Falling in a Creek

This last week had its up and downs but it was still a good week. Tuesday I didn't end up going into the city with Val because Ed had to go to prepare things for the work team coming down on this next Friday. Instead I stayed home with the boys and did the normal school routine. In the afternoon I taught AJ about defensive linemen and showed him some drills. Wednesday was another normal school day for the boys and in the afternoon Val and I decided to visit some of the people from the ministry. We visited Maskol, a 15 year old living by herself because of very sad circumstances. Her mother is in the States with her only brother and her father is living in another town with his other family. Her aunts live in town and are supposed to be helping her out but they have turned their back on her. She told this to her mother and her mother blamed her and now hasn't talked to her in 2 months. Now she must support herself but its hard to get work before you turn 18. Val is thinking and praying about ways to minister to her. Luckily she lives next door to Christian's family and they are close and help her out when they can. So we visited both Maskol and Christian and his family and I really enjoyed that time. It was nice to get out in the community and visit. Thursday the boys had school and in the afternoon I went up to the property. This week a dental brigade was at the property offering free dental care so I got to see Christian and his family again. I helped out a little bit with Val's English class then played soccer with the older guys. I didn't score any goals but I had two or three assists. AJ went up to the property with me to hang out and watch soccer. He also helps with the English class. I am happy that he wanted to come outside of the house because him and Wes are usually content with sitting inside the gates for weeks at a time. I would lose my mind if I did that. Friday we didn't have school. We instead went up into the mountains for a dental/medical brigade. The three hour drive each way was hard on the back because the roads were horrible. We got there and Val helped with the medical part of it but there wasn't much for me, Ed, and the boys to do so we decided to go on a hike. We went up and down a lot of trails and eventually found a creek. We followed the creek downstream and pretended like we were on man vs. wild trying to find civilization. It made for some hilarious moments and we crossed the creek multiple times and got a little wet. One time I jumped to land on a rock and completely slipped falling into the creek on my butt soaking my leg. The hike back was pretty hard because it was mostly uphill. Me and AJ were soaked and had to sit for a few hours in the cold soaking wet. Over all the day wasn't really enjoyable other than our hike but Val got to minister to the mountain people and I know it meant a lot to her that we came along even if there wasn't much for us to do to help out. Saturday was a more enjoyable day because we all went up to the property for the Spanish church service at the property and we got to see all the community members who attend. We also brought along one of our neighbors, the 4 year old named Estephanie who gave us bananas when we were working on the road a long time ago. I hung out with Christian and the little guys for a long time and then played a little soccer with the teenagers. Saturday night we sat around and watched Remember the Titans which is one of my favorite movies. Sunday we had a school day to make up for the day we missed on Friday and then went into the city at night for church in English. The service was good and I really enjoy the pastor, he has such a strong faith and it is apparent in how he leads the church. Last night after we got home I played the guitar for a while and then took a book out to my room to read for a while before bed. While I was reading I heard a loud shotgun blast and just kinda blocked it out even though it was close. About 5-10 minutes later I heard it again and went back into the house to ask Val what was going on. We think it was the guard of the tomato fields that are all around our property. The tomatoes are starting to ripen so there is a guard with a shotgun every night. Were not sure what he was shooting at but we are hoping that everything is ok and no one got hurt but we wont know until we talk to the man farming all the fields. After a while I got to sleep and slept in today because the Schuberts had to go into the city to renew their residency. This morning I just checked e-mail and decided to post since I have a day off. That catches everyone up on whats going on here. I'm pumped for the work team to come on Friday because it will be a nice change of pace to work with them. Please pray for the team, Maskol, and for continued protection over our household. Adios.