Davids, Goliaths and an Angel

Lily of the Valley Soccer Team with their new uniforms!!!




Javier...team captain
Please help me pray specifically for his salvation. We've had some great talks...and he is thinking about giving his life to God.




Jesus




Angel




Daniel




Isael




Jon




Marcos





Rogellio sporting some sunglasses to hide both of his big black eyes he got from running into the door full force. Ouch!!! The hospital gave him a clean bill of health after he stayed put for a few days.




A human obsticle course and banana boats proved to be another fun evening with the teens. Thank you Fred and Barb for helping out!




A beautiful sunset was the backdrop to our evening. God...I love the colors you use!!!




Leslie volunteering to drive the bus for tio Gary




Maggie and Gary...buds!




My tough husband wearing a pink band-aid! My kind of a man. Actually the blood was pouring out quite a bit to get him to wear it...the only band-aid we could find. I love it!!! :)





A laundry room surprise! Gary is the raton slayer...thank goodness! Every woman needs a rat slayer in her life!!! :) Mary Ellen and Lauren take note...




Daddy Fred and his girl!




Javier was given the fun job of distributing Hot Wheel cars to many of the boys. Maggie Moul from FBC sent them down...and I must say...she sent some other goodies that will be used as rewards! She is all for missions!




Beth...did you know that Andy is great at greasing pans??? Keep it in mind!




The art of making cinnamon rolls!!!




They're finally ready...




...to be devoured!




Pastor Dave and Adilene enjoying a game of chess. Pastor Dave was a real blessing to these kids. I regret that the week slipped by without a chance to sit down and visit with him and his beautiful daughters for a few hours. I would have loved to have gotten to know them better. Pastor Dave, I need your e-mail address. Rosa wants me to send you the guidelines. Thanks!




Friday nights are movie nights!




Popcorn made for a fun movie night! It was a great idea, Chandra!




Popcorn and hot sauce...of course!




Good-bye line-up filled with hugs and tears. Good-byes are always hard.




FBC group good bye line-up




Katy is such a cutie!




The kids loving on Mark...




Angel and his new Uncle Andy




Fred with the Riley's kids...Jazmine and Angel




Marbles are a huge game down here. Quite often you'll even see the adult male staff enjoying the game. It requires much skill...so I just watch! :)




Chandra enjoying every minute...




Fred and his talks with the boys. They just soak it all in!



They finally uploaded...just took many hours. Please help me pray that this problem with the server will be corrected so my next post won't take 8+ hours. :)

I want to tell you about last evening. Our soccer team had a game (they are part of the city league) at 4:00 and we had a busload of 35 kids to watch them play and cheer them on. When we arrived our boys warmed up off the field...and then I took pictures of our team in their new uniforms before the game began. (I was going to wait until after the game...but I listened to Barb...which was good!) I climbed onto the bleachers to watch the game begin. To be honest, my heart sank when I saw the opposing team. They didn't look like our boys...they looked like 18-20 yr. old men....big and very filled out. Then I learned that they were the champions...so I was hoping for an opportunity to see our guys play hard...and they did. We enjoyed the first part of the game...we even scored the first goal. There was one instance when one guy from our team flew up against the wall by one of the opposing players and a questionable referee call pulled our guy out of the game. We all took it well...and enjoyed the game. About 3/4 of the way through the game...one of the opposing team members was called out of the game for a personal foul...and he started screaming at the referee along with his team mates...and the referee told him he would not be able to play next week in the game. This really put the fire in the opposing team. For the rest of the game...our guys played awesome...and we won 8-5! Yippee!!! After the end of the game, our guys lined up to shake hands and the opposing team came out to fight...not to shake hands. Our girls started shouting at Gary and Fred to get out on the field quick...and they ran right out there...with me right behind them. We tried to encircle our guys (the three of us and angels) and I kept saying..."in the name of Jesus...in the name of Jesus." By that time...all our kids were on the field and we were afraid for their safety. After a few minutes...which seemed like an eternity...the opposing guys started walking towards the exit gate after staring us down and shouting obscenities. I was so proud of all our kids. They never talked back to anyone...even though many words were shouted at us. We instructed our kids to file out of the gate, look straight at the bus and quietly/quickly board. By that time my heart was pounding out of my chest and my knees were so weak I could hardly stand up. Fred and Gary were pumped and the hair on their neck was bristled right up. I was fearful...because it was probably about a 30 ft walk to the bus...and there was only 3 of us there to protect the kids. Out of nowhere...a man came up and stepped between our kids and those guys as a safety screen...alongside Fred and Gary. The amazing thing is that the bad guys were not able to harm us. They still stared us down and shouted at us...but they were limited. As soon as we boarded the bus and Gary closed the door...the man who helped us suddenly was gone. We told the kids not to look out the windows or talk but to look straight ahead. The boys from the opposing team loaded up into two pick-up trucks and stayed beside our bus until we pulled out. They zoomed passed us once and we just kept driving. They followed us out of town but we made it home safely. Fred, who knows Spanish, said our kids were threatened and they were told to watch out on their way to and from school. (Apparently these boys are out of school.) So, I am asking you to keep praying for the safety of the kids here at Lily. In fact, there are crazy neighbors who drive past here in trucks with people in the back holding pistols and rifles that look like the real thing but are actually only pellet guns. After Fred and Gary talked with Ed, it was decided to lock our gate last night...and the future. There is an evil presense all around. Ed and Rosa said that the people here are very short-fused and there is a lot of violence. When you come down to visit...you are so captivated by the children that it is easy to miss the evil around. I've written blog postings about this evil...but yesterday I was reminded that there are angels all around us as well. I honestly don't know if that man who suddenly appeared to help us yesterday was a real angel...but there was a line that those angry players couldn't cross. It's times like these that I wish my spiritual eyes could capture the work of God's mighty warriors! There is a constant spiritual warfare going on everywhere...and today I thank the Lord for the protection of His angels.

Hey Ike and Beth! Thank you for letting your spouses come down to Lily and minister to the children with the FBC ministry team. That was a huge sacrifice on your part. Your gift of love meant so much to all the children here! There are also many other people who are sacrificing to make it possible for Gary and I to be here. All those who financially gave to fund our trip, those who pray for us daily, our parents who sacrificed the comfort of having us there to help them, Gary's mom who is watching my baby, Gracie (don't worry...my baby is a dog), Neal and Calle' who are watching Buddy, Tim who is taking care of our personal finances, Keith who is running our shop, our grandchildren who settle for hugs and kisses over a two-way phone and many others. We are humbled by your love and support.

I've got an exciting correction to make. (As you know...there is a HUGE language barrier here...and we are caught in it every day...even though our Spanish is improving.) Little Armondo's mother has been here to visit him as often as she can...which is every two weeks. Isn't that cool? He is still always watching for her...but she does come to visit. It sure made my day to find this out!!! The sad thing is that there are all the other children who's mom never comes to visit.

We got a new boy here on Thursday. That is always exciting for us...but heartwrenching to watch. The police brought this little 8 year old to us in their big truck (which I must say was a FORD...sorry Rog). This little boy is from the mountains and was brought here via request of a missionary who knew he had no home. Everyone comes out to greet them...and this little guy crawls out of the truck (he was sitting between these 2 big police officers). They always have such a terrified look in their eyes but the hugs from the adults and the other children seem to ease the pain. Usually an older child is assigned to them and they are given a bed and taught the routine. Within hours the children are doing fine. Mary was here when the new boy arrived and she was there to witness the whole ordeal. Her reaction to all of this??? She grabbed him in her arms and hugged him and cried with him. And that was exactly what he needed. Thank you, Mary for your big heart!!!

Pastor Mark, you should be proud of the ministry team from our church. They worked hard and loved on the children despite the fact that most everyone was sicker than dogs with colds and flu. The most common noise in our house was coughing or sneezing...and as a matter of fact...still is. One of these days we are hoping to feel good again. During the week our team was here...every child was loved on. FBC...thanks for your BIG Lily heart.

Today is March 9th...we will be flying home April 9th. We have so much more work to do here...and such little time. Please pray that we will be very sensitive to the Holy Spirit's leading and make the most of every opportunity. I can't think of leaving yet...and it's a good thing. Please realize...I deeply love and miss our parents, kids and grandkids...but we are tied here by something greater. In order for us to make this our full-time work, our house and business needs to sell. They have been in the market over a year...and they are our Goliath. Please help us pray for their sale. It will be totally God.

Today I held Lupita in my arms as Barb showed some pictures of the kids projected on the wall. Lupita had a high fever and shook as the chills made her shiver. I hugged her warm little body tightly and rocked her in my lap while sitting at a cafeteria table. After looking around, I found some tylenol for her...but that was all I could do for her. She was content...but I wanted her tucked in a soft comfy soft bed with a pretty pink nightie on and a teddy bear tucked under her arm. What breaks my heart is that she is no longer on the adoptable list because her sister is turning 16 in October. Time has run out for this sibling group. It is times like this that I have to remember that Susana, Ramon and Marta are adopted...and a difference has been made in their lives. I want to help everyone...but can only help a few.

P.S. Fred and Barb are on their way home...we sure enjoyed having our FBC family with us! I drove little Brenda and Berto into school this morning since they are just starting up again. Anyway...I purposed to love on these little ones and told them over and over how much I love them. At first they thought I was just having fun with them...but after about 5 minutes of talking to them...it sunk in and they both grabbed me by the neck and thanked me for really loving them. These kids are sometimes hard to love...but God has given me a special kind of love for them. Anyway...we were all crying happy tears, hugging...and I was trying to drive through downtown Aldama...all at the same time. God is good.