~BUSY BUSY BUSY~

today has been a pretty lazy day. just stayed around the house and rested. this past week is a blur in my mind right now...there is a child that has been in need of a bone marrow transplant and it seems that God is working his will in the situation. There has been someone that has stepped up to be a possible donor. And then Cheryl called to see if Vanderbilt would be the place it could be done. They called her back the next day and the lady she talked with was from none other than Leon, Nicaragua!! hmm, concidence I'm sure! ;) ...so now the only thing standing in the way is the testing to make sure the donor and the child are compatible. pray that God's will be done, but it appears that HE knows what He is doing!! :) ...We have a little boy and his mom staying with us right now. They are from a village like 3 hours away i think. they went to the emergency room b/c he was in pain. he was complaining of headaches. so the doctors say he needs a CAT scan, but they release him from the hospital b/c they don't have the means to do CAT scans in the hospital. you have to go to a clinic for that. so they come to our door and we go to get the CAT scan. but the CAT scan comes back perfectly normal...so what was wrong with him??? he has 4 bad teeth and some bad toothaches b/c he has never brushed his teeth. aren't the doctors in Leon hospital so smart!? we spend $100 on a CAT scan b/c that's what the doctors suggest, and then Cheryl figures out it's the teeth. shows how much prayer the doctors of Nicaragua need! ...we are currently looking for a cook. We are splitting it up so that the one we have now, Regina, will take care of the kids and clean the house, and then the new cook will take care of all cooking. We were hoping for Katherine to come for about 6 months to give lessons on good cooking, but we're not sure if God is directing Katherine like he's telling us that she needs to come!! ;) ...although, tonight we went for a walk to Central Park and had dinner at Hollywood Pizza. It's good pizza...and I had a caramel frappaccino the other day in Managua, for all of you out there worried about me not getting my starbucks!! it definitely wasn't a starbucks, but a good second runner! :) ...I can't believe this week is Thanksgiving!! It sure doesn't seem like it is that time of year, probably b/c it's around 90 degrees everyday. so it feels like summer here year round. we're gonna have a family thanksgiving dinner this thursday, and then on saturday when Benny, Pam, and Charlie get here, we are inviting all of the kids that have been helped through the ministry over for a Thanksgiving Dinner!!! I can't wait for that one! it will be overwhelming to see all of the ones not only helped, but those that have came to Christ b/c of the ministry that God has brought to Nicaragua! Me and Cheryl are just so excited that we get to be a part of what God is doing here in Leon, Nicaragua!! Such a blessing!!
Much Love!
p.s. Everyone eat some turkey for me b/c the turkeys are too expensive here so i don't think i'll get any for Thanksgiving dinner. (But we will have ham!) :)

This is Juan. He just turned six. Juan cannot talk, besides a few words like aqua (water), so he uses sign language.

The little baby on the left, that Luis (our driver) is holding, has hemmorraging in her head. Her father brought lunch for the payment for help!!!!!!! it's a chicken...it proved to be quite tough when we ate it.

This is the little boy that is malnutritioned. He is 9 months old and weighs 13 lbs. She is 22 years old, but looks about 16! His mother was supposed to show up again today to work and get pediasure. But she never showed up.












This is me and Chico trying to teach English class. Cheryl left me to go to the hospital and it was up to me to teach. at least we got through it. and she got back in the middle so she finished off the class. Maybe in time i'll become a teacher! tal vez (maybe)!? :)

TiME FLiES WHEN YOU'RE HAViNG FUN!!

i can't believe today is already Friday. It seems like I just wrote my last blog, then I look and it was three days ago. And I ask myself where the time went!? It stays busy around here so it makes the time fly by. The past couple of days we have been cleaning a few rooms out in the house. One room, me and Chele cleaned the floor so that they can put the tv in there. That will be the place that the kids go to watch cartoons and whatnot. There is definitely not much time for us to watch tv around here, maybe a little at night if we're lucky to sit down and watch cartoons with the kids! :) Not that I can understand anything (spanish)!...Chico and Chele cleaned and painted the first room on the right in the house, and we have moved the office into there now. And there is a door to the street in there, so that way when people come for help and have sick children, they get no further than the first room. That way we keep the children in our house healthy... We also went through a bunch of stuff that teams had brought or left down here. It was a mess in the yard, but we've went through most of it and gotten it organized back into the room......There is alot to pray for when Nicaragua comes to your mind. I could try and write some more about some of the kids that need help from us. Or I could write about some of the kids we know whose mother has left them and they have to worry about finding food for each day. I could write about alot of things. But I am not going to tonight. I want to let you let the Lord reveal to your own heart what to pray for in regards to here. He knows the needs, every single one. What comes to your heart, pray for that. And know that God is working because of your prayers!!!
Much Love!

WORKiNG...ER, TRYiNG TO WORK!!!

this morning we started off with a staff meeting for all ministry staff. it was very good. Luis (our driver) gave the morning devotion about finding our mission for God. that whatever our job at the house is, it's for the Lord. Whether it's Chico translating, Luis driving, me doing financial stuff, Regina cooking, etc. that it is all important. because it all comes together to work for the glory of God. I could not think of a better way to spend my year. I feel so blessed to be here. I know there are distractions in the U.S., but just not as much or as hard to ignore. Here, it is simple. This house is all for the work of the Lord. And I get to be a part of it for at least a year...maybe God will call me longer. I don't know. But I am so excited to be a part of what God is working on here in Nicaragua. Let's see if I can update you on some cases that have came since I've been here. Mario is back at home and well. He has became my amigo! we play alot when he is around. We had a meeting with his mom and dad yesterday to help them get organized with a plan on how to make money with a home business. They received support from people while in the U.S. and now we are helping them start their business with that money so that they can make a living. I am excited to see what comes of it. Just pray that they are serious about using it for good, to provide income for their family.
Another lady came yesterday for help. Actually she came the day we got here, but we asked her to come back and she came yesterday. She has a little boy (i can't remember his name) who is 9 months old and weighs 13lbs. Cheryl said it is possibly b/c she did not breast feed him long enough. so me and chico went to get some formula to help him grow. he is very malnutritioned. but hopefully after a while he will come around to a better weight. To get the formula, his mother will work around the house. yesterday she helped Regina with things that needed to get done. And I got to hold the little boy. The only problem is cloth diapers. I don't like that part!!! :) But I got to feed him and get him to sleep. So I am still getting my baby fix down here, even though I miss my 1 yr. olds in sunday school!
There is another girl that has came into our hands this week. She is at the hospital in Leon. She is 11 yrs old and all of her private parts were fused together. It's a very sad situation. BUT, Cheryl emailed a doctor in the tn pediatric association and he thinks it can be fixed!!! how awesome is that! so now we need to pray for the funds to get her to the U.S. She will probably be coming to TN.
There are a few others, but i am not sure of the conditions and what our help will be. but i will let you know when i find out. I am hoping this blog will help to show everyone how much truly goes on down here. Even I didn't realize how many people show up at the door each and every day. It is a constant flow of people coming who need help. Pray that God gives us the wisdom and strength to help what ever way we can, but most importantly that they hear the Gospel!!! You will hear me say it a million times this year, but I cannot wait to see all that God has in store!! This ministry is truly a work of God! Gloria Dios!!!!!
Much Love! :)

i'M HERRRRRRE!

just a quick update before i head to bed...i can't believe it, but i am finally here...destination nicaragua!!! it's been quite a long day since 4:30am this morning when i got up. it is now 12:15 USA time and everyone is in bed here. ahhhhh, a spider just glided down from the ceiling in front of my laptop (for those of you that don't know, i am borderline phobic with spiders!!!). now i'm feeling all itchy and crawly b/c i don't know where he went when i swatted at him! This is most likely the biggest prayer request i could ask for in the next year, and that is that God will heal me of my phobia of spiders! OR better yet, just pray for no spiders in nicaragua during the next year!!! :) ...so we got to the house around 3pm today. There was a reporter that came back with us to interview Cheryl about Mario. I'm not sure what kind of reporter he was (radio or whatnot) but i will let you know what comes of it. Chico and Eugene (i think he likes to be called Fernando) set up a bed and table for me in my room (for all who came in July, my room is where the kids slept while we were here). I also have a fan all to myself which will be really nice to have...Elliot and her brother came by for a little while after we got here...other than that, we have not done much besides eat and relax a little in the rocking chairs. and of course lots of playing with the kids. They are as energetic and crazy as ever! definitely lots of entertainment around those 5!!! ...it's really odd to be down here right now b/c there is no team with me, but in a weird way, i feel really at home already. now i just need to learn spanish so i can talk to everyone more easily!! please pray that i can pick up on the language fairly easily (i brought some books to help me study vocabulary)...well, i am off to bed so i can rest a little before my alarm clock goes off in the morning (Cheryl says that will be the kids!!)