More
happened this month than I can possibly write about! The start was a bit slow
with Della being sick and me having to learn how to best take care of her but
praise God she is doing better now. The latest doctor’s reports are that both Della
and our baby, Charlotte, are 100% healthy! The only concern is little Charlotte
is still breeched so our doctor has scheduled her birth for the 12th
of September via caesarean.
I spent the
month focusing on Spanish when we were not working with a group. I managed to
complete the Practice Makes Perfect
Vocabulary book and started into two others. Our teammate Lucky rejoined us
from her stay in the States on the 7th. Since her arrival I have had
the opportunity to practice and learn more Spanish with her.
Two groups worked
for a week each with the Ataco Church of Christ which has resulted in an
explosion of new baptized believers. Between these two and the standard
outreach there have been more than thirty baptisms in this month! The amount of
work that is available to do here makes my head spin.
The first
group was from Gainesville Florida and they worked from the 9th
until the 16th. They did what
no other group has done. Their time was spent focused on the teens of El
Salvador. They organized a four day campout that was packed with activities and
engaging lessons. At this point I had only had 1.5 weeks to truly focus on Spanish
but none the less, I was a translator for a group of 10. I felt I was unready
for the responsibility but I was thankful for the chance to grow. After each
lesson the 60 campers would break into small groups that were maintained
throughout the week for discussion. This made the lessons personal and gave
everyone a chance to let their voice be heard. God added five young souls to
his family through this outreach. And after the campout Gainesville hosted a
VBS for two days. On the day of my return from the camp Della and I celebrated our
9th and last anniversary without children.
The second
group was from Guatemala and they worked from the 25th until the 31st.
They were of the Biblical Institute of Central America (BICA) which is a small
preaching school. Their focus was intense evangelism. Lucky and I went out with
them each day and over the course of five days of outreach, eighteen people
were baptized! I had never witnessed such a group with such knowledge, passion,
and capability as this. I even had the chance to have one of the BICA members
help me study with a friend that I have been reaching out to since the first
month that we arrived, but he is going to take a bit more work.
We were also
part of many other activities this month. We attended a marriage seminar that
had visitors from many churches. We visited some friends of Lucky that live 3.5
hours one way from Ataco on the Honduras boarder in a city called Citilá. We
have continued our sprint through the bible covering the books Jeremiah through
Daniel. I am thankful for the time that I have had to spend studying Spanish
and hope to have more time next month. We are both overwhelmed by the thought
of having little Charlotte join us in just a few days!!
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