jimmy's all 'when is this going to be OVER so we can get to the honeym ... the reception! yeah, that's the ticket, the RECEPTION'

apparently, what i'm seeing on my laptop isn't completely true to what is actually happening ... for example, right now, all i can see of the picture to the left is the top of the picture down to about my eyes ... everything else stops there.

so this is us ... Lolly, Karen, me and Becky, with jimmy and mane sitting, of course ... does the joy we feel come across in the picture??

aaargh .....

i'm at the library, and the broadband wireless is SUPPOSEDLY working ... and i've got the pictures loaded onto either the hard drive or on CD ... and i go through the steps ... and nothing ... can't get them uploaded ...

will keep trying ...

grace & (relative) peace

Kenny

addendum --

it posted! it posted! momma and daddy NEVER dance ... i suspect their laughter was at THEMSELVES as much as anything else ... but i LOVE this picture ... David Mussiett took it and sent it to me monday evening. what a blast.

Please read this:
If you want to read the blog the author keeps, go here:

Either way, I hope you won't be dissappointed ... I don't think you WILL be ...

grace & peace

Ash Wednesday

Drove into Richmond this morning to attend the chapel service at BTSR with Leslie. The Bishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Richmond, Francis X. Dilorenzo (Most Reverend Bishop Francis X. DiLorenzo, D.D. Bishop of Richmond, Cathedral of the Sacred Heart) came and spoke, and also did the imposition of ashes for those who came forward (along with a woman minister ... not sure who she was) ... but it was a neat service ... stayed and attended Dan Bagby's Pastoral Counseling class with Leslie, and ate lunch with her and then came on back ... this evening we wrapped up the study of the book of Hebrews, and segued (sp?) into the Lenten Season. I offered the imposition of ashes, and most everyone who was there came forward. it was neat to be able to share that.

grace & peace

spent the day in virginia beach ... or for a while, off the COAST of virginia beach. took a whale watching tour on a boat from rudee inlet ... windy ... cold ... sunny for the most part ... and angela ended up getting a little seasick ... but not much ... didn't see any whales :-( did see a bunch of seabirds ... then went back to CiCi's at Haygood to eat pizza (Scott, Becky and the kids came with us), then back to grana and graddaddy's for cake and ice cream. fun day. LONG day, but good, all around ...

grace & peace

'THE BIG SNOW'

well, kinda. the predictions were pretty dire. when we finally went to bed last night it was just getting started. still worked on the message, but wondered if it would be delivered ...

as it turned out, it was enough snow to call off the day's activities (we had an encuentro scheduled for this afternoon). the kids got out and played in the snow for a while this morning, and caleb stayed out and made a second snowman, then i joined him to build a third. FUN.

So we were only out for a few minutes, but just enough to get winded and cold ... and wet ... but still .... LOTS of fun.

we're going to need to run out and retrieve the caps and scarf here before too long.

Jimmy gave me the hat a couple of years ago ... and it really DOES make a difference - especially last night in the rain (before it turned into snow)

Come to think of it, i think it was lolly who gave me the hat.

quick update ... they moved into a house today. big house. lots of room. away from where they were. quiet.

not too terribly far from here. :-) and God was in it.

grace & peace

Kenny

another interesting couple of days ...

yesterday, Edith and family (pedro/mario, jose gaspar, luis & magdalena and a couple of as-yet unidentified housemates) moved in across the street. this is a good thing. hopefully it will get them out of the 'corridor' where the rougher crowd runs -- the ones who dedicate saturdays and sundays to BEING drunk ... and get them sobered up and ... well ... clean. this afternoon we had a memorial service for vivian (the woman who owned and shared her house with them). there were about 8 or 9 people there, including edith and luis (her son) ... the rest were co-workers and neighbors and friends. it was small, but relaxed and ...

Holy.

i robed, and Leslie brought her (only) stole in and draped it over my shoulders ... don't think the color goes with the season, but that's okay ... we're not that strictly following the church year anyway ... well, we're FOLLOWING it, but not to that degree ... colors come into play for the decorations in the sanctuary and things like that ... usually, if i wear the robe, it 's JUS T the robe.

after the memorial service, i ran up to montross to meet one of the women of the association with her son-in-law and a refrigerator in the back of their pickup and unloaded it at the trailer of a couple of couples who were in need of one, and will soon be in need of a couple of full size beds and a couple of twin sized beds ... i've got the twin sized bed lined up for pickup tomorrow afternoon... it should fit in the van without too much trouble.

this evening, we hosted a game night for the 'college and career' aged class -- Leslie and Jay teach it together. we played balderdash. had a LOT of fun. then, about 9 pm i got a call from jose and patricia ... they'd been broken into again ... (had their baby boy on the 3rd of december, and about two weeks later these boys tried to break in, but jose managed to scare them off ... this time they were a little more intentional. brought a shotgun and a gun ... they initially scared them off, but when they (the robbers) realized that jose and his brother in law didn't have anything to fire back at them with, they came back -- jose peeked out his window, and they saw each other at the same time ... he just managed to tuck his head back inside before the shotgun shot took out the window he had stuck his head through ...

long story short, we have 6 guests sleeping downstairs. 5 adults and an almost two-month old precious baby boy. When the call came in, Kelly and Steve and Anne and Jay were still here. they offered to help do whatever needed doing, and helped us get the downstairs straightened up and cleaned up so that they could come in and not have to climb over toys and stuff to get to their beds and the bathroom.

interesting the way things work out. this afternoon i got a call from another couple who were looking for a house to rent, and whom i'd put in contact with a man from northern virginia who had a couple of properties to look at ... they ended up renting a house in montross -- newly renovated -- and from the look of it, almost historic -- small (two bedroom) -- but quaint looking ... will be looking around for some living room furniture for them. that same couple had first called me about an ad they'd seen about an apartment for rent for $500/month. it turned out to be too far down THIS way for them to really be interested in it ... originally they were going to meet the landlord this morning at 9, but decided yesterday that they were just going to concentrate on what they could find in westmoreland.

with this being the second break-in attempt for jose and patricia and company, they are ready to be out of the house TOMORROW. so i called the other man, the one with the apartment, and have set up a meeting with him and them at the apartment at 2:30 tomorrow afternoon. the catch is this. i have already told a woman who has a twin bed for the two couples and the two single men (where we dropped off the refridgerator this afternoon) that i would be by HER house between 2 & 3. I may give her a call to see if i can swing by there earlier -- around 1, as soon as i can get away from church, to pick up the bed, then do the meet at the apartment, THEN deliver the bed, THEN ...

oh yes ... leslie is going to be teaching an ESL class tomorrow afternoon at 4. the kids and i are going to irvington church to share supper with them ... and to sit in for a few minutes on their business meeting ... i have NO idea why john (the pastor) wants me there ... but i figure, if he wanted me to bring the whole family it wouldn't be for a raking over the coals for something ... right? :-)

did i mention Leslie starts back to classes at BTSR this coming wednesday, and will be driving into richmond on wednesdays and fridays ... and I'M going to be taking two intensives at Leland as well -- 4 weekends spread out from the end of february to the end of march ... (24-25th, then 10-11th, 17-18th, then 31-1st (march-april) that means i go up on a thursday evening, attend class all day friday and all day saturday, do anticipatory reading and papers as needed both before, between and after ... then return ... in this case a month later for the first intensive (preaching) and the next week (for the christianity and culture class in the middle of march) ...

oh ... did i mention we will be presenting the RBA model at the 21-c conference at the beginning of february -- in fact --- NEXT SATURDAY OMG!!!! so i need to get the power point queen to working on that ... :-) or i guess i could ... but i'll be driving into richmond on thursday evening to be there for the conference to start on Friday morning --- bright and early.

that friday is also the court date for marie ... the young woman who landed her car in the front yard of the church last saturday ... hmmmm ... that makes two fairly exciting saturdays in a row!

life in the country ... so ... idyllic ...

yeah RIGHT!

:-)

one final note ... i don't have to prepare a message for tomorrow -- it's men's day at jerusalem!!! i DO, however, have to get up at O'dark thirty and get over to the fellowship hall to start the coffee percolating ... we're having a men's breakfast at 7:30 ... eek.

not that there's anything WRONG with that ... :-)

grace & peace

This was what was in our front yard looked like EARLY this morning. I dragged the Crepe Myrtle (sp?) off the driveway to let the tow truck pull in to load up the car last night ... it was squarely across the driveway after the car took it out... happened just before 1 AM, and thankfully both girls inside were fine. The car apparently slid across our front yard sideways, hit the crepe myrtle, and then when they hit the timber on the edge of the driveway it flipped -- missing both marker posts at the end of the driveway as well as the bucket o' flowers near the head of the driveway on the church side. The car ended up right side up, both front tires deflated, in reverse, engine running. The airbags deployed, and I THINK they were both wearing their seatbelts ...

(left) the car ended up in the background -- top right of the picture -- the dark patches in the grass -- nose down in the ditch, perpendicular to the road.

(right) I can't quite figure out how the two sets of tracks were made ... anyone got any ideas?

(below) The long shot -- from where the car first went off the road on the right side (seems there was some critter in the road that they tried to avoid hitting), overcorrected, and spun over onto the left side. Good thing nobody was coming in the other direction.

Of such things ...

Our children graced us with a "romantic evening dinner lunch" today. Caleb and Judson dressed up in white shirts and dark pants, (caleb wore a vest and was the cook), Hannah also dressed up as the hostess, and Judson provided the entertainment. the menu offered a wonderful selection -- PB&J with chips, Club sandwich with chips, turkey sandwich and chips, baloni [sic] and chips; snack special: flavored pretzels; drinks: milk, ice water, coca-cola, gingerale; Chips: BBQ chips, Corn chips; Deserts: Cookies.

They set up the living room as the dining room, the piano bench became an intimate little bistro table for two, two stools from the coffee table downstairs became our chairs ... and candles ... they set up a candle on the table, and beside the table another higher table with another bunch of candles on it.

Leslie selected the PB&J, I chose the sub sandwich with turkey and cheese and mayonnaise, and we both had barbeque chips. For refreshment, we selected the Emmerton Well '06 (chilled), but opted for no 'desert'.

During the meal, Hannah serenaded us with 'I'll Love You Forever', by Paul McCartney and John Lennon (I think), and Judson did a more dynamic performance which included a couple of flying leaps onto the couch (the second AFTER he'd been told not to do it again).

Oh. Did I mention both boys had mustaches? (They're coming off now ... they are both in the tub)

Of such things are precious memories made.

Oh God please help us not to forget them!

grace & peace

Hard to believe we're already two weeks into the new year.

Update since last post: Annie Lee Coates passed away on Thursday the 29th of December. We were in Kentucky on vacation, but in touch with the family. We had already planned on coming back to Virginia Beach on Friday to spend New Year's with Leslie and her family. Three other area Pastors were asked to lead the funeral, so I drove up for the visitation on Saturday evening, and then back down to Va Beach to ring in the new year with the family.

We went to Thalia Lynn on Sunday morning. It was good to see all the folks who helped form us and give us ministry experience (even though sometimes they didn't know it) :-). The message was good. I needed to hear it. About asking God, not being AFRAID to ask God for things. Need to remember that God is not only GOD, but Daddy as well.

While I was here on New Year's eve, I stopped to visit another member who'd been getting progressively worse over the last couple of months. I'm glad I did. I got the call Sunday morning from one of her sons letting me know that she'd passed away as well.

We got back late Sunday night, and Monday and Tuesday were spent working out the details and preparing for and carrying out her funeral. Wednesday we did a quick study in Philemon, and Thursday we had a Sunday School Council meeting as well as a Youth Committee meeting.

I'm sitting here putting down calendar events and not what I had hoped this would have been originally -reflections on events that happen. Celebrated communion this past Sunday, and took it to one of our shut-ins yesterday. There are a couple of others to whom I'll be taking it next week.

Oh! Caleb!

Caleb had a headache that started last friday, and it kept coming back and kept coming back... Monday Leslie took him to the Doctor, and she gave him a shot for the pain, and recommended that if the headache persisted we should take him to the hospital. It did, and we did, on Tuesday evening. He got a CT of his head, and discovered that his synuses (sp?) are small, and deep in his head, and filled with fluid ... apparently enough so as to cause the headaches. The Doctor said there was nothing that could be done for THAT directly, but to treat the symptoms. So we sent some children's motrin with him to school the next day, along with a permission slip so the nurse could give him some if he needed it. She DID give him some on both Wednesday and Thursday, and it DID stop the pain. I'm not looking forward to the bill from that CT. We HAVE insurance, but it's not very good... and we've just sent in the application to change it to what will hopefully prove to be a better provider.

more later.

grace & peace

Interesting last 24 hours. Drove to Kilmarnock for the visitation for Ralph Dameron, Hilda (Bronner), our organist's brother. It was pouring rain and COOLLD. After the visitation was done, I drove on down to White Stone to spend a few minutes with a couple of the guys there, then headed back home. Got back shortly before 10.

Watched a little TV, went to bed, and got a call at 2:20 from Jose and Patricia, who just had their son a week ago this past Saturday (C-section). She was having some awful pains in her abdomen. Met them in front of El Charrito, and they followed me to Riverside's ER. Pulled in at 3 AM sharp. She got a CT scan, and then had an ultrasound to confirm, but they found her to have gallstones. She didn't need to be operated immediately, but it IS somewhere in the relatively near future. Her potassium level was low, so they gave her 3 bags of it ... each took 2 hrs to drain ... we ended up leaving the hospital about 11:00 ... got home shortly before noon -- I stopped to visit Miss Annie at WHCC, she's had a rough week. But then, every week is a wonder, really, considering she is 104 years old.

Got home, threw together the Woo Stew with a TON of help (chopping) from Soozin, and then jumped in the shower and headed down to Ottoman to Corrotoman Baptist Church for Ralph's funeral. Then got home shortly before 4 and got to work cleaning up the study -- actually finished doing the last things i WAS going to do to it shortly AFTER start time for the open house, 6PM. The last folks just left about a half hour ago, maybe a little more. Had a wonderful evening, and the Woo Stew (otherwise known as the beef vegetable stew i made that got Leslie's attention -- hence, i WOOED her with the STEW) turned out pretty darn good, even if i DO say so myself.

the top picture is from the front end of the hall looking towards the back and right side, the second is from the back end looking forwards.

This past Sunday evening we celebrated Las Posadas with about 130 folks from our local hispanic community. The plan originally was to serve the meal here at the parsonage, but more practical minds prevailed and we hosted the gathering in the fellowship hall over at church. It made things a LOT easier, in terms of serving, seating, and cleanup, but it also gave people a chance to sit and visit and not be cramped into the space they were sitting in. Had SEVERAL folks there we've either never seen before or had only seen briefly in passing at other occassions or in other locations. At the end of the meal, I read the Nativity story from the Gospel of Luke, and led in prayer of thanksgiving for the gift of God's son, our Savior. It was a precious, precious evening.

We're in Virginia Beach, spending Thanksgiving with Donald and Angela and Scott & Becky and the kids. We got away a little later than originally planned, but hey, what else is new?

I'm taking advantage of the broadband connection here to update software on the laptops (both ours and the church's) and also get some software (freeware) to update what we have on the home computer.

Tomorrow I'm looking forward to ... Scott's going to fry a turkey. oooooh.... :-)

grace & peace 

On Sunday, the 6th of November, Jerusalem Baptist Church (Emmerton) Warsaw, ordained Leslie M. Park to the Gospel Ministry.

It was a truly joyous occasion, with approximately 150 people (both Anglos and Hispanics) present. The service was conducted bilingually, and we had a combined choir that sang "In Moments like These" (En Momentos Asi) in English, then in Spanish, then together in whichever was one's heart language.

The Charge to the candidate was given by the Rev. Karen Park, and the charge to the Community of Faith was given by the Rev. Kenny Park.

Taking part in the service were Helen Schools, director of the WMU (who brought the recommendation before the church initially) Donald K. Maccubbin and Hannah M. Park, Leslie's father and daughter, and Felix & Raquel Dominicci, who were Leslie's Sunday School teachers her senior year in High School at her home church, Thalia Lynn, in Virginia Beach. The ordination prayer was brought by Rev. J. Kenneth Park, father in law of the candidate. The laying on of hands began with all ordained deacons and ministers, 48 in all, from both Rappahannock Baptist Association Churches and from other Churches in the community, and continued with an open invitation to the gathered.

It's been an altogether odd week. There've been good moments, and even days, but there's something going on ... i suspect it's just the change of the seasons, and the accompanying funk, but ... who knows ... could have something to do with the business meeting we had at church on wednesday and the pastoral evaluation forms, which are trickling in ...

The kids got their report cards this past thursday. Hannah and Caleb got all A's. Judson got all E's and S's ... the equivalent, i suppose, for 1st graders.

Not sure .... glad its saturday ... looking forward to tomorrow's encuentro ... the folks who come are going to do a lot of the cooking ... they're actually looking for someone to slaughter a goat ... THAT'S gonna be interesting ...

more later ... who knows, i MAY get the sermon done before midnight ... but then ... the monkeys would scare me pretty bad...

We went to Farnham Manor today, as we usually do on the third Sunday of the month, for an afternoon worship/devotional time. There were only a few residents there, but we had a sweet time with them. It is a special time to be able to share with them, sing and pray with them.

This was the during the 'free time' at the beginning of the afternoon. Leslie started giving ESL classes (that's her - lower right - in the blue).

We held an Encuentro (Gathering) at Kilmarnock Church yesterday afternoon/evening. There were a little more than 30 people there. Served communion (you can just see the elements between the boom for the piano light and the sheet music), and that is always a moving time. It went a little longer, I think, than usual ... although the devotional time seems to be getting longer as the weeks go by. We just enjoy BEING together.

You are Charlie Brown!

Which Peanuts Character are You?
brought to you by

All of the extended Park clan who was able to attend Mom & Dad's 50th anniversary reception at the beginning of July in Louisville. From Left to right, going strictly by location -- nobody is DIRECTLY beneath someone else, so here goes: Judson Park, Caleb Park, Leslie Park, Benjamin Martin, Hannah Park, me, James Kenneth Park, Laura Park, Emma Martin, Divina Park, Becky Martin, Elizabeth Kapuscinski, Bill Martin, Jacques Kapuscinski, Aaron Kapuscinski, Karen Park, Johnathan Martin. Not present: Jimmy Park (a long commute - he lives in Osorno, Chile, so he's only MOSTLY excused) :-)

On a separate note: regarding the backpack distribution in August and the beginning of September, we distributed 191 backpacks altogether.

" … we were driving by the church and the cemetery this morning and noticed the black cat and the pumpkin on a grave, and we’re, really, am- ... you know, upset that in a Christian graveyard we would have these things that represent the goblins and the ghosts and the evil things that are out before all saint’s day on November the 1st, it’s none of my business at all, but it really, it really struck a bad note in our mind, and I just wanted to make a comment that uh, I know that the graveyard is connected with the church, and as Christians, I feel real bad about us playing up things that are of the devil. I just wanted, I don’t mean to be ugly or anything like that, but I just did want to make that statement. Thank you very much."

The message was left on our voice mail yesterday afternoon. The woman may have identified herself at the beginning of her message, but had already started speaking before the message began recording, so there were no identifying remarks on the message. We do have callerID. They are not members of our congregation, but do live nearby.

It struck something. While I can, on one level, understand where she's coming from, by the same token, it needs to be noted that the person doing the decorating is a woman who has lost the love of her life, and is alone, and is in the habit of decorating her husband's grave whatever the season or holiday. She spends time at the grave also. I don't go out there when she's there, but it does appear that she is talking to her husband.

The long and short of it is, people deal with grief in their own way. I think we should allow as much room and grace as possible for her to do that.

Grace & peace

this was the back of the van -- with the rear seat removed, when leslie got back on monday from picking them up.  

it's backpack distribution time! we've collected close to a hundred backpacks, and today we gave out the first two - Brenda and Cristal. It has been overwhelming again - to see the generosity of the churches here in the association as well as back in Virginia Beach - Thalia Lynn collected and filled 54 backpacks - one more than they did last year! :-) It's all good.  

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This is a test.

This is only a test of blogger for word.

If this had been an actual post, it would have contained insightful and relevant commentary.  

As it is, this is not that different from other posts on this site. (

Grace & peace

for a quick reference. took this picture the day we arrived, june 13th, in the evening. before any of the work started. whatever plant that is that was growing in front is still there, we had to trim it down to do the work, but Norberto told me last night that it was already growing back when he left. hopefully it will be back in full swing by next year.  

Saw Norberto and Isidra yesterday at the encuentro. They brought me a roll of film that they took just before leaving Mexico to come here, with pictures they took of Romualda's house. I didn't know they were going to paint it, but it looks AWESOME!!!

They went ahead and painted the interior. Painting the exterior MAY be something we can do next year ... but we'll have to wait and see... she may have gotten to it by then ... or not. It's not unusual for folks to leave the exterior unpainted, but concentrate on making the interiors beautiful.

A merged picture of Norberto and Gumaro doing the finishing work on the floor of the storefront room.
Don't ask about the VW bus out in the street with the flat tire. At first I thought it was from the place where the doors were made, but something tells me it wasn't, and I haven't asked yet. I'll let you know when I know.

Saw Isidra yesterday. Stopped by in the afternoon, just to say hi and welcome back and give her a hug. They arrived this past Wednesday morning, worked Thursday, but there weren't enough crabs for them to work on Friday. So she was trying to busy herself by washing clothes and getting the house in order. They brought pictures. Here they are.

DONE!!!

I called and spoke to Victor, Norberto and Isidra's oldest son, this afternoon. He told me that they finished everything. Romualda will be able to move in in the next few days!

Norbert and Isidra were at their Visa interview when I called. If all goes well, they will be arriving next week sometime.

Grace & Peace

Kenny

As Of Today

The finishing touches were being done on the bedroom - Valentin was there working on getting all the light fixtures and electrical outlets installed, and the doors and window will be the last things to go on. that should be done by the end of the week.

Norberto and Isidra got word last week that they need to get things in order to come up to Virginia to work, so they are scrambling to get THAT ready as well as have the building completed for Romualda.

Please pray that these last few days and last few items wrap up smoothly, and that Romualda and Guadalupe can move into their new rooms without too many hassles.

grace & peace

Kenny

the finished product ...

On Tuesday the 28th of June and Wednesday the 29th, the guys came back to Chimalhuacan to get ready for and assist in the pouring of the roof. The actual pouring was done by a small team of men (3, i think) who 'came with' the cement mixer we rented for the day.

Day 11: Mission ProjectReport for the RBA EXECOM

Dear RBA -

Again, my first word to you is thanks from the bottom of my heart for the blessing it is to be a part of this ministry.

The last two weeks have been amazing.

The project IS going to be completed, but we're not going to be here to see it finished. We've got all the walls up and completed (or will have, by the end of today), and the team will probably begin preparations to pour the roof either tomorrow or on Monday. That has been one of the many REALLY COOL things about the way the trip has progressed. The 5 men who work in White Stone have been here working with us, and have done the lion's share of the work. And when i asked Valetin if it would be within their abilities to come back and help Norberto finish the job, both next week and two weeks after that, when the roof is cured, he told me he was already thinking in that direction.

Don Bell, a member of Thalia Lynn church in Virginia Beach (Leslie's home church) and an independent contractor, has also done wonders with replacing the gate and front fence - something that was not in the original plans, but which has come together from existing lumber we had available from inside the old structure. He has also done a lot of the breaking up of the two previously existing floors (with a sledgehammer) and the hauling of the STUFF we dug out to a nearby lot for dumping (and back, we needed some for filler).

This past Sunday we had a Gathering here at The Manzano Arellanes' family home, where we've been staying, and had about 12 or 13 people in attendance. Romualda and her youngest daughter Cristina and her son Guadalupe came. We flipped the regular routine around a little, and started with the devotional/worship time. I read from Matthew 7, where Jesus spoke about the wise man who built his house on the rock, and the foolish man who built HIS on sand. I learned something about foundations last week. the building we tore down did not have one. it was a fairly substantial structure, but it came down pretty quickly. The foundations we dug and the footers we poured would suppport up to a three-story building (if and when Romualda gets to that point ... who knows?). It was a lesson to me to know that OUR plans are for a single story, fairly simple structure, but we have no idea what the potential for the family or for the structure is. We don't know what God has in store.

So in a way it is ENTIRELY appropriate that WE will not see the project finished, that we only have the promise that it will get done. We are part of the process, we're not the beginning of it nor the end of it. There's a Kingdom aspect to that that makes sense, and helps me have a clearer understanding of what being a part of the Kingdom is.

Romualda has been exceptionally gracious and hospitable to a crew of 6 and 7 strangers who've invaded her property and disrupted her routine. She is always asking us if she can serve us some fruit juice (if the day is hot) or coffee (if the day is cool, as it is today) or something to eat (if it's been more than 30 minutes since we last snacked). She has a ready smile, and is constantly thanking us for what we are doing. I remind her that it was not our idea, that it was prompted by Isidra and Norberto on our visit in January.

At the end of the gathering on Sunday, as we were saying good night, she couldn't say enough about the meeting. In fact, she said that it was the first time she had ever felt the presence of God.

We may have witnessed the first meeting of the first baptist church of the Ciudad Alegre neighborhood (the Happy City), Chimalhuacan, Mexico.

We pull out of here tomorrow morning around 11 (noon Emmerton time), fly out of the airport at 2:00, and arrive in Atlanta at 6:24, then we have about an hour and twenty minutes to get our bags and go through customs before boarding our flight (678) for Richmond, which is scheduled to arrive at 9:20.

Please pray for traveling mercies, and for seeds planted, and for lives touched and transformed (including our own) and I look forward to seeing you all on our return.

Grace & Peace

Kenny

ps: please say a prayer for Guadalupe. today is his 13th birthday.

a merged view taken from above and behind - i climbed up on the existing room to look through some lumber that was there to see if there was any that could be used for what we were doing.

please note: the back wall is NOT bowed, it is simply what happened to the line of the building when the software merged the three pictures.

chimalhuacan: day ten 5:27 PM (Mexico DF time)

progress notes: the wallls are done. the bricks have been laid across the tops of the door and window spaces, we still have to complete the space across the front where the rolling door is going to go, but the cross braces are up, and we'll have them poured by the end of the day, i think. tomorrow we will finish purchasing or ordering the supplies needed to complete the job, and Valentin and the rest of the guys will be returning Sunday evening to work through the first part of next week at least, to finish pouring either the floor or the roof (not sure which just yet). then, two weeks after THAT is done, they will come back to do the finishing work. Don is closing in the remainder of the gate and front fence, and it's going to look REALLY nice. Norberto and i will be ordering the door and windown and roll-up door for the store tomorrow as well. those will be the remaining big-ticket itmes.

breezy and cloudy, had a few drops this morning, might get a few more this afternoon.

your prayers are felt, welcomed, and coveted.

grace & peace

Kenny

At the end of the day, Don and I stopped in after returning from downtown DF. The walls seemed to have sprung up. Now we just needed to wait for it to dry some overnight.

chimalhuacan: day nine 6:35 PM (Mexico DF time)

progress notes: all five walls are practically finished. one of them has the horizontal support rebar in place, and we'll pour that tomorrow. we'll go talk to the door people about making and delivering and installing the rolling door and delivering the regular door and window.

spent the day in downtown mexico city. scouring the socalo for some stuff ... almost worn out more from the bus ride (and metro ride) to and from than the walking we did around downtown. but it's all good.

ate an early supper from leftovers from lunch - nopal in green sauce with chicken and mexican rice. mmmm. delicious.

the day has been cool. it rained just a little as we were coming home, and is still spitting a little bit, but not enough to stop work. the guys will probably be wrapping up in the next half hour to forty-five minutes and head back here to relax the rest of the evening.

Isidra decided to order pizza tonight for supper. we'll be going to pick it up.

Gumaro (l) and Domingo (c) mixing mortar for Margarito (r) as the wall goes up.

chimalhuacan: day eight 11:31 AM (Mexico DF time)

it's another sunny day here in chimalhuacan. 4 of the guys came back from Tlaxcala last night, and we're heavy into laying bricks. half the middle wall is up, the front right wall is almost complete, and we're working on the left front wall ... at the rate we're going, we may finish putting up the walls today and be able to start on the support columns and ceiling tomorrow.

yay!

Romualda (with Guadalupe next to her) shared with the group during our devotional time.

chimalhuacan: day seven 10:32 PM (Mexico DF time)

The encuentro here saw about 12 people gathered in the living room of the Manzano Arellanes family. Romualda and her daughter Cristina, and Juan Guadalupe were here, as well as a family friend of Norberto's and several other women and girls. opened with prayer, and singing. after going through most of the songs on the songsheet, we read scripture -- matthew 7 - where Jesus spoke of the wise man and the foolish man building their houses on the rock and sand, respectively. tied in well with the experiences of the week.

spoke about the Kingdom and how that is not only then and there, but here and now. Jesus never defined the Kingdom in propositional phrases, but always in parables. examples of the kingdom ... and explored how the events surrounding this trip are a picture of the Kingdom.

Afterwards, we ate these tostada things that had chicken and cream and onions and stuff ... REALLY good.

as i headed upstairs after excusing myself, Romualda stopped me at the foot of the stairs and thanked me again for what we are doing, and for the time we'd just had to share, and told me that this was the first time she'd ever felt the presence of God.

whew.

no pressure there or anything.

grace & peace

here they are! i can't WAIT to see them on friday!  

chimalhuacan: day seven 10:32 AM (Mexico DF time)

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!

i got a picture from Leslie and the kids. the three of them, each holding a piece of paper - with the word 'happy' 'father's' and 'day' on them.

what an incredible gift!

the post got interrupted, because we had to run down to the main drag here and buy lunch - barbacoa - Bar-b-que - but MUTTON ... really good stuff, but pretty greasy ... may or may not report on any significant side effects later. :-)

getting ready for the encuentro this afternoon.

it is HOT and there is little if any breeze ... hoping that will change before the day is out.

grace & peace

chimalhuacan: day six 6:44 PM (Mexico DF time)

Norberto got in about midnight last night, done with the recording sessions that were going to occupy him yesterday and today, and unaware that the guys had left last night to return tomorrow. he knocked on our door at 7:30 this morning and asked us if we wanted to work today. so we did. helped him lay brick pretty much all day. meaning, we mixed mortar, hauled bricks, hauled sand and cement and ... cal ... whatever that is in english ... STILL not sure what it translates to. but whatever it is, it's a white powder. when i went to dump out the bag of cement, i'd already emptied the bag of cal but the bag slipped out of my hands and landed on the pile of dry mix. of course it went everywhere. kinda fun ... there for a minute my shoes were the color they were when i first bought them. :-)

the high point of the day was Romualda feeding us both the noontime lunch and the 4 PM lunch. she was frustrated because she hadn't been able to do more for the crew during the week, mostly due to her limited income. she couldn't afford to feed 7 men. when it turned out today that there were only three of us working, she decided to surprise us and fix the two meals for us. they were both delicious. the green sauce she cooked the chicken in this evening was incredible - tomatillos and cilantro, a littel bit of onion, some garlic, and all blended together. wonderful taste.

looking forward (with not a little anxiety) to what God has for us at the gathering tomorrow evening at 5 (central time, 6 eastern).

Don just stopped in at the door to say 'later gator, i'm going to a ball game!' ... wish you could have seen the look on his face. :-)

grace & peace

chimalhuacan: day five 9:27 PM (Mexico DF time)

the guys just left. Lucio won't be coming back. He's got a previous engagment that is going to keep him home. Gumaro's son may be accompanying the rest of the men back.

After we said our goodbyes we had prayer together in a circle, next to the car. As we gathered, Lucio made the comment that he was thinking that something was missing. it is a precious time WHENEVER i can pray for these men, and it was a wonderful opportunity to thank God for the way they have really been heroes for me this week. they've shown what it means to follow Christ and love God.

So it looks like we'll be able to use the weekend to recuperate and gather strength for the final stretch beginning on monday.

Bless them O God, as they travel, keep them safe, and alert, and attentive to other drivers on the road.

grace & peace

Kenny

chimalhuacan: day five 5:44 PM (Mexico DF time)

the sun is out today. REALLY out. well, actually the cloud cover has increased to where we're shaded right now, but for most of the day -until we broke for lunch around 3, there were clouds, but none were overhead. the sun was almost a physical presence ... it makes you want to run for cover, find shade, hibernate. Siesta isn't so much a custom as it is a survival instinct. we got the middle wall footer dug and poured, and Margarito started laying bricks. he's the only one of us besides Norberto who knows how to. so the rest of us find things to do. Don ran a wire from the outside light on the back building across and along the wall to the new entryway, and connected it so that anytime Romualda or any of the family needs to go outside at night the length of the lot will be lit. we had some cement mix left over after pouring the footer, so we poured it onto the floor under the new gate, and angled it up to the row of bricks that extend across the internal courtyard, so Romualda and Mari won't have to wrestle the tricycle over that step when they bring it back in.

Norberto has been gone most of the day to the recording session that's been scheduled for the last month, and he'll be gone tomorrow as well. Valentin and the rest of the guys will be leaving tonight to head back to their respective homes for the weekend, and will return on Sunday evening so we can get back to work on Monday morning.

In conversation a couple of nights ago with Norberto and Isidra i found out that we're basically only going to be able to get the shell of the building done before WE head back. we're pouring the ceiling, and it has to cure for at least two full weeks before the supporting timbers can be removed, and THAT is when the wiring can be run and the floors poured. :-(

not that i'm unhappy about that. it is amazing how far we've come in the four days we've worked. i think there's even a chance that we might get the rest of the walls laid and the ceiling poured BEFORE next thursday ... but i won't count my chickens before they hatch. at the rate the guys are working, it's within reach.

Isidra has been feeding us delicious food. INTERESTING at times, but delicious nonetheless. with it just being Don and me from north of the border, she's much more at ease fixing traditional mexican fare for all of us. she confessed this afternoon at lunch that, in thinking about a team of six AMERICANS coming down, she was wigging out over WHAT she was going to be able to prepare that we would have EATEN. :-)

gonna check on the guys. Don and i stayed here at the house and rested this afternoon. we were dragging this morning, and the heat took whatever *i* had left out of me ... i asked the guys if it would be okay if i stayed here when they left after lunch, and they were fine with it. they realized that i'd just be standing around.

more later.

grace & peace

chimalhuacan: day four 10:47 PM (Mexico DF time)

it's bedtime. we're tired. we went back to work until almost 8... had to finish pouring the footers for the outside walls, it started to sprinkle on us but thank goodness it didn't turn into anything heavier. tomorrow we break through two floors and dig the footer for the middle wall, and hopefully we'll be able to fill it in as well... we shall see. there's a chance that we'll start laying bricks as well.

listen to me ... saying "we'll do this and we"ll do that ..." like i'm actually DOING some of the stuff ... the distribution of labor is PRETTY uneven, with me getting the lighter stuff ... i guess i still AM involved in this ... yeah ... i guess it might not be happening at all if we hadn't come here in january ... so okay. it IS we after all.

it's late. we're tired. i'm going to bed.

grace & peace

chimalhuacan: day four 4:10 PM

the day is going well. don is working on rebuilding the gate, and the guys are mixing concrete and pouring the footers. i've been able to haul several wheelbarrowfulls of sand and rocks back and forth, from their respective piles to the place where they are needed. i helped valentin twist ties to hold the forms together, and have done some buying of supplies as needed. the man at the hardware store and i are becoming close friends. it's a good thing --being able to open up and explain why we're here. good conversations.

i spent an hour this morning counseling a friend of Isidra's about some unhealthy family dynamics. she's asked me to speak to her son this evening. please pray for me as i approach that.

it's been a heavy cloud cover all day, so the weather has been REALLY good to us - even though it rained yesterday evening, we weren't at a point in the work where it was going to harm us or the construction. right now some of the cloud cover looks like it might bring some rain, but i think we'll be okay even if it does come down a little more. dust control is much easier that way. :-)

grace & peace

chimalhuacan: day three

today dawned cloudy. it was even a bit cool. the work was pretty hard from the git-go. had to bust up concrete, then dig down about 2 feet - through the underlying, original floor, laid down when Romualda and her husband first built on the lot, 10 years ago (or something like that). i was able to do SOME of it, but not a whole lot. between the 5 guys, norberto, and isidra insisting that i not work too hard, i'm pretty much relegated to do support work. i WAS able to paint the forms (small wooden palletts used to hold the cement in place while it hardens) with used motor oil, so the cement won't stick to them. which felt good. we have ... 50 or so, maybe a few more, and i was using a broom without the handle for the most part. then don walked over and commented that he really wished he had the handle to it, it would be a lot easier to do. well, i had watched norberto remove the handle, and took the broom head from him and started to do the painting bent over, figuring he knew what he was doing. and it WORKED, to be sure, it was just harder on my back than it might have been otherwise. don and i got into this groover thing where he would swab them down and i would haul them around and stack them inside the neighboring lot's wall. after a couple ... well, more like 4 or 5 times, of carrying the forms over my head and having used motor oil drip onto me, i decided to carry them at my side. :-)

supper last night was stuffed chicken breasts and cole slaw, tortillas and salsa ... but SERIOUS salsa ...at least to me and don ... it hardly merrited comment from the guys and the manzano family.

grace & peace

chimalhuacan: day two

the day started relatively early. sunny. sunny like you wouldn't believe. that was a good thing. the morning was actually slightly crisp. the bedroom cooled off as the night wore on to the point where i had to pull the comforter up over me to stay warm.

we started right in on demolishing the old structure. it was a lot more substantial than i remembered it being. we got the roof off and kept the corrugated sheets to use in other places, we took apart the wood framing and spent some time getting the nails out and stacking the wood, in case we could use it somewhere else as well. then we started to tear down the walls. as we were doing that, we realized that the bricks were still for the most part usable, so we started stacking them -- clearing off the mortar as well as we could and stacking them. we actually got a lot further than i thought we would --to the point of beginning to dig the footers for the new walls. we broke at about 11 for a late morning snack, then at about 3 for lunch, then back to work at 4, and wrapped up about ... 6:30, i guess. had to close off the front to keep people out who might have less than pure motives in getting onto the property.

wished romualda and juan guadalupe a restful night, and came back to the manzano's and pretty much collapsed. everyone was tired. had a late dinner around 9 or so. (did i mention that lunch was tripe soup? i just didn't think about what i was eating, and it was fine. Don gave it a try, but ended up eating most of the macaroni and cheese that Isidra made in case we didn't like it.

saying grace over dinner gave me a chance to thank God for what I will be thanking folks in the Northern Neck for for a long time coming --the opportunity to DO this --to BE here ... to show God´s love and grace to not just romualda, but everyone that comes by the lot ...and believe me, there are TONS of people who walk past each day.

grace & peace

at the end of each day we had to close off the property - to discourage strangers from wandering onto it. The 3 dogs would probably have done as good a job, but just in case ...