The Beauty - 64 Years Young and ready for more! (the tractor, that is)
Tonight will be a very short entry since it is very late, and there is still much to do tomorrow. But, I would like to bring you up to date with what is going on in our lives.
Theresa and I got an emergency email from my brother on Monday morning concerning my father. He had taken a very bad turn for the worse, was in the hospital again, and at that point they really questioned if he would pass away over night. It was strongly requested that “now was the time for us to return”.
As I think I had mentioned in a previous blog entry, we were waiting for such an indication so that we would know when we did indeed need to return. We have so very much to be thankful for because my father is at home once again, and seems to be rallying somewhat. However, his condition is still “muy delicado” as one would say in Spanish. We made the decision to return as soon as we could do so. We will be leaving on Saturday morning, the Lord willing.
This means that we will be leaving Cleo Yoder in the lurch, and alone. But he understands the situation, and we leave with his full blessing.
The Project L.A.M.B.S. class that Cleo is teaching is going very well and the assistant teachers are working well. It is a joy to see the national staff taking over. This, in fact, will be the second to last cycle that will be headed up and taught by expatriate teachers. After the next teaching cycle it will be run completely by nationals.
The Red Beauty
This is a gratifying conclusion to the vision of Jim Humphries and others who have developed the courses, as well as that of the dedicated teachers who have taught the classes over the years here in Cd. Valles.
Then, my personal thanksgiving and “victory” is the finishing of the tractor. It is a “thing of beauty”, purring like a kitten (with a bit of a mean bark), and sitting ready to yank and gnaw on stumps and break new farmland. But this thrill will need to wait a bit for now I suppose. Still, mission accomplished, and a job well done, if I must say so myself!
Things are getting battened down here before we pull up stakes on Saturday morning. Javier and I will go out to hire some workers tomorrow who will spend several days cleaning our field of weeds. We have been so blessed with moisture now since the terrible earlier part of the summer. We have had some good rains in the past months, and there has been some good recovery of the sugarcane crop. If the Lord continues to bless with rain we will actually end up with a good year. We continue to pray that he will do so.
Assembling Tracts in our Livingroom
Tonight Juanita and her young daughter were at our place for some last minute “squeeze-it-in-at-the-last-second” assembly of tracts for the evangelism ministry. It is a blessing to be involved in this type of work, even when it makes time much more rushed.
Tomorrow will be last minute tying together of all loose ends the best as is possible, and then off in the morning.
So, my next blog will probably be coming from Canada. We plan, the Lord willing to drive up to the border on Saturday. From there we will pass through Houston and up to Manitoba as quickly as possible. We then will spend a month or a bit more with my parents, helping my mother in the care of dad as he continues to see what God has for him; whether it will be more years here with us, or a home going.
We expect to return to Cd. Valles sometime in May. However, this is again dependent upon what happens with my
Javier and Steven - Final Assembly
father’s health.
I will close. Thank you for your faithful prayers and support.
We will be in contact,
Steven and Theresa
