A Visit from Friends

Last week, we had a visit from a couple of our friends from Ozark, Missouri. We had such a good time. This is a picture of them in Sarchi. Sarchi is a city that has kept alive the tradition of painting carts. i believe there is a picture on our website of an orange painted cart.

Carlos and Karen Aviles have been family friends for over 10 years. In fact, when Sherry and I went on our first mission's trip, Karen was a nurse in the medical clinic, and Carlos was an interpreter. Carlos is from El Salvador. I learned something new about Carlos this trip. I always knew that he was a Christian, but I never asked him about his testimony.

He told me the story of how he was invited to a small Bible study. He went because one of his friends went. Then, John Bueno, our executive director of World Missions, began to talk to him about Jesus. Carlos said that he wasn't interested because he was catholic. John Bueno invited him to his church. Carlos went with his family. At the end of the service, John Bueno was giving the altar call. Carlos' daughter elbowed him and told him to raise his hand. He did, and he went forward to accept Jesus as his Savior.

How amazing that God would use a missionary to reach out to Carlos in El Salvador? How amazing that God would use his daughter to tell him to raise his hand for salvation? Carlos' life, personality, and character are amazing. He loves God, his wife, and he loves to help people. Currently, he works at Cox Hospital in Springfield, Missouri as an interpreter for Spanish-speaking patients. He selflessly gives of himself to help others in whatever way he can. He is a great blessing to our family. Please do not get the idea from this blog that Karen is not a blessing to our family and other people. She is an amazing nurse.

They both travel the world together, reaching out to hurting people. I do not know for sure how many mission's trips they go on each year. I do know they go all over the world. I believe Karen told me they have been to 14 or 15 countries together. Can you imagine the number of lives they have touched? I want to be there the day that they stand in front of our Lord! I can only imagine what that would be like. I don't know exactly what God will tell them. I am guessing it will be something like this: "Welcome home! Welcome home, my good and faithful servants! Enter in to your rest! You deserve it!"

Blessings,

Charley

Visiting Parents

The last couple of weeks have been very busy. As I announced on our last blog, I was going to write several blogs and post them. Well, I did write several blogs, but I failed to save them. Now I have figured out how to set the automatic save. Hopefully, there won't be anymore mistakes like those. I am planning on posting some more this week. So, please keep checking back.

My parents flew into San Jose, Costa Rica on July 9th and stayed for 10 days. This is a picture of them with our kids at the Cataratas La Paz, the Peace Waterfalls. The river is called La Paz, and in this area it has a lot of waterfalls, hence the name.

Anyway, we had a really good time. My dad loves to take pictures as well. So, between the two of us, we have a lot of pictures. I hope to get some more posted on our website soon.

During my parent's visit, we went all over this country. Well, not entirely, but we went a lot of places. They were able to visit the volcano, Arenal, downtown San Jose, Cartago, Alajuela, Heredia, Puntarenas, and many other locations. My dad's favorite part of the trip (besides spending time with the grand kids, of course) was the time the entire school went to Cafe Britt. Cafe Britt is a place that makes coffee. They harvest the cherries, separate and classify the beans, roast, package, sell, and deliver them to stores. It was a neat experience, and my dad, being a coffee-lover, loved the entire time we were there. I enjoyed it as well, and I learned what a really good cup of coffee really tastes like. The picture on the right is Sherry holding some seeds that can be planted, and if they are watered, fertilized, and have the correct temperature, you might have 25 pounds of coffee per year starting 4-5 years after you plant them.

Anyway, we really enjoyed our visit, but we miss them greatly. It was hard saying, "Good-bye" at the airport. When you think about, we are not promised tomorrow. So, will we ever see them again? I sure hope so, but if not, then we have tremendous memories. My dad is fond of saying, "Go make some memories!" I think he is wise in saying that. It is important to make some good memories with the ones you love.

Go make some good memories today with your family and friends,

Charley