Big Changes...

So our family's lives have had some huge changes in the past week. I wrote about Dora a few weeks ago that we'd hoped to have come live with us and study ( http://soylori.blogspot.com/2010/12/opportunity.html ) but her parents wouldn't permit it. We still grieve that she is not given the opportunity to further her education but are having to accept their decision.

Back in December we also spoke with another set of parents from Cumbre del Gramal, another mountain community where school is only offered till 6th grade. It's an hour-and-a-half walk into town so coming to school after 6th grade is nearly impossible. These parents have five children, and the oldest two are daughters, Nohemi and Roxanna) who are 13 and 14. One graduated from 6th grade this past November and the other a year earlier. They were very interested in the opportunity for their daughters to go to school here but didn't think they could allow them to because they had three younger children who the oldest two help care for. We just had decided that what we saw as a ministry possibility must not be in God's plans. That all changed a week ago on Sunday. :)

That Sunday morning the girls' parents came to church here and said that they'd like to take us up on our offer. Note that this is one day before the first day of school and our home had not been made ready for this so we did have a few slight moments of panic. But the parents said that the family had all had a bad case of the flu and the girls had been sick for about a week and wouldn't be able to come to school till probably Wednesday, which would give us two days to get things ready for them.

We spent Monday and Tuesday removing things from a small bedroom that had been our home office and moving them into our bedroom. In that home office was also a large wardrobe where Monte and I kept our clothes. It's too large to negotiate the turn into our bedroom so it would stay there for the girls to use and Monte and I went and found an open hanging rack to use as a wardrobe in our bedroom. We purchased a set of bunk beds and the girls' room was basically ready.

They came to school Thursday for the first day but because they'd been sick and were weak, Mom chose for them to go home on Thursday night and then over the weekend and came today with their few clothes and ready to spend the week with us. They will come on Mondays and go to school during the week and live with us and on Fridays they will return home to their family.

On Thursday when they came to school we took them to lunch first and decided to go with pizza. The girls had never heard of pizza. Their mom had heard of it but never eaten it. Their main diet consist of tortillas, beans, and rice. We are going to try to take it slow these first few days in introducing them to new foods but they are in for lots of surprises, I'm sure. Their home has no electricity and no indoor plumbing. When I told them about our microwave today at lunch, they'd never heard of one. They've never heard of spaghetti or peanut butter. (Hard to imagine, right?)

So our family is now going to be speaking a lot more Spanish at home and the girls are on a fast track to learn English. We're excited about the opportunities that the girls are going to have and they seem to be very happy with their new environment and the opportunities as well.



Monte's Aunt Pat sent a big bag full of stuffed animals down here in January for us to share with the kids in the area. Ruth and Nathan took in the bag of them and had the girls each pick one for themselves and one for each of their siblings. They loved going through them. Nohemi is on the left and Roxana is on the right in this picture.

Please be in prayer for our family and for the girls as we embark on this exciting adventure.

Bad news/Good news...

Last week I wrote about our ladies' class and the ladies who stepped up and helped take food to a lady in the community who was very sick and in a bad condition financially. I wrote that her name was Cecilia but we later found out it is Ercilia. Last week on Tuesday I went with Jose and some of the sisters here to go visit her and found her in very bad shape. We prayed with her and her family. She
had cancer in her stomach/abdomen and had fallen and injured her back about 6 months ago and consequently had terrible swelling in one leg and couldn't walk. Due to the cancer she was having problems taking in any food and when she did she had problems keeping it down. She was staying with her daughter-in-law who said they could use a wheelchair and a portable toilet. The next day my family (including Monte's parents who are visiting us) went with Jose and took her both items. (We also took a wheelchair to a man recuperating after a back injury who was in need of one and lived very close--just to explain why you see two in the pic.)

I spent last night not far outside of San Salvador after our family had to travel to San Sal to renew our visas yesterday. Jose called me this morning to let me know that Ercilia died early this morning. That is the bad news I mentioned in the title. The good news is that he told me that yesterday they got word that Ercilia was in very bad condition and he went with about four of the sisters from here and they visited the family and prayed with them.
Today he took some of them to return to see how they could minister to and help the family through this difficult time. The sisters here have not really reached out cooperatively to the community in the past and are getting a sense of how they can serve in times like this and are stepping up to the challenge. I was really proud of them when Jose called me to let me know about yesterday's and today's events. My pride and happiness for the sisters in doing what they did was of course tempered by the sadness for Ercilia's family. Here is a picture we took of some of her family when we delivered the wheelchair last week. She had several children and although several are grown, three of them are still at home. The two boys on the left are her two youngest babies, who are now left as orphans and will be somehow cared for by their older siblings. (The lady in the white shirt is Ercilia's sister and the other lady in the dark shirt is her daughter-in-law and those are her children on the right) Please be in prayer for Ercilia's family, particularly her small children, as they face the days ahead. Also please be in prayer for the ladies' group here as we work to minister to them.

"There are no words"

Today we had the pleasure of making another trip to Chuntrun.

This time Monte's parents were able to go with us, as they are here for ten days to visit us and to work with us. Today Jesus had a Bible study scheduled in the home of Maria and Natividad and I loved getting to visit with them in their home.

When we visit Chuntrun, we get to enjoy the immense beauty of God's creation that often leaves me speechless. But here's an image from today's Bible study that I thought you might enjoy. I do love it when a chicken wanders in to the study.

Jesus did a great job of teaching the class and Monte, Carlos, and Josue each led songs. At the end, Jesus led a song that I have only learned in the past week but that really affects me when I sing it. It's called "Hay Momentos" and the words to the first verse are: "Hay momentos que las palabras no alcanzan para decirte lo que siento por ti mi buen Jesus." Translated literally to English, they mean: "There are moments that the words do not reach to tell you what I feel for you my good one Jesus." How powerful and so true!

On a day like today when I sit in a home of two sweet sisters while we worship God together and share God's word with their neighbors and family is truly a moment when "there are no words." God is good and has blessed us tremendously. I look forward to worshipping Him again tomorrow with our church family in La Palma and then tomorrow night in Ocotepeque.

Ladies' Class...

I wanted to take a minute to let you know about some exciting changes in the ladies' classes here. As of January, Jose has turned over the responsibility for these classes to me and Friday was the first class of the new year. One of things I talked to the ladies about is serving the community and suggested that we try to find ways to do this together once or twice a month. I asked for ideas on how to do this and at first they didn't have any.

So I mentioned that the clinic up the street has a maternity home where pregnant women who live in hard-to-reach rural areas can come for the final weeks of their pregnancy. I suggested maybe sometimes we could take food or baby items to the ladies there and visit with them. The ladies said they liked that idea so I wrote it down and asked them for suggestions again.

This time, Deyci spoke up. She said she knows of a lady whose husband recently died and the lady has cancer and has several children (she thinks three) and really could use some help. I asked what she thought she needed and she immediately said, "Food." She then said also clothes for the children, but probably mostly right now could use some food. I wanted to run with this idea (strike while the iron is hot and all...) so I asked if anyone was available to help with this plan this weekend. Felicita spoke up and said, "God has blessed me. I can bring a pound of rice and a pound of sugar." And then Deyce said, "God has blessed me, too. I can bring some pasta and some rice and some soap...I'm sure they need soap, too." I told them I'd bring some food, too, and we set a time for 3:00 today to meet up and go take the food items. (I brought a flat of eggs and some beans, in case you're interested.)

We met today and took the food with the plan of praying with Cecilia, the mom, while we were there. Unfortunately, she wasn't home, but two of her young boys were, and her brother-in-law was there watching them. We left the items with him and told him we were from the church and we'd like to come back and visit later. He seemed very grateful and the boys seemed excited about the food. We're going to try to go back on Tuesday and visit with Cecilia.

But what I want to point out is that these women who took the food with me today are not in good financial situations themselves. Most of us in the United States would consider them to be poor. But these are beautiful women who love God and realize that there's so much more to blessings than how much material goods we accumulate. The fact that they could answer, "God has blessed me..." and then go on to say what they could contribute was so powerful for me to witness. What a lesson we can learn from their generosity.

Please be in prayer for the ladies here as we endeavor to find more ways to serve God and also for Cecilia as we try to reach out to her and her family and help them.

What we eat here...

I've been asked by a lot of people what we eat here. Many people are under the mistaken impression that the local cuisine is spicy and similar to Mexican food. In fact, the typical food here is quite bland compared to what we are used to from the States. Beans, rice, and tortillas are staple food items for the people here. To have meat with a meal is a rare thing and usually saved for special occasions.

One of the foods El Salvador is famous for is pupusas. A pupusa is a thick corn tortilla that has been stuffed and fried. Most of the time the ingredients they are stuffed with are beans or cheese or a combination of them. There are also various greens or edible flowers that they place inside of them or sometimes even various meats. They are served with a tomato sauce and 'curtido' (a pickled cabbage slaw) on the side and eaten with your hands. Our family loves pupusas and is blessed to have a standing invitation to the home of sister Reina every Sunday night for her marvelous pupusas.

Our family has our own variety of tortillas and beans and cheese that we eat on
a regular basis at home. We buy a brand of tortillas called "Rapiditas" which are thin flour tortillas that come with 10 in a package for $1.00. We also buy foil pouches of refried red beans and a white cheese called "quesillo" that is similar to mozzarella cheese. We spread a layer of beans on half of the tortilla, put a small slice of the quesillo on it, and roll up the tortilla. Then heat them in the microwave for a brief time and they are ready to go. Monte and Erin prefer theirs with a little bit of hot sauce (similar to Louisiana Red) and we also like them with a side of Latin cream (like sour cream but waaaaaay better!) to dip them in. Our family eats these as a meal at least 4 or 5 times a week. It's a convenient meal and economical as well. I have to say, I never thought my family would be happy with a meatless meal as often as we are, but we've found it to be very satisfying. And if we have some lettuce, onion or tomato handy we add it in as well.

I have found that we are much happier with our beef products if I buy them in San Salvador when we make trips there. The ground beef I have bought in La Palma would never turn brown no matter how long I cooked it. So now we buy it in San Salvador, baggie it into smaller portions, and freeze it.

We do have special occasions when I have fixed things like lasagna and poppy seed chicken but because the ingredients for these are more expensive, we limit how often we enjoy them. And then when we do get to indulge in them, we really appreciate and enjoy them.

My own personal cooking skills have had to expand and adapt to the environment. It's quite pricey to buy boneless skinless chicken breasts here so it's better to buy a whole chicken or a quartered chicken and do the work yourself. The chicken I bought to cook for Christmas came with a bit of a surprise.
I bought it from a lady in town selling chickens out of the back of her pickup. She sat on the curb with a notebook tracking sales and another lady was in the pickup with a large 50 gallon drum filled with a slurry of ice and freshly butchered chickens. I asked the lady with the notebook if the chickens were fresh and she said yes--they were killed that morning--and that they'd still be warm except she'd placed them in the ice. She had the lady in the pickup hold up a big one for me to see and said the smaller ones were $8 and the larger ones were $10. I told her I'd take a big one and she double bagged it for me and I headed home. I knew the chicken still had the neck on it but was surprised to find when I got ready to cook it that there was a little more than the neck still attached. Luckily I had Monte here to assist in removing the rest of the head prior to cooking the chicken. Then Monte also removed it from the bones so that I could make it into a casserole. This was one big chicken and the meat from it more than filled a 9x13 pan when Monte removed it. I will definitely buy more chicken from this lady if I see her selling them again.

There's a man who comes to town once a week to sell fresh seafood caught that morning at the coast. We've bought from him several times--shrimp or fish fillets--and he now will stop at our house if we don't come out and he'll make sure we don't want anything that week. His seafood is very good and he's very courteous and helpful. If we ask for two pounds of shrimp he'll bring the scale to two pounds and then usually throw another handful in for free. He usually comes on Saturdays but he came on Friday before Christmas because of the holiday. We wanted to buy a fish fillet and some shrimp to put in the freezer. As I went out to his truck with him, I took freshly baked cupcakes for him and the guys who work with him. In return, he gave me four whole fish--one for everyone in our family. One of the guys in the truck scaled it and gutted it and placed them in a bag for me. I wasn't sure how to cook them exactly but was able to google and come up with some answers.
We washed them, floured and salted them and placed garlic and onion in the cavity and then fried them. I made some 'typico' rice to go on the side and we had a delicious lunch. We will DEFINITELY buy these fish again and next time will make more of a 'salsa' to stuff them with using onions, garlic, green peppers, and tomatoes. But it was a fun cooking experiment and a delicious one as well.

We have all lost weight while living here. Partly because we walk nearly everywhere--and it really is usually uphill both ways! Partly because we are eating less food than we used to. And partly just because there is not as much of a variety of food available. No Braum's or Culver's here. No Babe's onion rings here. No Big Macs here. Our family plays a game sometimes when we're craving food from back home. We each imagine that we're back home and go through and choose our entire meal including appetizer, main course, sides, dessert, and beverage and they can all be from different places. Today I'd pick onion rings from Babe's (the one on North Main street cause they're the best) and an Asian Salad from Del Rio and a raspberry lemonade from Olive Garden. Dessert? Anything yummy and chocolatey will do. :)

An opportunity...

Okay, I apologize. I've done a horrible job at blogging lately. The reasons are numerous, but mostly just that things got hectic around here and my time was spent in other areas. I need to be more diligent about making sure I post something a few times a week, even if it's just a photo of some of the things going on. For those of you who look regularly to my blog, I'll work harder on doing that.

To catch you up, we had a group from the States here the first full week of December and enjoyed having them with us. My dad was in the group and stayed with us instead of at the hotel with the group. That was fun for all of us, as we got to have more time with him. The kids enjoyed it especially because most mornings he walked to the hotel to have breakfast with the group and the kids took turns joining him for his early morning walk and for breakfast. There were multiple evangelism opportunities that week, with lessons going on in La Palma, San Ignacio, and in Ocotepeque. We also got to make another trip to Chuntrun (see http://soylori.blogspot.com/2010/10/trip-to-chuntrun.html if you don't remember where that is) with the group and had another chance to love on the kids and women there. During that time we became aware of a situation that we want to try to help with and I'd like to ask you to be praying about it.


This is Dora. This beautiful girl graduated from 6th grade last November. (School years here run from January to November.) Because school in Chuntrun only goes to 6th grade, this 14 year old girl has completed all of the school she can. It is an hour or so for her to walk into San Ignacio to go to school and it's just too dangerous and time-consuming. So, her lot in life is to work at home helping her parents with household chores and childcare of her younger siblings and wait for the time when she will have babies of her own--probably sooner than most of us would wish for her. She made good grades and would like to go to school but doesn't have the opportunity because of where she lives.

After we returned home that night we began talking about Dora's situation and whether there's any way we can help. The Christian school here is expanding next year and adding 7th grade. As we began to talk about options, we realized we have enough space to be able to house her here during the week and she could return home to her family on weekends. This would mean opportunities for education and a life beyond what she'd ever been told was possible.

Three of Dora's aunts are members of the church in San Ignacio and I spoke with them. I told them what we were offering and that it would include a place for her to live during the week and all her meals included, free schooling, free school supplies, and clothing. (We believe we can find people who would be willing to help with the funds for her scholarship and expenses so we made these promises based on that belief.) The aunts were very excited about this opportunity and said they would talk to their brother, Dora's dad, but that they were afraid he would say no because he needs her to help with household duties and childcare.

Sure enough, he and her mom said they wouldn't allow it. We have not yet had the opportunity to talk to them personally--all communication has been through the aunts-- but we are prayerful that we can do that soon. We realize that if they do refuse, there is nothing we can do, but we would like to at least have the opportunity to meet them and to let them meet us and talk to us before we walk away from the chance.

Dora was here last week (at the church building in La Palma) while all the kids from Chuntrun came in to get new shoes paid for by various donors from the States. While here, we could see something different in her eyes. She was looking around and talked to Ruth a bit, and seemed very interested in things. I held back tears several times as I watched her taking things in and noticed her surveying the school building and our family. She knows about the opportunity that we have offered her, and she knows that so far her parents have refused. To be quite frank, the emotion I felt was anger. I was angry at her parents who are selfish enough to deny their daughter a chance for a life beyond having babies and hard labor. If that's what she chooses, I could accept it, but I can't stand...no, I HATE that she doesn't get a say in it--that she is forced into that life! I know it happens all around the world every day, but this is a time when we have a chance to change it. We are offering her an education and a way to change her life and her family's life and her parents won't even consider it.

So in the next week, I am making arrangements for me and Ruth to go back to Chuntrun for a day. The ladies there asked me to come back again soon, and this is a chance to hopefully meet Dora's parents. The plan is that we will go back and have a Bible study there for the ladies and be able to visit all the homes there as well. At least one of the sisters from San Ignacio has said she'll go with us. Please be praying as we make these arrangements. Be praying for a safe trip and for open hearts and for Dora's parents to make the best decision for her.

In the meantime, we have put out 'feelers' to find other girls who are possibly in the same situation as Dora, and have come up with a couple of possibilities. We are in the process of talking to their parents and at least one is very interested. If this happens, it will mean some changes for our family, but imagine for a moment the different it will mean in the future of these girls. They've thought their whole lives that 6th grade is the last grade they can ever study and after that, they have babies. That's it. Now, they're presented with options. They're welcomed into a family with a mom and a dad and they become part of a church family and are introduced to Jesus Christ. Their entire lives and eternal future could change with this decision. Gives me goosebumps and brings tears to my eyes to think of the possibilities. School starts in about a month here so arrangements need to be finished in the next couple of weeks if this is to happen. God seems to be opening doors for this work and we would ask you to please be prayerful of these opportunities and help us to be attuned to His will in all of this.

Dios le bendiga,
Lori

Ladies Day in Guazapa

In trying to get things 'caught up' on my last post I had to skip over some things from the last few weeks that I think some of you will be interested to read. The Saturday after we returned from San Salvador I joined two ladies from here and three ladies from San Ignacio to go to a ladies day in Guazapa (whaa-zahp-uh) which is south of here. We got on the public bus just after 7 a.m. to go there. It cost $1.50 for each of us and I enjoyed the experience. Because I get carsick I told them I wanted to sit near the front and when we got on, the very front seat was open so Deyci and I took it. At various stops along the way, vendors get on and walk through selling drinks, snacks, bread, even freshly made french fries with ketchup and mayonnaise. I had taken water with me but was able to buy some delicious burnt sugar peanuts from one of the boys who came on selling things.
The driver often kept the door open for ventilation so I was able to get pictures like this as we drove along. That is sugar cane but I'd never seen it with the "blooms" on top--Deyci told me that means it's ready to cut. (the blooms are hard to see out the door but look just to the sides of the door) I didn't have any carsickness issues on this ride--partly because I wore my bracelet to prevent it and partly because the bus makes so many stops that it can't take curves nearly as fast as the other vehicles sometimes can and do.

None of us knew exactly where the church building was in Guazapa but it's not very large so we got off kind of in the middle of the city and began walking and asking people. The ladies are always very protective of me so I never felt unsafe. They always put themselves between me and any strangers we meet on the street and even held my hand as we crossed the highway to make sure I stayed with them. We managed to find the church building just a few blocks down the street and arrived just as it was beginning.
The ladies at Guazapa were very impressive--they had a number of them to took turns leading singing and prayers and all seemed very confident as they did so. The speaker was from the San Salvador area and we enjoyed her class very much. After the first class was a time for snacks and they served us a traditional French bread roll with refried beans and cheese inside. I have come to love them very much and they are quite filling. They also served coffee with them and it was soon time for the second class to start. It was also a very good class and was followed by lunch. For lunchtime, they gave instructions for us to remain seated and they would bring the plates to us. It consisted of chicken, rice, salad, and a tortilla and was good but my favorite part was the beverage. They served the drinks in bags--a typical practice here--but mine was an orange drink that was one I'd never had before. It was so refreshing that I could have easily had two or three of them. (Guazapa is noticeably hotter and more humid than La Palma because La Palma is in the mountains.) The drinks are all poured into small plastic baggies and tied up kind of reminiscent of a water balloon. To drink them, you bite a very small hole in one of the corners and suck the drink out of it. This sounds (and seems at first) a bit precarious, like you're going to spill it everywhere but you eventually develop a feel for it and are able to drink part of it and hold the bag containing the rest of the drink without spilling it. It's quite a cost-effective way to serve drinks, far cheaper than buying disposable cups.

After the meal was over
they had one of the ladies from Guazapa get up and ask questions of all the ladies in the audience. We each had to answer a question and in response, we all got a pretty coffee mug as a prize. We had planned on coming home on the bus but Marvin was there with his van so we all piled in and he took us home. We enjoyed singing together in the van for most of the trip home. I snapped this picture of Estella as we were singing. It is now the dry season here and we have only had a small amount of rain in the last two months. The amazing thing is, there are trees and flowers blooming now that it is dry season that didn't bloom during the time when there was ample rain. I am enjoying seeing the brilliant colors that continue to surprise me. This whole hillside was in bloom.

During our lunch, the ladies and I talked a lot about our upcoming ladies day. They have lots of ideas now on what to expect and how to improve our previous plans. A group of ladies was here today at the building cleaning and making preparations and more will be here tomorrow. One of the projects we were supposed to work on today was assembling keychains that will be presents for all the ladies who attend. Unfortunately (but not surprisingly) there was a lack of communication and they were not ready today but should be ready tomorrow morning. We have much work to do in the coming days and the ladies here are ready and excited about it.