This month
began with a sad good bye to our teammate Lucky as she returned to the states and
a joy for Clifton’s arrival. Just before Lucky left, she managed to work with a
brother in San Salvador to find a great vehicle for us. We miss Lucky and her
contribution greatly but she will return to us on August 7th. Clifton
has been a valuable asset. He has helped me with learning Spanish and taught
two of the four lessons a week that I am responsible for.
The van
ended up being a total loss but God has now blessed us with a different more
reliable car. We now have a Toyota Corolla and we have already put 1700+ miles
on it. This car has enabled us to serve more effectively. We were able to take
a sister to get her passport and again on another day to help her get a visa
for the U.S. We were able to take a brother to the hospital. We were able to
transport 6 teens to a youth rally that was 2 hours away. It has truly been a
blessing to have a dependable vehicle.
We have
managed to keep up with the pace of our current responsibilities and have big
plans to add much more soon. The church
has covered Genesis through Ecclesiastes in 120 days. We spent one week going
through 150 chapters of Psalms. I am now taking 6 hours of Spanish classes a week
to make up for the time I missed when the groups are here. I passed my first
Spanish exam so I am improving a little. Della has continued teaching ESL four
hours a week at the public school of Ataco.
Construction
started on three houses funded by Signal Mountain at the beginning of the
month. The materials were heavy and it took all Clifton and I could do to help
them unload the delivery trucks. Della’s classmate Jaci and her friend Fred
visited us for a week. Fred, Clifton, and I spent (Salvadorian) father’s day
working on a house and nearly completed it in one day.
Clifton and
I ventured out to do evangelism on our own. We revisited each of the contacts
that were made last month with group from Franklin. At each house, in Spanish,
we introduced ourselves, said we were with the Franklin group, shared
encouraging verses and asked if we could return for more studies soon. It was
intimidating and challenging to deal with the language barrier but it was
reassuring to have my brother with me.
Signal
Mountain arrived on the 28th to spend a week with us working on the
houses. The Sunday after their arrival, Roberto became our 5th baptism
since our arrival! Roberto’s wife, Gladis, was baptized when we first arrived.
We have been having small group studies in his house and studying with him
every week since. Luz a Maria was baptized last month with the Franklin group
and has attended every Sunday service since and joined us for the youth rally
which had 177 teens from all over El Salvador.
I will begin
teaching Computer Programming classes in Ahuachapán on July 22nd and
we are currently working with Austin Jett from Signal Mountain to develop a
tutoring program that each of us will help with three times a week.
We are crazy
excited about seeing Central and mom next month!
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