Thursday, April 14, 2011

#36 Wherever You Are

Wherever You Are
Are you standing at a crossroad, wondering which road you should take
And you’re dreading the decision, and a possible mistake
But the will of God won’t lead you where the grace can’t keep you
And you will never be out of His care. Remember that the Lord’s already there.
 
You are waiting to hear thunder and see lightening in the sky.
Oh but God can work His wonders through a still small voice inside.
So keep listening and learning and continue on the journey
Just following the One who is the way. Oh, He’s the only road you need to take.
 
Wherever you are, wherever you're going.
God is right there beside you seeing and knowing.
Wherever you go, He already knows what lies ahead; what’s behind.
You’ll always find; He’s never too far from wherever you are.
 
    This song really  challenged me as we sang it several nights ago as we sat around the fire under the starlit sky. No matter where we are, God is also right there. Too often “we are waiting to hear thunder” as the song says, but if we would only stop and listen; we would hear the still, small voice that is there. I just want to challenge you to place your life in the hands of the One who knows the past, present and future. Yes, at times He does speak through the thunder, but I challenge you take time alone in quietness and listen for the still, small voice. Allow the still, small voice of the God to guide as you make the next decision.
 
041411 Update-3
  
    The picture above is a collage of random activities that we did with the senior group from Pleasant Valley Mennonite School. They arrived March 31st and spent a week here with us in El Tererro. The picture above is of the fun activities that we did with them. There will be more pictures farther on in the email of all the work projects that they helped with while they were here. One afternoon we took them out to the crater lake, Assosoca for a hike and a short swim. We spent a day in Leon with them. While in there, we toured the cathedral at Central, walked the through the souvenir market, took the ladies fabric shopping and ended the day with a trip to the beach and supper on the beach. One evening we took them to Cerro Negro to climb the volcano. We built a fire and had a mountain pie supper at the base of the volcano. A quick overview of the pics in the collage starting at top left: Souvenir Market in Central, a random pic of the girls at Assosoca, inside shot of the Central cathedral, the ocean view from the restaurant, mountain pie supper at Cerro Negro, the guys on top of the Cathedral, and the guys giving a hand to a guy that was stuck in some deep sand.
    The men have been working very steadily on Randy and Laura’s house and that has meant for some late nights. The photos in the first collage were taken while the men were fixing up several walls at the house. There were several walls that needed to be replaced. One evening we took supper out to the men. It was getting late so the boys got to take a bath in the big pila. Nick was scared and was screaming to get out. Hans however was in his glory to be able to play in the water as you can see in the picture below. The house is now totally closed in with the walls fixed and windows and doors put on.
041411 Update 
    While the group of seniors was here from Pennsylvania, we were able to do a bunch of clean-up work. We ladies spent one morning cleaning up trash, taking down a mesh that was attached to a barb wire fence and raking everything together and burning it. The fellows helped a native fellow, Hector take down all the roof tiles and clean them up good. We also had some guys hauling away piles of brick junk from the old walls and then there were several who dug ditches. One morning the girls went out to the church and spent the morning staining the church house. They then returned to Randy and Laura’s house to do some staining there as well. We also cleaned the church house and Sunday school building one morning. With all the dust of dry season, it was time to once again give it a thorough cleaning. We also spent a couple mornings cleaning both mission houses there on the farm in El Tererro.
041411 Update-1041411 Update-5
    The seniors came prepared with a lesson and activity for each of the church service while they were here. On Sunday morning they did a skit about David and Goliath. It hold the attention of the children very well. They then helped the children make bookmarks using foam stickers and also gave each of them a little coloring page. Wednesday evening they did the skit of the Good Samaritan and we had an attendance of close to 20 children. For an activity, they helped the children paint boomerangs with markers and also some more coloring pages.
041411 Update-2
    As usual, time keeps moving right along here. Each Tuesday is spent in La Palmerita. We leave our houses at 9:30 and usually do not return until 3:30 or 4:00. We have three Bible studies that are spread throughout the day. In between classes, we take time to visit other ladies in La Palmerita. Our first class starts at 10:00 and is with Mirrna. Mirrna has been attending church faithfully for the last year and accepted the Lord in March. Our second class starts around 12:30 or 1:00 and is with Lidia. She is a young mother with three children and made a commitment a year ago at revival meetings. Our third class starts at 2:00 and is at Enma's house. Enma, her two daughters Sindy and Yesnia, and her daughter-in-law Yorlenis are the ladies who make up this class. Enma and Sindy are always there for the class, but Yorlenis and Yesnia don't always show up. Please pray for each of these ladies that the Lord would continue to work in their lives and reveal to them the areas that they need to change.
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    We have several new animals on the farm. The other week Randy got a Boxer puppy. One morning shortly after we woke up to find 2 small puppies on the porch and then the cat that lived at Randy’s new house abandoned her kittens. The little boys are in the glory with all the animals that are there.
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    Pleasant Valley Senior Class 2011
Back Row: Jeremy Martin, Nathan Weber, and Sheldon Risser
Middle Row: Ryan Martin, Shavonnah Martin, Rosa Martin, Kate Hurst, Kendra Weaver, Mitchell Hoover, Kent Martin, and Trent Musser
Front Row: Larry & Karen Weaver, Darren & Emily and Thatcher Fox

    Anyway I think I will draw to a close. May God richly bless you all!
In His Service, Andrea