Christmas in the Dominican

I love Christmas. It really is the best time of the year. For the last 23 years I have spent Christmas at 5713 Browntown Road. And for the last decade or so I have gone to Gatlinburg with my extended family before Christmas. This year was a little different. Yes, I absolutely missed being with my family in the United States but I could not help but realized how blessed I am.

Most traditions in this country come from a Catholic background. There are not a huge number of practicing Catholics but most people claim that they are. So the big celebration here is on “Noche Buena” or what we call Christmas Eve. They usually have a big dinner with lots of family. I got invitations from several of my Dominican family to spend Christmas Eve with them. We already had plans for our team to spend that night together so I could not take them up on their offer but it truly was uplifting.

One night, I think it was the 23rd, three of my best Dominican friends came over and spent the night at my house. Carlos, Cristopher and Overlin came and stayed up almost all night hanging out, watching movies and just enjoying the Christmas vacation. When they were here I told them something that was on my heart that day. I had been missing my Perry family a lot that day because I could not be in Gatlinburg with them but I was so glad that I had family here with me to spend Christmas with. God bless those boys.

Christmas Eve I ate a lot. I had a Dominican Christmas meal with our two Children’s Home workers then dinner with Norm, Kevin, and the three Menas.

Christmas Day I got up thinking I was going to have to go to the airport, but was relieved of that job. So, I stayed in Bobita all day. I drank my Christmas flavored coffee (thank you Trent and Micah) I watched Christmas movies all day long (thank you mom and dad) I worked on my new Harry Potter puzzle (thank you Nikki) and spent the day with the kids. It was by far the most different Christmas day of my life but I was blessed to have friends around to share it with.

I hope that all of you had a very Merry Christmas too.

Oh and I am pretty upset that the first white Christmas in Chattanooga since the 60’s came the first year of my life that I was not there. But no hard feelings.

God,

Thank you for this time of year. Fairfax brought in the Christmas spirit with their group. The second Magi group only strengthened that. And, my Dominican family topped it off. I am truly blessed to be where I am and have such amazing people in my life.

Bless Carlos, Cristopher and Overlin. Thank you for the time I was able to spend with them. I pray that our relationship comes from you and you use me to help guide those boys into a life with you.

Thank you for my Perry family. I missed them the most and wish I could have been with them. They have done so much for me in my life I can not thank them enough.

Thank you for my family. It was a weird Christmas for us but we are blessed just to have each other.

I love you everyday!

As Magi ends

Our Christmas Magi Season has ended.

It went super this year. As the Fairfax group left we had a few days to get some stuff done and then we had a very special group come in this past week.

First of all, before that group arrived we had a very encouraging meeting with the local high school. We are trying to work with them in creating this school. The meeting with very well and we are back on track for getting our curriculum worked out for next September.

The second Magi group had a lot of work to do. We did three Magi drops to over 300 children. They handled the fair at Acapulco with only ten of them and did amazing.

I want to personally thank Tommy and Jill Reese, Lynn Mynatt (dad), Lisa and Jill Rhodes, Berneta, Jordan and Jarred Crow, Hoss Ridgeway and Arik Bartlett for coming in here blessing so many kids and truly blessing us.

I am so blessed to have all of you in my life.

I pray that you all have a very Merry Christmas.

God,

Thank you for this season. It is a season of giving and encouragement. Magi went so well this year and I thank you for guiding us through it.

Be with us as we end this season and work hard to get to the next. Help us to lean on you and know you are there for us.

I love you every day!

Magi Week 1

The Christmas season is such a special time of year, and we are privileged enough to have some friends bring us the Christmas spirit every year. The Fairfax church comes to us every December to be a part of the final step in the Magi process.

Every year we receive around one thousand gifts bought and wrapped by people from the United States. These people work with us every year starting in the fall to get these gifts together and get them to us, and then we get to be Santa.

Fairfax brought a group of twenty amazing people this year. Every year we try to improve the process to make it more special for the kids. We put a big task before the Fairfax family and they absolutely lived up to the challenge. We spent a lot of time at our Magi drop locations and really got to have a lot of fun with the kids.

The drops consisted of three parts. The first part was the challenge that Fairfax tackled, and that was a fair. We had seven games set up for each Dominican to play. Some of them were bobbing for passion fruit (apples are a little hard to come here), a three legged race, a balloon stomp, ring toss, and more. The kids has a blast. It was especially fun watching them bob for chinolas. It was a new concept for most of them but they caught on pretty quick.

The second part of our program consisted of Christmas songs sung by the group members and a Christmas story told by one of our missionaries, Porfi. It was special and you could see the Christmas spirit in everyone involved.

The last part was the part all the kids were waiting for, the gifts. It is always so fun to see their faces when they get a gift for Christmas. It is heart breaking to know that our little gift to them might be the only thing they get this year but it does give us joy to bring them a little something every year.

It was a special group and it was our privilege to work beside them this week.

Every night with the groups we always get together for a devotional and people get to share a little about their day. By far the group member most mentioned in these devotionals was Nathan. Nathan helped out in every situation he could possibly help out in. He was Santa’s helper elf passing out the gifts and brought smiles to the faces of so many kids. Nathan is a fifth grader. What a special honor for us to work beside him this week.

Fairfax: Thank you so much for your support. You continue to support us in so many ways and this week was the perfect example of that. I pray that God continues to work through you in the Fairfax area and that He continues to provide us opportunities to work together. Thanks again and I pray that you have a very Merry Christmas.

Dear Lord,

What an amazing week. Thank you for the opportunity to have such an amazing group come in to our ministry here and take the lead on the final part of the Magi process. We pray that all of those 500 or however many kids it was were blessed by those gift and are more able to appreciate the love that you have for them.

I love you every day!

A special Lord's Day

I am sure that today God and his angels were looking down on the Dominican Republic and smiling.

Porfi and Carla were talking just last night about ways to more more intensely talk to the children in the Children's Home of a serious commitment with God. We are doing a lot of things with them which include studying the Bible, trying to speak the Word not only with our words but by our actions in everything that we do, just spending a lot of time with them. But, last night Porfi and Carla were talking about ways to go even deeper with them.

This morning after church we got a surprise that, with so much joy, changed our plans for the day. Wilson came to us and asked when he could be baptized.

Porfi, Wilson and I started talking, and he was ready. We talked about the story of the Ethiopian who Philip studied with. We talked about what baptism means for him and his life. After a few hours of talking and studying about it, we asked the same question that the Ethiopian asked himself “What is stopping you?”. He said nothing. We took him to the river after lunch and Wilson became a part of the body of Jesus Christ.

It was so exciting and I say it again: I know for sure God was looking down on Wilson today and smiling brightly. For a while now we have all noticed something different in Wilson. Since he became the oldest boy in the Children’s Home he has taken on that responsibility and done amazing. He helps around the Children’s Home and sets a great example for the rest of the young boys around him.

After we got back from the river, we all got together and celebrated. We had cake, cokes, we watched a movie, played games, and just had a great time all together. It was truly a day to celebrate what God is doing in the life of Wilson and in the Children’s Home.

We are all so proud and could not have been more excited to spend the day celebrating with Wison.

God,

Thank you for being our Lord and Savior. We are so excited that Wilson has now taken you on as his Savior and Lord.

Bless him. Be with him. Give him strength as he sets out on his journey and walk with you. Help us to be there for him and help him as he is starting a new life.

I love you everyday!

fun with the boys

I love the boys in the Children’s Home and I love getting to spend a lot of time with them. This past SaturdayI got to do just that. We played, we ate, and got hair cuts (not me but them) and just had a lot of fun.

I took the computer over there so that they could take some pictures. They went crazy. They love getting their picture taken. So I have put a few on here.

God,

Thank you for Wilson, Randy, Ariel, Adolfo, Lisandro, and Cristo Daniel. I am just so privileged to be able to spend time with them and be with them. I pray that we are doing exa

ctly what you want for us having these kids here. I pray that Marta, their house mother continues to love on them and give them they

home that they need. Give us strength in raising these boys.

I Love you everyday.

Lisandro

We have a new boy in the Children's Home. His name is Lisandro. Like a lot of Dominicans he also has a nickname that he goes by too, which is Hedwin, but he likes to be called Lisandro. He comes from Gasper Hernandez. He is a precious five year old boy who arrived at the Children's Home on Wednesday. He has no father and no one to properly take care of him so he was brought to the Children's Home for us to take care of him.

Lord,

What an amazing opportunity for us to take in a child and care for him and give him a home. I pray that we are exactly what Lisandro needs right now and I pray that we take care of him with love and wisdom. I pray for Lisando. When I got home Wednesday night I could not help but think how traumatic of a day he was having. He is going through something I can not even imagine. Thank you for this opportunity and give us the strength to take advantage of it.

tomas.

Hello everyone.

I just wanted to post something very short and ask for your prayers. Tomas is headed toward the Hispaniola island, specifically towards Haiti. I honestly do not know why Haiti gets the worst of things when the Dominican Republic sits right here beside Haiti and gets just a few outside symptoms of what happens to Haiti. We are expected to get a lot of rain here on the east side of the island. Pray for us here but please pray that God keep those Haitian people safe.

Lord,

Protect the Haitians from this storm. I selfishly just wish you would turn that storm around and let it disappear into the sea, but I have to believe that you will let you will be done. Keep us safe.

I Love you everyday!

you are special.

Another Saturday and another invite to a Dominican’s home.

This summer I met a lady who is a super special person. Her name is Ana and we had two groups go to visit her for community day this summer. She owner of our secretary, Nubia’s house. But she is more than just her land-lord, she is like a mother to her. She has just recently moved out into the countryside with one of her daughters.

Nubia told me that Ana had invited me to come over at some point, so we went on Saturday.

Saturday before we left I observed a very special encounter between Nubia, our secretary, and one of the street boys from Rio San Juan. His name is Jordan and he has been a part of our ministry for a while. He comes and goes. He has had a tough life and Nubia has been a big encouragement to him. She helps him with his homework, she makes sure that is coming the the events that he can. She is always trying to get him more involved. As she was talking to him she said to him “Eres especial” or “You are special”. I do not know what that meant to that boy right then in that moment, but I know that he needs someone to tell him that he is special. The special thing about it is that this occasion is not the first time I have heard Nubia say these exact words.

There are phrases that stick out in my mind for people that have been inspirational to me, and I know that this one I will not soon forget.

I remember my senior year of high school my English teacher, Laura Lynn Roland would always say as we left class “Have a blessed day”.

After every Spring Sing practice our director, Dottie Frye, would always say “Know that you are loved”

Nubia is a special lady and the special thing about her is that she can see just how special we all are, and she reminds us of that.

Lord,

Thank you Nubia and the reminder that we are all made special, made by you and in your own image. Help me and all of us to remember how special we are. Thank you for the Holy Spirit and the speciality that it brings to us as Christians. Thank you for the special responsibility you have given to us and how special it is that we do not have to be perfect because you fill in where we mess up.

Give us the confidence to know that we are special and the strength to keep fighting for you.

I love you everyday!

dinner with Freddy

While I was in the United States I got an email from Norm telling me that we had been invited to a dinner with some of our Dominican friends.

Yesterday Norm, Kevin, and I went to Freddy’s house. Freddy is a well known man in Rio San Juan who owns a restaurant that we go to a lot. He has been very close to a lot of people in our ministry starting mostly with Holly and TJ McCloud. I got very close to his son, Nobel, the summer that I lived in Rio San Juan. Nobel has since gone to college in Santiago, but I still get to talk with him every once in a while.
Nubia, our secretary, is very good friends with Freddy and family and she was also there last night at our dinner.

There is not a whole lot to say about it. Nothing extremely exciting happened but I do love that family. We got to go out to their house in the country with an amazing view of the ocean. The food, of course was delicious. Who would expect anything different from the owner of a restaurant?

Freddy has an exceptional family. The biggest encouragement I get out of the family is that they do not care what is going on around them, they stick to their believes midst being surrounded by a very worldly city.

God,

Thank you so much for Freddy and his family. Thank you for Nubia and her friendship to us. I am so encouraged to see people in this country who are diligently trying to seek you and and do your divine will, no matter what is going on around them.

Bless them and keep them safe.

I love you everyday.

the states.

Going to the United States is different every time that I go. This time I was not considered to be on “vacation”, I was “working”. The main purpose of our trip was World Mission Workshop, but we used that as an excuse as an opportunity to do other things also.

When I arrived back in the States I spent a few days just winding down and spending time with people that I love.

Some of the people I miss most in the world were right there in Chattanooga waiting for me. I was so anxious to see them and got to on the first night I was there. Greg Moore and Brittney Davidson were two of my best friends while we were at Harding. Now Greg and Brittney Moore are still two of my best friends, and two people whom I appreciate so much for their constant prayers for me. I loved my time that I got to spend with them and, yes it did make me miss them more and made it harder to say good bye but it also made me realize just how thankful I am to both of them.

To Greg and Brittney: I miss you and love you guys so much. You have no idea. I am so excited for your marriage and so encouraged to see you both doing so well. You are in my prayers. Greg, I wish I could have gotten to see you my last night there but I understand that you two are now an old married couple who go to sleep at 9:00 PM. Brittney, thank you for just being who you are to me. I am so encouraged by you. Don’t change.

Sunday rolled around and it was time for our first presentation. It went so well and I am thankful for all that helped get everything ready for that presentation at Red Bank.

Going into this trip I had no idea was my schedule was going to be like. I did not have a car, nor a cell phone so I was pretty much at the mercy of anyone with any type of modern technology. Even after Evan and Rachel got to Chattanooga and we did our presentation we did not know what was going on, nor what our schedule was going to look like. I had to be at the Boyd Buchanan High School chapel on Tuesday and we had to be in Searcy sometime on Thursday but were not sure what time.

Finally we just had to make plans and so that we could know where and when we were going to be.

Monday we stayed in town and had dinner with Jake and Shelley Hendrix at the Reese’s house.

To Jake and Shelley: You are such wise people with so much to teach us. I am thankful and grateful for the time I got to listen to you guys help us out in so many areas.

Tuesday morning I spoke at Boyd Buchanan. Tuesday evening we attended the missions committee meeting at Red Bank then immediately headed to Cookeville, on our way to Searcy. Our travels took us thru Cookville because we had a intern, and new member of our team, Jill Rhodes with us. We stayed the night in Cookeville before heading west. Cookeville is not the most exciting city in itself but has some awesome people. The first thing we did after arriving in Cookville was to go to the Dixie House. The Dixie House is a house of college guys that attend Tennessee Tech and most of them went to Red Bank. I was so thankful to see them all.

After watching Glee and fighting off a migraine we slept and the next day headed toward beautiful Henderson, Tennessee. We spent the day there, and the night in Jackson before heading to Arkansas.

I spent a lot of time in Arkansas in the past five years and it was nice but a little weird to be going back there.

World Mission Workshop was great. We did not do very much with the actual workshop but we got our booth put together and were able to meet some people with amazing hearts for missions.

Thursday night I was finally able to go on Harding’s campus. I was so excited and so ready to see some of my friends from Harding.

To Amanda, ATown, Elizabeth and Joey: It was SO good to see you that day. I know it was fast and I wish I could have spent so much more time with you, but you were all and encouragement to say the least.

Saturday was our big roll out for Manna Global Ministries and specifically the Dominican Republic at the house of Chris and Angela Lowe. Chris and A-Lowe are awesome people who have been coming and visiting us in the Dominican Republic for a long time with the Cloverdale church.

To be honest, we (meaning Evan, Rachel, and I) were a little worried about filling in the time we had allotted ourselves but if you ask any one there, I believe it overflowed. When you start talking about something you believe in so much, you can not help but get excited and probably be able to talk about it all day long.

It was a Spirit filled meeting and it was so good to see all those who were there.

To Chris and Angela: Thank you for opening your house to us. We are excited and look forward to the possibilities we have to work with you guys. You are such wise people in so many ways and I love what you are doing.

Saturday night we were welcomed into the house of the parents of one of our other interns from the summer, Jordan Crow. It was a fun night just being able to hand out with the people we spent the summer with.

To the Crows: Thank you also for opening your house to us. You are amazing people and I am privileged to get to know you.

Sunday Morning church at the Downtown church in Searcy was a throw back to my time spent in Searcy. Downtown was where I spent most Sunday mornings. For brunch we went to Tom and Deann Martin’s house. Tom has worked with Manna for a while doing an excellent job coordinating our group program.

To Tom and Deann: To you two also, thank you for having us over. I love you guys and am thankful for what you do for us. Your work is having a huge impact on the work in the Dominican.

Heading back to Chattanooga had a few stops on the way after a great weekend in Searcy.

I got to Jackson with Jeff Reese and Jill Rhodes, which was such a joy. I love both of those people so much.

Mom and I finally got to spend some time together getting to Nashville, where we met up with my wonderful family. And on Monday I was able to speak at Goodpasture High Schools daily devotional.

To the Perry’s of Nasvhille: I love you guys. It was so good to spend some time with Uncle Bob & Aunt Vickie and Uncle Jack & Aunt Kim at the Cheesecake Factory. I am so encouraged by you guys every time I get to spend a little time with you. Uncle Rick, thank you for letting us stay in your house but I think the biggest encouragement of my entire trip back to the states came from you. I have always thought of you as my uncle and never thought twice because you have been that to me since the day I was born. To hear you introduce my mom as your sister to so many people was the biggest encouragement of all. She is not your adopted or any other type of sister to you but just your sister. I love you for that. I love all the Perrys for that. Those things do not go unnoticed. You are all amazing.

Back to Chattanooga, and a few days just to be with my family.

To my mom and dad: I love you guys and appreciate you more than I can explain. I wish we could have had more time together but am grateful for the little time we had. Dad, I really wish I had more time with you and really wish that your work did not have you tied up so much. I am thankful for your amazing support in so many ways. Just like how Uncle Rick called you his sister, the things you do for me do not go unnoticed. I am excited to see how God is going to use our whole family even more than he already has. I am thankful for your ministries in the United States and praying that our ministries can somehow overlap a little bit more.

Dear God,

I do not even know how to begin to express how thankful I am to all these people. This trip to the States was different than all of the rest, but I am so thankful for all the people that encouraged me while I was gone from home.

I am glad to be back home. Now, we have so much to do and it seems to be creeping up on us very quickly.
Give us your Spirit as guidance and help us to open our eyes to do exactly what the Spirit is guiding us to.

I love you every day.

one year.

As I am on my way to the United States today I am also celebrating one year of life in the Dominican Republic.

I thought about it about a week ago. I knew October 6th was really close to the date that I came into the country but I was not exactly sure so I went back and looked and it just happens to the exact same day.

I want to personally thank all of you that have prayed for me this year and more importantly prayed for our ministry here in the Dominican Republic.

God has blessed me with everything I needed to be able to be in service for him this year.

I have learned so much in one year but probably the biggest thing I have learned is that although so much can happen in just one year, one year is not that long in the grand scheme of things. In one year you can get close to many people but the people that need it most and that are really looking for quality time will need so much more than one year.

I am so excited about the future here. We have some amazing things going on and something really awesome about to unveil in the form of a intensive discipling program. I am also blessed to be at peace with what God wants from me. I am not always sure what that is but I am okay with it.

Some highlights from the year:

October 2009- I finally made it here after much prayer.

October 2009- Revamping the Children’s Home

November 2009- Jean Carlos moves into my house.

December 2009- First group Norm and I lead

December 2009- First new Children’s Home employee

December 2009- I get back in touch with Antonio

January 2010- Earthquake sets of craziness on the Hispaniola Island

February 2010- Earthquake relief in full throttle. Many visitors come in to help with intention of Haiti relief but also brought a huge relief to our missionaries also.

March 2010- Two amazing spring break groups

April 2010- Evan & Rachel Aldridge and Ronald &Rosi Mena join our team

May 2010- Interns come to Dominican Republic

May 2010- Brother, Trent, gets married

June 2010- Norm and I lead summer program with help of all missionaries and interns

June 2010- Best friends, Brittney and Greg get married

July 2010- Summer continues with continued interest in supporting Manna’s new vision

August 2010- A time of reflection on where we are going

September 2010- The start of a new discipling ministry

September 2010- Advisory Board comes in for AMAZING weekend

October 2010- Team heads to World Mission Workshop.

Wow. I have had an amazing year. I am not going to lie, it was not always easy. In fact it was very hard many many times, but God got me thru it and He was with me the whole way holding my hand, letting me know that I could do it and yes I can keep moving forward.

Those were some highlights but here are some of the biggest blessings that came my way last year.

1. The Spring Break groups were awesome. I was totally not spiritually prepared for them to come in but they lifted me up.

2.Jean Carlos and Antonio have to be the biggest ministry blessing I have seen put in my life this past year. I love those boys so much and pray for them everyday.

3. Evan and Rachel coming was something unexpected when I first moved here but I have absolutely enjoyed them being here and working with them.

4. The assurance that I am doing as God has called me to do.

5. The times of peace that come my way every once in a while that really encourage me to know that I am at home.

Again, I am so grateful to all of you that have prayed for me and have been there with me this past year. I do not know how many more year long blog updates I will have but I pray that I just listen to God’s call and plan for my life.

God,

I do not even know what to say. I have been in this place for a year now and the time has flown by. I am so grateful that you were there holding my hand and even carrying me when I did not even know I needed to be carried.

God, I know a year is not that much time but I have seen how quickly things can go very sour and I pray that you continue to move among us and send your Holy Spirit down on this team as you already have.

Keep us in the palm of your hand.
I love you everyday.

sleep over

This past weekend was dedicated to the young kids of Rio San Juan.

Saturday morning the Princesas came out to Bobita and did a work project helping out the Children’s home. Then in the afternoon four of the Pescadores boys came out and spent the rest of the day in Bobita and stayed until Sunday morning.

These boys are exceptional kids and have shown an interest in God and what we are doing with them. I have told them I wanted to have them out to Bobita for a sleep over for a while and I finally found the perfect weekend.
I went into town on Saturday picked them up and headed out to Bobita. Evan and I spent the rest of the day with them and it was AWESOME. We went to the river. We played volleyball. We played basketball. We had dinner at the boys house in the Children’s Home. We played games at the house. We stayed up late trying to control these boys as they went crazy at night. We finally went to sleep. We got up the next morning and met with the church in Rio San Juan.

The boys that came were Angel, Bebo, Antony, and Anderson. These are special boys who mean so much to us and in whom we see so much potential.

Please keep them in your prayers.

God,

Thank you for an awesome weekend. I loved having those boys over to the house. I pray that not only was it a fun experience for them but that it was a time that we could get to know them better and on an even deeper level. I pray for Angel, Bebo, Antony and Anderson. These boys have beautiful souls and a potential that runs very deep.

I love you everyday.

advice.

I had a great weekend this past weekend. I am so blessed just to be here at this point in my life. I have been here almost a year now and one of the major things I have learned is that I need lots of advice. I need those people in my life who I can share what I am going thru with and those people who are always in prayers for us.

We have formed an advisory board for our ministry that consists of four people. Two of them are people that I have known for a very long time: Tommy and Jill Reese. The other two are people who I have met thru the ministry here: Mark and Casey Gibson.

Our advisory board was here this past weekend, all except Mark. This is the second time we have had our advisory board here with us and both times have been amazing.

This time we focused on our ministry and how we are to continue trying to integrate every aspect of our ministry into making disciples for Jesus Christ.

It truly was a weekend to focus on the ministry here and the plans that God has for us in the future, both near and far.

To Tommy: Thank you for the joy that you bring to everyone’s life here in the Dominican Republic. Thank you for the disciple that you are of Jesus Christ and the discipler that you are to so many and the example that that is to me.

To Jill: Thank you for the example that you are and always have been to me. Thank you for being the prayer warrior that I know you are. Thank you for the logistical planning and talents that you have and how much that helps out here making things run smoothly.

To Mark: We missed you here. I pray that your trip went well. I am excited about the next time that we can all be together. We missed your wisdom here.

To Casey: Thank you for being here. You bring so much to our team but most of all your peaceful spirit. Thank you for being a comfort and a friend to all of us here.

To all of you: Every time I left the Cube to come home, or the times I stayed over at the Cube, I just had to rejoice to God of how blessed I am that all of you were here. Thank you all for opening yourselves to the Spirit of God to be able to share it with us.

Dear God,

Thank you so much for Tommy, Jill, Mark, and Casey. They are amazing people who I love so much. Thank you for the Spirit they bring to this place. Thank you for an amazing weekend and the encouragement it brought to me.

Be with us as we plan for the future. Help us not to let our plans get in the way but to listen to you and let you be in control of everything that happens here.

I love you everyday!

a month long battle, finally won.

There are a lot of things that we battle here and for the past month or so I have been battling Mickey Mouses evil, and quit large, twin.

I have been trying to catch this rat for a while and been extremely unsuccessful. At first, I would put out this trap with some cheese on it. I would come back in the morning and the cheese would be gone but the trap would not have even been set off. Then I tried to put some fried salami but that just got attacked by the ants and then the rat would want nothing to do with it.

For about three weeks after that I would lose some food article every night. It was usually a banana or a piece of yucca or a plantain. I would wake up and have to throw something out everyday.

I did not see him for the longest time but I knew his tendencies. One day I when I got home I finally spotted him. We stared each other down for a while, then he turned an ran out, which was fine with me because I was not armed.

I got some advice from some friends on how to set the trap so that the ants would not get the bait and so that I could finally reign victorious over the one who battles me daily for food.

Last Sunday as Tommy, Jill, and Casey left I got home and again met my little friend in the house. He ran pretty quickly but I saw where he ran to hide. I put on my shoes, got my weapon of choice, a steak knife, and a broom and made the decision to leave the job to experts. I went and got my friends Carlos and Overlín. They immediately came over, excited and prepared for battle, accompanied by their brothers, Oliver and Alexandro.

The enemy had set up camp in my hot water heater when Carlos went in to lure him out to persuade him to come out for some hand to hand combat. He got him out but the enemy fled quickly to another site, my stove. We tried to put a towel under the door in the kitchen so that he could not escape in the case that he got out of the stove alive. After a few minutes, he did escape and pushed the towel out of the door way and escaped.

The battle was won by the rat but we were ready for the next attack.

There were no major battle wounds, although Alexandro did take a hard fall in an attempt to keep the enemy at bay.

The next day, I got a trap and with the help of my far superior and more tactful soldier friends set it up ready for war.

I went into Rio San Juan and by the time I got back I had a fresh rat corpse on my hands. The trap did the trick and the battle was finally won.

God,

It was a long month but I am so thankful my rat friend is gone. I am so thankful to have friends to help me out with things like this. Yes, it was quite annoying to have to battle a rat for such a long time but thru it I did get closer to Carlos and Overlín, something that is invaluable and worth the 30 pieces of food that I lost. Thank you for them and help me to not let things like this get in the way of my life here. Help me to understand that this is life here and Satan is going to use whatever he can to trip me up. Give me the strength to keep fighting and keep looking to you.

I Love you every day.