Last week Joseph's school held the "mini Olympics". They actually went to the Olympic training center and used the track and field. They ran marathons, dashes, relays and long jumps. He won third place for the zigzag race. Here he is running the 200 meters.

Running the relay race.

Everyone had to bring a pack lunch. He had a lot of fun.

At the end all the kids got balloons and they handed out the medals to all the winners.

The big champion!!! You would have thought that medal was real bronze!! He was so proud of himself.

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We got some more work done on the Las Delicias church last Saturday. We have to finish laying adobes up to the roof to close off the sides. We got this side done but we still have the other wall and the back of the church to do yet.

Whenever Joseph goes with me to Las Delicias he usually spends the whole day playing with his friend Daniel. He calls him "primo", cousin. They are really good friends.

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Bright and early on Friday morning, Baudilio, Roberto, Pablo, myself and Joseph headed off to Salamají, Nicaragua to help pastor Julio work on an adobe church and to hold evening revival services. For Baudilio and Roberto this was their very first trip to Nicaragua, needless to say, they were super excited.

Julio has been preparing a site in a village called Achuapas. He has been holding services in a house there for several years, now they will soon have their own church building to worship in. Here he is laying the first adobe.

Laying the first row.

Our guys worked hard. I was so proud of them. They really enjoyed being there and helping out.

Joseph spent most of his time playing with Obed, Julio's son. 

I want to keep my life in "plum" with the Word of God. I don't want to stray to either side.

On Friday we only had time to lay two rows before having to get ready for the evening service.

God really helped us in the services. The church is celebrating it's 8th year! The Lord has really blessed Julio and his ministry.

I love how these people sing!! They give it their all. Baudilio loved playing in the services.

I took several air mattress and we all camped out in the church. Joseph was really looking forward to this part of the trip.

Nothing like country living. Showers with a hose, outhouses, and getting woke up by the roosters. There is nothing like it.

Saturday morning we headed back to the work site to lay another three rows.

Saturday while we were working on the church, Joseph and Obed headed to the swimming hole. It was a hot day and the boys had a blast!

He had the time of his life.

All in all we were able to help get five rows up. Now it needs a few days of sun to really harden before they continue to lay any more rows.

Some beautiful country!

I loved the color of this horse. I would have liked to have taken it for a ride.

I took the guys to a house in San Fernando where the Sandinistas took control during the Contra-Sandinista War during the 80's. In the basement of this house you can still see names, dates, and drawings of guns on the walls from some of the prisoners who were kept. In the backyard you can still see bullet holes in the wall. We dug out some of the bullets to take home as souvenirs.

I thank the Lord for his help during the revival. Several got help and there were three people saved.

We ended the revival with a good altar service.

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Yesterday afternoon about 15 minutes after we got home from a service at Las Uvas we got word that three young men were murdered just half a block or so from our house. The red store that you see in the photo used to be a little convenience store. A few months ago the owner decided to shut it down and leave the neighborhood because gangs were demanding "war taxes". After leaving they rented the building and just three days ago a pool hall was opened there. The victims were shooting pool when two gangsters arrived on a motorcycle and came into the building either to hold it up or else to settle a score with the victims. Nobody is really sure of the motive but the men were killed with AK-47's.

The girl holding her head in her hand is a sister to one of the victims. She was screaming, "no, no, noooo". It was so sad.

At the lunch table Hannah was telling some of our people how we never know from day to day what is going to happen and that it pays to be ready to die. Those thoughts rang ever so true as I looked through the door and saw this scene of blood on the floor. I was challenged once again to win as many souls as we can for time is short and life is fragile.

Carrying out the body bags.

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Daniel is the big 1!!! Can you believe it? This week seemed like a big celebration. It all started on Tuesday, Hannah made frog cupcakes to give to all the kids and their parents at therapy class. They all sang to him and wished him many more years!

We decided to have the big party until Saturday when more people could attend. The theme was farm, so Hannah and I made a big barn out of cardboard and set up a little photo op in our living room. Our next door neighbor had the cow piñata made and it looked so cute with our barn.

A happy little boy.

Daniel is learning cow talk.

He was the center of everybody's attention. He wasn't sure what to do.

Hannah did an awesome job on the cake as usual. She worked so hard. If you look really close you can see where the farmer plowed lines in the field. Most everything is edible except of course the people, animals and the roof on the barn, we made it out of Styrofoam.

Getting ready to plant.

What a crew! These kids had a blast.

Hannah made spaghetti for everybody, it was so good.

Then it was time for the piñata, Daniel got the first hit.

He tried so hard to break that thing but it was tough. It took a pretty bad beating until it broke.

It's every man for himself.

By cake time Daniel was ready for a good nap. I actually had to wake him up so we could cut the cake, he was sooo tired.

Along with all the treats we gave out, each kid got a Bible story book. 

It was a great week. I hit the big 30 on Friday, I guess I was kinda included in the party as well. So all week long it was cake and parties and we ended it with a big shebang.  We thank God for Daniel's first year and wish him many many more!! Happy Birthday Daniel!

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