Loving it!

I am in such a good mood and I think that's because, for one, God has answered even some of the smallest prayers I have had, and also because I opened my e-mail to e-mails from several roommates. It's such a blessing to have friends back home who I truly love and trust and pray for me and I cannot wait to get back to them!

It has been less than a week and I already feel more comfortable speaking. I'm starting to love Pancho Mateo and I find it pretty easy to talk to kids and somewhat less difficult to talk to adults. Today we sat in at least three different people's homes. One woman who runs a small little shop where we get juice from insisted we come inside so we just sat in her living room and drank our juice while she kept working. When we got up to leave, she said, "This is your house!" I just love little things like that.

One of the hardest things I have seen so far I saw in Pancho Mateo today. There is a man who is paralyzed because he fell from a tree about fourteen years ago. He lies on his front porch on his stomach in a cot because recently he has contracted what his family believes is amoebic dysentary, which basically means he has some sort of parasite that is stopping him from keeping any of his food down. The way they "treat" this is pretty much to give him diapers, and they claim that the diapers gave him what is now keeping him from lying on his back--this huge sore/rash on his lower back. The worst part was that he was literally all bones. By far this is the skinniest man I have ever seen--there is no way that he is that thin just because of a recent sickness; it looks like years of undernourishment. It doesn't make sense though because both his father and sister were caring for him constantly. The sore on his back looks like those that are common for AIDS victims, so we think that it might be something more than just dysentary that is affecting him. Luckily, there are some American doctors around that we might be able to get in contact with, just to bring a fresh opinion as he has already been to the hospital here in town.

The old woman that Chris, Holly and I talked to yesterday let Barrett, Leticia and I sit on her porch to eat our lunches today. She had at least five other family members sitting around, and this woman just starts praying out loud. For at least five minutes, maybe more. I mean, she prayed for EVERYTHING. Her family, the world, the country, her village. It was amazing. I have never prayed like that. I can't even describe it, this poor woman with such faith. I hope I get to spend more time with her!

I have a pretty bad headache. If you are praying for my team and me, please pray that we will continue to build our community and to love and serve each other as a family. Pray for our group from the Austin Stone that is here this week, that God would be teaching and using them! And pray that God would keep me healthy and motivated and spending time with him, because I am going to crash if I don't!

Finally, some pictures! They are (1) the view from my balcony at the Makarios house, (2) a child in Pancho Mateo doing what every kid does outside the school house, (3) a view of the river that the villagers bathe, wash clothes and dishes, and throw their trash and sewage in, (4) me taking a nap next to the basketball court with some girls, (5) and me with some kids from Pancho Mateo and Sara, Rose's daughter. I'm putting all my pictures up on Facebook so feel free to look at those as well. Mom and Dad, this would be a good time to get Facebook!