Blessings in La Cienaga

We have officially been back a week and it has been great.  After getting settled and reorganizing (we always come back with more and more stuff), we have been preparing and planning for summer camps!  Although it's only a start, I am getting very excited about this summer and all the youth and communities we can reach.  So on that, join us this year!!  We need more people to love on the Dominicans, the Guatemalans, the Cubans, the Puerto Ricans and the Mexicans!  We will basically be having a camp somewhere in Latin America every week of summer (or the vast majority), so look at your calendar now and decide when you can come.  (And get your passport!)

We had our first official meeting with the guys last night and it was fantastic to see and hear the growth in them.  They had several ideas at continuing to outreach to the coaches and how to continue reaching out to other communities.  There is still some work to be done for these guys to be independent, but we are so excited about the growth we have seen and as always their hearts for Christ and sharing the Gospel.  Please lift up all our brothers here but especially Freysy who has been very sick with bronchitis.  Pray for healing for him and easier breathing.

We have had the privilege to meet some amazing Canadian brothers and sisters who are working in La Cienaga the past few weeks. They have constructed a house for Pastor Johnny (on the same lot as the church), are painting the church, school and orphanage and are constructing a jungle gym. Without knowing each other face to face, we have worked alongside these brothers and sisters for years. It is a privilege to meet them in person!  And now I have had the opportunity to meet the famous Alan.  Alan has been outreaching for many years in Latin America and through God's circumstances (I'm not going to say various because God has had it all planned out for the beginning) we have followed in Alan's footsteps through the DR, in Cuba and Guatemala. Thanks to his heart for Christ, maturity, and love, he has helped set the foundations in these countries to trust and accept our ministry.  Thank you Alan for listening to God's commands and following His lead! 

Alan and myself in La Cienaga today.

 

Our house is still a hotspot for neighborhood kids and we have had a great time being here playing and loving on them.  All of our new Christmas gifts have been a hit and Aubrey is loving spending time with each of them.  (But I must say the biggest toy has been the whiteboard and markers we bought to use during meetings.  Just like all kids, might as well give them the box because they are actually going to have more fun with the box than the toy in it!) 

We are restarting our individual meetings this week and are looking forward to hearing what God is doing in each of our staff's lives and how the future looks for them.  Please continue praying for these meetings!

And for some pictures of Pastor Johnny's new house:

The front of the house.

 

The kitchen and livingroom.

The indoor bathroom.

Johanna's new room.  It is a beautiful pink!

 

Pastor Johnny.

Aubrey, Johanna and me outside the house.  (And Hendy on the right.)

The men working on the jungle gym.

 

The jungle gym.  (To the right is the church.)

The inside of Pastor Johnny's church with a fresh coat of paint.

Outside our house, Genesis (left) and Angie (right) posing next to their artwork.  It said "Casa Arredondo" beneath the rainbow. (Genesis is a true blessing with both girls.  She is basically a babysitter who loves to be here and gets paid in cupcakes or cookies.)

Ryann and Aubrey playing.

Since we got back, we have been low on water.  Well, one morning we were completely out of water in both the cistern (the container outside) and the water tank on top of our house.  So, we used bottle water to wash our dishes.  A little while later it started raining...

 

And here's a picture of the empty cistern.  But basically the entire day we used only bottled water (to clean dishes, for the toilet and to bathe).  Our neighbor, Jose, the best neighbor in the entire world, hooked us up to his tank Sunday night so we could receive more water.  (Basically the city "sends" water at night to varying areas of Sosua to fill up the cisterns.)  Jose gave us his portioning to add to ours to help.  When we finally received enough to turn our pump on, Aubrey was ecstatic running around saying "the water's on, the water's on."  We are still running low and being extra cautious with our usage.  Please pray for us as we continue to seek God's provision.

 

Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. -Matthew 7:7