Unexpected Adventures

Well today did not go quite as planned.  The day started with a scorpion in Ann's clothing.  Fortunately she saw it, jumped back, and screamed and did not get stung.  I am quite sure she scared the scorpion half to death with that scream.  Dan heard the scream and came to the rescue.  Always prepared, as all good boy scouts are, he had his pocket knife handy, finished the kill and cut off the tail for a souvenir.  (Watch out Jessie, you may not be getting that cute woven bracelet that you expected . . .)

We rented a bus to take us to La Maquina - a beautiful waterfall that you can swim in, located about 90 minutes from Granada.  The plan was to bring some of the older kids and teens from the barrio with us to further build these sweet relationships that have begun and continue to invest in their lives.  Strangely, there were four men on the beaten down old bus when it arrived and my antennae were up.  Our own "men" were put on alert and armed with pepper spray.  I told Liz to ask the driver to take us to the Spanish school before heading out of town.  I ran in and talked with Carmen, the gal from school who arranged our ride.  I told her I was uncomfortable with this arrangement and she called the bus company.  The two extra men got out of the bus a little ways out of town.  After riding for about an hour and enjoying the beautiful countryside, a tropical storm came upon us and it was hard to see.  Missy and Liz and I began to pray silently.  We made it to La Maquina only to find the gate closed!  Joel, David and I jumped the fence, and waded through almost knee high water to see if someone was there, but perhaps they had just closed the gate.  Unfortunately no one was there at all.  We returned to the bus totally drenched (but much cooler!).

We returned to the hotel for dinner with the barrio kids still with us.  Portions were small tonight as we shared our food, but none of the students or barrio teens complained even though I knew they were all really hungry (they hadn't eaten since 8 am and it was after 5).

The rain continued to pour down (and is still pouring as I write - now about six or seven hours since it began) - definitely a torrential storm.  The roads in Granada are flooded.  Most of our hotel rooms leak and this is very annoying, but it does not compare to what these people live with during the rainy season.  They literally have little rivers running THROUGH their homes.  Imagine what their dirt floors become in storms like this.

When it was apparent that the storm was only getting worse Liz and Joel set out to find taxis to take the barrio kids home.  It was already past time when we told their parents we would have them back.  They are home safely now and so are all the barrio kids.  Liz and Joel walked each of them to their home from where the taxi dropped them.  The heavily rutted roads in the barrio become little rivers filled with trash and what smells like sewage in the rain.

Liz asks for prayer for Oliver.  He was scared to go in to his house when she dropped him off and he asked her to go in with him.  His dad appears to be about 50 and his "step-mom" appears to be but a teenager.  The dad would not speak to Liz and Oliver avoided him.  We have heard that Oliver gets beat.  He is an unruly child of about 11 or 12 years of age.  He is hard to love and that is what makes him so lovable.

Although we did not get to enjoy the waterfall, we are still grateful for this day, the unexpected adventures and the opportunity to spend time with these young people.  We pray for Oliver, Alejandra, Manuel, Andy, Jiro, Nahomi, Merlon and Tonia.  We believe God is going to do a mighty work in each of their lives.  Would you believe with us?