Getting Settled In, Volcanos, and More!

Hang in there...it's another long one...

Well, it has been quite an eventful past couple of weeks. It’s pretty amazing how the time flies by here—hard to believe that next Wednesday, I will have been here a whole month already! As I write, the electricity is out, although it’s not raining…actually the first electricity outage since I’ve been here.

I’ve been living the past few weeks in one of the vacant apartments on our campus, while waiting and working towards the completion and move-in-ability(?) of the Career dorm, and I’ve learned how to cook many things in the microwave, as there’s no stove in the apartment. I just finished my little dinner of my special mac’n’cheese (add some cheese and spice) and a salad and cherry tomatoes—yay for salad! (I just bought a bag of sanitized lettuce today after not having any for a couple of weeks. Lettuce is one of the only foods I just don’t even trust myself to clean thoroughly enough when bought from the market.)

But the dorm is coming along nicely. Tonight I have to give Tim, who oversees and does the majority of our campus maintenance, the list of what needs to be done just so I can move in. Mike and Dottie will be back from the States in a week, so the goal is to get me moved in this weekend. The girls won’t move in until Oct. 13th, so we have a couple more weeks to finish everything else needed for them to be able to move in. I think they’re ready though. I came into the dorm this afternoon to find 2 of them upstairs (bedroom—one big room) deciding which beds they wanted and trying to glue a piece of paper to the bed frame claiming it as theirs. I said something to them about waiting, but I wasn’t too assertive about it, and then I went back downstairs. A few minutes later, 2 other girls came in, said hi, and asked to go upstairs too. I said that was fine and told them the other girls were up there too. They all left and the 2 latter girls returned with paper and glue to mark their beds too. So I told them to wait until Mike and Dottie return, so we can see if Mike has some sleeping assignment in mind already, and after that, they can all choose together. I relayed the story to Bob Brownlee, who used to work at Casa Aleluya, but has been serving with Mercy Ships and is just here for about a month now helping with carpentry, and he said, “You’re catching on quickly.” I’m just starting to get to know the girls now, and still meeting some of them, so I guess I’m going to have to keep a little bit closer eye on them, at least for a while, until they feel like they’ve tested me out enough to know what to expect from me. Pray for me ☺

A few of the girls did come and help me clean the other day, though. I’ve been meeting a lot of them who come over, out of curiosity, to see the place, whenever I’m in there working on my room, so I asked a few to help out. The girls who came were so great! I basically told them we needed to clean the floor, the fridge, and the stairs, and they just went to town, cleaning the whole building, even going to grab other cleaning supplies we needed! When we finished, we got to chat for a while about what additions have yet to be made (furniture, appliances, etc.) They really wanted to know about a TV—they looked at me like I was crazy when I said I wasn’t planning on buying one. That night, I bought them pizza for helping (we get 2 for 1 with Dominos any time!), so we met back up at the dorm and ate on the kitchen floor, while we chatted some more and the girls thought of ideas for the dorm. The picture is from our little pizza party.

Speaking of additions to the dorm, I would like to share this happy news with you all, and thank you! Because of your generous financial gifts, particularly those given to cover the cost of my bathroom and extra luggage fees, there was a good bit left over, and we were able to buy a new stove for the dorm! The girls were really excited about it—a few of them are jumping at the chance to cook—one, Norma, even wants to be a cook! I was also able to buy some furniture for my bedroom, which is now so close to being ready to go. This was so sweet for me, as it’s the fist time I’ve ever bought my own (non-Salvation Army) furniture, or even been in a place where I’ll planning to stay long enough to make “getting settled in” worthwhile. Thank you all so much for your gifts that have made this possible!

Thank you also so much for your faithful prayers—both manners of support are invaluable! Please continue to pray for us as we work on finishing the dorm. Pray especially for Tim, Adam, Bob, Pastor Dave, and the teams coming in, as they are the ones doing the work. Pray that everything would be finished in time for the girls to move in, and that it would be done with attention to detail and quality work.
Please also pray for me as I get to know the girls and still meet some of them, for the Lord to cultivate those relationships and lay the groundwork for us all to live together in the new dorm. Ask the Lord to give me wisdom, alertness, and discernment, as the girls test me to see where I stand. Pray that it would be the Lord who shines through, in spite of me, that I would be bowed to Him, that they would see Him, and that this would cultivate in them a hunger for Him.
Please also pray for the girls and all the kids at Casa Aleluya as they finish up the school year (October 12th is the last day, then they go back around the 1st week of January,) that they would finish strong.
Pray too, for Mike and Dottie, as they wrap up their last week in the States, return Wednesday, October 3rd. Pray for their kids (all grown): Tony, Chad, and Chrissy, who are planning to return with them. Chad and Tony have already been at Casa Aleluya working here over the past year, but Chrissy is planning to join us now as well. Pray for rest, safe travel, and peace for all of them upon returning to Casa.
And please also pray for our relationships with each other on staff, that we would put each other before ourselves, and the Lord before us all. For me, ask the Lord to give me the courage to confront/speak up when needed, and the very great discernment to know when that is. Thank you guys—I covet your prayers and rejoice to know that you are indeed praying! May the Lord bless you and keep you, in the most breathtaking ways, and may you praise Him with all you soul, mind, and strength!
Off into the oncoming rainstorm (literally, espero que not figuratively!)…

Oh, I almost forgot: a group of us went and hiked Volcan Pacaya last Saturday. Here’s our group shot. The lava is still flowing too, so I posted some pictures of that over on the photo bar on the side. Good times!