Mi amigo perezoso

Last time I wrote I was watching the rain and talking about how the truck broke down. Days later we found that the truck was officially "broke down", as we learned that the fuel pump went out. No big deal right, just get a new one and you are good to go--- well here in Central America they do not have that part on stock and it must be ordered from the states. So for a few days we were carless, but the Lord was good and it really wasn't a big deal. After a few days an American couple we know called me and loaned us their car because they had another that they could drive. A few days later the other car they were driving broke down and they then borrowed a car from someone else who had 2 cars! In the end, we left town yesterday and everyone got their cars back.... so thank you Randy, Peyton, and the Julies. Hopefully, we will get the part in the states and bring it back with us when we come back. In case you don't know, we are on our way to the states... we are sitting in the airport right now where there is free wireless Internet! But in the last few weeks I have had a lot of cool things happen--- here are my topics: a land line phone, a sloth, Miguel's birthday party, and a taxi ride. Lets begin with the land line phone.

About 6 months ago a friend of our applied for a land line phone for our house. This was going to help use in several ways: we can get dial up Internet with the possibility of high speed one day, and Sarah and I can stay in touch as I am out of the house a lot during the day. We have a cell phone, but the only way to get in touch with Sarah was to call our neighbor's house or physically go there. So having a land line would not only save us A LOT of time, but also A LOT of money. We have prayed for this for a while, as the process to get something like this is very slow. Monday we went by the office to ask when they were coming to install, as we already had the installation order posted on our door, and they informed us maybe Thursday or Friday. This was pushing it as we only had this past week left here before we come to the states for about 5-6 weeks. Well the very next day, Tuesday, the guys came and they installed our phone! We know some of you were praying with us for this, thank you! We praise God for such a simple and material thing. Once we return we will get the dial up Internet access and be able to stay in touch much easier, it will also help me with my job as I have to relay a lot of information back to the states through the Internet.

Next on our agenda is the sloth. The sloth is like one of the crown jewels of animals down here (at least I think so). They are so cool and soooooo slow. It is like they live in slow motion. Wednesday a friend and I were heading to one of the nearby towns (which I never even made it there due to a combination of a landslide and a car wreck), and just so happened to be talking about sloths. I was joking with him saying that Sarah had cooked sloth the night before. Just at that moment we looked ahead and there was a three-toed sloth in the middle of the road. We hopped out of the car and Luis ran and got a stick to pick it up with and put it in a tree. What I think is funny is that the only other time that I had a close encounter with a sloth like this was with this guy Luis. He rescued the other sloth as well---- Luis the Sloth Rescuer. After I did the whole photo shoot deal with the sloth we kept driving and the Lord allowed me to share with Luis about the Lord. Luis is a national who is starting his business doing contracting and property sales (which is very lucrative and needed in our area). There is a lot of money to made in the industry and he is seeing big dollar signs. I was able to give him a Gideon bible my dad had given me in Spanish and marked Matthew chapter 6 for him, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." It will be interesting to see what the Lord does in his life.

Last Thursday night we had a little Fiesta with all the guys that work up on the mountain. They all dressed up and came down to our house. We had some roasted chickens and a bunch of finger foods and what not that Sarah had made. We were celebrating Miguel's birthday and just saying we appreciate the work you guys are doing as it is not an easy job or location of work. The guys were all a little shy at first, but by the end they were all laughing and talking. We showed them a bunch of pictures we had of the project and of them working. They enjoyed it. This has been one of our biggest areas of ministry since being here, sowing in these guys and just showing them the love of Christ by being their friends and serving them. Two weeks ago Miguel called me one night and just said he wanted to say thank you for giving him a bible, because he had been reading it and he feels a lot of peace when he reads it. So continue to pray for these guys as the Lord is working in their lives.

Lastly was our taxi ride last night. Back in May I wrote about how the Lord introduced us to a dear brother in Christ who is a taxi driver. I was coming out of the US Embassy with a team member whose passport was stolen and we met this guy. We just needed a ride and we came to find out that he is a very solid believer. In fact, in that very day he was trusting the Lord for enough money to make a payment for his house. We the money he earned by taking us all the way back where we live (like 4 hours from the Embassy) he was able to pay what he needed. We have since used him several times and been able to pray and share with him. One of the things he had been praying for was a new car for his taxi service. Last night he came to pick us up at the bus station in his brand new Toyota Corolla. We then went by his house to meet his wife and son, it was a very cool time. We are hopping to have them down to our house one weekend when we come back.

Well I think our flight is boarding soon. I hope at least, and hopefully I will see many of you over the next several weeks. Bless you.