Saying Yes March 11, 2008

Here’s a great quote from Henri Nouwen that I read today:

Henri Nouwen confesses: “I’m like many pastors; I commit myself to projects and plans and then wonder how I can get them all done. This is true of the pastor, the teacher, the administrator. Indeed, it’s true of our culture, which tells us, ‘Do as much as you can or you’ll never make it.’… I’ve discovered I cannot fight the demons of busyness directly. I cannot continuously say no to this or no to that, unless there is something ten times more attractive to choose. Saying no to my lust, my greed, my needs, and the world’s powers takes an enormous amount of energy.

“The only hope is to find something so obviously real and attractive that I can devote all my energies to saying yes. One such thing I can say yes to is when I come in touch with the fact that I am loved. Once I have found that in my total brokenness I am still loved, I become free from the compulsion of doing successful things.”

Back Home March 9, 2008

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Originally uploaded by jarobers

We made it back home last night safely. I say this every time, but this had to be one of the best trips ever. I have many stories to share over the next few weeks. For now, you can see pictures if you click on the link below.
http://www.flickr.com/gp/9791629@N02/gY4143

Coming around the Mountain March 8, 2008

We spent the last two days at Cisna with the boys. Boys will be boys and all 115 of these boys were all boy all the time. We had a great time playing with them and teaching the Bible lessons to them. The main thing we wanted them to know was that they all hve value to God no matter what they have done. It was great to see their smiles and hear their laughter. But sobering to also know that deep down underneath the smiles are some very wounded hearts. Pray that these boys will know the strength that is theirs in Christ.

My favorite time at Cisna was teaching English to a boy named Omar. He was so hungry to learn. We sat for about an hour each day writing down different words in Spanish and English.

Today we got to go to a volcano in Sonsanate called Cerro Verde or Green Hill. It was a beautiful sight. El Salvador is a beautiful country.

We leave early in the morning and arrive in Charlotte around 4 and then drive back to Bristol. Pray for safe travels.

It’s Wednesday March 5, 2008

We had a great day at Ilobosco yesterday. Itks so neat to see ow different our relationships with the girls are from day one to day two. I was wishing we could stay longer. Right now there is no Orphan Helpers staff at Ilobosco. Pray that they will be able to find a godly Christian woman to work with these girls. The girls are desparate for someone who can listen to them and encourage them.

We spend today and tomorrow at Cisna. Pray that we will form good relationships with the boys and share the joy of knowing Jesus with them.

Greetings from El Salvador March 4, 2008

I’m finally getting a chance to post about our trip. We’ve had full days the last few days. We arrived late on Saturday night and drove into San Salvador in the dark. The city is really beautiful during the day and even more so at night. We went to churchSunday morning. The sermon was on 1 cor. 7. We had a great time of worship

Sunday afternoon we went to Cipi, a girl’s orphanage. Everytime I’ve been there the girls are more stand offish and reserved. This time was very different. By the time we left in the afternoon, we had made 50 new friends. The girls were hugging us and didn’t want us to leave. It was great to see how open the girls were to us.

We spent yesterday and will spend today at Illobosco, a detention center. We are working with the girls at this center. These girls were a liitle more difficult to reach. We weren’t exactly sure how they received the Bible lesson. They say a lot of right answers but it is hard to know how deeply their hearts are impacted.

We did notice that the girls are (like American girls) are very interested in movies and having boyfriends. In fact it seems like a lot of their identity is built around needing to have a boyfriend. They were perplexed about why some of us don’ have boyfriends (especially those of us who are older). We hope that we can show them that or true identity is found in knowing Christ.

The team is doing great. We have been getting back to the hotel late and getting up early, so pray that we’ll get rest. Some people have some sinus troubles, so be praying that that will clear. We are really blessed though with a great group o mature Christians

We’ll have dinner tonight at the Hope House.Chef Roberto is cooking amazing food for us. I’ll probably gain ten pounds. It has been good to see friends from past years here. Please pray that we will be an encouragement to Jorge and William, Orphan Helpers staff that we are working with this week.