The Rainy Season Has Come :)

Well, I think the dry season has officially ended. :) We have had lots of rain and several nice, big thunderstorms. I love a good storm! The power usually goes here along with the phone, the internet, and everything else. I always enjoy watching the storm and the quiet that it brings when all the distractions and busy work has to stop because there is no electricity and internet. It's also much nicer for sleeping at night since it cools everything down and it has been incredibly hot until now. March is the hottest month of the year in El Salvador. The seasons are reversed from the US here, so I am looking forward to winter in El Salvador. No, there is no snow. :)

They're called Veranera. They have tiny little flowers in the middle of the big flowers!

A lot of the children have been sick this week and we have all been passing it around. We had a lot of quiet mornings with only a few children since the rest were at home sick. The children in the afternoon have been pretty healthy so far. I'm praying that we will all be healthy this coming week. Being sick hasn't kept us from enjoying ourselves though. :)

Anderson in the middle of a serious bridge building operation. 

Dayana and Rosme discussing the book they just read. 

Matia playing with the kids. He is with Rosme who likes to call him "Daddy."

The children have learned several Bible verses. They make me laugh when we come to the time to say our verses because they get so excited they all start saying, "en el principio, en el principio!" which means "in the beginning, in the beginning!" That is the first verse they learned and they are very good at saying it now. They are also very picking up on some of the English phrases we have been practicing. We play a game where each child pulls an object out of a bag and has to say what color it is. The ones who pull out the special designated color for the day have to put up with being tickled. :) We change the special color all the time so they never know which one it will be. This game causes lots of laughter - it's definitely a favorite!

Olman trying on my flip flops. He thinks he's very funny.

Last week as we were discussing the progress of each child and the ways that we can better help each one, I realized that at least 15 of the 28 children that we have had come to the center do not have an active father in their life. Right now about 24 of those children are still actively coming to the center, but that still leaves us with more than half of the children who are missing a father. For several of these children, their mothers are absent too because they are away working to support their children. It hurts that these children suffer in that way, but it is a joy to be able to try to help them and show them that our Lord is a Father to the fatherless. God's love is such a precious gift for all of us. Please keep us in your prayers! As always, thank you, thank you for remembering us and supporting us. Your support is a great encouragement to me and a huge help to these children!