“That’s How We Roll!”

Holidays, Kids at Risk, Ministry Center Project, Short-Term Missions, Urban Ministry, YWAM - January 9, 2013

We were blessed to ring in the New Year with a Canadian team from Possibilities International. They spent the week working hard to serve El Salvador. They built a house for a single mom and her kids in Gerardo Barrios, and then shopped for needed food, clothes, and furniture for the family. They also began renovations on the ministry center, threw a New Year’s Eve cookout and fireworks bash at CISNA, took the Lighthouse homeless guys to the beach, and fed the hungry on the streets of San Salvador. They packed a lot into one week! “That’s how we roll!” was their mantra as they not only served El Salvador, but also encouraged all of us working on staff at YWAM. We are truly grateful for their love and service with […]

Happy New Year and Resolution Run Info

Fundraising, Holidays - January 3, 2013

We have been having lots of internet issues at our house this week, so I am finally getting a chance to wish everyone Happy New Year! We have a team from Canada volunteering this week, so we joined with them to throw a New Year’s Eve party for the boys in the CISNA boys’ center who don’t have any family to spend the holidays with. We had a big cookout with hotdogs and hamburgers, followed by a huge fireworks display. The boys absolutely loved it! Later that night, we said good-bye to 2012 with some fireworks in front of our house, and we managed to set a banana tree on fire! Thankfully the hose was in reach, and no other trees caught on fire. I guess we better be more […]

24 Hours of Christmas

Advent, Crossing Cultures, Family, Holidays, Third Culture Kids - December 26, 2012

We hope that all of our friends and family around the world had a very Merry Christmas! We began celebrating on the evening of the 24th, as is the tradition in El Salvador. We started out by going to a party in our neighborhood, then on to another friends’ home for dinner around 10:00, and then visited more friends close to midnight. We arrived home in time to watch fireworks all over the city from our terrace, and then we slept for a few hours before waking up early to celebrate “American” Christmas by opening presents, swimming with friends, and eating Christmas dinner. We were also blessed to have our friend Roberto celebrating with us on the 24th and 25th. By around 8pm on Christmas we were wiped out! Here are […]

Peace Without End – Advent Week Four

Advent, Holidays, Justice, Thinking About God - December 24, 2012

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.” ISAIAH 9: 6-7 From our family to yours- We wish you a Merry Christmas filled with the Hope, Love, and Joy that can only be found through God’s Peace…a peace that lasts forever, a peace that knows no end.

A Scandalous Love – Advent Week Two

Advent, Holidays, Thinking About God - December 11, 2012

By all accounts, it’s a scandal. The son of a king surrounded by animals, in a feeding trough. His royal bed slimed with slobber and moldy bits of hay. Not in a cradle, not with a royal choir. But humble and poor, born with a cry into a lonely night far from home. He was not welcomed by the best doctor in the land, but by a scared, in-over-their-heads young couple. It makes no sense…how could the king allow it? For Love. A God born as a man, walking around with human feet that have toes that can be stubbed. A man who gets colds, and headaches. God looking through human eyes at a human world with all of its smells, and sadness, and less-than-Godness. For Love. He came, he put […]

Dare to Hope – Advent Week One

Advent, Holidays, Justice, Thinking About God, Urban Ministry - December 4, 2012

“..the world in silent stillness lay…” A dark world, a hopeless world, a world that had just about given up. Just about given up on a Savior, on a change, on something to believe in. A world that wondered what happened to God, and why He seemed to have left them. A world trampled by an occupying army, heavy with injustice, thick with unmet longings, and unrealized dreams. A world where hope seemed to have failed. This was the dark still world where Christ was born. A world where justice seemed to lose, and hearts were always broken. A world not so different from ours. But there were those who dared to hope, to dream, to take God at His Word. The Prophets, the widows, the beaten down, and the […]

A Turkey, A Birthday, and Four Generations

Family, Holidays, Life in El Salvador, Third Culture Kids, YWAM - December 1, 2012

We’ve had a lot going on lately! The month of November flew by at our house! Jon spent most of it in the Dominican Republic leading the practical phase of this year’s Discipleship Training School. I’m happy to report that the kids and I survived, but we sure missed him! The day after he returned, his mother and grandmother arrived for ten days and the next thing we knew it was Thanksgiving! We counted our blessings with some of our YWAM friends, and eating Gram’s homemade pies for the first time in years was definitely at the top of the list! The kids enjoyed special moments with their grandmother and great-grandmother making pies, decorating cookies, and trimming the Christmas tree! We were so glad that Gram got to see for […]

Re-entry

Crossing Cultures, Family, Fundraising, Holidays, Third Culture Kids - July 22, 2012

Re-entry after our time in the States has been a little rough as we adjust back to a regular schedule, normal work hours, and a two hour time difference. The kids have handled it like champs, and they have become such great international travellers. We spent time in Maryland, visited my brother and his wife in Philadelphia, went to Pittsburgh, then returned to Maryland and took a day-trip to D.C. before catching a plane back to El Salvador. Despite a bout with the stomach flu, everything went smoothly and we had a great trip! We were really blessed by all of our friends, family, individual donors, and supporting churches who cheered us on during our visit. We had the opportunity to visit three churches, and to share with friends and […]

For All The Moms On The Corner

Holidays, Justice, Kids at Risk, Urban Ministry - May 10, 2012

Giving a Mother’s Day gift to a prostitute has a way of making me think long and hard about a lot of things. Like how grateful I am, and how helpless I feel, and how I wish every mother could be home with her child and not selling her body on the street corner. Today is Mother’s Day in El Salvador, so last night we gave Mother’s Day cards and a snack to our friends who work on the streets to support their children. Their reasons vary, but all of them agree that they can’t make that much money, that fast, at a time when they aren’t getting their kids to school or helping them with their homework. I think every working mother can appreciate their struggle. The chances of these women ever […]

Five

Family, Holidays, Third Culture Kids - April 10, 2012

Today Ian is five years old. I am having a hard time wrapping my mind around this. When kids turn five, they suddenly seem so old, and the toddler stage has been left far behind. This morning I was informed by my sweet boy that I only have “one year of cuddles left” because when he turns six he will be too old for that sort of thing. (Oh Ian, I hope not!) So I will enjoy today celebrating his life and all that he means to me. By the way, he requested carne asada for his birthday dinner. I have to admit, I didn’t see that one coming! Happy Birthday Ian!

Donate Today!

Holidays