What a month September has been! I started the month off by trying something new. I've decided to take time Sunday afternoons between the morning and the evening services to invest in the lives of the teen girls in our Sunday School class. Looking over the list this past week, it was amazing to see that our (faithful) Sunday school attenders have double from January to September, and we are adding on average one new teen every month! Its a blessing and encouragement to have so many girls in our growing class that I wanted to take time away from class to get to know them better. One of the girls, Fernanda, wants to join the military when she grows up. I am hoping that she will feel a little less strongly about this in the future, but we will see. She had a great time cooking with me and browsing through my military photos and asking questions about what things were like. I was also able to spend some time with Sabrina, a sweet, quiet girl who started coming to church regularly after a home visit in January. Camila is Fernanda's younger sister and always a helper and a joy to be around. What a pleasure it was this month to be able to take time and strengthen relationships. They are all so special to me, and I know that God has something special planned for their lives. It's fun to see so much potential in these girls! I am looking forward to time with each one of them before the end of the year!
 |
| Camila and I enjoying the afternoon |
We were fortunate to have a surprise "proposal" in the church. One of our couples, Mauricio and Yani have been married for 24 years. Mauricio "proposed" to her again in the service and asked if she would be "married" to him once more. It was complete with a ring, flowers, family and pictures. What a joy to see people in the church staying faithful to their spouses. Mauricio and Yani will renew their vows for their 25th anniversary next year during the month of September.
 |
| The "proposal" |
 |
| The happy couple |
 |
| The ring. |
This month, Ana Gloria accepted Jesus Christ as her personal Saviour. She has been coming since June and week by week has opened up a bit more. It is such an encouragement to see lives changed here in this church one by one! Please pray for her as her family is Catholic and this will be a very challenging time for her.
The Sword of The Lord conference was held here in the first week of
September. We were honored to be able to host the Castro family and
their children and the Bonilla family here from Panama. What fun it was
to have 11 people in the house! The conference went well with pastors
and missionaries from all around Central America. I even got to know a
couple here from Florida! It was a great opportunity to see God work in
the hearts of the people here.
 |
| Rows packed full during the Sword of the Lord Conference |
Having so many students allows us to experience some fun cultural activities once in awhile. Quinceneras are very important here and as many of the teen girls turn 15 here, they are celebrated with cakes, parties, friends, music, money, gifts and a church ceremony as a girl passes from childhood to womanhood.
 |
| Katherine (9th grade student) and I at her Quince |
In the school this month has seen a total of 100 books for the kids to read in the library, and an additional 150 small booklets for the older kids and teachers. I hope to reach a total of 300 books/booklets by the end of this year in preparation for next year while the kids are on Christmas break. They get so excited to see new books come in every week! What a joy it is to see them reading on recess and after school lets out. I hope this helps ignite a fire to learn as they get excited about reading rather than watching T.V. or wandering the streets!
Tragically, this month we lost one of our 8th grade students, Wilfredo, in a hit and run accident. He was 15 years old and a fun student to have in class. He was a Christian and I have no doubt I'll see him again one day in Heaven. The loss of Wilfredo caused many of the 8th and 9th graders to put a lot of things in their life in order from friends, to church, to family-everything. It caused many to question their spiritual condition, and several to change things in their lives. Please pray for their continued healing as time marches on.
 |
| Wilfredo (left) acting in a school play. |
As we add more and more people to the church, we have more of a need for expansion. Many of our newest visitors and members are young people and adults. However, we have been fortunate to see at least one new baby born into our church every month since June. We have had a LOT of experience planning and hosting baby showers, and have 2-3 more upcoming before the end of the year as this trend continues! The growth of both young and old alike has given us a need for more space. We have begun our building expansion projects, but will go full force mid-November once the students are dismissed from school on their summer break.
 |
| Loyda and David |
 |
| Mayra, during her Baby Shower this month. |
On both the school side of things and in the church, we had a great time celebrating Independence Day. Independence Day here is September 15th and is celebrated starting the last week of August. Cojutepeque in particular is a town with its own special celebrations and festivities, but the people here LOVE their fire crackers. We live by one of the main government buildings, the park and the one of the 2 main Catholic churches in the town. When it is time to celebrate, we can hear it. The music starts at the town hall (comprised of a soccer field, basketball courts, prison, trash site, tax offices, event center and prison) and the fire crackers follow for hours each day and night. The fire crackers lasted the duration of the month, and were semi constant day in and day out. That makes teaching a bit more challenging, but not impossible!
 |
| New flags at school, just in time for Independence Day! |
|
|
 |
| 3rd grade students dressed up for Independence Day celebrations! |
We were fortunate to be able to host a fall festival this month at church and share a little bit of our culture with our church family. We had everything from wheelbarrow races to water balloon toss, to caramel apples with sprinkles! It was a great experience all around and a good way to get to spend some down time with friends.
September also gave me a frightening look into the medical facilities here. I was unfortunate to step on a nail and decided that now would be a good time to get a tetanus shot. I went to the free "hospital" that everyone else goes to because my Dr. didn't have the shot but said that they would. I was shocked, to say the least, and grateful for the medical care that I receive in the States. The "hospital" used to be the main hospital for Cojutepeque, I believe, but closed down when a new one was built several years ago. What remains is, essentially, what you would consider a condemned building. Getting a shot in a hospital while sitting on a blue park bench, observing sitting water with algae growing it it through a window with broken glass, in a room with bare walls and no doors, made me a LOT more appreciative for the kind of care that I've been fortunate enough to receive in the U.S.
On a funny note (now) the house flooded this month and it was all my fault. The water turns off frequently here, but, it usually comes back on within the same day, at some point. In my house, I have (somewhere) one faucet that when you turn it to the middle its on full blast, but if you turn it all the way to the right or to the left, it is off completely. Thinking this applied to my bathroom sink I turned it from the left all the way to the right figuring that it was all the way off, and hoping for water later that day. I left the house. I returned 3 hours later to find water cascading out of the garage, into the driveway, and onto the street. As I opened the front door, I was greeted with the sound of a rushing waterfall as water cascaded down from the 2nd story bathroom, through the spare bedroom, into the hallway, and down the stairs through the garage. After great help from the Fridenstines, we were able to get the mess under control. Thankfully, not ONE Bible was damaged, and only a few of the gifts had gotten wet, but were still usable. It wasn't funny at the time, but it is now. Its good to have a laugh every now and again. . . it turns out flooding your house is a sure way to clean all the floors!
 |
| Micah, expressing outwardly how I felt on the inside. |
 |
| Praise God nothing got ruined! |
Kids day came at the end of September. We have done a lot of preparations to be ready for this day, including the distribution of about 1,000 invitations. I invited my neighbor kids Amy and Brandon who came. Sunday during the Kids Day, I was taking pictures, and just so happened to step out into the street as one of my students and two of his friends pulled up to the house across the street from the church. I took a moment from my picture taking obligations and invited them in. Their mom said yes, and I had 5 visitors total. How crazy is that? A total of 5 kids were saved, and 3 adults received assurance of their salvation.
 |
| Sunday School PACKED with kids, 5 of whom accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Savior! |
 |
| One of the candy filled pinatas the kids got to hit | . |
 |
| Brian and Amy, happy visitors on kids day! |
|
|
