just kept on smiling even though he was embarrassed and frustrated- even though he did not know how things could or would work out. He just smiled- and it was a true smile. The smile that says I know that God is in control, and it will all be good, somehow. I am working on my smile as I write. Maybe I will have it down by tomorrow morning. If not, I think I will just fake it!

How ‘bout you? Things not going too good? Have you messed up yet again? Try smiling! If you can’t muster it, just fake it for awhile and it will come to you! God has it all under control!

Growing...Learning

2011-03-31T12:30:00.000-06:00

GROWING....
The pups are now 3 weeks old and beginning to explore, growl, bark, howl, and be puppies in the full sense. They are great fun to watch!

LEARNING....

This is Fernando. He has been a recipient of Riverside scholarships in years past but we did not offer help this year as he had missed 50 days of school last year without being sick at all. He just did not want to go. he is 14 years old and in 6th grade, and that presents him with all kinds of social problems along with responsibilities to his family. This year, however, he has been in attendance all but one day thus far, and that because they lost their calf and had to search for 10 hours before finding it. The entire family looked all day long as the calf will bring a trememndous amount of income for the family in a few more months. The project beside Fernando (above) was for 4 grades in 4 different classes - Science, Agriculture, Art and Social Studies. He got an A for his work, and was extremely proud. That, in itself is new for him. He has never found reward or reason for pride in his work before! We are hopeful that he will continue past graduation this year.

Beautiful big babies!!!!

2011-03-20T18:03:00.004-06:00

Saly is now skinny, and the puppies are getting fatter and fatter! The smallest pup is a ty baby. it was ythe same size as the others when they were born. Now he looks like a runt!

Mini Vacation with my Man!

2011-03-20T17:24:00.005-06:00

Lynn got home safe and sound. When I met him at the airport we took off to Gamboa Rainforest Resort for two days – a little anniversary trip that turned into a great experience!
We visited a zoo that specializes in animals of the rainforest, with all kinds of tropical birds, monkeys, and the national bird, the Harpie Eagle, among other animals. It was very interesting and most enjoyable with my wonderful husband at my side!

HARPIE EAGLE
We also took a boat ride on the Panama Canal. I did not think we could afford that, but it was not near as expensive as I had thought. We played in the wake of the huge ships headed down to the locks, and felt very tiny when we got close to them! We visited an island that was home to a family of white-faced capuchin monkeys. They were quite accustomed to the boats coming to see them, so jumped right on board at the sight of an apple or grape. We also saw parts of the enlargement project where we learned that the several hundred pvc pipes we saw planted in the ground held dynamite ready to blow away a huge chunk of dirt to widen the lake. A little frightening to me!

We also saw lots of wildlife closer to the hotel - two bats were sleeping above our balcony door, and on a nature walk we actually saw (pictures to prove it) wild toucan in the jungle!
We enjoyed the hotel for two nights, and then as our last activity we visited an Embera village. The Embera generally live in the Darien province, but there are 7 tribes living along the canal. They came there over a hundred years ago to work on the canal as laborers, and brought their families, then stayed. Now these villages are sharing with the world their culture and way of life in an effort to conserve both. Their numbers are small, but they are very diligently trying to keep their ways alive. We spent 3 hours touring the village, with a guided tour of the plant life, a typical meal, traditional dancing, and I even got a tattoo like the women there have. Mine, like theirs, will only last two weeks before it needs to be redone. The ladies tattoo most of their body, but I just went with an armband. Lynn was happy about that!
What a nice way to get reacquainted with my hubby! We enjoyed it thoroughly, and are now back in the house enjoying the last days of summer.
Other notes:
 School is well underway
 Yari is walking normally and will be free to do biking and running in another month!
 Saly had 7 BIG beautiful babies – actually she had to have a C-section because they were so big. All are doing well.
 A young friend of ours lost his girlfriend, and took his life. We are all still reeling from this.
 We have heard that the government will begin bringing food to el Valle School, but we are still awaiting final word before addressing what our role will be if it happens. Like so many things, talk is cheap, but we will wait for action!
 Dear Sister Holly plans to come down in June to help us out, Lord willing and airfare doesn’t skyrocket even higher!
 Another sister, Meredith Woodell, plans to come spend a month or two with us as well.
 We almost have a new kitchen!!!!! We have been in the process of changing the laundry room to an outbuilding and enlarging the kitchen to use that space. It is just about done! I even have a kitchen window!!!!!!

God is so good to us – and to you, just pay attention and don’t take His gifts for granted!!!

posted by Joy in the wrong account!

There is planning, and there is doing, and never the twain shall meet...?

2011-03-07T13:45:00.001-06:00

The weekend campaign, while not going as I expected, went very well. There church in Chorerra - just outside of Panama City - brought a group of about 35 folks to canvas the area for two days, and have nightly meetings as well. We are in the midst of the dry season here, which means, of course, it rained, twice. The group was staying in tents, and it was pretty cool with the rains, but they were troopers!
I am still learning that nothing is ever concrete when it comes to planned activities here. The plan was for 4 days of classes in the afternoons, with nightly meetings and visiting in the mornings. The group was providing all the food, materials, everything necessary for the work, and we would hold nightly meetings at 7:00 for the adults and another class for the children. A group from our church that lives in Dolega was to stay at our house for the four nights as it is a full hours travel for them to get here. Yari, Dani and I spent the entire week preparing the house.

So, this is what actually happened: The group arrived from Chorerra at 5 am Saturday instead of Friday night - bus troubles. On Saturday part of the group from Dolega came up, but decided to stay with the campers, then at 5 in the afternoon the other part of that group (4 in all) called to say that they would like to stay here. I said that was fine, we were ready. There were no classes or activities on Saturday, as they spent the day visiting and handing out flyers. Saturday evening no-one had shown up at our house, but our neighbor told us that there would not be an evening service. I called Frank, the preacher, to verify and he said, yes there would be evening service at 6:30. About an our later another member of the church called to say that the service would be at 6:40. I called the neighbor back to tell her, but by then all of our church family in our neighborhood had made other plans. Yari and I went to the building at 6:30 and the service actually started at 7:15. After the service we guided those staying with us to our house and got them settled in. Then it rained.
Sunday morning we got up and visited for awhile before heading off for morning worship. I got there to find they had cancelled my class in order to keep the whole group together. Then about 30 minutes into the class I got sick and had to leave. I was in bed the rest of the day.

The group had lunch together then all went out visitng and handing out flyers through the afternoon. (noteworthy - the food was all provided by our church as the group had not brought food or cooking utensils.)
At 9:30 last night those staying here returned to sleep, then this morning they left at about 9:00 to see the Chorerra group off before heading back to their home in Dolega. The campaign had been cut two days short, not exatly sure why. Though I did not get to participate much, I hear that the campaign was a success, with the building overflowing last night.

Fellowship is always good, and I am certain that the community is more aware of where we are located, and our beliefs due to the visitations. The singing was great! We learned some new songs and the speaker was very charismatic. I think most everyone was uplifted along with the name of the Lord. So, it was different that I expected, but it was good.

Saly is about to pop! Our dalmatian is due. NOW. She spent the night in so much pain that she chewed up part of the wall. Today she is very restless, and absolutely HUGE! As you can see, she just can't wait much longer. I expect tonight I will be a grandma!

Yari continues to recuperate and has been given a clean bill of health! She is almost walking normally, but the doc has cautioned her not to run, bike, or lift heavy thing s for another 6 weeks. No more cane, or crutches!

Lynn comes home next week! I am missing the cute lil' guy! I think he is missing me a little too! I can not help but stop and say "Thank you God!" that we will celebrate our 28th wedding anniversary next week. Many of you know just how close we came to not ever celebrating together again. Praise God for his love, mercy and guidance!

Richest Blessings!

Full and Empty Days...

2011-02-28T15:34:00.000-06:00

Well, the last two weeks have been full…and empty. I have been very sick, but very busy, and then on top of it all, missing my dear friend and husband’s company and support. Okay, I miss his back-rubs too!

Sick: I finally got them! The stinking amoebas that all of my neighbors seem to always have. And when I got them, I got them good! (or bad) Cramping, diarrhea, vomiting, the works, and it lasted a whole two weeks! It was awful, and I whined a lot! (Obviously, I am still whining) I finally broke down and went to the doc last week, and he gave me parasite medicine, told me to give some to Dani, who cooks for us at times, and to Yari, who eats and drinks what I do. Today, 15 days after it began, I am well. Tired, and a bit skittish of eating, but better, thanks to God!

Busy: School Time! We been shoppin’ till we been droppin’ – literally! Thanks you all so much for your help for these young ones! We have purchased uniforms, shoes, socks, books, notebooks, backpacks, pens, pencils, and all kinds of other school supplies for 14 very grateful children. If only you could see their faces as they look into the bags and see what you have given them, many of you would cry, I know. I hope to get a few pictures this week, as many of the children pass the house on their way to classes.
Yari and I traveled the road to and from Frontera so many times we know it by heart. ‘Frontera’ means ‘border’ and so most call the town there by that name. Just before the border is a check station manned by armed guards who check the documentation of each person that passes. The poor guards just wave us through now, not checking our bags, papers, or anything else. A good thing, in some ways. They know me, and trust me. But I have spent way too much time shopping! Why do we go to Frontera to shop? It is about 1 ½ hours from our house, a little further than David, but there are two very good reasons to make the trip – 1) Their prices are about 12% cheaper than in David, and 2) They now have a McDonalds. Now before you think that I am a glutton – the kids only have the chance to go to McDonalds when they go shopping with me once a year, and they LOVE it! It is a treat they remember all year long.
Yari was talking with the last group about the first time she went to McDonalds with us and that was 5 years ago! I had not realized what an impact it had until the others began sharing when they first went to McDonalds, and each time it was with Lynn and me in years past. Silly to us, but very important to them. Each one had a story of their trip, and the new ones eyes were bugging out with excitement. I had to keep secretly wiping the tears from my eyes as I drove.
Again, I need to say thank you to those of you who support this work. I am so grateful that I can spend part of my life helping, and making a difference in these children’s lives, and I know that it is in part because of you. You give the money, I get the hugs. Doesn’t seem fair, but I would not trade places for anything! I know God will repay you in time, but I am all about instant gratification in this case! I pray each of you is blessed richly now and later!

Empty: Lynn has been gone 2 weeks now, but it seems like 2 years! While I am thrilled that he can spend the time with family there, and I am talking with him daily, I still miss holding his hand and snuggling up with him at night. Okay, enough already, I miss the guy, but am glad that he is with his mom right now. He will be back in just two more weeks, Lord willing.

Other News:
• We are very grateful that Roy Thompson is at home and recovering from his surgery.
• We are also grateful that Yari is walking better all the time.
• We are excited that we have a campaign starting this weekend, and honored that our brothers and sisters (about 15 in all) from Dolega (about 1 ½ hours from here) will be spending the weekend with us here at the house. It will be full of fun and fellowship!
• Yari and I are taking a day to go to the beach and relax tomorrow!
• God is Good All the Time!

joy

A Trip to the Dentist

2011-02-18T09:55:00.001-06:00

Lynn has arrived safely for a visit with his mother, the family, and the church in Arkansas. I am left here with Yari holding down the fort for the month. I am glad that he can go, and glad that we do not need to leave the house in other hands again. I also miss the old man!
Yesterday I went to the dentist. I have a kind-of regular dentist here. His name is Ben Hur. Yep, really! He speaks a little English, and does a good job, but in the past he has gotten a bit more expensive each time I went, or sent a child to him. He has always been good, if the child appeared to be indigenous, to lower his price, but the prices for others I brought in seemed to get ‘Americanized’ and would run about 50% more than the indigenous. And about 30% more than he charged others, most of the time. So I haven’t seen him much recently. I should note that this dentist is in private practice, and most others are less expensive ($2-$5), but you must wait hours, and as I mentioned, no anesthetic. I am a wimp when it comes to dentists, so…

I broke a tooth, and had to get it fixed. It was cutting my tongue, so I went to Ben Hur. He gave me an appointment for yesterday afternoon, and so it was.. that I got the ‘Ben Hur show’! As soon as he had seen the problem, he said ‘I can fix it!”, and promptly turned to his computer and started the music. Opera – French opera began to play, pretty loudly. I thought, okay, I like a little opera - that might relax me. No happy gas here, so music would probably be as close as I could come to help relaxing in the dentist’s chair.
As he prepared the injection to take away the pain (yes, that is why I come back to him – he gives pain killers and most others here do not!!!!) he began belting out the tenor’s solo – I mean BELTING out! I jumped in the chair, but he had his back to me and did not see. He seemed to have the filling process timed to exactly 6 songs, and he knew the words to all six, and actually stayed with Pavarotti, but an octave lower. He was really quite good, but still, when I am laid out with my mouth stuck open and a tube sucking the drool from one side… and you know how close the dentist’s face is when he works… well, let’s just say when he came to a …profound part (i.e. loud part) I was about blasted out of the chair, and somewhat out of sorts!
And I must add, he sang with plenty of emotion and body movement. It was an experience I will not soon forget! I am not sure how much I paid for the filling, and how much for the show, but I felt I got a bargain at $20.00!
When the last song ended, he turned and gave me a rinse, and said “Ya!” which means finished. The room was silent, he made a receipt, noted on my chart what he had done, and said thanks. No mention, ever, of the music, the tooth, nothing, the experience had ended. I went home with a good filling and a song in my heart! I can’t be sure, but I think he did too! Ah the life!
Okay, because I know when Lynn reads this he will want to mention it, Ben Hur is also quite nice to look at. Yea, but that has nothing to do with why I go to him. Well, not much! It was really his English that hooked me to begin with.

Lynn's Musings

2011-02-11T20:11:00.001-06:00

Yesterday we came home from a couple of nights at the beach (Las Lajas). We had intended to stay three nights, but we had some noisy neighbors and were not getting much sleep. The days were very relaxing – temps in the low 90’s – just right for taking a dip occasionally to cool off. We thought about the 0 degrees and snow in northern Arkansas, but did not dwell on it.
At the beach Joy spends most of her time reading and I sleep. We spend a lot of time talking. This trip, although not on the agenda, we concentrated on cultural differences. One day for young kids rode up the beach on a four wheeler and struck up a conversation. Come to find out two of the kids were from a small town close to where we live. They were vacationing with their families at another resort nearby. One of their questions was if we had any food that we wanted to share with them. We said no, but later regretted it. Their question was the spark that ignited our discussion about cultural differences. ….and you thought I had forgotten about the subject.

Another thing that happened that afternoon was that a large extended family group moved into the cabana next to us (about 25 feet away). We were quietly sleeping on our little porch, and they were being very loud and boisterous. It seemed very rude to us, but they turned out to be very nice folks, and I’m sure never considered their behavior inconsiderate. I know we have written about cultural differences before, but (after 5 years) the longer we are here the more we understand how little we understand.
I was brought up a traditional church of Christer. It is very difficult for me to separate tradition from scripture, but it is extremely important to do so when trying to persuade a soul to become a disciple of Christ. We are finding it incredibly difficult to be an example to folks we don’t understand. After a couple of days at the beach we think we have our heads on straight but fully realize we do not.
Joy and I and our marriage are good – probably better than ever. I will see some of you next week when I will be in Yellville for a month with my Mom. Joy and Yari will be holding down the place while I’m gone.
Thank you for your prayers for us and the young Christians here.

On Socialized Medicine

2011-02-06T19:59:00.001-06:00

Here in Panama there are three options for health care: Private, Insured, and Public. I thought in light of the current ideas in the U.S. I would share a bit of our world here, with socialized medicine.
Private Hospitals cater to those who have accessible cash. The hospital has a contract with an insurance company that offers a hospital/ clinic only policy that is affordable to approximately 3% of the people in Chiriqui. However, should I ,one of the fortunate who have this insurance, need to enter the hospital on an emergency basis, have tests, X-rays, or bloodwork, I will need to pay cash, and then be reimbursed. The service is better than other options, because, of course, it costs a lot more.
Insured workers, that is, people who work for larger companies - store chains, or big building companies, have a different clinic where they can go and be seen as an outpatient for a small co-pay. There are approximately 10% of the people here in Chiriqui who are insured. But at these clinics they can get prescriptions, X-rays, and other exams. The quality of the care will be lower than that in the private hospital or clinic, and the wait time can be upward of 3 days for an appointment. The ‘insurance’ is taken from their check by the government, and used to sponsor the government run clinics. Regarding wait time, you can get an appointment earlier in the week, but will be seen in the order that you arrive at the clinic. So, with an appointment at 9:00, you arrive at 8:30 and can expect to be seen around 2:00 in the afternoon because every fool knows to arrive at 3:30 in the morning if you want to be seen by 9:00 am.
Then there is public health care – the other 87% of the people. It generally costs from $.50 to $5.00, and is available to the entire public. In the hospital you will sleep 12 to a room, one duty nurse and one aid per 4 rooms. They will provide you with absolutely no essentials, including toilet paper, washcloths, and towels. They will expect a family member to take care of your every non-medical need- food, clothing, help to the bathroom, change bedding – everything. Besides the conditions in the public hospital, you will be put on a waiting list for any non-life-threatening surgery or treatment. Should we have opted for the public hospital Yari would have waited an average of 12 days to have her foot put back together. They would have sent her home with the compound fracture to wait for her appointed time. We have a friend now who is waiting to have a DNC. She is bleeding profusely – to the point that her hemoglobin is at 7 - and her surgery is scheduled for late May – 3 months from now. Should you need to go in for a test, or just see a doc for a small problem, the most time-sensitive approach is to arrive at the clinic before 4:00 am to get a ticket to be seen, then wait for 6 or 7 hours for your turn to see the doc or technician.
Of course the public health system also provides folks with (mostly) free medications, that are very limited in supply, so more often than not you are turned away because they do not have what you need, and will not substitute without you going back to the doc and asking for a different drug, which, of course, will take you another day of getting up at 3:00 am to get another appointment. And there are only certain types of prescription papers that the pharmacy will honor. Wrong paper = no meds. If you get your prescription from a doc who treats insured patients, and he forgets to give you the right paper, you are out of luck. It isn’t that you have to pay; they just won’t give it to you. Loads of red tape and hoops to jump in order to get this, less than average quality medical care. We had a friend who went to David for an appointment last year at the public hospital (Regional). Two weeks later she finally returned. When we asked what happened, this was the story. She needed a surgery, but to have the surgery she needed to donate a pint of blood beforehand. She was left alone, the IV came loose and she poured out too much blood onto the floor while the nurse had gone to another room. She passed out, they put her in the hospital. She only had money to go to David and return, with nothing leftover to buy food, but she had to stay the night, so she had to buy food. She then had no money to return home, so was stuck sleeping in a chair in the hospital for 4 days before she could get money to come home. I know these people are poor, but for a system that is supposed to take care of the poor, somehow there has got to be a better way.
So, I guess, when it is all said and done, I question whether the U.S. really needs to be going in this direction. On the bright side, there are little if any mal-practice suits.
We continue to live and learn with Yari’s medical problems. Thanks to God, she is doing well. Her mom has insurance that would not help her have the surgery unless we were willing to wait the 12 days, but it will cover x-rays and therapy, we think. It did cover the x-ray in the Insured Clinic. We arrived there at 9:00 am for an appointment that actually took place at 1:45 that afternoon. There were (and this is not an exaggeration) over 350 people waiting for X-rays or tests when we arrived. I counted, and that was only one half of the building. The staff was nice, but overworked.
At any rate her X-ray looks good and we return to her surgeon on Tuesday to see if she is ready to begin therapy. Another adventure, just around the corner!
God is very good.

Can we be 'humbly proud'?

2011-01-30T19:33:00.000-06:00

I remember when we had a guest speaker at Riverside a few years ago who seemed to brag and brag about his ‘children in Christ’. I remember that I thought it …unbecoming and perhaps even un-Christian to act like it was of his doing that those souls came to Christ.
I remembered it clearly as it ran through my mind today as three of my students accepted Christ in baptism. I honestly did not think it was my doing, but I did think how awesome that I had a small part in their understanding God’s call, His love, and His desire for our lives. Was I a little proud? I cannot lie, I was. Do I feel a sense of responsibility for their Christian training for the future, absolutely. Do I think that the glory of this day was my doing? No way! Their parents planted, I watered, and GOD gave the increase. God convicted their hearts. The blood of Jesus saved them and brought them into a relationship with God. But it sure feels good to have gotten to water a bit!

In truth I am honored and humbled that not one, but three, encouraged by the class, decided to follow Christ. As I began this new class with the teenage girls (which began January 2) I wanted to make sure they understood the call to follow Christ as I understood it:
It has little to do with fear of hell, or duty or responsibility, but everything to do with God wanting to have a personal relationship with us, but being unable to in our filthy, sin-stained condition.
I wanted them to understand that Jesus came to earth as the solution to this problem, and His solution is a permanent one, offering continued, permanent forgiveness to those who believe He is who He says He is.
I wanted them to understand that God loves us so much that He gave His Son so that He could be with us daily in the form of the Holy Spirit.
I wanted them to love Him the way I love Him.
Praise the Lord, there are some who do understand! They understand and want that relationship with the Creator of the universe! And God let me help! I know, some of you are saying, “yea, so what! We have done that before”, but isn’t it just as amazing and renewing each time? I am still deeply in love with our awesome God, and still in awe that He could use this filthy, sin-stained sinner to help bring light to His beloved. I’m just sayin’, it don’t get any better than this!

One step forward, two steps back

2011-01-28T16:20:00.000-06:00

Last week our neighbors and friends, Jose and Marlenis, asked if we could drive them to Caña Blanca so they could pick up some supplies from their little rented farm place. Today was the day. We left at 8 this morning for the rough but beautiful drive. They rented a farm there last Spring from our rich neighbor. It has a small house, next to a creek for water, and they were raising a few head of cattle and corn and beans on the property.
Last November the land was sold and they were told they must get the cattle off immediately, but could wait until the bean crop was harvested before moving themselves. The contract they had signed was not honored, but they were satisfied with being able to at least harvest the beans before leaving. We are talking truck patch – size plot of land full of beans – all of their money went into planting and fertilizing the crop. The cows had to go because the new owners plan to plant coffee, and poisoned that part of the land with herbicides that would kill the cows.
Unfortunately with the cows moved, Jose could not milk them daily, and had to travel every day to take care of them in town. This became impractical, as it is a 3 hour walk to the farm from here, and some may remember it was Jose who broke his ankle last year, and he still has problems with it. Necessities forced them to move back to town.
So, there we were today, in this perfectly remote, jungled area with wild birds, and many other animals scampering about. It was so peaceful and calm, yet they were tearing down outbuildings, and collecting their meager belongings (which all fit into a 5 gallon bucket and a large cook pan) to move back to town.
Fortunately Marlenis has a small house just up the road from us that was built for her by the government about 20 years ago, so they are not left with no place to go at all. However the lot is very small, and they have worked hard to purchase two horses, 2 pigs, and a few chickens and turkeys, with no place to safely keep them now. It seems a common occurrence here, to finally think they are getting a bit ahead then be thrust back down. Such is the resignation of the folks here. It is sad, but we understand better why they are so accepting of whatever fate comes along.
Jose has found a temporary job building fences just north of town, and so they will not starve, but they are heart-sick to leave behind the months of work, the tranquility and peace of the farm and knowing it was their own hands that produced their food. Me too. It was good to be with them for a time today. That is, after all, what ministry is all about – helping those who are down when they need it most - reminding them that they are loved, by us and by God.
I know how blessed we all are, and I ask you today to just take a moment to think of Jose and Marlenis, say a prayer for their tomorrows, and remember a prayer of gratitude that you have a home, food, transportation, all the things we take for granted daily, knowing that others, like these dear folks, have nothing but faith in God to help them survive.
All because of Jesus!
joy

Lynn's Random Thoughts

2011-01-26T12:15:00.000-06:00

I’m a little embarrassed to write my mundane post since Joy was so spiritually minded with her last couple of posts. I have read the book she recommends if that counts for anything. The first success story from Joy’s Bible class for teen girls – Ingrid, a 16 year old wants to be baptized on her birthday February 6. Ingrid is a great girl with a good Catholic background.
The pigs survived our castration (mutilation) of them.
We have had some good reports about our lamb meat.
This summer (summer is the dry season, Dec. 15th to March 15th) is very cool. We have not seen lows at night of 51 degrees. We’ve had to add a second blanket to the bed. Day temps are still in the high 70’s to low 80’s. Of course if you take note of the weather strip on the blog, you already know this. It hardly rains at all during this 3-month period, making our summer very dry. Even though our average annual rainfall is 4000mm (157 inches) it mostly comes in the 9-month rainy season. We have to water every day during the summer because to ground is sandy, and it absorbs water like a sponge. We have lost several shrubs and trees in the past because of being gone in the summer.
Here is one little quote to help you understand our culture. We have told you before that there is very little violent crime here, but thievery is common. We were in the truck sometime ago conversing with a Panamanian lady. She was talking about a neighbor of ours and she said “He’s not a bad person, he just likes to steal.” ‘nough said.

Who's in charge of your heart?

2011-01-25T19:36:00.003-06:00

It is so deeply imbedded in the human character to think of oneself above and before all else. How can we change that? And further, we see everything through the glasses that we are wearing today, in this moment. When I talk with my neighbor just after I have been fuming about my child’s behavior, and she is struggling to accept that her father is getting old - forgetful – all that comes from my mouth is ‘relationships are so difficult’. Really? How pitiful is that? My ‘sour apple glasses’ just affect all that I see and do, and ruin significant God-moments.
If only I could…put God’s heart first, wow! What a difference that would make! So, as I am committed to doing just that, why do I so constantly fail? I know that I am not alone in this. I have both witnessed it and felt the sting of someone not hearing my heart because they are caught up in their own. I see that both sides need understanding, forgiveness and a closer walk with the Maker of the universe. So here is the kicker…I cannot hope to be more like Jesus when I don’t constantly study Him, who is God, to know Him better.
May God grant us all better vision as we seek to serve Him and as we cultivate relationships with His people!

Sunday Afternoon Road Trip

2011-01-25T08:09:00.001-06:00

Sunday afternoon we took a drive out to a small…spot called Quebrayana. Not really a town, or even a pueblo. Really it is just a few houses on the side of the road by a creek. We were looking for Bijao – a large leaved plant that the locals use to wrap up tamales before cooking them. We wanted to get a start of it going in the garden to help out the neighbors, who are always looking for it just before birthdays or special occasions. I have not personally made tamales by myself (too much corn is not good for my diabetes, and the tamales here are almost pure corn mush) but I hope to at least learn to make them for others. Tamales are ‘fiesta’ food. Special occasions warrant tamales, Arroz con pollo (a rice, chicken and vegetable dish), potato salad and chicha (a drink made of the available fruit at the time). Now, that, friends is party food!
Lynn and I got kind of turned off of tamales a couple of years ago when the neighbor, selling tamales for a school function, brought us tamales made with fish, bones and all, and also some made with pork. The pork tamale had a bone, some uncooked fat, and blood. I was sick just looking at them. However, we have learned that if we know the person cooking, we can make an informed decision about whether they are edible (the tamales, not the people). Generally we just buy them for whatever cause and let Saly, the Dalmatian decide whether they are any good. When we go to parties, it is a different story. That becomes a more delicate issue. Lynn’s normal way of dealing with that is to slide it onto my plate at the first available moment. Not fair, but what can I do without drawing more attention to us not eating them. I end up being the guinea pig, but searching for a friendly, out of the way dog to share with!
Okay, back to the trip – we came across a large Indian family standing on the side of the road about two miles out of town (dirt road, mind you, middle of nowhere) waiting for a ride to come by.

We stopped and asked where they were headed, and they told us Quebrayana, so we said hop in. As they were getting in I noticed that one of the girls was Florencia, a student of ours from the school at Caña Blanca. Most of the family climbed into the back of the truck, but Florencia and one of the boys asked if they could ride in the cab. We said of course, and they talked our ears off until we reached where they said they would get out to go to their home. We could not see a house at first, but stopped to let them out. The father thanked us for the ride and asked if some time we might come out and pick them all up to go to church with us. Unusual request, and it tickled us. The oldest boy, who had been riding in the cab, asked me if he could ask a favor. I said he could ask. He then asked if we could get him a pair of shoes. I told him we would try, asked what size did he need, and what kind of shoes he preferred. His name was Carlos, he was 13 years old, and I knew I had not seen him at the school (thanks to Kelly Martin and others, we took shoes to all the students in Caña Blanca last summer). I asked if he went to school, he said no, he worked cutting grass and weeds whenever he could. We took a picture of the younger children and mom, who said not a word the whole time. Then we headed out. After we crossed the creek and made the bend in the road we could see a house or two, so felt they were not far from home. We hope to get some black tennis shoes for Carlos today, and when we deliver them, see what sizes the other younger children need. The Caña Blanca children are not part of our scholarship program at this time, but the generous help we have received from Riverside folks will provide shoes and a bit of food for this family. A great ministry opportunity God placed in our laps!

The trip was also successful in spotting a couple of new birds to add to our bird-watching list. We have started trying to identify the thousands of birds we see normally, and are enjoying it. The only drawback is that my camara refuses to get the photos in time, so I end up with blurry pictures of wings flying away from me! (Okay, might be the photographer instead of the camara – maybe. Lynn says the camera cost too much to be at fault, so it must be me!) At any rate, we spotted a pair of Collared Aracari Toucans and a Crested Oropendola - All beautiful, colorful birds, and yes, I did take these photos, so there is hope that someday I will get some good ones! That alone would have been worth the trip without having met the family. Bonuses left and right!
The trip was also successful in finding Bijao. It is now planted in the garden and looking healthy and grateful for the water! Fred, the truck, performed magnificently with the very awful road conditions, and we had a lovely afternoon!

Journey Thoughts

2011-01-19T19:39:00.000-06:00

On good days I am convinced that I don't have room in my mind or heart to consider whether, by helping someone, I am enabling the one asking for help - just making their problem worse. There is no room for me to wonder whether the one asking is deserving or not.
I honestly don't believe that God calls us to judge people,, but to serve them.
Then there are other days when I fail to see with God's eyes, and look instead, with my own. My sin-stained, faulty human eyes that see laziness or squandered opportunities; selfishness and desire for instant gratification more clearly than need.
When I can think clearly, that is, when I allow God to speak to me, I understand that I see those things more plainly because I have witnessed them in myself. I have known each of those motivations. I am guilty, guilty, guilty! But then I remember that I am also forgiven, forgiven, forgiven! And never have I been deserving. Praise God!
So, if I want to be like Jesus....

I am reading Invitation to a Journey by M. Robert Mulholland Jr.. If you are ready and willing to move closer to the likeness of Christ, I highly recommend this book. Simply by defining 'spiritual formation' he opens the whole can of worms; "Spiritual formation is a process of being conformed to the image of Christ for the sake of others."
I have always thought it was all about me and Jesus, how about you? Mulholland makes a pretty compelling arguement for it actually being about others more than ourselves. I am now convinced that my spiritual growth is directly affected by how I interact with others as much as how I interact with others is directly affected by my spiritual growth.
Something to think about.

The Pigs are Here!

2011-01-16T18:28:00.002-06:00

and I had forgotten how much I LOVE PIGS!

We went to the neighbors to pick up the pigs, expecting 35-40 pound pigs, but found instead these adorable little guys! We are super pleased because we knew we needed to castrate them this week, and were dreading the bigger size.
As we got out of the truck, Sidilio (our neighbor who is about 75 years old) had the two piglets in feed sacks ready for us to take, and one, we shall call him 'Runner' broke out and the chase had begun. We spent 20 fun-filled, out-of-breath minutes trying to get him back in the sack. It took two of his grandchildren, his wife, his grown daughter and Lynn and I to get it done. The other neighbors were hiding in the bushes watching and laughing. It was too funny!
The feeder you see was Lynn's work. AS I mentioned, we expected bigger pigs, so it looks a little intimidating right now - I think they may sleep in it! But they will grow fast. We have always made our feeders of wood, but felt we should try with concrete, still using the same design to make them use their butt muscles and thus grow that ham to its biggest size!
As you can see, the little buggers are just gorgeous! I can't wait to get them used to me so I can pet them and play with them. I can't help it, I just love pigs!

Tomorrow is a new day, with many new opportunities. We are preparing to paint the house, plant the garden again, I am teaching English, Lynn is moving plants from one place to another... okay, that is a kind-of joke. I just kid him about it because he changes his mind alot on where to put the flowers and plants. Lots to do in the community as well, getting ready for the school year. For those who have pledged support of the children and have not yet deposited the money, the time is upon us, and thank you again! The kiddos are 'matriculating' this week!

Thank you Lord for all your blessings, though some may be more difficult, we are grateful for the growth that results from them all!

Blessings!
joy

Sheep, Pigs and Cocks

2011-01-16T18:08:00.001-06:00

Yesterday we killed and dressed two of our sheep. Actually our neighbor, Junior did most of the work. We gave him half of the meat, and we gave 5 or 6 of our neighbors part of ours. George was the older of the two. We had some of his ribs today for lunch. Very good! We spent yesterday morning building a concrete feeder in one of our hog pens. We are supposed to get two pigs today.
We loaned out chairs to our neighbors across the road for a fiesta they were having last night. For those of you who haven’t visited us, the house across the road sets back about 100 meters. Fiesta means very loud music and beer, in this case, only until 2 am. We could hear the music and feel content that they were sitting in good chairs. After 4 hours without sleep, Joy was not so charitable in her thoughts.
The chairs have been a good ministry. We lend them out quite often for birthdays and the like.
Last weekend we loaned them out to another neighbor for a fiesta which we later learned was a cock fight, an accepted money making form of entertainment here. We have since decided to refuse the use of the chairs for cock fights, not on Scriptural grounds but because we believe them to be cruelty to animals. Last Sunday after the Saturday night cock fight, the church van narrowly avoided hitting a drunken patron of the fight staggering down the road, rooster in hand (an apparent winner as the rooster was still alive).
This Saturday night’s cock fight was in Caña Blanca, which made our road busy from 6:00 pm to 6:00 am.
Joy had her teen girl’s class today. I believe she is doing a really good thing. We had a good fellowship at church today. There are more bilinguals attending now, but of course it is still a Spanish service, as it should be.
Yari is doing good with her crutches, and seems very happy. She gets frustrated when she can’t go and do like normal, but accepts it and finds other ways to occupy her time. We have extended her facebook time, which helps.
TasselB is almost well, feeling fine and playing again like a puppy. She is still eating the strawberries before we have a chance to pick them, and we are, for the moment, okay with that.

A lovely Sunday evening - Thanks be to God!
Lynn

Farm Hellos and Goodbyes

2011-01-11T10:58:00.003-06:00

Well, TasselB, who was bitten by Patch, our male dalmatian last week, is recovering well. She is up playing today. However, we decided that if Patch would bite her, he might be a danger to children who come by, or to Tas again in the future, so we have found what we hope will be a good home for him with friends on a farm in Caña Blanca. He left on Sunday. I am sad, but believe it was the best decision for everyone.

Sunday also brought new life to the farm in the form of a new baby sheep. He is a male, and already jumps and plays, entertaining all but his mom, who worries too much! She tries to keep him close to the house, but he is quite independent!

Trusting that those we love are safe in their homes, warm and fed. I am jealous of the snow! Just really shows that no matter what we have, the 'other man's grass is always greener'! how silly and ungrateful we humans are!

In David again...

2011-01-09T18:18:00.000-06:00

Saturday – spent the day in David again. We had several errands to run. We took TasselB to a big city vet for a second opinion. She is fine. Yari stayed here with her sister and mother. It is very hot in David, and we do not like to go except there is a McDonalds there and we always seem to be there at lunchtime.

I was reminded today, not for the first time, that immodest dress is quite prevalent here. Females dress very sensual here. Modesty is extremely difficult to teach our young girls. They have been taught, almost from birth, that sensuous is good. It is part of the culture. Mothers pass it on. Of course many girls have had their first baby by the time they are 16. Joy is starting to teach the teenage girls class at church tomorrow. I pray, and ask that you do also, for her success.
Lynn

Busy but Blessed Day in the Life

2011-01-07T19:51:00.003-06:00

Today is Friday. It seems every day is an adventure, and very busy right now. Yari is learning to cope with the cast, but is spiking a bit of temperature off and on. I am worried, but not over-worried yet.

TasselB is recovering, still needing various injections daily. Tomorrow I will give them to her here at home. This afternoon some friends came by and were telling me horror stories about the vet we are using. The 'gringos' call her 'doctor death for dogs'. apparently several pets have been taken to her for neutering and died within days of the surgery. I do worry that she is overmedicating, and she did have a baby goat die two nights ago when I had Tas there. The goat seemed strong, bawling loudly and clearly when I arrived, then 5 minutes later it was dead. Have not decided what to do about further treatment.

Patch, the male who bit Tas now has a new home several miles from here. I hope he does well. He isa good dog, other than biting my baby. I think it had to do with the female dalmatian being in heat, but am unwilling to take a chance on a repeat.

Lynn is working away on the yard, and it is looking really good. I always kid him that he is forever changing the design, digging up plants and trees to move to a better spot. he had done it again, but it really does look good. We will see how long he leaves it this way! He enjoys the tinkering, so I am happy!

We are praying for Leon Davenport's family, and trusting that God will give them peace for each moment. A good man, gone home!

Have a blessed weekend!
joy

2011-01-04T19:07:00.006-06:00

Today is Tuesday. At least I think it is Tuesday. Tomorrow we go to hopefully get the cast put on Yari's foot. She has been in pain most of the time since we got home. She tries to be brave, but at times she just yells out, "Oh, Man!", one of her favorite sayings that has now become her mantra. We have had a steady stream of visitors since she got home. Good for her morale but not so good for the foot. It is still swollen, so I am doubtful that the doc will put the cast on tomorrow. Today she has been less active, with a stern lecture from me that she must stay in bed, in bed she has stayed.
Yesterday I was not here to supervise, and the family kept her hopping here and there entertaining. why, you might ask, was I not here? Well, let me tell you phase two of the New year for Lynn and I!

We finally got home for the hospital around 3 pm on Sunday. right at 4 pm I heard yelping and Lynn running out the back door. For some reason,our dalmatians, or one of them had Tas (my baby, who is an 8 year old french poodle)down, and in just a couple of seconds had ripped her stomach open. When I got her cleaned up enough to see the damage, we knew she would have to have stitches, but it was Sunday afternoon, so we just watched her closely until Monday morning.

Monday morning I took her to the vet - a new one, but the only one I could find in the office. After Tas bit her a couple of times, she sedated her and looked more closely at the wound. She saw that the tooth had done damage inside as well as on the surface, so we had to do surgery. I was the assistant. the surgery was done on the top of a old children's wooden desk with an IV hanging from an old TV stand, and, well, lets just say, I was not impressed with the quality of the sanitary conditions. the surgery, along with IV antibiotics and all took about 4 hours. Her surgery time had rivaled Yari's!

Prognosis at this point is guarded - she must go in daily for IV antibiotics and pain meds. She ran fever through the night, but has none at this time. By the way, Tas's doctor is giving her stronger pain medicine than Yari's doctor is giving her. the latter just sent her home with a prescription for extra strength Tylenol!

Today was also my first day of English classes. They went well enough, considering how tired, stressed and overwhelmed I am feeling. Oh! A very neat thing happened during Tas's surgery. The vet, who spoke only a little English, counseled me saying," You know that God uses these times to remind us of His power and our need for him in our lives. He draws us closer by lending us his strength and power in difficult times." With teary eyes, I just smiled and said, "asi es"(that is absolutely right). In my distress and worry I forgot to be salt and light, so she was for me! It put things back in perspective for me!

Rocky start to the new year, and if it keeps up like this, just imagine how much growing we can do! Before you know it I will be sitting in God's lap! That will be alright with me!!!
Blessings & lessons to you all!
joy

Exciting Start to the New Year

2011-01-02T19:21:00.000-06:00

Well it’s Sunday the 2nd and I’m sitting in the Hospital Chiriquí waiting room. Yesterday Yari broke her leg – compound fracture just above the ankle and dislocated the ankle. She was spending the afternoon with her mother and family. She went down a slide at the park and landed awkwardly on her right leg. It is a bad break requiring plates and screws. We could have taken her to the regional hospital, but she would have been put on a list and might have had to wait up to two weeks. Here the surgery was done last night and she may get to go home today. Joy was able to stay with her during the surgery. The cost of hospital and surgery is going to be about $2500, plus the various trips and meals here. Yesterday was the 1st day of the year and this accident busted our new budget wide open. If anyone wants to help, we could surely use it. Yari is a ministry for us, but we’re sure you have your own personal ministries as well.

We are missing church right now. Joy was supposed to start her teen girls’ class today. We also planned to feed lunch to about 20 people from the church, but our plans were changed. Joy spent the night with Yari while I went home to take care of the animals.

Joy just came out of Yari’s room. The orthopedic surgeon has decided to wait till Wednesday to cast, so we are going home about 12:30.

There were 3 doctors involved in the 4-hour surgery. The head doctor was so proud of his work that he told Joy he took pictures to show his colleagues.

Yari’s biological mother spent the night but took the bus home early this morning. She is back now and will ride up the hill with us to take Yari home.
We just went to Do It Center and bought two pillows for the trip home. By the way, the trip down yesterday afternoon took about 45 minutes – usually takes over an hour. I never went over 110 km/hr.

It’s 5:00 and we’re finally home. The bill was a little more - $2950 – because it was worse than expected. There were three breaks with one piece of bone about the size of a 50 cent piece floating just beneath the surface of the skin. We still have to go back Wednesday to have the cast put on, and then there will be 4 months of physical therapy. But we are all alive and relatively well, gracias a Dios (thanks be to God).

Farm & Garden Chores

2010-12-27T13:09:00.002-06:00

We are slowly but surely fixing up the farm and garden. We knew that Dani would not have time with her other job to take care of the farm. That is why we had asked Magdiel’s parents to come live here while we were gone. But when Keyvin, their son, fell from a tree and broke his wrist, that plan fell through. They had planned to leave him with his grandparents, but they are older, and could not get him to the various appointments he was to have in the following months. So, Dani agreed to stay on, but as I said, she had a full time job, so had little time nor energy to work with the sheep or keep the garden.

So, as you can see from the pictures, the garden is coming along. David is working two days a week cleaning out the weeds and flowers, and Lynn and I have been working on the fences for the sheep. Yari just finished out her school year, so now she is helping out too.

The picture below is of the two of them planting sugar cane – a gift from our neighbor. We have wanted to start growing sugar cane since we got here, so are excited about finally getting some planted! It will also help take up some of the space that we had prepared for the community garden that fell through shortly after beginning. Less weeds to pull in the future!

I am dreading it, but we need to butcher our first sheep. It is long overdue. I much prefer taking them to the butcher, but alas, we are in Panama! The meat is wonderful, so we must adapt or do without. We really prefer to adapt in this case. George is the man (that is the name of the sheep set for slaughter). We have only done this once before with a goat, so are…skeptical of our butchering abilities. Truly, I think I can do all of it but the kill. So, one night not long ago, I asked Lynn, “what is the worst part ot you about butchering George?”. While he thought I prayed that he would say cleaning the hide, or trying to get the chops just right, or some such thing. His reply was. “I think I can handle it all except killing him”. Great! We are two weenies! We do not have a gun so we will slit his throat. Maybe we can get a neighbor to come do that part!!!!

The wind liked to have blown the house away last night. First night of true ‘summer breezes’ – wind bursts up to 80 mph, all the moss, branches and leaves from the trees fly every which a way – under the doorways, onto the roof with loud crashes, and into any crevice available, including eyes and nostrils. But it is sunny! 70 degrees! No rain! It is GREAT!

Trusting that you all had a wonderful Christmas, and that God will renew your strength and resolve for the coming year! We could all do well to resolve to know Him better, to serve Him more humbly, and to love Him more deeply!

The Giving Season

2010-12-25T16:27:00.006-06:00

Wednesday
We made the 7 hour trip to Santa Marta to deliver the two Dalmatian pups to Magdiel and Keyvin. Our trip was multi-purposed. We also brought in Christmas gifts for the children of the church, attended Keyvin’s graduation, visited with the church, and delivered the pups. I had made a makeshift cage for them in the back of the truck. They made it just fine. We did worry a bit that we might have trouble getting them through the agricultural checkpoint, but just smiled our way through, and had no trouble. The pups were nearly scared to death by all the kids when we got there. After delivering the ‘goodies’ from Santa, and a short visit we headed for Penonome. There we picked up some groceries, a box of apples, and a case of grapes to take in to Marta on Thursday. We spent the night in Hotel Guacamaya (or Guacamole as I generally call it). We were up at 5:30 to go back to Santa Marta.
Thursday
The 9th grade graduation was one of the reasons we went to Santa Marta on that specific day. Keyvin, Magdiel’s younger brother was graduating. Joy is Keyvin’s godmother, which is something special at the graduation. She had to present a special gift to him. The graduation was very nice. We were told that Joy should be there by 8:00 am, and we were there. We were all but alone, though. Only the cooks arrived before us. When we arrived at Las Tibias, the turn off from the pavement, we found Magdiel and his dad, an uncle and one of the teachers from the school waiting. Magdiel and his dad were supposed to have picked up the cupcakes from a nearby town at 6 that morning. They had not been able to get a bus into town, so they were still waiting when we arrived at 7:15. We took them to town to pick up the cupcakes then took all 4 into Santa Marta to the school.
Graduation was supposed to start at 9:00 am, but alas at 9:00 even Keyvin was not there. In fact only about 3 students had arrived by that time. It was 10:45 when we actually began. Alicia later told us that this was ‘typical Panamanian time’ in a resignated kind of way, but she herself did not arrive until about 10:15. I had special seating next to Joy, I think mainly because they thought I needed help, which is true. Yari was with us, but she did not get a seat inside the room, as it was full of parents, graduates and the god-parents. A very good lunch was served after the ceremony. We left all the stuff for the children of the church, and for the Gonzales family, and harvested fruit from our fruit trees on our little half-acre of property before heading home. We only had two extra riders on the way out. Normally the back of the truck is full of folks needing a ride out to the highway.
It was a long, difficult, but beautiful drive, and we arrived safely home around 9:00pm Thursday night.
We did not get to see the children open the gifts this year. As has been our custom, we like to let the church give them out on Sundays as if they were from the church, and because of Keyvin’s graduation, we could not be there on a Sunday. Sorry, no pictures this year!
Friday
Christmas Eve was Yari’s birthday. We were still wrapping presents in the morning. In the afternoon we delivered presents to our church family and neighbors. In the evening we had a little party and birthday dinner for Yari. Later she went to her grandparents that live near us, to enjoy her other family. The tradition here is to stay up until midnight on Christmas Eve and then open gifts. Also the fireworks go off at midnight. The parrots, apparently scared by all the noise, started flying and talking. It wasn’t easy, but we waited up for Yari to come home.

It is now Saturday, Christmas morning. We, like North Americans, have waited to open our gifts and presents. Yari was not too thrilled about this Gringo tradition, but managed to wait patiently. Pictured is Yari in her new 'Santa' clothes and hat with Santa himself!
We wish you all a joyous Christmas season.
Because of Him,
Lynn & joy

A final note about Keyvin; he will be staying in a dorm room next year so that he can attend high school in the nearest big town. Thanks to your generous support, he will be able to continue his education.

It's almost Christmas!

2010-12-21T20:14:00.005-06:00

Whew! I almost got hot today! I think it may have hit 82 in the sunshine! But it wasn’t too bad since we had a little breeze while we worked. Oh, wait, I forgot for a moment that it is only going to get to 40 in Gassville this week. Hmmm. Do I feel bad for flaunting it? Nah! You guys get to see each other and laugh and sing Christmas carols and drink hot cocoa, and…. We just got good weather. I don’t feel too bad!
Actually we have a lot more than good weather to be thankful for. God is so good to us. We are healthy, enjoying Yari’s company full time now, and it is a blast to watch her excitement over Christmas. We ask her to make our ‘Nacimiento’ (nativity scene) – our first ever. It is a tradition here to create the manger scene, with all the animals, the shepherd, Mary, Joseph, and the wise men. Using moss from the trees to make the ground, the manger and animals are placed first, then each day someone or something new is added, or moved closer until the 24th when Jesus is placed in his crib. Then throughout the next week the wise men make their way to the baby until finally arriving on January 6th (King’s Day here in Panama). On that day all Christmas trees are set out in the ditches and burned. Not sure of the significance of the tree burning part. Then everything is put away until next year. I love that everyone is focused on the story of Jesus’ birth for at least this few weeks. The family always moves the characters together so that everyone is involved. We three sit each night to enjoy the scene after Joseph and Mary move a little closer to the stable for a few minutes before going to bed. Good time together.

Yari has gotten to go shopping for gifts, plan what we will do on Christmas, and of course put up lights. Last night while watching the lights on the Nacimiento, she asked Lynn just like she was a seven year old, “Can’t we put up a few lights along the roof of the house out front?” He had already told me no emphatically, but when she asked, he thought a moment and said, “I guess we could if you want”. A very sweet, neat moment for this old girl, I’ll tell you!
Not sure why but I am missing my mom a lot right now. It has been 16 years since she left this world for a better one. You would think I would be accustomed to losing her by now, but alas, here I am, crying yet again because I cannot share little things with her, or see her smile. I expect there are many like me out there, missing someone special. I pray that God will give us both comfort, and a satisfaction in knowing that they have completed this journey, with nothing but blue skies (and golden streets) ahead!

This photo is of most of the gifts we have bought for the children of Santa Marta. We will be going in to see them tomorrow. We want to say a special thank you to DeDe Stephens for making the beautiful stockings. All the kids here have raved about them, and as you can see, they are absolutely wonderful! Thanks to all of you for giving to make Christmas a brighter occasion for the children in this remote community!
Have a blessed Christmas!

There's Monte, then there's monte

2010-12-21T12:59:00.001-06:00

As Joy told you last time, we are still cleaning up. In the garden we have lots of weeds, one of which is Ageratum. I was reminded of my younger days working my way through four years of high school in Rogers at Larry Eoff’s flower shop. In the spring we sold bedding plants among which was Ageratum, a cute little blue border flower that grew 6 to 12 inches tall. Here Ageratum is a weed (monte), growing up to 5 feet tall. A quick side-note – when I think of weeds I get to think of Monte Manchester. Unlike ageratum which is a weed and never cultivated here, Impatiens which also abound wild here, especially along shady roadways, are cultivated by most everyone. We have some in our flower beds. Side-note to the previous side-note – if you look up monte in a Spanish dictionary, it will define monte as woodland, forest, or wild country, but here in Chiriqui the common meaning is weed or not a good plant. Any of these might be applicable to Monte. By the way I highly recommend your reading of Monte’s book.

To the work!

2010-12-17T12:20:00.004-06:00

‘Summer’, or the dry season is trying hard to begin, but like everywhere else, the weather is a bit off this year. Is it just me or does that seem to be happening more and more, so that we really aren’t sure what should be normal anymore?
Today I am reminded of Jesus explaining that only the owner of the sheep takes really good care of them. Okay, this is a stretch, but all of our animals, our garden, and our property just aren’t cared for the same when we are not here. But it did make me think of those verses in John.
We are busy cleaning and repairing, feeding and caring for the animals, searching out the garden amongst the fast-growing weeds, and also enjoying the beauty of this place God has gifted us with. In truth, even the work we are (re)doing is a gift. Lynn loves to stay busy, and it is good for us both.

We have hired on David, a young man from the church who is on summer break from classes, to help with the outside work. He will work 2 days a week, and is doing a great job so far. This is day 2.
As we renew old ties, and catch up on all the happenings, we find ourselves renewed in our hearts toward the folks and see even more surely how much our own stresses and need for renewal with each other influenced our relationship with our family here before we left last August. We still have the same frustrations when a mom is still not providing the care for her children, but we FEEL the love for her in deciding how we can help. I think we had almost lost that to some extent. It is so difficult to see day in and day out someone making the same choices that cause pain to others, and yet feel a need to ‘fix’ it somehow for the sake of the others. As I reflect on the past year, I am not sure which came first the chicken or the egg, but I struggled to see through Jesus’ eyes when Lynn and I were at odds with each other. I think the ministry stresses impacted our relationship, and our relationship impacted the ministry. But God is so good and merciful, and we are both renewed in spirit and love. Praise God!
We are not blind or stupid – we know how hard it is to do this work full time. We feel we are better prepared, and know more surely from Whom our strength comes. Before we had gotten so caught up in the work that there was only a pittance of time to study to know and understand God better. I think we have our priorities straight now, but we also know to be on our guard!
We have written and talked of Yari on and off since our arrival here five years ago. She stole our hearts way back then, and broke them a time or two since then – many bad choices, no good examples of love and commitment – well, she is now back living with us. We are both excited and apprehensive. We ask for your prayers toward this ministry. She so much needs the stability and unconditional love that we can offer through Christ. Again, we are not going into this without a great amount of prayer and consideration, and neither is she. None the less she is still immature and has habits established since her very youngest years that must be overcome.
This is longer than I intended (you are surprised, right?). Blessings to all. We love you!
joy

Caña Blanca Trip

2010-12-13T19:31:00.000-06:00

We went to Caña Blanca this morning. For you that don’t remember, Caña Blanca is a small community with no electricity, a one- room school, and a Catholic Church. The school and church are where Joy teaches English one day a week. Caña Blanca is about 10 km. from our house on a very rough road that takes nearly an hour to travel. Today the road was the worst I have ever seen it, but the views are still great. We delivered chicken feed, coffee, sugar, and rice to José and Marlenis who are living close to Caña Blanca on a farm. Our primary purpose was to take Christmas presents to the kids at school and the kindergarten kids at the Catholic Church. The school kids were there for their last day but the teacher was not. There were about 14 school kids some of which we had not seen before. The nine kindergarten kids were having their graduation. We also had presents for Senora Élvia, some of the mothers and a few of the younger sisters and brothers. We loaded 3 of the school kids into the back of the truck to take them about 2 miles closer to their home. We stopped at the top of the hill to pick up José’s mom who had become sick. Instead of one there were nine members of the family plus bedding and sacks waiting for a ride to Volcan. Fred (our truck) was full, but we made it.

Shopping day at Frontera (the frontier)

2010-12-10T18:12:00.000-06:00

Tuesday the 7th

Still no internet. I’m sitting in the City Mall in Paso Canoas on the Costa Rican border. The seating is provided for us of the male persuasion and is right next to McDonalds in the store. I had a cup of coffee at McDonalds and was reading “Decision Making and the Word of God” while Joy, Yari, Ingrid, and Giselle shopped for the Santa Marta Christmas. I quickly finished my café con leche (coffee with milk) and reading and went to my favorite past time of people watching. City Mall is a new store much like a Walmart Supercenter. From here I can see a cross-section of Panama and Costa Rica. Of course babies are still the best. The store is huge, two floors that I can see from here. The escalators are really busy. There are probably more than twice as many people here as you would normally see at Walmart, but it is the Christmas season here just as in the U.S.
I have not seen anyone I know except the manager at McDonalds. He used to be at the one at David. I’m going to quit writing for a while. I’m missing watching a lot of people.
I’m back. I must tell you that most stores here in Frontera (Paso Canoas) straddle the border, that is, one side opens to Panama and the other side opens to Costa Rica. When I took bags out to the truck, a boy wanted me to move so they could unload a truck into McDonalds. So I did. Unknowingly I drove into Costa Rica and could not find an easy way to get back to Panama. After several minutes of driving in Costa Rica (illegally, don’t ya know), I found a place to turn around and get back. Finally found a place to park. Parking space is at a premium all over Panama. Now I’m back to watching and writing.
A very nice gentleman came up and asked me a question. He had no English and my Spanish wasn’t good enough to understand, so we exchanged big smiles.
Most Panamanian kids are spoiled rotten, by my U.S. standards. Of course, come to think of it so are U.S. kids.
I’m sitting near the sundries and notions section watching the sales clerk. Her job, apparently, is to dust the items on the shelves and move them forward as soon as a customer removes one. The shelves are immaculate.
This store is different from most here in Panama in that most put a clerk on you when you enter. They follow you till you check out. As I see it this serves two purposes: one is to prevent shoplifting and two is to help you find things.
Another innovation of this store is their little baskets on wheels similar to pulling a small suitcase. It is the third choice; the other two being the conventional hand basket and the regular shopping cart.
I just saw a young woman breast feeding her baby while walking through the store. This is a lovely sight to me, which I have probably mentioned before. It is not as common as it once was.
I am amazed at how busy this store is. Things are flying off the shelves. Boys are continually bringing in boxes to restock. People here are usually paid on the 1st and 15th of the month and this is Tuesday the 7th, but it is the season. Where do they get the money?
We are home safely, Gracias a Dios. Still no internet. Transcribing this anyway. Joy is walking down our road visiting. Till next time.
Lynn

Coming Home

2010-12-09T14:35:00.000-06:00

Thanks to God we are home in Volcan again. Our trip back went really well until we tried to leave Panama City. Because we were traveling with Tas, our poodle, we could not take the bus back to Volcan, which is our normal means of travel. Instead we chose to fly with Aeroperlas, a Central American company that flies to several locations here in Panama.
A week before we left Arkansas we received an email from them to say that our 10 am flight on November 30th had been cancelled. They booked us on the afternoon flight, leaving at 4 pm instead. We took that in stride, and changed our lodging accommodations so that we could stay later in the day. We went to the airport at 3:00 for the flight and sat until 5:30 when we were told that this flight too had been cancelled because of heavy rains in David. We hurriedly called the hotel back, as there are only a couple that will allow pets, and asked if they had a room for that night. Fortunately they did, and our tickets were changed to 10 am the next day.
We were given a choice of 6:30 am or 10, and I (poor choice) took the latter. When we arrived back at the airport minus about $120, we were told that the flight had been cancelled again. No explanation, no weather in David, just cancelled. The other airline in the airport was not only open, but had a flight leaving at 10 for David. I rushed to see if we could get tickets, and found that we could but needed to hurry. I explained that Aeroperlas still had all of our bags. They said they could wait a few minutes so I hurried to recover the bags, the money for the tickets, Lynn and Tas for the flight. Aeroperlas was offering to take us on the 4 pm flight again, but Tas would have to stay in the tiny crate all day, and who knew if it would really happen on the fourth try!
So, you know what happened next – they refused to refund our money. They said they were not responsible for the weather so did not need to return the money. I tried to argue, but had no time if we were to catch the other flight. We bought new tickets. The flight was delayed about an hour because the mechanic needed to go out and bang on something under the hood – seriously! After that they refueled and we were allowed to board. Tas had to ride as cargo, but she made the trip fine. Finally at about 3:30 pm on December 1rst we arrived at the house.
The moral of this woeful tale – and yes there is a moral for all you travelers who might come to see us – do not use Aeroperlas!!!! Bad! Bad! Bad! Air Panama was wonderful – even served us a soda and crackers on the flight!
It is good to be home. Of course, no-one takes care of your place like you do, so we have tons of work to get things back in order. We do not yet have internet in the house, but hope to see a technician here tomorrow (Tuesday). Our dalmatians, Saly and Patch, had babies while we were gone. There are two left, one for us and one for Magdiel. They are adorable, but also very messy! Nothing is sacred to them, but all is fair game for chewing, ripping, tearing, and eating. ALL. It has been awhile since we had pups around. I think Lynn is thinking that was a good thing!
We are well. Busy, but well, and appreciate so much all of our family back home (the other home) for your prayers and support of our work here.
Last I heard there were still 5 children needing sponsors for the upcoming school year. Please search your heart to see if you can help out just one child so that they can attend school this year. Talk to Rogena or Holly to get set up with a great opportunity to help one of God’s less fortunate!
We love you all!
Richest blessings, Joy

Doors Opening Wider

2010-06-23T06:26:00.002-06:00

Yesterday Lynn, Jana and I went to the border to shop for uniforms for several children in the school in Caña Blanca. They have just begun attending this year, and do not have the finances to buy all that they need. We used funds offered by Riverside Ladies’ class, and other funds left by First Day to buy 14 shirts, 8 pair of pants, 8 skirts, and socks (3 pair of socks per child) for all 8 children. It was Jana’s first time in Costa Rica, so it was exciting, but also tiring. It is just too hot down there!
Today, after feeding the animals and ourselves, we began the day by going to the tienda (tiny store) for snacks to take to the children after English class (in Caña Blanca). The trip out was uneventful, but upon arriving, we are always thrilled to spend time with the little ones. Carla, one of the smallest in the class (3 years old) could teach the class on colors! She shouted out each color correctly without a bit of help! During the class time two parents came to speak with me. They have begun a Parent Association and want to include our input in their meetings. We are honored and excited that the school is moving forward after several years of neglect and decay (both physical and academic). We will meet next week with the Territory political leaders and ask for funding for solar power so that the children might have lights to read by. They have other plans as well, and will meet regularly to discuss and work toward improving the school.
Okay, beyond that meeting, which left me giddy with the possibilities of help for these needy children, we found that there were 4 new children in the school. Ranging from 4 to 12, none had ever been in school before yesterday. None can read or write, or color inside the lines, or any other thing we take for granted for our children.
So, there are now 14 children in the school! Last year the school was closed completely at the end of the year, and now the children are pouring in. Our interest (with GREAT help from First Day) has caused others to take interest, and the teacher, who rarely came to classes last year has been told that she will not miss class one more time without prior consent, or she will be replaced!!!! This is tremendous news for all who love those children! So, now that the teacher will be present, the parents are sending their youngsters for an education. It is wonderful to see!
During the class we were asked if we could go pick up a woman who was having a baby and take her into Volcán when we left. So, we carried 9 children (some with new uniforms and shoes)-and one family's dog - about 1½ miles down the road on our way to pick up the lady – who turned out to have a newborn less than 2 days old – and absolutely precious – in her arms. Jana and I shared carrying the baby all the way into town. We dropped off the 9 children and traded for mother and child then went back to the school and picked up 5 more kiddos to carry closer to their home, which was toward Volcán. All five of these were part of the group for which we had bought uniforms. They walk over 2 miles one way to attend classes, and until this week, were doing it barefooted with whatever clothing they could find. Now all five will be dressed like normal school children for the first time in their lives.
I have to tell you about Adelaida. She is 12 years old and had never worn shoes before the tennis shoes First Day brought her last week. She was wearing them today. I asked how they felt. She said “very well”. I asked if she was comfortable she said,”yes, they feel good.” I said, “I am glad. I was afraid they would be too tight”. She said,”Yes, they are tight.” I asked, “Very tight?” She said yes. I said,”Like, so tight you have blisters?” She nodded, smiling brightly. I asked again,” Do you have blisters?” She nodded and said “Yes, I have blisters” but she was beaming. I thought surely she did not understand the question, but she pulled off one shoe and showed me at least 2 huge blisters. I asked of the hurt and she said, “No, not too much because my brother gave me some socks!” She said “The shoes are really pretty, aren’t they?” What could I say? They were absolutely beautiful beneath that wonderful smiling face! Thanks again, Kelly, First Day, and Riverside Ladies’ Class! I know you will be blessed!
An eventful day in the ministry here.
We feel more and more that God is opening doors to share His love in better ways. Last week a man came by the house and asked if we could possibly find a ride for his family to church on Sundays. Come to find out he is the father of two of the children that we bought clothing for this week. It would mean leaving here at 7:00 am to get them to church on time, as they live about 1 ½ - 2 hours from here, and the church is on the other side of us. And we will have to put a rack and seats in the back of the truck, as nothing but a 4 wheel drive can go to their house, but, God always provides a way to do His will, so I know that He will figure it all out and bless it to His glory!
Just thought we would share what is going on in our neck of the woods!!
We love you all!

Blessing upon Blessing!

2010-06-16T15:07:00.005-06:00

Wow! What a blessed couple of weeks! On June 5th dear family from Riverside came to work with the El Valle Elementary School. We had a few extra folks from the church here who helped out, along with Marta and Kirvyn our dear friends and translators. Everything went great!
~We discovered hidden talents in Ana, from the church in David – she was an awesome puppet! Ana Samaniego is Katy’s mom, and a dear friend and sister as well.
~I knew Erica Dexter/Peck was great with kids, and she proved to be a really good translator as well. Erica is a long-time friend from Harding days, a neighbor, and part of the church here in Volcan.
~Jana, our long-time friend from Yellville added (and still is adding) a spirit of joy and sweetness that are her special gifts. She will be staying with us through the last team’s work which begins July 5th.
~ Meredith was an added blessing! Meredith Woodell came from Searcy to help out, and she did that very well! She just graduated from high school, with 4 years of Spanish under her belt. She and Yari became great friends, as the each practiced their new language skills, music, swimming, and free time together. A great breath of youthful energy was just what this gang needed to be complete!
~Extra special for me was to have Holly, Lisa, Harry, Roger, Gwynna & Curtis from ‘Riverside Stateside’ here with us for the week, sharing, laughing (snoring) and encouraging. We have been renewed by their spirit and love through Christ. Thanks so much for coming down! If there is one thing I have learned, it is how much we need the encouragement of those of you who love and support us. Without you, the work becomes so difficult at times, and I thank God daily for His use of you all to give us courage and strength.
Along with our personal blessings, the children of El Valle were shown what God’s love looks like in person. They learned more about His desires for each of us, and were entertained, hugged, and played with throughout the week. Curtis was amazing – though he never got the hang of the pong type game the boys tried so hard to teach him. He still got out there every day trying! The kids loved it! Even though I think he cost them all quite a few of their playing discs! We look forward to next year when Kathy, Curtis’ wife can join us, and we continue to pray for her and loss of her mother.

So, two days after they left, we had the house prepared for my favorite singing group in the world to stay two nights with us!!! First Day arrived Sunday, June 13th in time to grab a bite and perform a free concert at our local Lion’s Club. They did an awesome job, complete with translated words projected onto the wall so that all could understand the message they came to share. They even sang one song in Spanish – and the whole crowd was super appreciative. Me too! I listen regularly to their CDs, and am blessed and encouraged by them, but seeing their faces while they sing, and being face to face was very moving for me, and very much appreciated! You guys are the best!
On Monday the whole gang – Tim, Matt (and his fantastic wife Carolyn), Bruce, Gary, Kyle, Jeff, along with our ever-faithful translator, Kirvyn, Larry Brady, Medic Baudilio & wife, Erica, plus our entire household, headed out to Caña Blanca Arriba for a day of medical assistance. This was financed almost entirely by donations given to First Day toward that purpose. The dear folks of this small village were offered check-ups, medicines (including the much needed parasite medicine), reading glasses, vitamins, and bags of food staples like rice, beans, salt, sugar and oil. We saw between 80 and 100 people with a huge majority being children.
Along with this effort, Kelly Martin sent new shoes for each school child after hearing that many were coming to school without any footwear. Now every student has a sharp looking pare of tennis shoes! Thanks Kelly!
First Day’s tour of Panama is being assisted by Larry Brady of Panama Missions. While we have known of, and met Larry before, this was our first opportunity to work with him and his organization, and we look forward to doing that more often! You can check out their work at www.panamamissions.org. This group generally works in the Darien Province, but Larry is travelling with First Day throughout this week of concerts and other projects.
First Day rolled out of here early Tuesday morning. They were a hoot the whole brief visit. They were also a huge blessing to our household, and our community. Thanks guys!!!
Okay, there is so much more I could tell you, but this is already long, and yes, I am happily exhausted. My back is nudging me toward my zero gravity chair, and so I will close by saying “Thank You, Lord! We are truly blessed!”
May God grant each of you His Peace and
Joy!

Serving the Children...

2010-06-02T19:46:00.004-06:00

The guys from Harding Center for Advanced Ministry Training just left. What a great group of young (and some older) men! They spent the past week constructing a basketball court for the small school in Las Perlas. The Oxford Church of Christ youth group donated the funding last winter, and the Harding guys came down and did the manual labor.

There are 147 children in Las Perlas elementary school; mostly indigenous, all needy in so many ways, and all very grateful for our attention and love.
It was a difficult task, as the school is located in a field of lava rocks, and they only had a week to complete the project, but thanks to God for holding off the rains, and for youthful muscles and stamina, those children are now playing on a concrete floor with a real goal, rim and net!

The Harding gang was our first group of the ‘summer’. Now we are busy preparing for group 2 – Our ever-faithful family from Riverside. They will arrive this coming Sunday morning around 6 am, and we are super excited to see them all!

New Life!

2010-06-01T15:06:00.002-06:00

Yamileth has been patiently waiting for her 12th birthday. Not in the way most children do; there were no presents or cake and ice cream. No parties or new clothes, but there was one great gift she received. She was baptized into Christ. Talk about a new wardrobe! She has asked to be baptized for over a year now, but her parents said she must be 12 years old before they would allow it. She turned 12 on Monday and asked us to take her to the river on Tuesday. We were happy to oblige!
Lynn was the baptizer and I was the translator as we helped this young, dear friend offer God her life in obedience to His command. What pure joy!
The life of this young lady is difficult – 9 sisters and brothers, a father who often drinks away his meager paycheck before the family is fed, an Indian in a place where Indians are seen as lower class, and unworthy of even a greeting. The road is and will be difficult for her, and now, praise God! She has a helper with her in every moment! Please say a prayer when you think of it for Yamileth, our sister in Christ.

Saying goodbye...again

2010-05-25T19:33:00.002-06:00

I hate goodbyes. I hate not saying goodbye. I know that I will see Lynne again one day, with no pain or worries. I know that she is happy and whole. I know it all, but I can not stand the thought that I can't see her here again, in this world. What a joyful person - through everything. What a loving spirit, even in her pain. What an encourager, laugher, joker, prankster,and most importantly,dear friend. I miss you terribly, Lynne. We both do.

I know you wish you could tell us all about your journey now, and I want to hear it all in your words, dear sister. You taught me much. Thank you! See you in a little while!

Census 2010

2010-05-19T16:33:00.000-06:00

I was in the U.S. when three weeks prior to census day,the first letters arrived telling us to prepare for the 2010 Census. Then, two weeks in advance they again mailed out millions of notices to millions of mailboxes to let us know that the Census was coming. I thought it a bit redundant, but not unlike other government procedures. I was still there when the actual census (es) arrived at my dad’s house. Dad, wanting to follow the letter of the law, was confused about what to do with the second census envelope. He read through all of the literature to see what he should do about it. He has an RV park, with several year-round tenants, but as he only received one extra envelop he was in a quandary. Finally after reading through the whole thing, and then asking me to do the same, he called the information number. You have to know my dad to appreciate this, but the call was answered by a machine which offered him 20 options to continue, none of which addressed his question. Yes, there are still miracles – he did not hang up!!!! He hung in there for another three rounds of options which never concluded with a real person, or the answer to his question. This took about three hours of his afternoon, then he quit for the day. Three days later he finally had spoken with a real live person, and they told him to throw the second envelope away. He did. He filled out one and put it into the mailbox.
Such was the process for the 2010 Census in the United States of America; Land of high technology and efficiency, though we don’t always use it wisely.
Sunday, May 16 2010 was Census day here in Panamá. I could not help but notice a few differences. Preparation began with radio ads three weeks ago. No letters, just a simple ad that said every human being in the country must remain in their home until after a census worker comes and fill out the information sheets with them. They are under penalty of fine if they are not available for the 30 minute interview. Not sure if that is just a lame threat, or if they would really do it, but it doesn’t matter because everyone stayed home to meet the census worker. At least everyone around here. So, remember back to your days of Bible study – remember when Joseph and Mary had to return to Bethlehem for the census? It is still alive and well in Panamá!
So, back to preparation; One week before the big day all those who will work the census meet for training. They have seminar classes for three days, for which they are paid $5 daily and are provided lunch. That concludes the preparation for the Census day. There is approximately one worker for every ten houses here in Volcán, and I assume it is the same all over Panama. I do not have the mind, or the energy to figure out a cost comparison per capita, but I think it is probably less costly here than in the States.
So, on Sunday morning Lynn and I are sitting on the porch awaiting our turn. At 10:30 am a very nice young lady comes to our gate and asks permission to enter. We sit and she asks questions for about 20 minutes. She fills out the form, and thanks us for our time. In conversation she shares that we are her last house of the day. Her work is done. When she leaves our house she will go to the house serving as headquarters for Volcán and receive her $40. She is content.
As luck would have it our friend, Mari, who is working the census as well, is given only one house to visit. The house is empty, and has been for several months. She went through the training, woke up Sunday morning and walked to one house to put a sticker on the door that said that the house was vacant, then went to receive her $40. So, it isn’t perfect here either. Furthermore there have been complaints that some houses were not visited.
The worker who visited us placed a hot pink sticker on the door post that said we had been counted. She told us to leave the sticker there for at least one week as supervisors would be coming around to check them. We have had fun checking out everyone’s doorposts around town!
All in all, the day was very quiet. No trucks running out to the farms, no families passing to go to town. It was quite unique. Imagine a day when everyone in the U.S. was forced to stay home with their families, just for a day – how cool would that be?
Such was Census Day 2010 in Panamá, Central America. Land of family-oriented lives , where relationship and face – to – face contact still have value. Before some of you say that I am dissing my home country, I am not. I love the beliefs on which our country was founded. But we could still learn a little from our southern neighbors, ya know?

Caña Blanca Classes

2010-05-05T14:02:00.005-06:00

First class of the year in Caña Blanca this year, 13 students, 3 parents and 2 teachers, plus Lynn and I. You can see by the photos that most of the students were G’nobe Buglé Indian. Of the 13 students, 9 are new this year, and 8 of those are Indian. A blessing, to be sure, and a challenge as well. We have prayed that we could impact this group of Panamanians since before we came here in 2006. They are socially and economically at the bottom of the ladder here in Chiriquí, and all over Panamá. The huge challenge – they are also the hardest to reach, very timid, humble, and resigned to being lower class citizens. Added to that, they often are not accustomed to Spanish when young, as they speak their own dialect in their homes.
The class went slower than I was prepared for because of this, and because these children had certainly not been taught any English before today. But we are okay with that. Caña Blanca is the one place we feel we can completely go with the flow, and if we learn a lot, great, if we learn only one thing, equally great! It is all good in Caña Blanca for us. The people are friendly, humble, generous and kind. We feel very accepted here, and are able to be a part of their culture when we go for classes. We rarely leave Caña Blanca empty handed – today Señora Elvia gave us a bag full of bananas- green ones to fry, ripe ones to eat and ripe chinos to fry as well. A chino is a type of banana that is short and fat and very sweet – delicious!!!
We began today with colors. For the 4 students from last year, it was a review and time to shine in the classroom. For the others it was a challenge, but one they seem eager to take. The Indian girls all whisper their responses, while last year’s students shout out the answers for all to hear. We ended the class with snacks and fortified juice for all.

The new teacher – at least for the next month is a young man (about 24) who is doing his practice teaching. He actually cooks a small meal for the children daily. The funding for this comes from his small paycheck, but he knows that many of the children will not be fed until late in the evenings, if at all, so makes the sacrifice and provides all a healthy meal. We have made arrangements to begin helping him purchase the foodstuffs weekly.
The ‘main’ teacher is on maternity leave. She is the same teacher who rarely, if ever showed up last year to teach, but received pay for the whole year. I am grateful that, at least for this period of time, the children are being taught by someone who cares, and wants them to learn. I am contemplating how we can bring the problems with the main teacher to the eyes of the Ministry of Education Supervisor here in Chiriquí without causing too much of a stir. Please pray for our wisdom in this.
Also, as we have seen in years past, several of the children do not have appropriate, if any shoes. Adelaida, the oldest of the girls, has no shoes at all, and walks a great distance for classes. We will be trying to take care of those needs as we can find funds and get sizes. Several of the boys are wearing rubber boots several sizes too big, and others are wearing flip-flops. None of them walks less than a half-mile to get to classes daily. All walk home in the rain in the afternoons.
Overall it was a great day, for which we are grateful. While we appreciate every moment of our time with these beautiful children, it also tears at our hearts to see their suffering.

Blessings and Lessons

2010-04-29T19:16:00.001-06:00

Rain, Rain and more Rain! Well, we wondered when the rainy season would get here, and we are wondering no more. The road is a river again!
We made the trek to Caña Blanca this morning. It was wonderful to see the children, and the friends we have made over the past few years. Thanks to ‘First Day’ we are arranging for a 1 day medical clinic for this very poor, very far from medical help, community. First Day will be here in June to bring music, food and medicines to the families who choose, or are bound to live in this off the beaten path paradise. It takes us an hour to get there over very rough roads, but the people and the peace we find there are worth the trip.
These people have been forgotten by the world in so many ways, but we had some good news today! The school has been reopened and has 7 students as of today. There are a few more who will transfer back at the semester break (they are walking all the way to El Valle every day right now – imagine that walk in this rain!) They cannot move until they receive their grades for this semester. Actually it is a quarter, not a semester. At any rate, the school has children laughing and learning, and that is a very good thing for the entire community.
We have been bringing in English lessons for the past two years to the children, first at the school, then at the Catholic church where a wonderful Christian lady teaches kindergarten and pre-kinder to all comers. We are excited to begin again next week with 10 students (hers and the school children).
We also took fertilizer out to some friends who have moved to the neighborhood – talk about living in the quiet of nature! They are miles from anything, with no electricity, no cars, nothing to intrude on God’s natural beauty. A simple life, but a hard one. I envy them, and worry about them.
On the way back we learned a very valuable lesson. I have been doing so well with my diabetes that I left the house without any type of sugar. I am not sure what I did to expend the carbs I ate this morning, but I did – expend them – almost every one of them. I became quite lethargic, could not think, could not sit up, and was very afraid that I would go into a coma before we could reach home. We only passed one house once I got bad, and no-one was home. Fortunately Lynn was very resourceful – he first stopped at a lemon tree, climbed up and pulled, then peeled one for me. We were both in doubt as to the sugar content, so a little further along he found a guava tree and stopped again and fed me part of a fruit. It was infested with worms, but we tried to remove them as we could, and I only ate a part of it, but it was enough to get me home. Once home I downed some sugar, and promptly slept. Within a couple of hours I was exhausted, but back to normal, sugar-wise. (I am never quite normal, as most of you know) It was quite a scare for both of us, and a lesson well-learned. I am confident we will not be away from the house without some kind of sugar available again.
Just another day in the life…thought we would share.
God is good, so good!

Goodbye Dear Neighbor & Friend

2010-04-22T20:20:00.002-06:00

One of the very first adults to welcome us to Volcan died today. He was the very best of neighbors, gentle, hardworking, generous and always looking to help out in any way possible. In his early seventies, I have never known anyone close to his age that worked like he did. He has land rented all over Chiriquí that he plants and maintains with yuca, corn, beans, pineapple, and every other type of edible vegetation. He rides the bus to and from daily caring for each parcel. Or rather he did. Today, on his way to a 5 acre plot of beans, as he sat on the bus resting before he arrived, he suffered a sudden, fatal heart attack. He went home. I know of no better man to be entering the Kingdom than him, and no better way for him to take his journey than in route to yet another day of hard work. He will be sorely missed here, but I am shouting hallelujah for him.

In our first year here Don Antonio came and invited us to go with him to his 10 acre plot of pineapple down the mountain in the bottom land. We learned so much about the land, the culture, the people, and what true kindness looked like. We stopped at, at least 6 houses to visit, each one giving us avocados, bananas, papaya, and other fruits, though clearly none of these families had much of their own. Each family greeted Don Antonio as if he were their grandfather or brother, though none were kin to him by blood. In turn they greeted us, as his friend, in the same way. It was obvious that he was generous and kind with all he met. Certainly he always was with us.
That trip signaled the beginning of many others, every one of which we thoroughly enjoyed and were blessed by; always meeting new friends, and learning more about what a good Panamanian looks like. We have treasured our time with Don Antonio, and will deeply miss his visits and friendship.
Please pray for his family, especially his youngest son, Carlos, who has worshipped with us for the past two years, and was baptized just a short year ago. He is 18, and was very close to his father. Don Antonio has 7 children, I believe, but only Carlos left in the house.

and still more changes...

2010-04-03T14:45:00.002-06:00

Well, as times change here, and we try to meet the changes and challenges of ministry here in Volcan, we find ourselves saying goodbye to a great worker for the Lord.
Hermel signed on with us last Fall for a 6 month stint, and that stint has come to an end. The small congregation here will now be meeting weekly with Volcan church of Christ, a couple of miles from our home, and Hermel’s services as preacher and teacher will no longer be needed. Furthermore he has another small congregation waiting for his help.
He has been good for the church, uniting us, feeding the flock spiritually, and being a wonderful brother to me, as well as the whole membership. He has also been a steady companion of Magdiel’s, mentoring and teaching him in everyday circumstances. He will be missed.
The new congregation is much closer to the home of his aging parents, as he will be working with his brother (by blood) to grow a young congregation in the town of Rio Grande in Cocle. Please join us in prayers for his health, his strength, and God’s blessings on his work as he seeks to follow His will.
Queremos mucho Hermano!
We love you, Brother!

Life changes

2010-03-25T12:43:00.002-06:00

Summer is coming to an end here; the children are again passing on their way to classes and we occasionally have a tiny bit of rain. change is in the air. It is not unlike when I was a child and returned to school in September with high expectations and a slight change in the climate that dictated a change of clothing style, but here, it is new uniforms and pencils and paper. And they are excited to see their friends again, and begin a new chapter of life. Their eyes shine, if not their old dusty shoes from last year. It is a time of renewal and I long to join them with their high expectations. Ah to be young!

Life is changing for our ministry as well. Lynn is now living with his mother in Yellville, and I am here carrying on our work, for the time being. The church is in the process of moving to join another church here in Volcan, and will no longer meet in our home. We have found that we are not equipped to serve as pastors of this beautiful, but very immature congregation of believers. The other missionary, Frank,and his wife, are thrilled to take us under their wings, and I am very grateful.

We will continue to help the local elementary school by providing lunches to each student daily, thanks to the generosity of the children of Riverside church in Gassville. They provide the funds and I just buy the food, and reap the smiles and thanks of the children, the teachers, and the parents. It is a wonderful work that I am proud to be a part of.
We also continue to assist children who cannot afford to go to school by purchasing uniforms and school supplies through out the year. In some more severe cases we also provide breakfasts for the children, dental work, eye glasses and try to meet other needs as they arise. This work is sponsored by individuals who choose to sponsor these children. If you would like to help with this work, please contact Holly Smith at Riverside church of Christ. Sorry for the shameless plug, but we have fallen short of our goal to serve 10 children this year.

I will also be offering English tutoring, and we continue to provide assistance to those in need when asked. So, the work is not over, it is moving toward using our talents in the wisest ways possible. God is still at work within His people! I continue to be grateful to be in His service.

The church in Santa Marta sends greetings to all, as does this little group of believers here in Volcan.

God's richest blessings!

Summertime in Panama!

2010-01-17T15:56:00.002-06:00

We are sitting in our living room listening to shouts of encouragement, laughter and much hoopla from across the street this afternoon. The church, along with many neighbors, are playing baseball, thanks to Doyne, and the others who donated gloves and bats to us two years ago. We have used, reused, re-strung,and used some more every glove that was sent. This is summer here, and the youth are out there every afternoon playing and spending time together with the great influence of Hermel (our new partner in the work) and Magdiel. It is great to see and hear. We just want to say thank you. For the gloves and bats, for the prayers, for the financial support, and for all that you do for us so far from you.

We miss you and love you all.

L & j

The Dry Season...

2009-12-07T08:23:00.004-06:00

We have arrived home from a brief - very brief visit to our dearly loved family and friends in northern Arkansas. We arrived to the fourth day without rain here. We are now on the ninth day without rain, and the breeze has picked up. I only say breeze because that is what the locals call it, but it is more like a strong wind. It will stay with us day in and out for the next four months we are told. We can vouch that last year when we arrived in late January we had no rain and very strong winds through April. That is what we expect this year as well, though it started a little earlier than normal. It is actually a bit hot here, which is very rare.

So, Magdiel and Hermel took down the plastic covering the greenhouse today so that the wind would not tear it to shreds. We realize more every day how blessed we are to have these two men working with us. While Magdiel only has duties to the farm work, after his school work, Hermel is here soley t work with us for the cause of Christ. However they decided that God would be best served if Hermel helped Magdiel in the mornings with his work, and then both go out in the afternoons teaching and helping the church members and neighbors. Both have a heart devoted to God and his work, and are wonderful additions to our family. We are very grateful to God for His blessings!

The children begin vacation in just two weeks and you can feel it in the air! They are excited, and already forgetting their classroom duties! We are encouraging them to hang tough for just two more weeks, but it is tough, just like in the States! Soon we will begin to ask for support for scholarships for the coming year, which begin in March. Please be prayerfully considering helping with this worthy work to educate these beautiful children of God.

I am winding down on my classes at harding, with many difficulties and stresses, but God is good, and I,too look forward to vacation!!!

Rich blessings in this wonderful time of year - both here and there!
joy

It's COLD out there!

2009-11-17T09:42:00.002-06:00

We arrived back in Arkansas last night to frigid weather - at least for us! But we are glad to be here, and looking forward to hugging and visiting with dear friends and family.

We had a wonderful 10 days with Heather Ruth, Lynn's daughter. We took her to see as much of our beautiful country as possible in such a short time, but we loved seeing it all through her eyes!

We visited our much loved family in Santa Marta just before flying back to the States, and they send love and blessings to the Riverside family. We will be trying to gather contributions for Christmas gifts for the children there while we are home. Their only income-maker - oranges- have produced very well throughout Panama, so the price has bottomed out. They are now making $1.25per hundred, as opposed to $2.50 last year. So, their situation is dire, once again. We hope to bring them in some fruit and clothing for the children on our return.

Great to be home! We hope we get to see you while we are in! See you at Riverside!!!!!

Lessons Learned

2009-10-22T19:03:00.003-06:00

Yesterday we took our weekly trip to Cana Blanca to teach a little English to the kids and mostly just let them know they are not forgotten way out there. Cana Blanca is about 10 kilometer from our house but it takes an hour to get there because the road is so bad. Only our faithful truck Fred could make the trip so often! ( More about Fred in a few)

So, we thought what a great treat it would be for Lynn to make Lisa's no-bake cookies and take them to the kids, right? We bought small cartons of milk, put them into the cooler and off we went. The road was especially bad because of the torrential rains, but we made it and the class was great. We had 7 students and they did quite well with their colors. The school itself has lost all but one student, but the local Catholic leader, Senora Elvia, had brought him in with her class of pre-schoolers who meet three days a week to prepare for school. She does this because the children need it, and does not receive a penny for her labor. God will reward, she and I are both sure!

At any rate, the classes go well, and we finish up with the celebratory cookies and milk. Fredi, the one true school student (7 years old) is the first to go up to get his milk and cookies. He looks the ziploc bag with two cookies over, turning the bag from one side to the other, takes the milk, and declines the cookies. The younger children, not near so picky, come and take both and go back to their seats. I have to tell you, Fredi has never refused any food we have offered. These children often do not have breakfast before walking miles to get to the school, and I know that his family is quite poor. I also knew he had been sick the week before, so attributed his reticence to that.

Well, Lynn is beside himself. He calls me over to watch Fredi just in time to see Fredi wrinkle his face and say "Ew! The milk is cold!" I smiled and said "yes, isn't it good?" He smiles, trying not to be rude, but it is obvious that he does not like the milk cold. It dawns on me that he probably has never had cold milk in his life. Of course it would not seem good to him. Lynn, still perplexed over the rejection of his cookies say that Fredi must try a bite at least. I took a bag and asked if he wanted it. he said, "No, thank you." I broke off a small piece and asked him to try it. He did, and as soon as it hit his mouth he began grinning from ear to ear. I asked if he liked it and he nodded his head vigorously. I gave him the rest of the bag and he devoured them. I heard him telling his brother that he thought it was a meat of some kind. Too funny!

We take for granted that everyone in the world values what we value, when in fact they may not even know that it exists!

Please say a prayer for these precious souls living out in a beautiful place ,but with no electricity, no local stores, and very little food. And pray that God will show us how to best help them.

Now, back to Fred(the truck) he is sporting a new look these days. I have been teaching Magdiel to drive, and he has done quite well the three or four times we have gone out together. Well,two weeks ago Wednesday it was raining cats and dogs after our singing, and I asked Magdiel if he would like to drive Iris, one of our members, home. She lives about a half a mile down our road, away from town and so we thought it would be fine.

Long story short, it wasn't. He did not make it out of the driveway without crashing into our gate. Both passenger side doors were crushed. We still haven't figured out how he managed it. At any rate, he went on, and 30 minutes later finally returned. He could not get the truck turned around at Iris' house, so ended up waiting until another vehicle came by and Iris asked the driver to turn the truck around. The other guy did, but not without smashing into a tree and doubling in the back bumper.

When Magdiel got out of the truck he was shaking and called me to the truck and said "I wrecked the car". I already knew because Lynn saw him here in the driveway, but I looked, cried inside, and just smiled and said "Maybe we need a few more lessons!" He hugged me and said he was terrified. I asked "of what" and he said "Of telling you that I wrecked it". Lynn, while not understanding all that was said, sensed Magdiel's concern and came up and smiled and said, "No problem!"

And it isn't a big problem, but when we found out that our neighbor does body work, and knew he was in need of money, we asked him to fix it for us. Now Fred has two doors missing for over a week. There is semi-clear plastic covering both doors and folks who don't even know us are shouting "Those gringos don't have any money!" as we drive by. Really! Ah well, it is too true! We might as well look like it! We may or may not get the doors back. Time will tell! We don't know this neighbor that well!

It is all good and all in God's hands!

Gratefully Serving in Panama!
joy

On preaching...

2009-09-23T08:51:00.000-06:00

It is widely stated that Saint Francis of Assisi wrote “Preach every day. Use words if you must.” I have said many times that I am not a preacher, but I was wrong. I preach every day. I just don’t use words.

But it’s not enough for the people here.

I am not brown. I don’t speak Spanish very well. I don’t have hundreds of years of Panamanian cultural experience to draw on. That’s why we have decided to hire a Panamanian to partner with us. Not to preach words but to be the example that we cannot, because of our background.

So remember, if you are a Christian, you are a disciple, and if you are a disciple, you are a preacher.

It seems it is easy for a preacher of words to become egotistical and self centered. A preacher by example can also become a “know it all” but it seems to be more difficult.

We recently made up a questionnaire for our adult class, and one of the nine questions was; “what is the difference between a Christian and a disciple?’ One of the twelve students answered with what I thought was the correct answer; “There is no difference.” But most of the people had the same idea as I believe do most North Americans – a disciple is a super Christian or one who devotes his life to Matthew 29:19.

We must be very careful that “I” doesn’t get in the Lord’s way. I may believe that I am God’s gift to humanity or the savior of the world, but it’s not true. It’s His vision, His ideas, and His ways that give life. He doesn’t need me. He can use me, but He doesn’t need me.

Love you.

More arrivals!

2009-09-21T17:58:00.001-06:00

I forgot to mention it, but we have two new babies!!!! Both girls - I will get photos up soon. their names are Becky and Berty. both adorable, mom doing find as well. George has grown huge already!

(See, God is good!)

Sometimes a good thing can really...bite!

2009-09-21T17:30:00.004-06:00

I have been certain throughout my Christian life that God always blesses me more than I can bless someone else, regardless of the situation, he always gives me more than I can give to others. I haven't changed my mind on that, but I do wonder at His sense of humor at times. Like now.

We have been helping our sister, friend and neighbor Dani work toward a better life for three years now. We have loaned her money for food. With the help of the 2007 team that came down, we replaced her dirt floor with a concrete one. We bought her a stove, gave her beds, gave her a washing machine, and the list goes on and on. Stay with me here, and you will see that I am not boasting, but headed toward a point.

Last Fall we loaned her the money to get electricity in her house. It fell short of what she needed becaus of some poor decisions regarding material costs, but she did get alot closer to getting lights in the house. Finally, this month we bought her the last thing she needed to have for the electricity to be installed - a 20 foot metal pole. We were so thrilled because now the kids could do their homework by something other than kerosene lantern.

The Fire department came out and inspected the work, and approved. The electric company came out and installed the electric line to the house. We were all so thrilled! Only to be dismayed a few hours later when the music started. Loud music- booming music that could be felt throughout our bones. Xavier, the dear teenage wonder, had built himself some monster boom box-speakers to go with his car stereo he had converted to DC current. Bless his little heart!(I heard once that if you finish the comment with "bless his little heart" it was ok to say something bad about someone)

So, again, bless his little heart, he had his music cranked to full volume for a full week before we politely complained. Our street was so peaceful. You could hear the horses coming from way around the bend. I loved to listen for one of the neighbors to come by on his way home because he always whistles, and it is a joyful, relaxing sound. Gone. We used to hear the cattle and horses chatting, the birds chirping, the frogs singing. Gone. All because we wanted to help our dear neighbors have a better life. The music is blaring again tonight. While it goes down for a day or so, they always seem to forget that we are forced to hear whatever they are listening to wiht the volume at max. I am listening to Reggae/ Rap music that, incidentally, I generally detest, over my feeble attempt to dub over wiht David Phelps. Not a good mix.

I know that God will bless our every offering when given in His name, but I am wondering if maybe He is explaining that technological advances are not always 'better'. This one sure isn't for us. We will wait for...peace (and quiet)

God is always good.

Sowing and reaping...

2009-09-11T13:28:00.002-06:00

Thought some of you might like an update of the farm projects;
We purchased 3 ewes and a ram 8 weeks ago. Two of the ewes were bred, one was not. the first baby was due on September 5, and just like turning on a switch - out popped George! He is a male, and appears to be in fine shape. His photo should be to the right. Blondie, the other bred ewe is due on the 20th. We will see if she knows what she is supposed to do! She appears ready in every way!

The garden project was a failure in the sense that the 'co-operative' part fell through. Everyone wanted to be a part of it until it came to commiting time or energy. The last family to go spent probably 10 hours in total on planting and weeding. We, however have remained committed to producing the good organic foods, so, with lots of help from Magdiel, we are beginning to harvest. See photos to the right! the first shot is just of today's harvest. We have had all the cabbage we could eat for over a month now. good thing we love cabbage! it was planted for the entire group - 200 plants! The second photo is of the field corn with red beans behind them, and then new potato plants emerging wiht marigolds behind them. Lynn generally takes care of the otoi & banana patch that is beside the house(next photo). We have harvested bananas twice this year, and the bag you see in the upper left corner is the next batch, which should be ready in a few more days. We harvested one more head, but the tree was actually in our neighbors yard, although the fruit was on our side of the fence. He was quite surprised when we cut the ripe fruit and took them to him.
The following photo is of one of Lynn's new pet projects - hummingbirds! They are everywhere these days (since he found a feeder for them) We also have a pair of parakeets that have decided to stay close to us. Beautiful blues, but I have not managed to get a photo yet.

Praying that all of you are growing in Christ daily,
Joy

Joy volunteers again...

2009-09-02T12:54:00.000-06:00

Last Thursday Alvin, the man in charge of OM(operation mobilization) here in Volcan called Joy to translate for a group Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.

She was planning to go to the ladies convention in Panama City Saturday. We decided she could do more good translating. Joy has translated once before for OM. OM if we haven’t explained before is a worldwide nondenominational missionary organization. You can go on line to learn more about them. They have an office here in Volcan.

This group consisted of about 8 Europeans who had been in Panama several weeks already but had lost their translator to appendicitis. The four days was in a small church and school near Concepción which is about 45 minutes away. It is a very small Four Square denominational congregation. I went with her two days so she would not have to drive home alone late at night (after 10pm). Joy has done an excellent job. She is really good. She will probably have more to share with you later.

MORE ABOUT SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES

2009-08-30T07:53:00.008-06:00

There is no standard list of spiritual disciplines.

Richard J. Foster divides them into inward disciplines- meditation, prayer, fasting, and study, outward disciplines- simplicity, solitude, submission, and service, and corporate disciplines- confession, worship, guidance, and celebration.

Dallas Willard divides them into two classes: disciplines of abstinence- solitude, silence, fasting, frugality, chastity, secrecy, and sacrifice, and disciplines of engagement- study, worship, celebration, service, prayer, fellowship, confession, and submission.

Some writers add other activities as disciplines, such as journaling, dialogue, witness, stewardship, listening, and memorization.

Kenneth Boa writes in Conformed to His Image, Biblical and Practical Approaches to Spiritual Formation;
"It would be a mistake to claim that every follower of Christ should practice all of these disciplines in a consistent or rigorous way. Some will be more essential for you at one time, and some will serve you better at other times. You will find that some of the disciplines are nonnegotiable while others can be pursued intermittently. Depending on your temperament and circumstances, you will be drawn to some and indifferent to others. Still, it is wise to engage occasionally in the ones you would normally dismiss, so that you can experience their unique benefits."

I’m just up to page 96 of Boa’s 500+ page book so there will probably be more to come. If you can’t read the whole book, try to get your hands on chapter 7.

MORE ON DISCIPLESHIP

2009-08-29T18:39:00.004-06:00

Have we bought the illusion that we can be like Christ without imitating his spirituality? For many the word discipline reeks with negative connotations. Maybe we should, as Lynn Anderson writes, smell a little more like sheep.

Jesus engaged in all the classic disciplines, such as solitude, silence, simplicity, study, prayer, sacrificial service, and fasting. I don’t know, but it looks like disciple and discipline may come from the same root or origin. Maybe I should be more engaged with discipline if I truly desire to be a disciple.

From Conformed to His Image by Kenneth Boa – “Our ambition must be different from that of others; instead of pursuing position, power, prestige, or wealth, we should seek the approval of our God (2 Corinthians 5:9)...life is about God and not about us; all things have been created by Him and for Him (Colossians 1:16), and we exist to serve God and not to persuade God to serve us. In essence, the Lords repeated message to us in Scripture is I AM GOD, AND YOU ARE NOT.”

On being needed...

2009-08-26T13:14:00.004-06:00

This was written last Tuesday, but the computer died, so it is just now getting posted!

Yesterday was my first day of classes. Thank the good Lord that one of the professors is having trouble getting everything set in the new 'moodle' program! I about cried when I saw the requirements for each class! It isn't just what they require (I knew it would be a substantial amount of work, because they are Masters level courses), it 's our life here as well. Yesterday, beginning at 6:45 we had visitors - "can you charge my phone for me?" - "Can I just hang out a while since I am early for school?" - "Senora Joy, I need some paints for school today, can you get me some?" - The most frightening was when Carlos and Didania, Indian children who live out about two miles from here, were standing looking in my front door as I cam out of my bedroom, only partially clothed. That was the 6:45AM visit. Three children came by after school for a snack and to ask for more school supplies, then Yamileth, Emelia and Maria came by to tell us how their day went. I counted 14 interruptions in the few hours I set aside for studying.

To top it off, Lynn is under the weather, and was in bed all day. And if you know how men are when they feel a little bad... :) Dani was not working, or she could have run some interference for me. Magdiel was out back working. I finally turned off the phone, closed and locked the gate out front, and hid out.

Joy

Latest Addition

2009-08-21T14:10:00.005-06:00

Payasa Pete is our new granddaughter. Isn't she pretty? Other than a few potty training issues she is precious!

The Great Omission

2009-08-21T13:55:00.000-06:00

You know that Joy is taking three courses this semester for her Master of Ministry Degree. She may have also told you that we purchased over 35 books for the courses. I generally try to read all the material for her studies. I am on book number six now – THE GREAT OMISSION, RECLAIMING JESUS’S ESSENTIAL TEACHINGS ON DISCIPLESHIP by Dallas Willard. This is a good one. I recommend it. You may remember last year we were concerned about loaning things out and never getting them back. We even made a list with who borrowed what and when, and if they didn’t return the item we would not loan anything else. The culture is “if I borrow from you I will keep it till you come after it.” Well I’m just through the first four chapters of Willard’s book but on page 25 he writes “when you lend a dress, a stereo, a car, or some tools or books, are you able to release them with no hope of seeing them again, as Luke 6:35 suggests we should?” I had to read Luke 6:35. I believe that’s what it says. What a ministry. How small I feel for having a list.

Another thing that hit us hard was just on the next page. James 1:2-3 talks about welcoming as friends trials and temptations that intrude on our lives. We thought about the shopping problems we told you about earlier this week.

Discipleship is not only for super Christians. The word “Disciple” occurs 269 times in the New Testament while “Christian” is found only three times. We sometimes feel discipleship is optional, but it is not. That’s what we are supposed to do – make disciples.

We pray that you, like us, will strive to be happy in all our circumstances, and truly work to become disciples of Christ.

Look what God sent us!!!!!

2009-08-21T10:12:00.007-06:00

"When all kinds of trials and temptations crowd into your life, my brothers, don't resent them as intruders, but welcome them as friends! Realize that they come to test your faith and to produce in you the quality of endurance"

James
Chapter 1, verses 2 & 3

Part two

2009-08-19T12:34:00.000-06:00

Continuing with my sad story – we left the bank and headed to the Ferreteria (hardware/farm store). There I asked, among other things, for string for the weed eater. Now, this store has several employees who speak perfectly good Spanish, but the owner and his wife also work there, and they speak Chinese and Spanish – sort of. That is because they are from China (: )). Of course, for this day (now yesterday) the one who was available to serve me was Miki, the boss. I needed .065 string, and asked for it. He said no, .085. I said, “No, I need .065 for this weed eater”. He repeated, “No, .085”. WE did this 3 or 4 times, when I finally thought I understood that he did not have any .065. This was after I wrote it down, and he scratched out what I wrote and wrote .085 twice. I was thinking we had a communication problem, but finally I asked, “You only have .085? he said, “No, I have every size string there is, and there is no .065.” He was laughing at me being so silly. I had bought this string before and was pretty sure it was the right number, so I said, Ökay, I will bring you some when I find it to show you what to buy for the future”. He laughed and said that I would not because it did not exist. I only smiled and said that I needed some other things.

Actually I needed two orders of things. One that I would take with to our house and another for Yeya, a widow in our congregation whose house is in sad disrepair. He asked what else I needed. I told him 3 inch concrete nails, and he got them. Then I said I needed 3 bags of concrete and his shoulders dropped. He said”, “Okay, but what other small stuff?” I looked over the list and said the rest was big stuff, planks of wood, etc.. He then directed me to the check out counter saying something about the cashier could help me with the big stuff. I said okay, thanks and went to the counter. I told her that Miki had sent me to her to order concrete and other outside stuff. She looked at me like I was crazy. I said, “I know, you don’t do that, but he said to come to you.” She asked him something in Spanish too fast for me to understand then rolled her eyes and asked what I needed. I began reading my list and she wrote down what I needed. One of the things was 4 fajillas 1 x 4 x 12”. After she wrote it down, she could not find the price, so asked Miki how much they cost each. He said $3.00. She wrote $3 on the ticket, finished the other things on the ticket, told me the total cost, and I paid for the first order. I told her I had a second ordered to be delivered, so she gave the order to Miki, who took it to an employee to load into our truck.

She and I settle in to fill the second, larger order which includes 4 more fajillas the same size. This is the wood they use to frame up the concrete for floors. Then Miki comes in yelling at the cashier that she should have charged $3.50 for the fajillas (first order) because they need to be cut. He explained this several times before marching back out to watch the order put into the truck. She only smiled and told me that she would need to charge me $3.50 for the second order of fajillas. I told her that was fine. That is when things got a little crazy. She said “Oh! I need to get them to cut the four others while the saw is going!” She ran toward the door as Miki came back in and she said that we needed 4 more boards. He starts raising his voice asking why she did not tell him earlier, she explains it is a different order. He goes to tell the guy cutting and loading the wood. That guy has a problem understanding Miki, so goes to Lynn to explain. H e asks Lynn for the receipt, but Lynn does not understand the Spanish. So comes back to me to tell me that the guy outside wants something but he does not know what. I cannot leave to help him before we finish the order. In the meantime, several men have come to the counter with purchases, and she always rings them up, takes their money, and sacks their things then returns to my order. So before Lynn can walk back out the door the guy comes in and asks the cashier why he is cutting 8 instead of 4 boards. She explains that there are two orders, he says, “So what do I do with the second set of 4 boards?” She says they are to be delivered, and he walks out. Just as we begin again to complete the ordering process the delivery driver comes in and asks if she has any orders, to which she rplies that I am just ordering a delivery. He says to me, “Well, where do you live?”, then “Öh! I remember, across from the Horse ranch named Pomes, right? I said, “Yes, but this is not for my house”. Before I could say more Miki comes in and asks why aren’t they putting the second set of boards in the truck, and why is my order taking so long.

Lynn is back inside, laughing now at the circus act. I am still smoldering over the encounter with the banker, and another man comes up with his arms full of items to buy. The cashier stops talking to Miki and rings up, takes the money, and bags the purchases. Miki is looking to me for answers. I say that I have an order that we are finishing up, and that the last 4 boards are being delivered to another house. The driver pipes in “So it is not to your house?” No, it is to a neighbor’s house who lives near us. When you go to Elsas turn left then take the first right…” The cashier asks me to complete the order so Miki will be happy. The driver says “So when did you move? I thought your house was really nice…” Lynn goes back outside still laughing. The wood cutter comes in asking for the ticket because someone else is saying that all 8 pieces need to go into our truck, but he thinks we did not pay for 8 pieces. It is just too sad to not to laugh. The driver is called away to make another delivery, but the cashier call him back because I was there first. Miki says my order is taking too long, and he needs a copy of the receipt for the delivery (which is not completed because of all the distractions).

I just stand there as two more customers come up, the cashier rings them up, takes their money and bags their goods. Mind you, the bank experience was only an hour ago at this point. I am asking God what I have done wrong. I am sure the girls are waiting at the house (remember the division lesson) so, the driver leaves toward the back of the store, I could not make out what he was saying. I spit out the last two things on my list and plop down my debit card. Miki is standing waiting and grabs the receipt as soon as it is finished. It has not been rung up, but the girl’s calls to see the receipt go unnoticed or unheard. Miki goes to the copy machine, puts the receipt in the top and walks away. The girl does not know how much to charge my card, so we wait, again. The cutter brings the 4 boards inside and asks where the cashier wants them. She said outside, by the saw until the driver is ready to deliver them. More customers come and go. Lynn is in and out. I think he can not stand to miss the circus, but then can’t stand the tension, so leaves again. I begin to silently pray that I don’t explode all over some ( a few) undeserving people, thus setting a poor example of Christ.

After 10 minutes Miki comes and asks why I am still there – he asks the cashier, not me, thankfully. She says she needs the receipt to ring up the transaction and charge my card. He says that if I am using a card she has to charge a 2% fee on the purchase of cement. She looks at me, and I say “fine”. Then Miki walks a way toward the back of the store.

I, at my wits end, call out, “Senor, donde esta la factura? Necesitamos para terminar el ordenar.” (Sir, where is the receipt? We need it to complete the order,) he turns and speaks some rapid Chinese then goes to the copy machine and begins cursing because the paper is not copied. He opens the machine (the one he never pushed the button on to copy) and begins looking for a paper jam. He spends two minutes on this then calls his wife to fix the machine. He says there is a jam and he can not find it. She begins breaking down the machine to find the paper jam. I walk over and tell her that she just needs to push the button as her husband did not. She says no, you can’t push the button when there is a jam. I walk away. Lynn comes and goes. The cashier goes over and asks to borrow the receipt for a minute to ring up the order. The cutter comes in again asking for the receipt for order 2 because he does not think we paid for the second 4 pieces of wood. Miki’s wife lets the cashier have the receipt but the woodcutter takes it from her hands and finds the second order of wood, then asks her where she wants it. She tells him again that they should be set by the saw for the delivery guy.

Right then the deliver guy walks up with a pad of paper asking for directions to my new house. I explain it is not my house, it is a neighbor’s house. I draw a map and explain exactly where her house is, and that there are trees across the road so he cannot go all the way to the house. He says he understands now, and goes to load the ripio (sand / rock mix). The cashier, now with the receipt in hand, rings up the order. I pay (for the privilege of the experience, I think) and with the original receipt head out the door. I realize that the driver does not know what else to put on the truck, so, against my better judgment, return inside while the first set of 4 boards is being loaded in the truck – still don’t know why they waited until I came out to load it.

I asked Miki’s wife to make a copy of the receipt. She said ok, but it would cost me 25 cents. I explain that the copy is for the delivery guy. She says he already has one. I knew he didn’t. I turned to the cashier and asked her if the deliver guy had a receipt. She thought a moment and said “No, we did not get a copy before”. Miki’s wife said, “Then how did he know what to load up?” I said that he looked at it for a moment and saw that he needed 6 meters of ripio so went to load that first. She said he should not have done that without the receipt. I just smiled and handed her the receipt. She took it, put it in the copier, and low and behold! She pushed the button and out came a copy!!!!! She tried to hand me the copy but I asked for the original, so she pulled the original out and gave it to me.

I walked out the door sure that my blood pressure was over the roof. Lynn was finishing tying on the boards, and we headed down the road to buy the string at a different ferretería. As we pulled in the big truck from Miki’s pulled in behind us. The driver got out and said that it would require two loads to get all the materials to Yeya’s house, so he needed $2 more for the second trip. I gave him the $2 , said thank you very much, and walked into the other ferretería. They did not have the string either, so we will have to go to David to find it. Lynn rechecked to be sure, and .065 is what the machine needs.

So we head to the house. When we arrive Yamileth and Emelia are on the front porch waiting. On the back porch two teenagers who used to worship with us are waiting to visit. By now it is 4:45. So I started the class with the girls, and gave them a worksheet, then went to visit with Jairo and Tatiana. Finally at 5:30 I had to tell them that the girls were waiting for a scheduled class, and they said ok, and went out back to visit with Lynn.

The girls and I practiced our times tables for 45 minutes then I sent them on their way before it got dark. They will come back today at 1:00 (  who knows what time it will be, but I will be glad to see them and work with them more.) When they were saying goodbye, I realized that Jairo and Tatiana were still here. I needed to get supper started, but the custom here is if you start on the meal while you have guests, you also feed the guests, and by this time I was totally exhausted and could not imagine entertaining more guests through supper. So I waited. They stayed another 30 minutes, then left in a hurry as the rain started a gain.

At 6:20 I declared that I would not be cooking and we all went to a local restaurant that has the very best grilled chicken and fries. Just as we head to the car the skies open to a downpour. I got soaked getting to the truck. I am worrying about Yeya’s cement, if it is dry. Not paying attention, I step in a hole that causes the water to come pouring into my shoe. I just jumped into the car without a word. We get to the restaurant and the wind is blowing and I am soaked. I gave our only two umbrellas to our guests, so they aren’t too wet. I sit freezing, consoled by the thought of the great grilled chicken dinner I will have. The owner comes to take our order. We all order the same thing, and she goes off to cook. You know what happened next, right? She comes back to our table, Ï am sorry but we are out of grilled chicken, can I get you some fried chicken?” In case you are wondering, no, this is nowhere near the same thing. I order a pork chop and diet coke. Everyone else has the fried chicken. The meal was fine. I froze throughout but the food was good. I nixed the idea of a movie and said I had to go to bed early. I was exhausted and brain-weary. On the way home I tell Lynn I am going to bed by 8. He says, “You can not go to bed without blogging about today. It was just too good to pass up! ”. So I stayed up until 10:00 telling this story, that most of you will not appreciate at all, but I have done it for prosperity’s sake.

I must say, though it may not sound like I know it, I am so blessed to be here, having these problems – these nuisances in a beautiful land with a beautiful people. I know it, God reminds me daily. Just thought you would like to have a chance to relate, and remember that we are all in this boat together.

God is so good to us!
May he bless each of you richly!

Some days are diamonds….

2009-08-18T20:20:00.001-06:00

today might not have been one of those!

Let me share a bit from my day;
I woke up late – it was 6:38, and I could not get out of bed. My back was in rebellion from the standing, bending and twisting I did yesterday sorting bible class material for the church in Coclecito. I stayed in bed for an additional 10 minutes doing stretches to warm the muscles. Then I got up slowly and started breakfast. Eggs & pancakes. We have visitors here for the week – Magdiel’s folks, and the men had a project planned for 8:00 so I hurried to get that done.

Determined to take it easy on my back today, I sat to begin reading, but was quickly drawn away to translate, or to make a decision, or to see a part of the project. Before I knew it I was walking up the road with Lynn to cut bamboo for various projects, then carrying them back to the house. We went straight from that to garden work. Lynn planted potatoes, and then prepared a bed for cilantro, and then we planted that. Next we moved the strawberry patch to more fertile, and protected ground. After that I came in & changed clothes to help Dany with lunch. I made bread that went along with rice, salchichas (sausages), salad and pineapple.

After lunch I prepared lessons for Yamileth and Emelia in division. Both are having trouble with it, so I made up some worksheets and flashcards so that when they came at 1:00 I would be ready. We had set 1:00 today to begin. Remember that we are in Panama. The clock works differently here. I was preparing for the 1:00 class at 12:45, with the expectation that they would arrive at 2:00. They didn’t. So, at 3:00 Lynn and I headed into town to purchase things that the guys needed to finish the loafing shed project.
Sidebar –
Magdiel’s family could not afford to come and visit him without our help, so we decided it was time to turn the loafing shed into a sheep barn, feed room, and a poop room (animal excrement room for fertilization purposes.) Thus we had a job that Ariel, Mag’s dad could do to make the money for the visit. Hopefully I can share more about this in the future, but that is what the guys (Magdiel, Ariel, and Kevin, the younger brother) are working on this week.

Okay, so off to town we go, with list in hand. Ariel’s list of what he needs for tomorrow’s work, Lynn’s list of the things he needs to complete various small projects, and a grocery list. First stop – the bank to get cash.

Our working accounts for both the farm and the ministry are held at Twin Lakes Community in Flippin, Arkansas. To access that money we use debit cards. Has not been a problem since we moved here until the last month. Two things occurred simultaneously: the ATM machines here began charging a $3 transfer fee, and the machines began showing a message that says “Your bank cannot be reached at this time and you have exceeded your daily withdrawal limit”. Well, first, Lynn is pretty tight, and doesn’t want to pay the $3, and second, we know we haven’t used the card, so cannot have exceeded our daily withdrawal limit. So, as a result I have to go into the bank each time I want to withdraw cash. We have an account here that we use to pay our electric bill, and other in-country things, with HSBC, so that is where we go to do our banking business. The only problem is there is guy who works there who is always rude, snobby, and unhelpful at every opportunity. I try to avoid his window if possible, but today, of course, I could not. I explained that I needed to withdraw cash from two debit cards, and told him how much from each. He looked over the cards for several seconds, then asked if I had my passport with me. I said that I had my carnet (my permanent resident visa)but not my passport, and he said that he needed to see my passport. I asked why, since I had an account there, he saw me every week, and my passport number was on the carnet. He looked around to see who might have heard me (I was not speaking softly) and decided that the carnet was ok.

I gave it to him, then he went to work on getting the paperwork done. Computers are everywhere, but the banks here still insist on a mountain of paper trails. I personally think it is just to keep people employed , at very low pay. At any rate he finally finishes and asks me to sign the two different credit card slips. I sign the first, then don’t remember how to sign on the Riverside account, so ask to see my card. He asks why, and I try to explain that I need to see how to sign so it will be the same as the card. He says in a very condescending voice (with face to match) “that is not important, everyone knows that you need to sign the same as your passport”. I said, “No, not for my bank, it needs to be signed just as I signed when I created the account.”. He laughed and said that I was wrong, that I must sign as my passport is signed, and that is why I must have my passport with me to withdraw money. He is feeling quite pleased with himself at this point, and I am growing more impatient. I tried to explain that if I did not sign the same as on my account that my bank would not honor the request. He said again, more loudly “that is not important, all banks require that you sign the same as your passport.”

I said, “Could I please have my card back?” He said when the transaction was complete he would return both of my cards. He then said “I understand that most people are not aware of the requirements of banks, and how things work in banks, but you must follow our rules if you want to get your money.” I am bordering on furious, so scribble something on both slips and state calmly that I hope that my bank rejects them both and he is left to pay his bank what mine did not honor. I hand him the slips and wait. His attitude changes a little – a little less self assured, but he continues with the transaction. When he finally gives me the money, and then returns my cards he asks, “Is the signature the same?”and I can see he is a little bit concerned, now, so I look at the cards and say “NO”, and turn and walk away.

Don’t think that all banks or people are like that. Normally they are very helpful, and even if they do things differently, they are still quite nice and happy to explain why. He is just a bit power-hungry, I think.

That is just the beginning of what has become a monstrous day of small things that begs the question,”WHY?” I will share more tomorrow. For now I am going to bed!!!!

Just a note...

2009-08-16T13:37:00.000-06:00

Today is Sunday, and the church just scattered after a great time of worship, fellowship and food. We had 41 in attendance today. Norman, from David came up to offer words of encouragement about Jesus' promise to come back for us one day, and his statement that we should have faith in him just as we do in God. Good words to hear for weary sojourners! Remember the goal ahead! God is faithful to do as he has promised through His Son! Lucha!!!(one of my favorite Spanish words, it translates keep fighting in the NVI) Sometimes it is easier than others - like today when I was surrounded by fellow strugglers, fellow seekers, friends and brothers. Sometimes it isn't so easy - like when a loved one is very ill, or the road seems scattered with one disappointment after another. Even then it is easier when we remember what Jesus promised in John 14: He is coming back for us, to take us to a place where there is plenty of room for every one of us to be with him.

I really appreciate those of you - Tim M.and Kim J. to mention a couple, who make the time to regularly post to your blogs. Personally they lift me up, and as a fellow blogger they encourage me to be more faithful about jotting a note or two. I want to be more like you guys! Heather does not send an email without reminding me that I should blog (Thanks to you too, Heather. My goal is to get something out once a week. Let's see how I do!

We have beloved guests in the house this week - again! New ones - Magdiel's family is here visiting for the week, as his brother is on mid-year vacation from school. This dear family lives in Santa Marta, where the medical mission team went last June. they have never been to our Province, so we will do a little sight-seeing, and Ariel will also do some remodeling of our loafing shed for the sheep, who will begin to have babies next month. He works with concrete so has offered his services to get the house fixed up for the new arrivals. We are looking forward to a fun week.

Some say I have gone completely crazy, but I am taking three Master of Ministry classes this semester plus 2 practicum classes (to practice what I am learning). I am trying to get a headstart by reading some of the textbooks ahead of time. For the three classes we purchased 35 books, so I have a ways to go! Classes start in 8 days, and I am excited about what I will learn. I should say what we will learn because Lynn and I both read all the material and discuss the classes so that we both gain the knowledge and insight of the great professors at Harding. I am learning from two new (to me) teachers this semester - Dan Stockstill and Dr. Crenshaw. I also have my favorite, and most challenging friend, Randy for a Leadership class. I am looking forward to them all!

Thunderstorm here now, so I will close for the moment. Our prayer is that you, our dear brothers and sisters are Richly Blessed by our Amazing Father!

Good friends, good company!

2009-08-09T18:30:00.000-06:00

Saturday, 8th August, 2009

We just finished having our fourth mission team here, if you count the Santa Marta Medical Campaign. Harry and Lisa Hammett were here for a week. Lisa has been here about 3 times before, but it was Harry’s first trip. We didn’t know Harry very well but had time to understand and appreciate his servant heart. Of course we have known about Lisa’s good heart for some time. We met them at the Tocúmen Airport last Saturday night. Their plane was late and their luggage didn’t arrive. After many calls and delays, we were able to drive to David Wednesday night and pick up the luggage at the airport. After meeting them Saturday night we went to a modest hotel in Panama City for the night. The next morning we left the hotel at 6am, took a shuttle to the bus station, and caught a bus to Penonome, where we had left our truck. We drove to Santa Marta, snacking on the way, arriving just in time for church with the brothers and sisters there. It was a great experience for all of us. We left soon after church, stopped in Aguadulce for lunch, and arrived home at about 8pm. Monday we spent most of the day preparing the VBS agenda and resting. Tuesday we repaired a window for one of our elderly widows. She lives in a small wooden house with a dirt floor. Later the church plans to purchase the materials for her brother to put down a concrete floor. Later Tuesday we bought the supplies, paint, brushes, rollers, etc. to paint school rooms. We started on the fourth grade room at El Valle and quit about 6pm. Wednesday we headed for the little Caña Blanca school . We did our VBS in the morning for the eight kids, fixed sandwiches for lunch, then painted and weed-eated in the afternoon. We will go back next week to finish the painting. Thursday morning we took a little touristy trip through Cerro Punta and the Barú National Park. Thursday afternoon we finished painting the fourth grade room and started on the kindergarten room, didn’t finish, will go back next week. Friday we headed for a beach, about 2-1/2 hours away, called Las Lajas. We spent the afternoon and night at the Las Lajas Beach Resort. It was very nice and had a special off-season rate. This morning we put Harry and Lisa on the 8am bus to Panama City from San Felix. They had about a 5 hour trip to Panama City with a reservation at an upscale hotel before their flight out tomorrow morning. They should have had time for a visit to the canal. We headed home but, of course, stopped at McDonalds in David for breakfast.
The week went well. Some might argue that it was not evangelical enough, but there were a lot of children and adults that saw people who at great expense and some sacrifice were trying to show Jesus. We believe God smiled on our efforts this week, and that Harry and Lisa will be better disciples for the experience.

Blessings...continued

2009-07-12T19:36:00.001-06:00

June 6th started really back in June of 2007 when Brother Tim vowed to the folks of Santa Marta that he would return with a medical team for the area. The work in earnest started in November of 08 to make that happen. And happen it did! Not exactly how we all thought it would, but it happened just as God had in mind, and His plan is always best (we should know that by now, right?) The preparations for a medical campaign are enormous and quite critical to its success. Co-ordination on many fronts is a must, and Tim did a great job of getting us all on task. With God as the boss, and Doyne as right-hand man, how could he not?

For our part, we were responsible for translators, purchasing team foods, and benevolent foods, as well as transportation and accommodations. These preparations, combined with preparing for the first team, the third team, and taking care of the church here made me a little stressed at times. Because of that, and a few other minor problems, I have not written in some time. I apologize.

Now, as for the work in Santa Marta, we left here on Saturday morning @6:00 with Team 1, dropped them at the bus station in David, along with part of team 2 that was from here (Yari, Eric, Rachel, Kirvyn, Marta), then headed to Cocle Province. It is a 6 hour drive from our house. So we said goodbye to one group and hello to the next just 24 hours later. Bittersweet.
Along with those mentioned above, there were 6 others who came from our province – Gilberto, who preached, Ana, who taught the children’s class, Kathy, their daughter, Brux, who led singing, Ponce, who also preached and evangelized, and Urian, who translated.
From the States came Doyne, his lovely (and smart) wife, Margaret, one of the hardest workers I know, LaJeana, with her most beautiful daughter, inside and out, Hannah, and son, Perry. Matt stepped out and made his first mission trip as our only pharmacist, and was, absolutely perfect for this type of work. Dr. Bill Coutts from Lakeview, and Stephony Robinson from Tennessee completed the team. I have to tell you, only God could have brought this group together. There were so many ways we could have not meshed - we were all overworked, tired, hot, stinky, and I know personally that most of us have the potential to be…cranky, but God put things together just right, and we worked well together all week, without incident, other than much shared love and respect for each other. It was truly an amazing team and I would love the opportunity to work with any of them again.
We saw 729 patients according to my records, but Doyne was doctoring at the gate some (when we could not see another patient for the day), and there were house-calls, so that my count could be as much as 30 or so off. Each of those patients was able to see a doctor, be checked for reading glasses, and given a pair if needed, received medications as needed, as well as vitamins and parasite medicine, then sent to the church building for a bag of foods that would feed them for about a week, and invited to evening meetings. This was the first time that our beloved community of Santa Marta had ever had a medical clinic, and this one in the name of our Lord and Savior! What an evangelism tool!
While every member of the team was perfectly fit for the job, I have to say how impressed I was with Perry Chapman’s heart and attitude. He never quit smiling – even while he cleaned the ‘outhouse-type’ toilets. He spoke little Spanish but needed little as his smile spoke volumes about his faith. He was quite an inspiration to me, and to many others. I will pat my self on the back at least to say I chose (or rather God chose) perfect translators for this difficult trip. They were super! The week was tough, but wonderful. I am certain that God was glorified by the way in which we worked, and no-one should ask for more than that!

Thank you to all who sacrificed and helped to make this trip happen. There are too many to mention, but you know who you are.
I will be moving on to our trip to Arkansas, and the third group when I return…
Love you all!

Summer 09 Blessings

2009-07-09T19:03:00.002-06:00

What a time of missions and fellowship! We have been quite busy preparing, then enjoying several mission trips this summer. Let me take a few minutes to share some of the highlights:

On June 1rst we welcomed a group of dearly loved brothers from Riverside in Gassville. Holly, Dane, Pam, Clay, Caleb, Brittany, Dirk, April and Abby Grace came and spent a week working with the children from our local school, El Valle. They brought great stories of the miracles God has done, along with crafts, laughs and lots of love. We watched Dane (who thinks he is still a kid) jump roping until he could barely walk, and Clay and Caleb rapping and beat boxing to an enthralled group of kids daily. We saw Pam at her best (whenever she is teaching) and Holly in her comfort zone (she really should be living here) We got to watch Abby Grace’s eyes widen with the newness of this culture, and then, just fit right in, playing with the kids. Dirk was the man with the camera – and he took some most excellent photos. April enjoyed the kiddos and spent time loving on them all. It was an absolutely amazing week! I think the best part for me personally was seeing Lynn and Dane just sitting and enjoying each others company. When I think of the shortcomings of our life here, the opportunity for fellowship with (English speaking) believers is near the top of the list. (Some of you thought I would say Diet Dr Pepper – ha! Fooled you!) Seriously, this is especially true for Lynn, who is still struggling with the language. And to make it perfect, for it to be someone like Dane, whom we have known and loved for years was the best blessing. Thanks Dane! Thank you all for coming and sharing your love with these precious children, and their teachers. We will probably never fully know the impact your sacrifice has made. And a special thanks to Holly, our ever-faithful friend, who does all the hard work to make it happen!

I could write loads more about this week, but would never get on to the second team – and I wouldn’t want you to miss hearing about that!!!!

More tomorrow….

Blessings and Opportunities in El Valle!

2009-04-18T12:32:00.004-06:00

I know, I know, but it is difficult to find time.

Today we spent the morning painting at the school. We were just to paint the blue part today - the lower part on every school building in Panama is the same color. the paint can even declares the color to be "school blue"! We were part of about 30 folks who came to help get the school looking better. Every parent received a note saying that they must help with this activity, but fully 90% chose not to follow orders. Such is the way, here. Those of us who came had fun. Riverside brought 5 people - none of which were parents of students; The Nelsons, including Yari, and the Hilkers, the interns who arrived this week. the work was not done at noon, so we will have another work day in the near future. It was a good experience for us all, and a great opportunity to get to know more of the local families.

Eric and Rachel are off to a good start, with several clients already. They will be reading the Bible with folks who want to practice their English. the program they are using is called 'Lets Start Talking' and we are excited about how this will, not only teach about Jesus, but also familiarize people with the church. The sessions are held here at the church house. They last an hour, and the clients can have classes several times a week if they choose.

We are busily preparing for the upcoming mission trips here in Volcan, and the Medical mission trip to Santa Marta coming in June. this is what the schedule looks like at present: Riverside (Gassville) will come and bring bible classes to the children in the El Valle school the first week in June. they leave on Saturday for Panama City on Saturday as the Riverside Medical team arrives. Both teams will stay in Riande Hotel that night (June 6), then the medical team heads to Santa Marta for the week. That team leaves on June 14th. We rest for a few days, then head to the U.S. ourselves for Lynn's mom's birthday. We will return on the 4th of July, with the youth group from Oxford, Mississippi for a week working with the children in Las Perlas school (also here in Volcan). That group will leave on July 12th and we will have a couple of weeks to rest and prepare for Riverside Team 3, who will arrive August 1 to work in a few of the smaller, outlying schools for a week. We are really excited about how busy the next few months will be! Lots to prepare for, and lots to look forward to!

We are awaiting the winter rains, that are actually a little behind schedule - not that i am complaining! The days are beautiful - temperature hovering around 75-80, a slight breeze, sunny and....perfect. Lynn is busy working on the farm, preparing the ground for our community garden to be planted when the rains begin. A man is coing next week to build the 'vivero', which is a greenhouse, sort of. This will keep the rain from beating all the dirt away from the roots of the plants. When Magdiel was here, we got all the fences prepared for the sheep, but Lynn says I must sell the cow before the sheep arrive. I am thinking of giving it away just so I can get the sheep on the property! We have new baby chicks - some from the incubator, and a few that we bought. They are growing and very entertaining to watch. We have beans, cilantro, otoi, bananas, cantaloupe, and a few strawberries growing now. This is, comparatively speaking, the end of summer here. It is very dry, many places have no grass for their cattle. We are in good shape because only one the one cow summered on our pasture. She has grown while others have suffered.

Yesterday we went on one of our, now traditional, trips with our neighbor, Don Antonio. We harvested Yuca, and, of course, visited with friends and family on the way. Eric came with us, and was a huge help with the 100+ pound bags of yuca! We found huge calabasas, but they were way up in the treetops, so Eric climbed up to get them for me! We were given mangoes, cashew fruit, calabasas, and yuca by a variety of folks. We never cease to be amazed by the generosity of the country folks! We were also invited to go fishing on the ocean, and will try to do that next week. I am excited about this, not because I like to fish, but we are told we can harvest sea salt at the same location. never done that, but am looking forward to trying!

We are still looking for a place to rent for the church to meet. Our house is too small now, and we feel the church will not gain maturity as long as we are providing the building, cleaning the building, preparing for the meetings, etc. Neither Lynn nor I are the type to leave something undone, so when someone has the responsibility to, for example, set up the classroom, and they do not show up to do it, we feel obligated to get it done. Realizing that if it were left undone, the lesson might be better learned, we try, but usually fail miserably at it (and then I often harbor bad feelings about it). So... we still have not found a building that meets our needs. We thought we had found something for sale that would have been perfect, but alas, the price was too high. Please pray for this, as with the rains, we will be hard-pressed to have the children's classes outside, as we do now.

Life is hard, but life is good! We appreciate your prayers and support as we seek to be Christ's hands, with Christ's heart to the people of El Valle, Volcan, Chiriqui, Panama.

Richest blessings!
The Nelsons

The Breaking of Bread

2009-03-25T17:14:00.000-06:00

The joys of this work are innumerable – the thrill of seeing someone understand that God truly does love them regardless of their past deeds, the delight of watching a child’s eyes as they receive a new pair of shoes or their first Christmas toy, the joyful tears of watching a new brother or sister come up out of the waters of baptism fresh and whole. The list goes on and on, and we feel very blessed to be part of God’s plan here. However, we are also very aware of the huge responsibilities that come with these joys. Each day brings a new question that we are striving to answer with biblical truth, and not with human traditions. We also feel charged with the responsibility to not teach them these truths, but guide them to their own understanding of them. That has proved to be an immense task.

We have spent the past 6 weeks studying the ‘Santa Cena’- the Holy Supper. We have read from Exodus through the New Testament as a church, and individually in our homes, and ask the following questions.
1. What is the origin of the Lord’s Supper?
2. Why did Jesus partake of it?
3. Why did he change it, and how?
4. Who should partake of this sacred practice?
5. Is it a mandate or an example for us?
6. When should we do it?
o What day?
o What time in the gathering?
7. How should we do it?
o What do we use? Why?
o What is involved logistically?
o Individually how do we prepare and partake, spiritually and emotionally?
8. What does it mean for us today?
9. Individually, what is our intention in partaking?

We want to share what this little tradition-ignorant church decided, based on their understanding of Scriptures, but want to first challenge you all to read and pray and answer these questions for yourself. No-one can live by the beliefs of another. You must understand why you do what you do for it to be of any spiritual value to your life. The answers Riverside in El Valle came up with may very well not be yours, and that is ok. We will not judge your understanding, and pray you will not judge ours.

The Lord’s Supper actually began in the time of Moses as the Passover meal. God commanded the Israelites of Egypt to kill an unblemished goat or sheep, pass the blood over the doorposts of their houses, roast the animal and eat it in one night, along with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. This was how God would know which houses to pass over as he killed the first-born of each household, God’s final attempt to compel Pharaoh to let the Israelites leave Egypt. Read in Exodus 11 and 12 for the whole story. It is an amazing account of God’s power and patience! God then commanded that the Israelites to remember this miraculous occasion every 14th day of the first month (Jewish calendar). That is why Jesus, centuries later, took part in the Passover. He was Jewish and it was a commandment to do so.
We are not Jewish and so are not commanded to partake in the Passover annually.

Just before his crucifixion Jesus asked his disciples to prepare a place to commemorate the Passover ( Mark 14:12) and then they gathered to observe this mandated celebration at the appropriate time. However, there were some differences. The gospel of Mark tells us that Jesus took the bread, gave thanks for it, broke it, and giving it to his disciples said, “Take it; it is My body”. Later he gave thanks for the cup of ‘fruit of the vine’, and passed it to them saying it was the blood of His covenant, poured out for all. In Corinthians 11:25 the writer tells us it is a new covenant. In the same verse we also read that Jesus said that the disciples should do this (eat the bread and drink the fruit of the vine) in remembrance of Him.
We believe that Jesus brought a new covenant with his blood that opened an avenue to God that never existed before his death. We believe that the new covenant covered our sins and purified us in the eyes of God, who is holy and perfect, and cannot abide with sin in his presence. With the new covenant, Jesus became the perfect lamb of sacrifice for us, eternally. This change liberated us from the laws of Moses, and placed us under the law of Love established by Jesus. This is what Jesus commanded us to remember as we ate and drank in fellowship with believers.

In Corinthians we also find a warning: Paul tells us that, should we eat and drink without recognizing the body of the Lord, we eat and drink judgment on ourselves (11:29). This led to much discussion concerning which body, the physical or the spiritual body of Christ. Again in Corinthians (12:27) we are told that the believers are the body of Christ, and we have already discussed the physical body sacrificed for all.
It is the understanding and agreement of the church that Paul was referring to both the physical and the spiritual body. Therefore we should direct our hearts toward the suffering and sacrifice given for our salvation, as well as recognize, or discern the body of believers, which is the church.

Jesus told his disciples that they should ‘do this’ in remembrance of him (Luke 22:19). In 1 Corinthians Paul writes “and so, my brothers…” (11:33).
These two examples, as well as others, lead us to believe that all disciples of Christ ought to participate in this holy meal, commemorating Christ.

In 1 Corinthians 12:13, Paul implies that the members of the body of Christ are baptized into that body.
While we believe collectively that all baptized disciples should join in the Lord’s supper, we also believe that this rite is a very personal one, and we are not willing to be, nor should we be, judges as to whether a non-baptized believer should partake, or whether one baptism is more ‘sufficient’ than another. We leave this decision completely in the hands and heart of each individual.

Jesus did not mandate a specific day or time, in fact, he says,”whenever you drink it” (1 Corinthians 11:25). However we have an example from the first church in Acts 20:7 where the writer tells us that they met on the first day of each week “to break bread”.

While we find no commandment to participate in this sacred observance, we, as a church choose to follow the example of the bible, not only in breaking bread and sharing the cup, but in doing it on the first day of each week. We choose to do this because the first church chose to do so, and because we recognize the need to remember Christ’s body sacrificed, and living in this body of believers. We will not hold this standard up to others as if it were a commandment, but choose to follow for our own personal relationships with God.

We also choose to gather in the morning on the first day, as it is a convenient time, and we find no direct command regarding the time. Also, when we choose, we can partake of this during our shared noon meal.

The accounts of the original Passover speak of using lamb or goat meat, unleavened bread and bitter herbs. The account does not prohibit other foods or drinks, nor include them. However, in the account recorded in the gospels in which Jesus participated, only the unleavened bread and the fruit of the vine are mentioned. Again, added foods are not prohibited, simply not mentioned.
The writer of Mark did specifically mention that “while they were eating…” (14:22ff), implying that it was more than simply bread and fruit of the vine. Also, Paul wrote in Corinthians that the meal should not be eating to fill the belly, but to remember the body of Christ (11:17-29)

As a church we concluded that, in all likelihood there was meat and bitter herbs on the table at Jesus’ Passover feast. However, Jesus only chose to use the bread and the cup as the symbols of his body, so no other foods are necessary. They are also not forbidden. In an effort not to be tempted into the mistakes of the Corinthian church, we have chosen to share only the bread and fruit of the vine.
The bread will be unleavened, and can consist of crackers with or without salt, as we find not mention of salt as part of the bread in either Exodus or the gospels accounts. Acknowledging 1 Corinthians 10:15-17, we believe that Paul’s reference to the ‘one loaf’ probably refers to their being only one loaf that was shared among the believers. Further, that his use of this symbol is significant for the analogy referring to the church. However, we believe that the use of one loaf was not a command, but an example, and one that we believe to be inconsequential regarding our spiritual observance.
The fruit of the vine can be from grapes, maracuya, or any other vine fruit. Because of convenience, normally we will use grape juice. We acknowledge that Jesus probably drank wine because it was most readily available in that place and time, but it was not mandated. Regarding the use of one cup or many, the examples of the Scripture are unclear. We believe that Jesus held one cup, and blessed one cup, however in Luke (22:17) Jesus told them to “divide it among them”, which could imply that the each poured some into their own cups. Again, we believe it not to be of consequence concerning our spiritual rite, so will drink from individual cups, as is our custom outside the Lord’s supper.

1 Corinthians 11:27-29 implies that we ought to examine our hearts, and empty ourselves of all malice, asking forgiveness when necessary, before participating in the Lord’s supper. Later in verses 33 and following Paul reminds us that we should be concerned about the rest of the body, and considering them as we prepare to break bread.

We believe that we should take some moments to prepare ourselves to break bread with our brothers and sisters, seeking God’s purification of our hearts, then forgiveness for any malice we hold toward others in Christ’s body. Then, with pure hearts, participate in remembering Christ’s sacrifice, and his living body, which is the church. It is a solemn occasion, and a very personal one.

We are thrilled and in awe at the choices the individuals made, and the decisions that were made as a group. It has been a major struggle to get them to claim their faith, and not just take what we believe as their own faith. This is a major step for the church. For almost two years we have studies and discussed various topics with them leaving with a paper telling them what we believe. When I would ask for some individual opinion or belief, they would always look back on their notes, or simply not answer until our answer was provided. Our approach to this study of the Lord’s supper has been intense, and very demanding of their time. All contributed to finding the scriptures, but once a list of all pertinent passages was gathered, each person was given the responsibility to read and pray. We gathered weekly to discuss what they had read, and for the first several weeks it was quite unproductive. You must understand, these people have centuries of learned resignation as their model. They have been told what was white and what was black for so long they just repeat what they are told. What an amazing feat of God that they have broken that chain, and are thinking for themselves!

You may wonder why I am so certain that they have made these decisions without simply following our input. I might not have been sure except, I do not personally believe exactly the same as the church! There are one or two areas that I feel differently, but they are areas of preference, and example rather than command, so I am content to live with their decisions. Yes, they are aware that I disagree, and they feel strongly that, unless there is a direct commandment, the majority should rule in these situations.

This is breakthrough church stuff! They actually own their faith regarding the Lord’s Supper! Praise God! He can get his message across despite of us fallible humans!

Now just keep us in our prayers as we move on to speaking in tongues, being ‘slain in the Spirit, and women’s role in the church! God definitely must be in charge of these classes!

Riches blessings!

Our Wonderful Mail System!

2009-03-22T17:44:00.001-06:00

We went to the International Fair in David today. It was much like the Arkansas State Fair. There were many more things for sale, and there were only cows and horses in the livestock barns. We took Yari, Magdiel and Sister Ana with her daughter, Kathy. It was okay I guess. First time I have ever been to an International Fair. Glad I went.

Yesterday we had tried to mail a letter but our post office was closed. Today the office was open but we could not mail the letter because they did not have any stamps. The reason they did not have any stamps was because they were robbed yesterday morning early. We have to go to David to receive a package anyway, so we will mail the letter there.

Lynn

We learned today that the reason we have to go to David to receive packages instead of them coming here to Volcan is because our post office has been robbed so many times they will not send them up the hill anymore. Before going to the Fair we went to the post office in David to pick up a package. It had been there for a few days, so we had to pay a rental fee of 85 cents. This is the process: The post office receives the package, then when they get around to it, they send a note to our post office box in Volcan that there is a package. This takes anywhere from 5 days to 5 weeks. Once we are aware of the package we can go pick it up. To do this, you first need to ask which window has the package. They look at the note then send you to the right window. At the right window they confirm that they have the package, and how long they have had it. Then they stamp your paper and send you to a different window. At this (the third) window they will tell you how much money you owe them for the package, and you will pay them that amount. Later I will explain what happened if you do not agree to pay the amount. After paying you are sent back to window #2 (but really #4) where the package is then brought out of the back and you are required to open the package in front of two witnesses. When they are satisfied that the package is safe, and indeed yours, you can leave. Interesting, and very….frustrating!

Okay, so last June I ordered some text books from Amazon. I paid $45.00 to get them shipped International Express (10 days), so I would be sure to have them read for my class that started in August. The books did not arrive throughout the month of July, so on August 4 I re-ordered, and paid $72 to get them here in a week. They were shipped through DHL, and arrived in 21 days. I was thrilled! Only a little over a week late for the class! Still with me? I have my second order of books, and am in the middle of the class in mid-September when the note arrives in our post office box - you have a package in David, please come pick it up. So, we wait until we need to go to David again, and go by the post office. I go to window #1 and she directs me to the correct window #2. There they check the paperwork and tell me that the package has been there for over a month and I need to pay rent of $18 to pick it up. I explain that I just got the notice, and they say that the records indicate it was sent to me over a month ago, so I must pay the rent. I asked what the package is, feeling certain it is the long-lost books (that I no longer need). She says the information is confidential and when I pay the fee I will know. I said, “but what if I don’t want the package?” She just stared at me, then turned and asked the man behind her, “what if she does not want the package she says?” they both look at me like I am crazy then say together, “why don’t you want the package?” I said I do not know what the package is, or who it is from, and you want me to pay $18 to see it – I do not want to pay $18 for a package when I do not know what it is.” Well this went on for a bout 20 minutes, with my temper rising, and nothing changing, so I said “okay, thank you” and walked away. They stopped me at the door and asked what they were supposed to do with the package. I said, “Well, you know what it is, right? So you can figure out what to do with it!” and left. Okay that showed my poorer side, but, the story gets better!

When we went to pick up the package today – it was from a friend in the States to a mutual friend here, and I get to the last window. The lady taps a box that has my name on it. She says “This has been here since last September”. I act innocent and say “Really?” She just shakes her head and asked me to open it. I did. It was, of course the text books ordered twice last summer. The class is over (I passed) and we have no use for the textbooks, but she just handed them over commenting on how bad some of her co-workers were about taking care of business. She did not dun me for the $18, or even a penny. That was it! Now we will try to figure out how we can get the books back to Amazon, who sent the second books without charging for the lost books.

There is always a new adventure here!

Keep us in your prayers!
joy

Time with Celinda's girls

2009-03-10T12:31:00.002-06:00

Yesterday we took Celinda’s girls who are school age shopping for uniforms, shoes, and backpacks for school. It was such fun! Their eyes were like saucers as we looked at the new clothing, and they actually chose what shoes they wanted. They ran from place to place, and gave a million hugs in between. The hugs and kisses we want to share with Doyne, Margaret, Phillip, Nancy and Holly. Thank you so much for allowing us to be your liaisons with these gifts! We took them to McDonalds for lunch. Okay, for those of you who are rolling your eyes, saying Yuck! McDonalds. Just look at the picture of these girls on their first-ever trip to McDonalds! When I asked if they would like to go there, six eyes became wide as plates, they looked at each other as if we had just given them millions of dollars. It was priceless! When we had finished shopping, and were on our way to eat, Emelia said,” Miss Joy, what does it mean to say “Happy meal”?” I said, “It is a little box that has a hamburger and French fries and comes with a soda and a toy”. She sucked in her breath and all three girls screamed in delight. Then Marie, the baby of the group said, “Can I ask for a happy meal?” I said, “Of course, if that is what you want.” Emelia was not satisfied, she said,”But can I ask, myself, for my very own Happy Meal?” I wasn’t sure exactly what she meant, but said ”You can ask for your own lunch.” She insisted “my own happy meal?” I replied again, “Yes, if that is what you want”. They laughed and giggled all the way to the restaurant. Once we were inside and they saw the play land, they forgot all about food! We were all tired and thirsty, but they only had eyes for the playground equipment! I told them they could play as soon as they ordered, so they each walked up to the counter, and in their very shy, timid voices, ordered their own happy meals, then stood amazed as the young man delivered their food and toy. They ate and drank quickly, then went back to play. It was such fun to watch!

After lunch (and a half hour to play) we took the girls to have their eyes checked. The optometrist was very good with each of the girls, but Yamileth’s eyes caused his ever- present smile to fail. I could see right away that something was bad, but we thought before going that she needed glasses. Even she had said she could not see well. We just did not realize how bad it was. Apparently, she has a severe astigmatism in her right eye – worse than 3.5. It has been so for such a long period of time that her brain has decided not to use that eye at all. She cannot see anything but light and dark in that eye. The left eye is pretty good, though, so we will get glasses to make the good eye better, and put a partial correction in the bad eye, though the doctor says it will do nothing. She says that Yamileth is too old for the problem to be corrected, but it could have been corrected nicely if she had been brought in at an earlier age. So sad. I am seeking advice from the States before we give up hope. Yamileth, of course, just took it all in stride, and moved right into playing with her toy from McDonalds.

We got back to Volcan after 6 PM, tired but happy with most of the days activities. The children have already been by today to say hello and eat a bite with us. We have learned to always have something on hand for them when they stop by. It may very well be all they eat today. During the school year they will be provided a good breakfast and lunch daily- the breakfast courtesy of their sponsors and Heather, and their lunches are provided by the children of Riverside in Gassville. Thanks to you all for what you do for these precious children of God!

Well, I have skipped some things that you would enjoy knowing about, but will try to keep you better abreast of our happenings!
(This is the last of three posts today, so look down to get the first two)
We love you all and miss you !
Joy & Lynn

Going home to Santa Marta

2009-03-10T12:24:00.002-06:00

We spent last weekend in Santa Marta, visiting, encouraging, and being blessed by the wonderful church family there. This time we brought Yaritza for her first visit, and their first chance to meet our almost-daughter. We also brought them loads of questions about the upcoming medical campaign coming to them in June. This will be a joint work of Riverside in Gassville, Riverside in Panama, and Santa Marta, with additional help by other congregations as well. They are very excited about this great opportunity to help the community in Jesus’ name, and to share the gospel with them as well. It is so difficult to get out (to bigger towns) for medical care, even if they had the money to go.

We invited one of the scholarship recipients, and a dear friend, Magdiel to come and work for us for the month before school starts. There is little work there, and the pay is, at best, $3 day. So he is here, helping Lynn out with the farm preparations for our sheep to arrive. We have finally found some of the kind we want (hair) and that are adjusted to this climate, so we will bring them home as soon as our fences are ready. Magdiel is a great young man. He is 18, and just graduated from 9th grade. He says he wants to be a doctor! Until we began providing help, he could not afford to go our of Santa Marta for classes above 6th grade. Thanks to Brody and Sarah, he has gone for the past two years and completed three years in that time!
Magdiel is a solid member of the church, and a leader at Santa Marta, and so is a wonderful addition to our little congregation as well!

From Storms to Storms...

2009-03-10T12:11:00.004-06:00

It has been far too long since we blogged. WE hit the ground running, then lost water and electricity for two weeks, and then, well no excuses, we have just been busy or tired all the time. I will try to hit the highlights of the past month and a half, then try to be more faithful in keeping up!

Remember when we left Arkansas, we were in the midst of a terrible ice storm. the trees were all broken off, no electricity, roads were ice-covered? Well, three days after we got back to Volcan, the storms came here. We promised the folks here that we did not bring them, but not sure they believed us! A three day wind storm hit wiht winds above 100 km per hour day and night. The loss of electricity and water provided several opportunities for ministry;
Lynn had his eye on one of the neighbor’s trees that we actually watched fall, tearing down all the electric lines from our place on down the road. It actually broke a pole three houses from us. It also feel across the road, blocking it entirely. That provided an opportunity for Lynn to work with the other neighbors clearing the tree. Since Lynn doesn’t say much other than hello to the neighbors, they know little about him, or who he is. He worked as hard s any and harder than most getting the tree cut up and out of the road. We don’t have a chainsaw, so he was going after it with his machete. I don’t think he could have done anything better to ‘prove’ his worth in the eyes of the men, than swing that machete. It is the tool of every man here, and Lynn, with years of experience surveying and cutting line, knew just how to make that machete cut! It was a most enjoyable experience for me to watch the men commenting among themselves at how adept he was with it. They had all seen him working on the yard and farm, so knew he was not a lazy man, but he was doing things many of them could not do with a machete. Several of them came and shook his hand before they left. Okay, I was a little proud!
When the tree blew over, it pulled up the main water line for every house from ours on out several miles. That was next on the list. Lynn worked on this problem with the neighbors who owned the tree for several hours. The accepted rule is if it is in front of your house, you are responsible for fixing whatever problems there are. So, this was not our problem, but Lynn has made a habit of helping anytime there is a water problem. This time, because it was our next-door neighbors, we had many hours to visit and chat. I had to go to the store, so brought back sodas for all, which was quite a treat for them. When the job was done, I invited the family to church, explaining that we had children’s class as well. They knew, of course, and had never come before, but on Friday, her three boys came to class, and haven’t missed since. Still haven’t seen the parents, but Grandpa has come once. Progress, little by little. Thank you Lord!!!
The winds are amazingly strong here. The locals say this is the hardest ‘summer’ in years. I bet there are over ten thousand trees down throughout Volcan. They are still falling, but not as much as before. It is bad enough throughout Panama that they have postponed opening day for classes by 1 month. There are still down trees on our little school here in El Valle.

Home, for sure!

2009-02-04T15:28:00.000-06:00

We are here, in our little orange house again, and getting settled. Our return was not nearly as traumatic as last year’s. (Thank you Lord!) There is still a lot to do, and we are plugging away.

The church has had some grumbling reminiscent of the Corinthian church while we have been away. Lots of rumors and talking behind backs. This is normal for rural Panama, but we thought we had made them understand that it is not normal for God’s people, those who are bound by the blood of Christ. This lesson continues to be needed. While we are a bit disappointed, we do see some progress. There are one or two who understand it, but they have chosen to remain silent to avoid conflict in our absence. We begin to work on this now, again!

We left our Yellville home in the midst of the most terrible Ice storm devastation that we have ever witnessed. It made it doubly hard to leave Lynn’s mom, but we knew we had to. Both she and my dad were without power or phone. He still is, 8 days later. They are both fine, but quite inconvenienced. Here we often are without poser. We just don’t open the frig, and other than that, maybe go to bed early. I might even get a meal out, if I am lucky. Not a big deal, but when it is 15 degrees and it is for days on end, that gets a little rough, as many of you are finding out! We are praying for you all.

We have started repainting, but haven’t unpacked everything yet. We still have way too much ‘stuff’! We plan to go to Cerro Punto tomorrow to see what kind of damage the floods left behind, and how we can help. Panama Missions has collected blankets and supplies to distribute there later this month, and we will be helping with that work.

We will also begin buying uniforms next week for the children who are receiving help to go to school this year. That is always a fun thing, and I am looking forward to it!

joy

Words from Lynn:

We left at 6 am this morning for David to get, we thought, our permanent visas. First we took the truck to Gilberto to use for the day. He took us to immigration where we met Ricardo, our attorney. There we had our picture taken for our carnet (i.d. card). We didn’t get the carnet because our pictures need to be sent back to Panama City and signed. Ricardo said the cards / visas should be back to immigration within 3 months. That is when our tourist visas expire (again). We did stay overnight in Panama City when we flew in last Thursday. We went to the immigration office there, paid our $200 and $50 to Ricardo’s brother, Cesar, who is also a lawyer. That was supposed to be all that was needed, but they changed the law from one day to the next, and we needed to wait to take the pictures. Everyone says it is a done deal, we have the resolution, but we still don’t have the visa in our hands. Imagine that! Again we are told one thing and then another happens. It’s all good!

Goodbye again....

2009-01-11T19:27:00.003-06:00

Our time here in Arkansas comes to an end in just two short weeks. It has been a short trip this time, and our last for some time. God has opened the doors and shown us the direction we should go, and we are following His lead. We are making the permanent move to our Volcan home on January 29, 2009.

While it is difficult to say good-byes here to our dear family, we are needed in Volcan. The church is not yet strong enough to stand without guidance, and Satan is ever-watchful for ways to slip in and destroy what God is building.
That said, we are selling or giving away all that we have here, and leaning heavily on God's hand and protection. We aren't worried. He has always known what He had in mind for us, and He has never failed us yet. We will be better than fine.

Lots of stuff for sale at an indoor sale benefiting the work in Panama this coming Saturday from 8:00 to 5:00 at the Riverside building in Gassville. Come see us!

Please keep us in your prayers, and the dear little church we are a part of. WE will keep you posted on all the great things God is doing there!

Richest Blessings!

Come See Us!

2008-11-20T14:21:00.002-06:00

For those of you close enough to visit - we will be sharing a presentation of our 2008 work in Panama this coming Saturday, November 22 at the Riverside building. We will begin with the presentation at 5:00 pm followed by a traditional Panamanian fiesta meal. We would love to see you!

From feeding to being fed...

2008-11-11T11:21:00.003-06:00

Sorry we have not updated you sooner! We returned to Arkansas last Wednesday. It took a couple of days to get our internet and phone turned back on - not due to any fault of Yelcot Telephone Company!!!! They were awesome. Friday morning we called and asked if they could get us up and going as soon as possible. Two hours later we were ready to go! Thanks Christie and Yelcot!

We believe we have left the church in El Valle in the best of hands (God's) with the new Christians taking responsibility for regular activities and long time Christians from the church in David coming up regularly to help out and offer guidance. I prepared lessons for all the classes for 6 months before we left, and we provided all the supplies they will need for classes, both childrens' and adults'. One couple from the church in David is sacrificing greatly, and we are very indebted to them. Brother Gilberto Samaniego is coordination our speakers so that there will be someone there each Sunday to teach the adult class and preach. He and his family will be there twice monthly as well. His wife, Sister Ana is taking care of the finances of the work there. She will be responsible for all moneys sent to Panama, as well as organizing many activities for the women and children. She also teaches the children's class when she is there. Their daughter, Kathy and her boyfriend Bruce also attend when they can, and Bruce leads singing. Gilberto is also taking care of our truck while we are gone as well. He just started a new job that requires occasional use of a 4 wheel drive so God worked that out for us both!

We have a couple from the church staying in our house and taking care of it and the farm. They have a small house just up the road, which his mom and a friend are living in at this time so that they can live in and take care of ours. The friend is an unwed pregnant lady who was kicked out of her parents home for her indiscretion, so there is ministry within the ministry for them. Jose has plenty of experience on the farm, and I believe he loves animals as much as I do so I am confident that he will care for our cow, calf, chickens and dogs just fine. However, at this time he is still on crutches with a broken leg. he will be so for another month. His wife, Marleni, a woman very much in love with God and eagerly learning all she can, had a hysterectomy a few weeks ago, so she is recuperating as well. They have been without income for some time, relying on family and us for their food and medical needs. So, receiving the small amount we are able to pay them will actually offer them a regular farm wage. They are very humble, but don't interpret that they are 'takers'. We feel confident that the farm will be in top shape when we return, better than ever. He will work once his foot is ready, we know.

Dani, a dear sister and friend, will take care of the needs of the school for us. She will receive the donation from the Riverside Kingdom Kids each Sunday and purchase and deliver their food on Mondays. She will also serve as liaison for the Beka scholarship children, relaying their needs and in turn receiving the funds to purchase what they need. Yaritza, who was not able to return with us this year, will take care of the needs of Celinda's children - the Indian family that is part of the scholarship program. She is taking them breakfast foods each week. This is a great way for her to participate in the work, have some responsibility, and feel she is in touch with us as well. Yaritza is like one of our children to us. It is very hard for us to be so far apart. She is also a young lady in crisis with a mom who doesn't seem to see or care.

All of that to say - Wow! It is great to be here and see each of you who are so important to us, and to the work in Panama. The hugs and smiles did wonders for these hurting hearts. Worshiping with our first family was a true gift. I pray that we never take it for granted, but if you find yourself doing so, just go away for awhile! Not too long, mind you, but we are all truly blessed to be part of Riverside!We were doubly blessed that Randy Willingham was the speaker Sunday. Randy has been my mentor for many years now, and a faithful source for spiritual renewal for Lynn and I both. God knew just what we needed!

The only negative of our first Sunday was that Roger and Rogena were not there to greet us. Imagine the nerve of them to think that having their first grandson was more important than seeing us as soon as we returned! Ok, yes I have seen the pictures and he is absolutely adorable, so I will try to forgive ;)!

I will be posting photos very soon from our time in Santa Marta delivering the gifts you provided the church; Another amazing experience that I can only party share with words. The church there sends their greetings and love and thanks for all you do for them. They are very excited about the team coming in next June. There were tears when I told them that it looked like it would really happen. They have heard for years that one group or another would try to get in there with a medical team, but it has never happened. There is much sickness and need for medical attention.

We love you and thank you for your prayers and support. We are not sure how long we will stay in the States, as there are many concerns in the church, with families in crisis, or near crisis stage. You know that it is difficult to love so many folks of God, so far apart. We are listening to God, and trying to follow His lead. I still have not seen my own children here. Josh now lives in St Louis, and will be down for Thanksgiving, Lord willing. Ben is studying in England until mid December,so we will not see him until then. Please keep him in your prayers as he has been sick most of the semester with an undiagnosed problem.

We ask you to place the church at El Valle on your daily prayer list. As well, please keep Yaritza, and Kathy with her precious baby, Valery in your constant prayers. Both these precious souls are in an abusive situation at home, and seemingly stuck at this time there. Thank you in advance for that. We know that God can and does change lives.

Richest of God's blessings!
joy & Lynn

So some days are GREAT!

2008-10-20T09:17:00.000-06:00

We are behind on blogging. Things are moving rapidly toward our return to the States, and we are hustling to get everything done that needs done.

We are fencing our entire property with chain-link in order to cut down on intruders in the night, both human and animal. Since we have the new calf, and chickens (WHO ARE LAYING EGGS!!!!) we have a greater need to keep stray dogs out of our pasture. Aside from that, the fence is high enough to also discourage people from passing over to ‘borrow’ tools and things. The work is in progress, and coming along nicely in spite of low pressure system storms and hurricanes in neighboring countries.
Lynn has planted many fruit trees so that we can begin to see growth toward our long term goals of being a working, community-helping farm. We have also built a small shop/ tool building out back that he is just beginning to organize and fill with tools from the laundry room. (Joy is SOOOOO happy!) There are also other fencing jobs within the outside fence that he is working on.

We are also in the process of preparing class material for the church – adults and children – to last for the next 6 months. First we had to decide as a church what we wanted to learn, then I had to find the material, and now I am in the copying stage. This is only for the adults. They let me decide what to teach the children’s class, and it is almost all done. I found a wonderful curriculum through Calvary Chapel Children’s Ministry. I have used it for the past 6 months with the Old Testament stories, and now we have begun with the New Testament. These are free to all on the net, and have been a great blessing to us. The adults have chosen to study 1 Corinthians when we finish up the study of James in which we are now deeply involved. I found a very good Spanish curriculum for this study at www.justchristians.org. Mark Reeves has done some really great lessons for the Spanish community. We have used his studies before, and are pleased to do another. So with our classes growing, and our members maturing, the task to find good material, and make sure there are plenty of copies, is growing more difficult as well.
Then there is finding craft lessons for Kingdom Kids – sound familiar? When all is said and done for the children, I need to go over it all with the teachers who have always depended on me to prepare the lesson, and they just help me teach it. We are growing in so many ways!!!

We are also in the midst of purchasing Christmas gifts for the children of Santa Marta. Yesterday Yari and I headed to David to buy 57 pair of shoes! I found a terrific half-price shoe sale, and we were excited to check it out! Thank you so much, Riverside family for your generous donations toward this gift. There is an expression here that I have heard and love, and want to give to you: Dios les pagan! - God will repay you! You’re the best! We used right at $300 for the shoes, and will fill Ziplocs with candy and nuts to complete their gifts. We will also fix up bandanas full of candy and nuts for the adults and youth of the church. Prices have risen considerably here, and the church has grown so much that we cannot do for them what we have in the past. They will be ever so grateful for what we bring. Thank you again!

Today is Sunday. We began the day by preparing the house for the church to meet. We made hotdogs, baked beans (which are a big hit here), chips and Lynn made jello last night. We put the chairs in the big room, and took the tables out. We prepared the Santa Cena, straightened the house-side, showered and waited for the church to arrive. They were late. We are scheduled to begin at 9:30, and aside form our three little girls (Indians) who were over an hour early, today no-one was here until 9:50. We began with only 14 members at 10:00. No preacher. This is the second time that someone has said they would come to preach and then not shown up without a word. We are not upset by these situations anymore, because the church seems quite content to take care of itself in these situations. Today was not an exception. Although our numbers were down (18 before we ended), the young men stepped up and led singing, facilitated the class and served the Santa Cena (Holy Supper). We all walked up to Marlene’s house and sang a couple of her favorite songs (Thank you Lord and How Great Thou Art) then came back to the house. (We all cried while we sang. It meant a lot to Marlene, and so, to us.) We lunched together with second and third helpings then all piled into the truck and headed for the river.

The water was brisk, to put it lightly, and rapid. But Lynn held his ground and baptized our precious Kathy. It was a fantastic moment in so many ways. We have worked with, prayed with and prayed for Kathy for over a year. You may remember that she had a beautiful daughter a year ago in September, unwed and living with her mother. She has been through many struggles to get back to the point of accepting Christ as Lord. She has had to learn submission in a way that most will never understand with a very domineering, bi-polar mom. She has been offered opportunities to become a mistress by more than one man, and, though starving and apart from her baby, she held on, humbled herself and begged her mother to let her come home. God has claimed the victory in her young life, and we are all praising His power and majesty. On the way back from the river I asked how she felt. Soaking wet and shaking from cold, she looked me in the eye and said “clean”. The tears rolled down both her eyes and mine. I knew exactly what she meant. The road has been hard for this little one, and it will not be easy tomorrow, but now she has help from within and without. We, as a church, have been discussing how we ought to be a help to our brothers and sisters, both physically and spiritually. I am eager to see the church caring for this new fledgling.

Worth mentioning, Lynn really really hates cold water. He never swims. He won’t shower if we don’t have warm water. The river was like ice, and he never even noticed. They almost got drug downstream with the extreme current, and apart form the fear I saw in his eyes momentarily, he never mentioned a thing, but that it was a great thing. God can do that for us. Take away our fears, our discomforts, when we follow Him! Lynn stayed in his wet clothes for 2 hours afterward without a complaint.

The church sang songs all the way to the river, then all the way home. It was a ‘mountaintop experience’ for me. Of course, I rode home next to Kathy, with Anna Valery sleeping in my arms. What a blessing for me to know that both these precious souls, whom I love dearly, will have God in their lives in a powerful way.

The afternoon continued with the final business meeting before we head to the States. Each member was eager to take part in the responsibilities that will now rest with them. They have been in training for this, and they are ready. With God’s help, they will do great! It may seem a bit odd to some, but our business meetings consist of every believer above the age of 12. Today, because José is caring for Marlene, the men present were Lynn, Jairo (12) and Zavier (15). There was significant discussion about who would lead songs, prayers, and serve the Lord’s supper. There are times when there are not sufficient men here to take care of these duties. The women want to understand their role in these situations. This church is growing in spiritual maturity, and while it is such a blessing to see, it is also a great challenge to teach them as Jesus would.

As we talked we could see their eagerness to begin to be responsible servants. I almost wonder if we have been teaching too long, and letting go too slowly. I feel like a mother hen with her chicks! I am so excited for them, and worried too! And I thought it was bad when I sent Ben off to college! Those of you long-term folks at Riverside, remember how it was in the first year or so? How excited we were to claim responsibility, how proud we were of every good move? It feels like that here for me, and for them too, I know.

Later this afternoon Kathy came down to ask questions – serious questions for her. Is it true that I can never listen to music that is not from the church again? Can I never dance any kind of dances again? As I contemplated wringing her dear mother’s neck (the one who told her these things) I invited her to eat our customary lemon with salt – a favorite of ours (Kathy, Yari and I ). She said no, she was craving ‘sao’. I asked Lynn if he minded if we went to find some in town, and he said no, so I said “let’s go!’ Sao is a traditional carnival food. There is a man who sells out of his van in the evenings on mainstreet. We headed out in search – and found the guy in the park at a ‘futball’ game. Sao is a mixture of pig’s feet, cucumbers, onions, lemon, vinegar, salt and pepper. It is an acquired taste, and I have acquired it, but Lynn detests it. It was a perfect way to chat easily, without interruptions. We sat in the truck and watched the game as we talked about how a young lady shows Christ to the community and honors God with her actions and looks. It was good for Yari as well. We laughed and cried and talked seriously about modest dress and actions that do not invite male lust. Here’s where the rubber meeting the road! This is such a problem in Panama. Their whole world is sensual. It is taught and encouraged in tiny little girls to dance, walk and dress sensually. At the same time, we don’t want to teach culture change for the sake of our cultural norms. We want to teach the modesty that Paul speaks of in 1 Timothy, and the ways we can honor God with our body. Nothing more.

This is far too long – I get excited! Sorry! We love you and look forward to seeing you face to face soon.
Richest blessing!
Joy & Lynn

"A Good Day"

2008-10-13T17:51:00.000-06:00

It’s 6:00 pm on Sunday night, October 12, 2008. Lynn just said, “It’s been a good day!”, and it has. It has been a while since we have felt that way. What a tough year it has been. It’s not that we had lost faith in God’s providence, but we have been oh so weary of waiting for it. It seems that we have been bombarded since the moment we arrived last Spring with one thing or another fighting against us and our work here. We have realized, at least most of the time, that Satan is surely not happy with this little corner of his world since God began working through Riverside here. Dear sisters and brothers in the States have reminded us of that, and we have certainly witnessed his wrath with just about every step we take.

The truth is we have struggled to remain true to the belief that God wanted us here doing what we are doing. Satan knows how to pull the right punches. He has hit us physically, but even more difficult for us, he has tried to cause trouble in the church; toying with our faith in each other. So, in one respect, I have to say thanks to Satan for teaching me a much needed lesson; No-one, either here or in Gassville is or will be perfect, or even good all the time. And even if the sins seem more terrible, they are still just sins, and God is quick to forgive. We should be too.

For most of my Christina life I have felt that we, as a church, are far too quick to not forgive some sins, but others we seem to accept more readily. Adultery is usually the biggy. He can walk past the poor widow needing food for her child and we will say nothing, but if he messes up and sleeps with a woman who is not his wife, he is bound for hell, and we don’t even need to talk with him again. Ok, maybe an exaggeration, but you know we do it. I used to say “shame on you guys for doing that!” Now, because the sins of others in the church have hurt me, have caused me to rethink my own Christian life, I was doing the same thing toward other sins. Their sins were worse because they were against the church, or another brother or sister. Phooey! That was my ignorance and God (yes, through Satan’s efforts) has taught me a most needed and valuable lesson. I am truly, deeply grateful.

Ok, back to this good day – this was our first anniversary as a church celebration. Two of the preachers who speak here most often came up and we invited all the families of our members to attend. We had a record attendance of 44. The bunk house was full up!! (Our meeting room doubles as a bunkroom when groups from the States come down) We had our first ‘cooperacion’ . That is, everyone who could, pitched in to help buy the food for lunch. It was my first attempt at it too, and Lynn and I still had to do the majority of the work preparing, but did not have to purchase everything. It went really well. We had pollo guisado (chicken with specially prepared sauces) Arroz con vegetales (rice and vegetables, kind of like stir fry, but not quite) ensalada de papas (potato salad) and Kathy made a dulce (cake, kind of). Iris, a wonderful new addition to the church, made a chichi de piña (pineapple juice drink) as well. It was all wonderful and everyone enjoyed our time of fellowship.

Okay, I have to tell you, one of the highlights of the day for me was when Maritza walked in the doors. Maritza is the mother of 3 of our regular children, and the sister of Dani, our dear friend and sister. Alvin and Yanitza have been begging their mom for months to come with them, as has Dani. You should have seen the smiles on those children’s faces as they walked in with her! Truly hearts in smiles stuff! We have been praying for this, for so many reasons, and today God had her heart ready, so she came. There is a little more to the Maritza story that some of you will remember. While she is Dani’s sister, she is also Dani’s husband’s mistress. She has been for over 15 years. All three of the beautiful children who Dani has brought to church faithfully for 6 months are her husband’s children as well as her niece and nephews. Can you see the heart of this woman? Can you see the difficulty Maritza had in walking through the door here? Is God not totally awesome? She and I chatted more before she left, and she assures me she will be back. I believe she will. She felt no condemnation from the church here. We know that God will allow her to feel condemnation with time, and we know He can and will change her life. I just can’t wait to see Him doing it! I must admit, too, I wish I could be a fly on the wall when Dani’s husband finds out that both of his women are following God! Will that not be too cool!

There were other important folks here today. Family members who we have been praying would attend did so for the first time. Jairo’s family was complete except his father. Even his younger brother, Alvin, who has not attended since before Ezequias left was here. He also said he would like to begin coming again. Two of the teenage girls taught the children’s class today, in preparation for taking over when we leave in just three short weeks.

The only thing that was not perfect was that my beautiful baby Anna Valery was sick all night and Kathy had to take her to the hospital this morning. There she was rehydrated, given medicines, and sent home. So that part ended well. The still sad part of that was that Kathy was to be baptized today, but could not be. We spoke tonight and she says she does not want to wait until next Sunday, so we will go to the river tomorrow afternoon, Lord willing. She has struggled with this decision for some time and is ready. She asked me to speak with her mom, which I did Saturday. When I asked her what she thought about Kathy being baptized she just shrugged and said “that’s fine, but it won’t change anything. She has got to change herself”. Please keep Kathy, Anna Valery and Carmen, Kathy’s mom in your prayers. While Kathy is being baptized into the greatest family possible, she is still living in the worst of family situations.

Okay, other news before I close. Marlene came home from the hospital today. Her surgery was successful, and she is thrilled to be home. She said she just wanted to get home in time to eat some of the good food, so we took her a plate.

Of great import – One of our hens just laid the first egg on the farm!!!!! It was beautiful, right up to the time when Lynn accidentally cracked it. We were told that the chickens would begin laying when their tail feathers turned black – and, at least in this case, it was true.

Blaze, the calf is doing well, growing and playing.

Our final farm projects for the year are wrapping up. We put in sidewalks to get to each pen. Lynn was walking in knee deep mud to move the cow daily, and feed her. Our friend Ňungo is putting the final touches on Lynn’s new bodega (shop, or doghouse, according to how he behaves). It will be quite secure and I can get the tools out from under my bed! It is actually quite pretty! We will paint it (and put Lynn’s bed out there) when we return! The last project is to build a good, dog-tight fence around the entire place. We have had barbed wire fencing, and it keeps the cows in, but the dogs come in and eat all the chicken food. Also, I hope to bring our big dog down from Yellville in the Spring to take care of the sheep (we will buy in the Spring). I want him staying with the sheep and not out chasing the pretty girl dogs!

We have the orchard planted with lemon, orange, avocado, pear, chirimoilla, and guava trees. We have two fig trees to get planted tomorrow. We already have bananas, coffee, otoi and frambuesa (kind of like a raspberry) growing and producing.

We hear that Ben has been sick much of his time in England, so we ask that you say a prayer for him as well. It is tough on this ole mom to be so far from my boys when they are sick!

We are eager to praise God with our family in Gassville. We fly back on the 5th of November, and Lord willing will sing praises and worship with you on the 9th!

A Day in the Life - part 14?

2008-10-04T14:58:00.000-06:00

Today we took Jose back to the hospital in David so that the doctors could take X-rays of his foot, and determine what the next step would be. He was told to be at the hospital before 7:00 am. We arrived at 6:45. Marlene and Dani came with us. Dani wanted to look for a new pair of sandals for Yesi if we had time. On the way down Marlene asked if Dani could stay with Jose while she went to the nearby Women’s hospital to verify her admission next week for a hysterectomy. (She has been suffering for over 6 months with large, watermelon size tumors/cysts, and finally the doctors have found time and space for he to have them removed.) We got them all situated at the hospital, then went off to run errands. Jose had to hang around until 11:00 for his appointment with his doctor after the X-rays had been taken and read.

We ran a few errands then settled at McDonalds to waste some time. At 11:00 I called Dani’s cell phone to find out that the doctor had not yet arrived, but they had taken the X-rays and Marlene had walked to the hospital ( next door) only to be asked to come back after 11:00 am. The hospital where Jose stayed, and where he was being treated is a mad house! There are thousands of people running around, back to back, in lines, waiting on this or that. It really is crazy and disorganized to the North American eye. I told her I would call back in 30 minutes and we headed to the Mall, a U.S. knock-off that is little used, but close to the hospital. We window-shopped and moseyed until 11:40 when I called again. They were still waiting on the doctor. We ordered a pizza and sat at an outside table talking and eating. While we were waiting for the pizza a 50-60 year old man came up to me – me the very white gringa – and asked me for directions to the placed to get his drivers license renewed. Too funny! There were all kinds of Panamanians around, but he picked me! I did happen to know because I had been there recently to pay LYNN’S SPEEDING TICKET! So I directed him to the right place, he said thanks and went on his way. Lynn was behind me just laughing.

We returned to the hospital at 1:00 just in time to see them headed to the second floor. The doctor wanted to remove one of the screws from Jose’s leg. It would involve a small surgery, but would not take long. Visiting hours are from 1:00 to 2:00 daily. There were literally thousands of people in and out during the hour. We sat in the lobby people-watching. This is a favorite past time of Lynn’s, and I love to watch him watch! The people here are all very poor. This is the public hospital. If they have any money they go to one of the private hospitals who charge quite a bit more, but who treat you 100 times faster. Some little girls were playing near us. Lynn started flirting with them a little and they began to get roudy. One of the moms fussed at the little girl and she was sad for a bit. It was all Lynn’s fault – well, partly anyway, so I fussed at him.

As we were waiting we heard a child scream, and then again, and then several screams. We jumped up to see what was going on (it was very near us). A man was lying in the floor. He was using a walker and had fallen. I remember the other two times we have brought Jose down for exams or to get his cast put on, we could not find a wheelchair anywhere so he was forced to walk, though he was unstable, and weak. This guy was evidently weak as well. But this guy had huge metal pins running the length of his right leg. There were pins running through the entirety of his thigh and his calf. As he lay on the floor in agony I could see that the pins had all twisted in the fall. The leg was broken again in at least two places with twist breaks. The screams were a few little girls passing by who saw his face and heard his groans. It took several minutes for anyone besides the security guard to come and help him. When they did get him on a gurney they headed up in the elevator. He was crying by then. He, evidently has just gotten out of the hospital a few days before, and was now returning with new fractures.

About 30 minutes after Jose and gang had gone up, Marlene came back down. She said the doctor had gone off to find a screwdriver. Not joking. He couldn’t find a screwdriver to take the screw out of Jose’s leg. He said it would take a while to find one so she was returning to the other hospital. 20 minutes later she returned with the news that she was all set. She would be first on the docket next Thursday, and she has to be at the hospital by 7:00 Wednesday morning. She is nervous, but glad to be finally seeing the hope of relief from her pain.

An hour later the threesome comes back down to the lobby, where I actually had fallen asleep. It is very hot in David! Jose was in a lot of pain. He had a script for medicine, so we headed for the Mall again and the pharmacy for his pain meds. Before we left the hospital he told me that the doctor had given me instructions to take out his stitches in 10 days. It struck me as odd, but I had been changing his bandages and fussing at him to keep the leg elevated and such since he broke the leg, so he just told the doctor I could do it, and the doctor said “great!, have her take them out in 10 days.” So, I will. We picked up the medicines and stopped in Bugaba for Dani to find some sandals quickly then headed back up to the cool. It was 4:00 when we left the heat of below for the coolness of home.

Another note on Jose and Marlene – she has been in poor health since last November when the pressure of the cysts/tumors caused infection and partial kidney failure. When we returned in April she was just getting out of the house again. Jose had been working as a farm hand, but shortly after we arrived he developed a fungus in his left foot and toe. After a couple of weeks without going to the doctor he showed me the foot and we headed to the local clinic. It was very ugly. I went to his house every day to clean and medicate it for three weeks, and it began to heal, but slowly. It took over two months for him to be able to put a shoe on and another month to be able to work. As he was about recovered he came down with a bad virus that laid him up an additional 2 weeks. He had just healed from that and begun to work again when he broke his leg in two places, requiring a week in the hospital and surgery with plates and pins. They have really been put through the ringer! They have told us repeatedly that they don’t know how they could have survived had we not been here to help them out. We have been paying their medical bills and providing food, as he has not been able to work, for most of the 5 months we have been here. She is a new Christian, and we have talked a lot about Satan’s desire to pull them away from God. They have only become stronger in their faith. Jose wants to be baptized as soon as his foot can get wet. We are hoping the healing will allow him to be baptized before we have to head back to the States. Now they are faced with Marlene’s surgery next week, and 6 weeks of recovery. Please pray that all will go well, and that they both will heal rapidly. The financial support we have given them has rarely been asked for. These are not leaches looking for an easy buck. They are good, humble, gracious folks in a bad situation.

Who we are...

2008-09-29T18:54:00.000-06:00

For those of you are not familiar with Riverside in Panama, our calling and work, and for those who may have forgotten, we thought it might be a good idea to refresh and inform;

The Lord’s church in El Valle, Volcan, Chiriqui, Panama

Joy and I bought a house on the outskirts of el Valle, a barrio in Volcan, three years ago and started a house church last year. Joy is 18 years younger than me. I am 65 and retired. We have both been divorced. We have been faithful to each other for 25 years. We have been faithful to the Lord for 14 years; that is to say we are sinners justified by the grace of God. Joy went back to school at Harding to learn more about being a missionary. She is now working on her Master of Ministry degree. Joy has a true servant’s heart. I am happy to be her assistant.

In the church here we have a young 14 year old girl who, last year, was the first convert of the church. She has been disowned by most of her family for being “baptized into the church of Christ.” She can not eat or sleep in her grandparent’s house. Her grandparents live 5 houses away from us. She now lives with her mother, about 2 miles from the house, but she comes here almost daily. We are her best shot at family.

There is a woman and her three children who attend regularly. Her husband does not come. The two older children (teens) were baptized this past Spring. The mother was baptized as a youngster. The father also has another family with his wife’s sister. They also have three children. The faithful mother also brings her sister’s three children to worship, even though they are the illegitimate children of her husband.

There is a middle aged woman who was baptized last Spring also. She brings her ‘husband’ who is much younger and is seriously considering baptism. They are not married in any legal sense. She was married off by her father to a boy when she was very young. The marriage was never consummated. She does not know where he is, or even if he is alive now. She has grown children by another man. They would like to get married in the church, and we are studying and praying about how to achieve this.

There is an indigenous woman who attends regularly with 7 of her 10 children. Her young ‘husband’ comes sometimes. She was sold to her first husband, an older man, when she was a child. Three of her children are by her new ‘husband’. They are married in the eyes of their people, but there is no legal paper stating so. Her children at home range from 14 years to 6 months. We believe she is pregnant again.

We have a young man (12) who comes regularly, often with his mother and 16 year old sister. The father is at home but does not attend. A younger brother does not attend. The young man often leads prayers and songs, and is willing to work in whatever way he can with the church. He partakes of communion, but his mother does not.

There are two youngsters (7 & 9) who come alone. They live a bout 1 ½ miles from us. They sometimes ride their bikes, or they walk. The mom and dad do not attend but we have hopes for the future.

There is a young lady who comes fairly regularly with her grandmother or mother. She is a cousin to the two children who ride bikes to classes. There is no husband that we know of, to the mother. The grandmother has a husband, but he has a second family that lives about 45 minutes away.

There is a young mother who brings her two kiddos (6 & 3). The father does not come – he has been working weekends for some time, but we have high hopes that he will come when his schedule changes (next month).

We have a young lady (16) who brings her 1 year old little girl with her. She is not married. She lives with her mom and step-dad. They are close neighbors. She and her mother do not get along well. Her mother is very demanding and she is very…young. We are often counseling her.

These are the souls that gather here at Riverside in Panama. As you can see, we are all sinners, and have our individual struggles. There is much need for God’s discernment and guidance as we seek to guide and serve these loving and loved people.

Our attendance averages about 30. The contribution, without ours or the preachers, averages between $1 and $2 weekly. All of our members are very poor. None of them have cars. So far we have been able to share the Sunday meal with the church. This is something we believe to be very beneficial and Scriptural. Since some walk from very far, it is our best opportunity to fellowship, and get to know them and their needs. At present we meet on Sunday mornings for Bible class and a sermon and the Holy Supper. Then we have another Bible class on Friday nights.

We have four different men from the church at David who come up on Sundays to preach and teach. One of them has a car. The others depend on taxis and buses. We pay the preacher $20 to cover his transportation costs. They are wonderful men of God who truly want to serve. We are so appreciative of their help.

Here are some of the projects of the congregation here:
Riverside in Panama oversees a work solely funded by the children of Riverside Stateside (in Gassville) – the El Valle lunch program. For $80-$90 per week over 250 students are fed each day. They were not being fed last year when we started this program. We found that they were walking several miles to get to school, and then to get home without nourishment. El Valle is an elementary school less than ½ mile from our house.
For the past 2 years we have been blessed by the on-site help of Riverside Stateside. Teams have come down to teach Bible lessons to the school in El Valle. The teams show God’s love in very evident ways to the entire community (our community) through the one-week program with the children which includes puppets, stories, crafts and food.
Joy teaches English classes to area children or adults who want to learn, free of charge. Tourism is a growing industry here, and the majority of tourists are English speaking, so those who can speak English have a great advantage when seeking work.
We began a new work in another local elementary school last June, with the help of the Oxford Mississippi church youth. We brought a great message of God’s strength to each classroom there, along with lunches for a week. The work there is really Oxford’s, we just facilitate and help coordinate. Since June we have taken the school sports equipment and some school supplies to help out. Oxford has a plan, if God allows, to return next year to work more with this very poor school district.
We also assist another school. It is tiny and out in the mountains about an hours drive. We take food in once a month – rice, beans, oil, salt, as well as bring school supplies to the 8 students as needed. Weekly we go in to cook a meal and Joy teaches English. The wear and tear on the vehicle is substantial, so we do not try to go more often. We have been in touch with, and taken supplies to two other very remote schools in our area.
We assist the church in Santa Marta; in the province of Cocle when we can. We brought the children their first ever Christmas gifts two years ago, and continue that tradition annually. Recently we took in a few hundred pounds of vegetables that were quite expensive there, but rather inexpensive for us here in Chiriqui. We also assist by helping fund building projects, a land purchase, and medical needs for members. Regarding Santa Marta, a note about the future; Riverside Stateside is preparing for a medical campaign for next summer, if God allows. The people are very poor, and have very little access to medical help. The congregation asked the group who visited them in 2006 to please try to bring a medical team to them, as the church would benefit much from this act of love to their community. Tim Martin, among others, is determined to see this happen, and we are excited about this great work in progress!

We coordinate a project to provide scholarships to children who would not otherwise be allowed to attend school. We have four grade school students, 2 Jr. High students and one high school/technical school student. We provide uniforms, books, and funds for breakfast. For the older student we also provide funds for room and board, as he lives too far from the school to commute.
We have also coordinated the funds for ladies to be able to go to the National Church of Christ Ladies’ Convention in Panama City for the past 3 years. We do the same for the youth who can’t afford to go to the Youth convention each February.

How cultural ethics fits into Christian ethics is very difficult to determine. We have prayer and the Holy Spirit to guide us. We believe we are called to teach and to love, and God will judge and be merciful with His grace.

There’s lots more I could tell you about the church here, but I hope this enough that you will feel a part of us. Please pray for your brothers and sisters here.

Joy’s notes:
I can’t hold a candle to Lynn’s servant heart. He is the true servant and I am blessed to have his example. I am just louder than him!
Also, we must mention that Riverside in Panama is not just the two of us. There are many without whom this work would not be. I know that I will fail to mention someone, but I must try to mention some – Roger and Rogena Smith, who take care of everything for us while we are here; Holly Smith, who spends a great deal of time with us, helping out every step of the way (both here and there); Lisa Hammett, who has come both years since we began, and who gives 110% to the work, even coordinating, though she hates it; LaJeana and Hannah Chapman, who also have spent part of two summers with us doing everything from cleaning commodes to coordinating teams; Tim & Kelly Martin, who keep us spiritually in tune and challenged, as well as dreaming big with us; Gwynna Walker, who brings her open heart and love to share every time she comes; Doyne & Margaret Byrd, who are always working behind the scenes to help us continue the work here; Our sons, Ben and Josh who have helped hands-on, doing the muscle work for Lynn, and supporting each of our decisions though it meant hardship for them. There are surely more of you who are irreplaceable for us – those who offer financial support, those who have come down and shared with the work first hand – and those who pray faithfully for this church, as well as others. Forgive me for not mentioning every name, but please know you are not forgotten. We know you are God’s blessing to us, and we love you all!

Horticulture Lesson

2008-09-24T06:33:00.012-06:00

This is a flower known as the ‘Bird of Paradise’.

It is called that because it looks like a bird, and it lives and flourishes in paradise (Panama)

With me!

That is the horticulture lesson for today.

May God bless you richly!

Free Day!

2008-09-17T15:42:00.000-06:00

Today Lynn and I took a drive out past Caña Blanca to a new place (for us) called Cerro Paja. Or Straw Hill. There, among jungle and farmland, we found another small school where 29 children attend classes. We had heard of the school, and the old man who taught there, so wanted to see for ourselves.

We arrived at the one-room school house as the children were changing classes – the young ones were going home and the older children were just beginning class. The teacher was a very old indigenous man. He was somewhat taken aback by two gringos coming to his door with gifts, but was polite and courteous. We had prepared a box of school supplies, including a jump-rope and a soccer ball and pump, some coloring pages and colors, pens and pencils. We really did not know what we would find, so just got together general things they might need. He did not look in the box while we were there, but said thank you and we turned to leave. When we reached the gate we realized that we had not introduced ourselves, just said hello and offered the box of goodies. So, we asked a young boy outside the classroom to take one of our cards back inside and say if he needed anything to let us know. It is probably best that we did not catch them at recess, or stay longer. My heart goes out to these children, and Lynn had already made it clear we could not begin helping another school, especially when it was over 2 hours from our house, and so hard on the truck.

We had moseyed into the area, and planned to mosey out, but as we were turning around in front of the building there were 5 adorable small children sitting on a rock watching us. Lynn stopped and gave them all cookies, and then one of the girls asked if we could give them a ride home. We clarified which direction was home and then said of course, as it was on our way back out. We enjoyed their company on the way out; it must have been 20 minutes driving to get the last to her house. As we were coming down one hill a group of men with baskets on their backs was walking up. Two of the children said” there is my dad!” and so we stopped and spoke with the group for a minute. They were quite friendly, and did not give a second thought to their children being in our car. Lynn commented that we could easily have kidnapped those children had we wanted to. It was kind of scary. No-one there knew us, but they were completely trusting. As we dropped the last child at her house I shared more of the conversation with Lynn. Sometimes I am so busy trying to understand and communicate that I forget to translate for him, but fortunately he is getting a lot better at understanding, so he gets a lot of it.

When we were turning around at the school I asked if I could take a picture of the group, and they said yes. After I had taken it I showed them the digital image. They loved it. As we were driving them to their homes one of the girls asked if she could have the picture. I told her that I could not take it out of the camera, but that I would try to get her a copy. She thought a moment or two and then said “Well, can you just give me the camera then?” I told her no, I was sorry but I needed the camera. She was pretty dumfounded for a few minutes then her buddy (about the same age of 6 or 7) said “You just need to be patient, she will bring us back a copy when she can”. I almost laughed aloud at the contrite, correcting manner the little girl used. But that satisfied the first one, at least for awhile. When there was just the one little girl left she asked if she could have another package of cookies. I said no, that we only had one package for each child, so she pointed at my open bag of pretzels and said “what about those, can I have them?” Mind you, she was not hungry. All of these children looked well fed, and were well dressed and clean. There was corn and rice and all kinds of things growing on each side of the road. I told her she would not like them, that they tasted ugly (an expression here) and so she finally stopped asking for more things.

We dropped her at her house and continued in our hunt for the elusive ‘calabasa tree’. I must digress for a moment – When we were in Santa Marta, Sister Anita had serving bowls, colander, and other bowls made of what appeared to be wood, but more like gourds. They were beautiful and I asked her about them. They grow on the calabasa tree. She explained to me how to cut, cook and clean them so that they can dry to be used, and I was hooked and on a mission to find them. We had seen one tree in Bugaba, but no others, and that one is right down town, in someone’s yard, so we didn’t think we could just go get it. We felt sure we could find some in the vast open spaces around Caña Blanca. We have tried to designate one day a week to get away from the house and relax, and today was that day, so we were out Calabasa hunting!

We stopped by a creek for a picnic lunch. I was headed down to the creek itself when I asked Lynn to join me, but when I turned to see him he was doing a jig like I had never seen him do in all our 25 years! He danced and danced, and then he started stripping. Right there in the middle of the road. He was doing a strip tease dance, but was having trouble with his shoes being tied, or something, so I headed back up to the truck to see what was going on. He had gotten in an ant herd of some kind – we never really saw it, but he got bitten several dozen times. His legs were covered in whelps, with a few on his hands as well. We ate fast and went on our way. Sorry! I was too worried to get pictures of the dance!

We had been out for over 5 hours without seeing a single tree (as if we knew what the tree looked like). I finally asked one old man in the road who shook his finger at me (the universal sign for their ain’t any) then as we were pulling away he yelled and we stopped. He actually could not speak, but he motioned that there were some further up in the direction we were going. I yelled back a ‘muchas gracias!” to which he smiled a big toothless grin and waved. When we saw another group of Indians working beside the road we asked again. They pointed us down a yet unexplored road. We had been told that Olmedo, our neighbor’s dad lived down that road, but had not idea where. We carefully picked our way down the road (okay, Lynn was doing the driving, but I was giving him advice the whole time) then finally stopped again to ask a young man if he knew where we could find the tree. He said "no, but ask the next house down." We did and they pointed us on forward, further down the road.

We ended up at the end of the road, at a lovely farm place where a man was cutting his grass with his machete. I told him what we were searching for and he stopped his work to show us his two trees. He said one was not the right kind and the other had no fruit, but he showed us all the same. He was quite nice and friendly, and suggested a place back up the road toward Caña Blanca. As we were walking back toward the truck I told him where we lived and he said, “Oh, my son lives near you” his name is Olmedo” I then introduced myself and Lynn and told him that Dani worked with us and his grandchildren were in our house all the time. We chatted a bit more, and then headed back to find the blue house that had the tree with fruit. Just a short ways from his house we found a grove of the trees right on the road. We had gone right past them earlier. Lynn climbed trees and fences with his machete and we harvested 6 of the kind that are not exactly round –they are called the ‘long ones’, and 1 round one. I was tickled!

In the process, I must tell you that Lynn climbed over one fence and was trying to reach one of the fruit with the machete. He finally cut the stem, but when trying to catch the fruit to avoid scarring, he grabbed the barb- wire fence instead and cut his finger. As he yelped and jumped back from the fence he fell backwards and landed flat on his back with his feet flailing in the air. I did not laugh until he said he was ok, but my! What a sight! I climbed up to help with the others.

A bit later we found the blue house and ask the lady if she had any calabasa. She was reluctant to talk to us at first, but when her daughter came out she took us to her tree where we found only 1 calabasa ready. She gladly gave it to us, and when I asked if we could pay for it she said of course not. We thanked her and headed for home. We had really enjoyed the day, but Lynn was a little stressed from the difficult driving, the ants, and the fall. We were dirty, and itchy, so we were glad to get back to the house and a shower! Okay, well Lynn got his shower. Then the electricity went off for an hour or so, so I got my shower a few hours late, but it was good!

Sorry this is so long – just wanted to share a fun day in the life!

We pray that God will bless you with peace today!

Amazing News!

2008-09-16T13:08:00.000-06:00

The police called us last Tuesday to say that they had a camera they thought was ours, and could we come identify it? We went straight up and in fact, saw our camera! They had gotten it from the house of a minor, so they could not tell us his name at the time. We had to go to Bugaba and make a declaration that the camera was in fact ours. We did, twice. The first time they could not take our statement because we did not have the camera with us. The police had kept it, and failed to get it to Bugaba. We returned last Friday, gave our statement that the camera had the same serial number, and then they gave us the camera and told us the name of the boy. He was one of the two that all the neighbors had implicated. He told them that he bought the camera at the border, and they are checking his story. They know he did not buy the camera, but because he is a minor they tread very carefully. We told the police again that we are most concerned with how they got in the house, and they have promised to keep us informed.

The camera works just fine, but the memory chip was not with it when it was found. So, we lost a lot of pictures, but the chip can be replaced, and we are grateful. Ironically, we had just bought a new camera the day before the police called us. It is a far less expensive camera, but a decent one, so we now have two! We will keep them in different places, Just in case!

Just wanted to share the good news! I am not sure when we will be able to post this as our internet has been out for a few days, but wanted this to be ready when we could!

Borrowed from Max Lucado, Worthy of repeating and remembering

2008-09-11T14:52:00.000-06:00

“I was hungry, and you gave me food. I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink.”

Matthew 25:35 (NCV)

What is the sign of the saved? Their scholarship? Their willingness to go to foreign lands? Their ability to amass an audience and preach? Their skillful pens and hope-filled volumes? Their great miracles? No.

The sign of the saved is their love for the least.

Those put on the right hand of God will be those who gave food to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, warmth to the lonely, clothing to the naked, comfort to the sick, and friendship to the imprisoned.

Did you note how simple the works are? Jesus doesn't say, "I was sick and you healed me....I was in prison and you liberated me....I was lonely and you built a retirement home for me...." He doesn't say, "I was thirsty and you gave me spiritual counsel."

No fanfare. No hoopla. No media coverage. Just good people doing good things.

Going Home to Santa Marta

2008-09-09T12:27:00.000-06:00

Well, I have to start by saying AMEN to what Brother Tim wrote in his blog today. If we will just trust God to get it done, we will be really well off. We can’t just sit and wait and do nothing, but prepare and plan for God to provide the answers, and He surely will do it!

We have just returned from our first trip to Santa Marta this year. It was fantastic as usual. No, maybe it was better than that. We actually got there with enough time to visit and share with the family there. WE had worried on the way in at how well I would be able to walk in to Brother Luciano’s house – it is about 1 ½ miles of hiking straight up and then straight down, several times. We weren’t sure how my back would react. We should have known that God would work it all out. They had been told that my back had been bad for awhile, so arranged for us to stay in sister Anita’s house, right on the road and just up the hill from the church building. I am not going to lie and say I had no back trouble, but it would have been so much worse. Most of the problems stemmed from the customary beds there. They are wooden. The box springs is a plank of wood, and the mattress is too, but with a 1-2 inch covering of very old foam. Our particular bed is normally slept in by Noel, who is 12 years old and much skinnier than the two of us. So was the mattress, but it was all good.

The fellowship far outweighed the discomforts of the night. Lynn just reminded me that we were entertained throughout the night by one or more mice running and falling in to bags and boxes in the room. We don’t know how many – we don’t want to know! We were also lullibied by the frogs and birds and other wonderful sounds of nature.

We met two new families in the church – each with 5 children. They have had several baptisms in the past couple of months, and the church is growing like crazy, praise God! We saw over 70 people at Sunday morning worship, and almost that many came Saturday night to a devotional in honor of our visit. Both were wonderful and refreshed out spirits greatly.

The building has been painted and remodeled since our last visit. A group from Harding came in last Spring break and did a lot of work. It looks really good. The church also used the funds we had left before to build a kitchen area in the newly acquired property beside the building. The kitchen has a thatch roof and is held in place by posts. They have been using the facility for confraternities (like dinner on the grounds). They do not have a stove or other things yet, but will with time, if God permits. They just build a campfire to do the cooking. We brought in songbooks, Bibles and a load of vegetables from home. They do not have much success in growing root- type veggies, so we brought in 100# of potatoes, 100# carrots and 50# of onions for the church to distribute. Prices of food have gone up all over Panama, and these dear folks are suffering for it.

At any rate, we could bring in a truck-full a week and still not come close to giving them what they give us. We are so blessed by our time with God’s people there. They seem to have every important thing figured out. I know that is not completely true, but so much closer to it than us. Their focus is on serving and adoring God. There is nothing more important than that, and the spend time and energy doing it. They now meet 4 times in the week; Sundays all together at the building, Tuesdays in the home of a brother on one side of the river, Wednesdays all together at the building again, and Fridays at the home of Brother Lucian on the other side of the river. Since he had his stroke he cannot make the walk often, but he was there on horseback Sunday morning carrying a huge sack of oranges for us. In case I haven’t mentioned it, the orange juice there is to die for!!!! Delicious!

The congregation is learning harmony. It is awesome! Saturday night we sang and sang with about 5 young ladies singing an alto-ish harmony and 1 or 2 men singing the tenor. It was beautiful!

So many wonderful, spirit-freshening things happened, I cannot tell them all. I have already written more than most want to read at one sitting. Sorry!

We bought a new camera yesterday. One we can more easily afford to lose. One trip to Santa Marta was enough for us to know we had to have a camera before we go back. The children are growing so fast it is hard to keep up. We will be going back in late October. Bringing Christmas gifts for the children, and if God provides, for some of the adults as well. The parents are sacrificing all they can for the children, and so are without proper clothing themselves. Our dear brother Jose, who has 10 children at home, has had to move away from his family to find work and provide for them. It is a hard and new thing here, and they all are suffering for it. We will be asking for support for this project in the coming month. I am hoping that Holly and Tim can encourage you all to help with this act of pure love. Truly, you have rarely, if ever, seen this kind of need.

We will close for now. I have class with Yaritza in just a few minutes. We are still working on getting her visa so she can return with us, but no one is offering much hope. It is very difficult now to get a visa into to U.S. We are praying daily and ask you to do so as well.

May God fill your week with the richest of blessings!

Ladies’ Convention 2008

2008-09-04T18:36:00.000-06:00

While there were some last minute problems with the location, the results were great! Four days before the convention the folks at the location (that had been rented last Febrary for this purpose) called and cancelled us out. Some political group had offered more money so they ousted us. The ladies on the committee ran their heads off and found another location – smaller, and on the other side of town from where we were scheduled. Not a problem for most, but we had reserved rooms on the first side, so had to taxi across town (1 hour) to get to the meetings. Cost an additional $60, but we got there!

Riverside was represented by 5 ladies. We were among 16 congregations participating, and came further than any of them. Chriqui, on the other hand (Our province) had a whopping 22 ladies there. That is an impressive number when you consider the distance and cost to get there! The room was packed with over 200 women, and I can not describe to you the beautiful singing!!! Wow! What a blessing! No, there wasn’t any harmony, just 200 voices raised as one in praise and adoration. I know that God was swaying with the music, tapping his foot at times, and, with his eyes closed, softly smiling. I was too! The acoustics were just perfect, and the Spirit-filled voices raised in genuine praise were so moving.

We had two speakers. One was a friend from Corundu church in Panama City. Lisa is originally from the States, and now is working for the church here with her husband David. It was pretty cool to me to get to hear it in English and then Spanish. It was also a great lesson on remembering our purpose – adoration and glorification of God. The second speaker was Aminta, from the church at David. She is a dear sister, and studies and shares the Bible quite a bit. She discussed what our praise should look like, and why God wanted us to glorify His name to others. Both were very good lessons to learn, or to be reminded of. We all had lunch together, then sang for another hour or so, then had activities into the afternoon to reinforce the lessons. It was all very beneficial to me, and I believe to others as well.

We caught a bus for David at 7:00 pm that night, and returned to our homes here in Volcan at 3:00 Sunday morning. Yes, my children’s class at 9:30 was a little rough on me, but all the others were here too, so we yawned together, smiling. Thank the good Lord that Norman has a short sermon!

All to say thank you to those of you who sent money to help us go. We received just the amount of money we needed for the 5 of us to go. There were 4 others who had planned to come along, but because of bad health and a Saturday class, they were unable to this time. Next year we will try again to get the whole gang there!

Lynn and I are very grateful for your help with this work. I had the treat of seeing 4 women ride an escalator for the first time. I needed the laugh, and it was a hardy one. We then rode it 7 or 8 more time just for the fun of it! (Don’t you remember that yourself? I do!) That was, by far, not the highlight of the trip, but it was a great moment!

I pray that you are blessed beyond measure, and that you know it! I also ask you to remember your purpose on this earth – to glorify God, to bring Him praise and adoration, AND to rejoice in Him. He calls us to be happy and content in His love, encompassed by His power, secure for ….ever! Wow! How can we not be happy? How can we not praise His name? He is Good!

What a great day to serve the Lord!

2008-09-02T19:33:00.001-06:00

Today felt more like a normal day for us. Thank you Lord for your grace, mercy and the peace you offer us freely.

We began by picking up our brother and neighbor, Jose and his wife Marleni. He broke his leg last week, spent Monday – Saturday in the hospital in conditions we will try to describe at a later date, and Lynn brought him home Saturday after surgery on Friday. At any rate he had to return for the cast today, so we took him down to the hospital early this morning. While he was being attended to, we ran some errands in David. At 12:15 he called and said that they could not put on the cast because he was too swollen. (Of course he was swollen, he had been sitting in a hot waiting room with his leg unelevated for 4 hours!) At any rate, we picked him up and then looked for a wheelchair to rent because he was told he needed two more weeks with only the gauze wrapping his broken leg. We played ‘catch that chicken’ for two hours – going first to one place and them saying, “no, you need to go there”, and then the second sending us to yet a third and so on. Nine places in all, all in David with an average temp of 96. We never found a wheelchair but have some more leads.

We returned to Volcan, paid the phone bill, and checked our mailbox – which was empty, again! I am taking an online course in Harding’s Master of Ministry program that requires a book that has been due here for almost a month, but hasn’t made it yet. Then we got Jose back to the house. It was after 3:00. We came home, rested a bit, then I went to see if Kathy was ready to move her stuff. She had asked me if I could help her move home (Hallelujah and Praise God for answering prayers!) She has actually been staying with her mom for a few days, but needed to get her stuff from the room she had rented. She needed to wait until later tonight, so we left at 6:30 and got her room all cleaned out. She is really happy to be moving home, and her mom is thrilled as well. I know that my Anna Valery will be better off for it. She was singing all day today! Please continue to pray for this family as God works in their lives. The mom, Carmen has asked if she can attend church this Sunday. We said of course, and are excited about the prospects for them.

Lynn might tell you the best part of today was that I finally found a way to make him ‘beans and cornbread’. We had a good ole’ Arkansas supper! Really, I believe he and I would agree that the day was pretty perfect all the way around. We were out helping people we love without reservations. We were serving fallen folks who need more Jesus and less condemnation. Jose told us on the way home that he wanted to be baptized as soon as he could. He sees how God works and wants to follow Him in all of his life. Carmen wants to come visit the church where she is seeing God at work. Can’t beat that with a big stick!

One other happening today; the local police actually came to visit us for the first time since the robbery. They offered little hope of recovering anything, or even charging anyone with the crime. I told them that we were okay with that. We really only wished we knew who had helped them enter the house, and did not need concrete proof or any confessions. It would just be good to know who betrayed our trust before we trust that person again. It won’t change anything. We are resigned to that. We have forgiven whoever it was. We will not retaliate or condemn them. It is over. We are moving on! God is moving on, so we had better try and keep up!!!!

We are blessed in so many ways. One way that is very important to us and vital to our work here is by your encouragement and support. Thank you so much! We daily thank God for you, and ask his richest blessings in your lives.

There is much to tell you about my trip to the Ladies’ Convention. What a refreshing uplifting trip! Next time I will get that in!

We love you all!

If you need healing - ask for healing!

2008-08-24T16:48:00.002-06:00

Do you ever feel so down that you don’t want to ask God for healing or peace? I mean, I deserve this righteous indignation, right? I am suffering and I want every one to know! So, no, I don’t guess it is a conscious thing. I don’t actually consider asking for peace and decide not to because I want to suffer more. I just get so wrapped up in my pity party that I ask for other things. For example I have prayed for wisdom to discover who has wronged me, and how to live with this disappointment and pain, but I didn’t ask for peace in my soul. I just expected that to come with finding those responsible for causing my pain. That is until, once again, our dear brother Tim Martin wrote a blog just for us - when do you really show them Christ? Click on the title words if you would like to read the whole thing. But the jest of it reminds us that now, in the middle of bad times and pain is when our best opportunity to show Christ arises. That was our first clue that we were failing miserably at the moment. Max Lucado said something along the same lines in one of his devotionals this week. Then Holly emailed us with encouraging words, and then on Friday, as the message was digging in deeper, and convicting us both a dear sister from David reminded us of Jesus’ precious forgiveness given freely, and that we must do the same. That was really at the crux of the matter. We needed to just put it aside and forgive, regardless of who was responsible. We needed to pray for peace for the church and stop the accusations before the church was torn apart. Our petty pain is far from being as important as these people seeing and feeling Christ in us. So, I have spent the past few days praying for peace, and beginning to just behave as if I have forgiven all. Now, amazingly, I have that peace, as does Lynn. We told the church Friday night that we did not want to hear another word about the robbery. If there was something they needed to say, or confess, they should talk to God and the police. We loved every one of them and wanted to hear nothing more.

We have withstood many nay-sayers for years criticizing benevolent work for one reason or another. In the past few weeks we almost became them. Last Sunday as Lynn sat staring out the window, quite depressed, I reminded him that not one of those he was watching with such a frown were responsible for the robbery. He was watching my children’s class as they were soaking up God’s love. It was just a comment from me, certainly placed there by God’s infinite wisdom and power. It impacted Lynn powerfully, and we are healing almost as one. God is truly amazing in his works. We are reminded that this work is not ours, nor was the money ours. It is God’s. It has always been his, and will survive and grow as He sees fit.

Amazing we had donations come in last week out of the blue that will cover the ladies going to the Convention next weekend. Please pray that these women will be touched and drawn closer to God as a result.

On another note, we begin a Harding class on ‘Ethics in Ministry’ this week. It is an on-line course being taught by Brother Phil Thompson. I say ‘we’ because we will do all the reading and work together, so that we both learn the material, but only I will be getting credit for the class. This will place me at the half-way point in attaining my Masters degree. I am not at all sure that I will complete the degree program, but I continue to feel the need for more knowledge and understanding of how to best minister to others. The classes offered by Harding are top-rate with the best of professors, but the price of the classes has become quite excessive. With a minister’s discount we are still paying over $1000 for a 3 hour course. At this point, the class has got to be really good for us to sacrifice the money for it! That is 2/3 of our monthly income!

The last of the puppies went to their new home today. We met Ingrid and her husband in David with their two pups. They drove over from Chitre, about 4 hours away. We had a KFC lunch together before they headed toward the hot, flat country and we headed back to cool mountain air.

We were also blessed with two extras from David today. Brother Norman Ponce and his sister Urian came and helped with the song leading and meeting. Norman preached and Inocensio (also from David) taught the class. It was a real treat for us – We love Inocensio, but he can’t sing worth a flip. Norman has a wonderful voice, and is a great speaker as well. Urian is a good friend, who just happens to speak fluent English, so that was especially nice for us. We took them back to David for lunch as well, and had a good visit.

We had 30 in attendance today. Things are smoothing out. It was good to hear the voices lifted in praise, and to join in. I guess my thought for today is not ‘be careful what you pray for’ but ‘remember to pray for God’s will and not you own!’ he is so much smarter than we are!

Tim, Holly, thanks. We love you and need your support always. You are both great blessings to us. To all of you whom we love dearly – we really do love you! We love to hear from you when you have time. Hannah – remember, boys are BAD!!!! I know I taught you that! Keep you heart on God, and your hands playing ball!!!!! Love you lots!

Richest blessing from the forgiven, the healing, and the blessed!

Joy & Lynn

Some days are stones....

2008-08-16T12:51:00.001-06:00

We have news, but have not been ready to share. Partly because we don’t know much yet, and partly because we don’t know how to handle it yet.

We got Ben off for the States on Thursday morning. We went by bus with him into Panama City on Wednesday, stayed the night in a hotel close to the airport, then went with him to the airport on Thursday morning. From there we were headed toward home when we got a call from Dani; The house/ church had been robbed. She was really upset, so I did not understand much of what she said, but this much we now know – someone used a key (Dani’s key went missing this week she said.) to our house to come in and take the entire treasury of the church ($474), which was hidden away in a drawer, the money the ladies had raised to go to the convention selling tamales ($76), all the cash and change we had in and on our dresser (probably no more than $25) and the new camera we bought in June($425). They did not touch either computer, or anything else in the house. They did leave behind footprints of muddy tennis shoes that showed that they went directly to our bedroom and to the dresser where the money and camera were. They did not search other rooms, or even other parts of our room. My laptop was right next to the tamale money, but they did not bother it.

When we got home Dani’s husband came and shared that Xavier (his son and a 15 year old member of the church here) received a call that morning threatening his life if the thieves were found out. They told him who they were, and told him to keep them advised of anything that was found about who was responsible.

Another neighbor said that Xavier had admitted that he let them in the house to his father and uncle. If that is the case then the whole family has been and is continuing to lie to us. Much of the story that Olmedo (Dani’s husband) told does not make sense to us, but we really want to believe that Xavier is innocent in all of this.

We went to file a report yesterday (Friday). We did not offer any suspects to the police, just the fact that they used a key, and did not break in, and that they knew exactly where to find the money. One unit of the police came out when Dani initially saw that the money was stolen, but said they would not be the investigating team. They looked around and told her to tell us to go to Concepción to file the complaint. Now the people in Concepción say that the first group will investigate, but could not until they had the official complaint.

We know that money is not important in the grander scheme of things, and it can be replaced. What is really hurting is not knowing whom to trust, and feeling that we have been betrayed by someone who knows us well. Saly, the dog, was apparently familiar and comfortable with whoever robbed us. Ah, well. Now you know what we know. We are sad and disappointed. The church here was giving $300 to the ladies to attend the convention. That along with the tamale money they stole really makes it difficult to take anyone to the convention. It is really a lot bigger, to me, than that. We are both really depressed and hurt. We eagerly wait for God’s hand of peace and understanding. We will move on – we will have our regular meeting tomorrow, but it will be so different. At least I feel like it cannot be the same. I know that God will heal this as well, with time.

We will keep you informed. Please say a prayer for the church here –for healing and understanding.

Joy & Lynn

Somedays are diamonds...

2008-08-10T19:55:00.004-06:00

Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Josh!!!!!! happy birthday to you!30 years old, but you're still my baby!!!!

Well, our attendance was down a little today. There are a couple of bugs going around, and many in our number were down with it, including Lynn and Ben. Lynn is in the recovery mode now, so was able to help with the preparations and meeting. Ben was in bed for his second day. In David the bug is more of a sinus and lung problem, while here it is definitely a stomach issue.

Unfortunately for our David family, three of the men who usually come to preach for us were without voice today, so we, for the first time since our return, did not have a preacher. Sounds more like Riverside all the time, huh? When the 24 who attended today heard that there would not be a guest preacher, they actually said “Great! We can do this!” So everyone pitched in. Yaritza taught the children’s class and I administered an exam on the book of Acts to the adult and youth class. They have just concluded a 13 week study on the book, and did quite well on the exam. It just happened that today was the day for the children to recite their monthly memory verses. That was our Bible reading for the day. They did wonderful. I was concerned for one little girl, Ashley, who is 6 years old. She has been out of town for two weeks (mid-year vacation time here) and so did not know two of the four verses. She jumped up when I called her name, came to the front and recited 6 memory verses; 2 from this month and 4 from last month. She still knew them all! That set the pace for the others, and two older students actually remembered 7 of the past 8 weekly memory verses. We were all impressed. After this, Xavier and Jairo served the Lord ’s Supper, several led songs, including Alvin, who is 5 years old, and Lynn who is really old, but he actually led the song in Spanish! The verses and singing lasted a full hour, so that was our meeting for today. We had hotdogs, baked beans and coleslaw for lunch, along with Lynn’s ( really Lisa Hammett’s) no-bake cookies for dessert.

Although the crowd was small, it was really good for us to do things all on our own for this first time. Everyone just pitched in – it really was like a Riverside thing from way back when , remember?

When the house was clean and in order again, Yaritza went to her (Holly’s) room and took a nap. She too is sick, but was here through out helping and cleaning. Lynn and I just sat and rested a bit, then when Yari woke up we took a drive to try to deliver a puppy to a G’nobe Bugle boy who lives out past our place a ways. We weren’t sure exactly where we were going but thought we would give it a shot, and get out of the house for a bit. In route we picked up an elderly fellow who was blind in one eye. He was going further than us, but we told him we could give him a ride part of the way. He was happy. He sat in the back of the truck with his bags. It was a bit comical to watch in the mirror as he tried to keep his dozen eggs from breaking as we traversed the very rugged road. You must understand that egg cartons are not too common here. Normally the eggs are carried as this man did – in a small clear plastic bag. He held them out in front of him like it was a snake about to bite. Just a little further down the road we came upon another guy walking the same direction. He was younger, with really baggy britches (a comment on the style not the size) and lots of metal hanging from his backpack and neck. My first thought was that he was a hoodlum (Panamanian version), but when we offered him a ride he smiled gratefully, hopped in back, and began conversing with the old man quite amiably. We past where we thought we should stop to find the boy’s house so the old man would not have to walk quite so far, then passed, you guessed it, another guy walking with his backpack and baggy britches. As we stopped we did not even finish the invitation before he was jumping in the back where all three were chatting and enjoying the ride. We finally made it to the crossroads where they would part ways, and so we turned around and headed back.

When we reached the path to what we thought was the boy’s house, we stopped to see if we could see the house. We did – and it was a long ways down that mountain to the tiny house below. Lynn felt sure that we should not try to walk down the muddy steep path, but, if you know me, you know I just had to try. Young strong Yari was, of course, up for the challenge and headed out. We got about half-way down the mountain when Carlos, the boy, spotted us and knew who we were. He sprang like a gazelle up the path to meet us, and when he saw the puppy in my arms his smile, I swear went further around than just his ears. That beautiful smile made it worth the trip if nothing else had. Even Lynn agreed. We went on to the house and met his dad and little sister. I wanted to be sure that his Dad was okay with the puppy, and he was.

It took a little longer to go back up the hill than it did to come down, but we all made it. We thought that surely all our effort deserved a treat so we went in to town for an ice cream cone (prices are up – we had to pay 30 cents a piece for them!) Then we came back to sit on the porch and watch the sun set. Yari went off with a friend for more excitement. A few neighbors came by and visited a bit, and our Sunday is just about over. God is definitely good!

This week brings new challenges. We will speak with an attorney about getting Yari’s visa. We will go to Panama City to see Ben off for his semester in London. We will deliver the last two puppies to Chorrera Province to Ingrid, one of our dear friends and first translators here in Panama. Then we will begin to try to get by without all of Ben’s wonderful help here. He has been invaluable. He can do anything he wants here. He just seems to absorb the language, and everyone here loves him. He also has worked with Lynn outside a lot, getting done all kinds of work on the farm. More than all that, I will miss him. It has been a great summer with him here. Goodbyes seem to come to often for us, and I am not too good at them.

Enough mush. I trust that God (with help from Andrea) will take care of Ben until I can see him again.

We pray that you have a blessed week, and trust that you know what to do to encourage God’s blessings – show someone His love!

Joy & Lynn

2008-08-04T18:24:00.002-06:00

Just thought I would update you on the weather here. It was a cool 60 degrees when I woke up this morning, but it really warmed up...to about 75 in the afternoon. Now, it is evening and we are back down around 65. It is really tough on us to get by with this heat wave - we may even have to leave the windows open all night! I hear it is kinda hot in Arkansas too.

We are doing well. Lynn and Ben have almost finished the chicken pen and house. The puppies are growing like crazy. My leg/back is improving, and I actually ate fried chicken for supper!!! Our sweet little neighbor, Yeimi had to go to the doctor today. She was diagnosed with parasites (worms) and given medicine to take for a month. She was also told that she could have no sweets for a month. Here in Volcan, if a family has a penny, their child has candy in their mouth all the time, so this will be interesting! For our part, we will make sure she has fruit when she visits us.

If you get a chance check out www.evansfamilyadoption.blogspot.com. There are some pretty insightful thoughts there free for the reading!

Richest blessings,
joy & Lynn

Life Stories from El Valle, Volcan, Panama-

2008-08-03T20:26:00.001-06:00

A couple of prayer requests –

Kathy, the 16 year old mother of the beautiful baby, Valery at the side, is really hurting. She was asked to leave her home a few months ago. She did, with the baby. She went to her father’s house, where she stayed for 2 weeks before he took a riding crop to her, and she again was asked to leave. She is 16. She acts like most 16 year olds – she is a bit selfish, lazy and rebelling against her mother. Shortly after her stay with her father she went back to her mother’s house, and was told the baby could stay, but she could not. She left the baby because she had no money for food , diapers, or even a roof over her head. She has been homeless since that time. She had a job, but talked bad a bout her boss to someone, so lost the job. She had a room for a few weeks, but when she lost the job, she lost the room. She had quit coming to church, and even quit coming to visit for awhile. When she first left her mother’s house I talked with her mom and she explained that Kathy did not want to do her share of the housework, and when her mom yelled at her, she yelled back. She asked me not to take her in because she wanted her to learn responsibility and respect. I will not go into how much of that she had been taught during the past 16 years, but it certainly is not a problem that just popped up. I honored her wishes.

At any rate, Friday she came to bible class, and told me she was leaving for Panama City on Saturday to try to find a job. She did not want to leave Valery, but felt she had no choice – there were no jobs available here. I told her she should talk with her mom, apologize, and learn to follow the rules of the house. She said she did not think her mom would listen. She did go to talk to her, but nothing changed. Her mom said “Fine, go!” Later that night someone came to Kathy and said her mother had told family members that as soon as Kathy left her mother was going to try to get legal custody of the baby. So, Kathy did not go. She came to church today. I know that she is pretty messed up, but I also know that she wants to be a good mom, she just isn’t ready for the responsibility.

All my heart wants to reach out and take them both in. However I know that is not necessarily what is best for either of them. She is talking to me more and more, confiding in me, and listening to me. I am asking that you pray for her to 1) find a decent job, 2) begin to mature into the person she must be to care for a child, and 3) that God would give me the right words and actions to show His love and care, as well as His expectation that we be good stewards of all He gives us. I do not find her totally to blame. Her life has never been what we would call good. But I also know she must begin now to change the direction for her sake, and for Valery’s.

Another young lady very close to my heart is Yari. She has been bounced from place to place for several years. When she was less than a year her mom gave her to her grandmother. She stayed there until she was 12, when her mom was angry with her grandmother, so took her away. The grandmother is very devout in her religion. They are somewhat Pentecostal in that they only wear skirts or dresses, and do not cut their hair. Yari, at 12, was happy to be out of this strict church environment, and loved wearing jeans for the first time. We met her a few months before her mom took her to another part of Volcan to live. She was one of my first English students. At any rate, we have stayed close. She was the first person to be baptized in our congregation. She spends a great deal of time here.

Last year, just before the end of the school year she was caught skipping school. Her mom made her quit school as a result. She is not, nor has she been, a problem kid. She is now 14 1/2 years old. The situation in her house continues to deteriorate. Her brother, who is still in school,(ironically) has been in trouble with the law, stealing and fighting. She lives with her mom, her brother, an unwed and pregnant aunt, and her younger two siblings in a small apartment. When her aunt moved in Yari was moved to the couch in the living room. Her mom entertains men until late at night. I do not mean that she is inappropriate with them in the house, only that Yari’s bed is unavailable until past midnight most nights, and she has no place that is her own space. A few months ago she told me that she would like to live with her grandparents again, but that she was told she must renounce her baptism, and be re-baptized into their church before she can even spend a night in her grandmother’s house. She is unwilling to do that.

So Lynn and I have been praying and considering asking if Yari could come back to the States with us. We decided it would be best for her, so today I talked with her mom. She said that if we could swing the expenses, she would let her go because it would be an opportunity that she could never give her. So, we will begin seeing how legally possible it is in this short time that remains for us here this year. We really believe that Yari is on the edge of deciding which direction she will go. She really wants to do right, to follow Christ, but when she gets lifted up here, and fortified by God’s love and power, then returns to her messed up family at night, it is very hard. Please pray for her strength, and that if God wills, she can come home with us for the 6 months. Please pray, also that her mother’s heart will soften and she will see the desperate need that Yari has to be loved unconditionally and completely.

Well, this is what is on my heart tonight. I pray that God will bless you richly with peace, and unconditional and complete love. He offers both in abundance!

Joy & Lynn