We're hoping to have a gathering ('Encuentro') this Sunday, weather permitting. I don't know if the forecast is calling for it to do anything besides what it's been doing for the last three days, which is rain, but I certainly HOPE not.

I called Mundo and Gabino and Valentin in Mexico this morning, just to talk (I finally signed up for an international calling plan that wouldn't make it prohibitively expensive to place the calls). Mundo was completely shocked that I'd called. Unfortunately, Gabino wasn't home, so I left it that I'd call him Sunday morning at 9 AM our time. Valentin was in, and we talked for a good long while. Maria is doing fine, she'll have to go through a similar procedure on her other breast, but that will take place once Valentin has returned home (he's leaving there to come back here a week from Monday, and will be staying through the first of April).

Miguel called me this afternoon from White Stone and basically said "we haven't been working since Wednesday afternoon, we're bored out of our skulls, can you come and get us and take us somewhere so we can at least get OUT of here? (they live about 3 mile's walk from town ... and 'town' is White Stone, which is beautiful, picturesque, lovely to visit, but there's not a lot going on, if you're looking for excitement) I ran down and picked Miguel, his brother Cecilio, and their stepfather Martin up, and brought them here to the house and we spent the afternoon and evening together. Took them to the local Wal-Mart to do their weekly shopping, then back here to eat supper, then back to White Stone. The evening was fun ... we pretty much let them do what they wanted. Miguel played with Judson some, and Martin just sat and relaxed for the most part. We got some international rates for sending packages to Mexico. Cecilio's got some clothes he wants to send back home to his wife and two sons. A couple of the other men have other things they want to send back as well.


We got up and started to make motions to head out, when Miguel asked if I could make a copy of the CD we were listening to, Cecilia Echeñique's - En Silencio, a CD that either I picked up when we were in Chile in 91 or that Jimmy and Anne brought me back from their trip. I pulled it out of the player and brought it in here and dropped it into the pc to make a copy, and while I was doing that, we asked him to take a hymnbook with him to look through to see if he could learn some of the songs that they like to sing and play them on the guitar, for the Encuentros.

While I was working on the CD, he came in and had a question about reading music ... I tried to explain as best I could, and called Leslie in to help out ... for the next 20 minutes, heaven really did come down.

Leslie and Miguel sat down at the piano and started going over how to read music (he recently bought himself a keyboard, and is learning how to play, and he already plays guitar and sings beautifully) ... while they were engaged in that, I was in here doing all this other stuff, and Hannah and Cecilio started to teach each other their respective languages. Hannah came away so jazzed it was incredible. She and Cecilio apparently hit a groove, and were going through pictures she was drawing to explain some of the words and he was telling her what the word was in Spanish and she was explaining what it was in english ... it truly was amazing to see her investment in this ministry.

It is humbling, O God, to see your hand at work in the lives of others around me. Help me be aware of your hand in my life. Keep me faithful, keep me centered.