Blog 12 08/Sep/2015

First Full Week of School Pronounced Successful!

I have a good group of kids who seem to truly enjoy learning and appreciate the opportunity of a Christian education.  Lea (and her little brother) enrolled this week. Her parents are missionaries to a town a about an hour south of here. Lea experienced ABeka Kindergarten so she understands some English.

One family is still vacationing, but will be returning next week, so stay tuned for the all-inclusive picture!

Feeling at Home:
I wanted to take just a moment to express how welcome the people here have made me feel.  You will see some remarks about this in other portions of this week's blog as well. 

Firstly, Pastor and Mrs. Brenda Ashcraft (also my next-door neighbors) have been very accommodating and have gone out of their way to make me comfortable here. I have mentioned Mrs. Carrie Suhl, my neighbor on the other side often.  We have had a wonderful time getting re-acquainted; we had previously only seen each other a few times since college.  Everyone has been so good to speak with me and

help me to overcome the language barrier. The school administrators came to visit me at my house to ask if I needed anything and to make sure I was able to contact them (because I am still operating on a US phone).  
I just want my friends and family back in the states to know how wonderful everyone here has been to me.
Jenny, Jon, and the boys, of course, are always bright spots in my week.

Mrs. Brenda Ashcraft recently had a birthday.  She is an incredible servant of God who this summer, along with her husband, celebrated thirty-four years at Mount Hebron Baptist Church and forty-six (yes, 46) years on the mission field.  
Here are a few pics from the birthday celebration so you can see more of this wonderful Pastor's wife with several church members.

      

Of course, I believe the people here are following the Pastor's example in making everyone feel welcomed.  So many have been such a blessing and encouragement already.

Soulwinning: Sembradoras (still the silent partner)

I again joined the evening door-knockers this Friday. My partner was Hermana Laura, the lady in charge of the college girls (who also happens to be the lady mentioned in the next section regarding lunch).  She led a grandmother and her two grand-daughters to the Lord together, as well as two other ladies.  The 16 ladies in our van led over 20 souls to Christ.

On a related note, Hermana Laura also asked me to teach a song in English to the college girls as we sing while riding in the van. I chose a rather simple song, "Oh, How I Love Jesus," and they learned the words well.  Also, I think they understand now what I was trying to explain last week about not being able to sing that had us all laughing in the pictures.

New Food of the Week:
A family in the church with three students in the school invited me over for a meal after school this week.  This is what we had for dessert: 

Baked pineapple with a cinnamon honey glaze! It was sooo good!

The meal itself was BBQ Spare Ribs, corn on the cob, and rice. I think she chose American because of me, I'm not sure. And, except that the BBQ sauce had a Mexican flare of peppers and lime, it was a very American meal . . . until the tortillas were passed around to stuff with the BBQ.  And, for the record, Hermana Laura's homemade BBQ sauce topped McClard's for sure!

Language Update:

I have progressed halfway through Unit 2.  This is no small feat considering that almost every exercise involving pronunciation has to be completed at least twice.  To my friends who like to tease me about being a "Yankee" because of the years I lived in Northern Ohio: please take note that according to this computerized program, I still have a very pronounced Southern accent.