October - December 2009

i apologize for the strange formatting on this blog, i am losing my pacience, the preview never looks like the final post

McGee Family

In October, our dear friend Jenny was diagnosed

with breast cancer. The McGee’s spent three months as our neighbors. They quickly left El Salvador to seek the best possible care and treatment in the U.S. Dave and Jenny have impacted so many of us during their seven years of service to this country. They are terribly missed! Please pray for Jenny that she may be healed completely from this cancer and for their whole family that they might be comforted by God’s peace as they are fighting this battle together.

October Trip to U.S.

In October Cindy and Lucas had the opportunity to travel to the U.S. for a special visit. At Tulare Union High’s homecoming football game the newly built weight room was built in honor of her

dad, Del. Cindy’s brother Brett and his wife Tree

came down for the event. Brett, who is a pilot for the U.S. Navy gave a special presentation to the high school students about his journey to where he is today and was Grand Marshall of the homecoming parade. It was a great time to see family and friends that they hadn’t seen in a very long time and an extra special time to remember how much Cindy’s dad served the Tulare

Union High community. Cindy and Lucas will be traveling again from Dec. 9 – Jan 6. Please pray for travel mercies.

Construction

Thanks to monthly donations we have been able to lay more bricks. Saturdays have been dedicated to fill in the ditches and level out the ground. We appreciate our church volunteers who give there time and give their part to the construction. Please pray for God's provision for this project.

Indigo Workshops

After a few months without work, we have started up the Indigo Workshops again. Saturday, Nov. 14^th, Cindy with four members of the church took a trip to Suchitoto to the 2^nd Annual Indigo Fair. We were inspired by the creativity and look forward to trying out new techniques! Please pray that we will be able to sell our products.

Hurricane Ida

Just as we thought the rainy season ended, Hurricane Ida snuck up on El Salvador when no one was looking. Many people completely lost their homes, which was the case in Verapaz, San Vicente. Other communities were buried under

mud and other homes stuck on the edge of a cliff after mud slides. The disaster took 190 lives,

75 are still missing, and some 13,000 people have been left with nothing. The government

estimates that approximately one billion dollars will need to be invested to rebuild what has

been lost. Salvadorians have responded the need of their brothers donating food and clothes and international aid has arrived.

The small community of Ojos de Agua organized a large donation of food and clothes.

The donations that came from some of the poorest families made the biggest impression on us. A group of youth traveled to Central American Mission’s Genesaret Camp at Ilopango Lake. The donations were carried by boat across the lake to the camp where people from the neighborhood arrived to pick up their ration of food and clothes. As a result of Ida, this area became isolated and a couple weeks passed before government help arrived by helicopter. Last week, a the same group with about 15 others from Ojos de Agua (believers and non-believers) took a second trip to the camp to dig out mud one meter high from the church building. The idea was to clean out the building so it could be used as a shelter for those that were without homes. Currently the road to the neighborhood is being worked on, but people continue to be in need. We praise God that He is providing us with positive relationships with the community in Ojos de Agua and together we were able to respond to the needs of others. God is constantly at work!

Pastor search continues

We continue to search for a pastor that would be able to work alongside us in the ministry for the next of couple

years that we will be in Ojos de Agua with the intention that he and his family would stay for a long period of time. We would like to introduce you to the Elias Grandino Family.

They have visited Ojos de Agua twice. Last Sunday, Pastor Heber shared the message at our church service and the congregation had a chance to interview the family. This Salvadorian family has been serving at a MCA church in Honduras and feels the need to return to serve in their home country. Their home church is EZEL church in Ciudad Delgado, San Salvador. God continues to confirm this

family’s calling to Ojos de Agua, and we are excited to see

how God will work these next few months as we begin to share the vision for our church with this family. Heber

and his wife, Mercedes have two lovely daughters, Cecia (18) and Raquel (8). Please pray for God to guide us in this process.

Prayer Requests

Please pray for what is mentioned in bold above and for our health we all have been sick with colds.

Thank you for your support!

Some recent photos:

Cindy is still active with the town's Environmental Committee, here she is giving a talk about solid waste management.

Camilo leading worship at one of our recent church services at the construction site.

Weight room dedication at TUHS