Prayer Letters
Previous Letters
June 2010March 2010
December 2009
September 2009
June 2009
March 2009
September 2008
June 2008
March 2008
December 2007
September 2007
June 2007
March 2007
December 2006
September 2006
June 2006
March 2006
December 2005
September 2005
June 2005
March 2005
December 2004
September 2004
June 2004
March 2004
December 2003
September 2003
June 2003
March 2003
December 2002
September 2002
June 2002
Here are our prayer letters that we write every three months. If you are not on our email list and would like to receive these letters, please sign up today. Enjoy reading!
June 2008
One of the most common questions that is often asked of me is, “So what is a typical day like for you, Amanda?” I have never known exactly how to answer that one because it seems that there is never a typical day. Days may start out seeming normal and typical – Samantha and I having breakfast, doing things around the house, running errands, having lunch, working on the scholarship program or at the library or computer lab at the sports center, taking a late afternoon walk and then having dinner once Thomas gets home. But for the most part, days always seem to go differently than I think they might.
Like a couple of weeks ago when I had two meetings with scholarship recipients set up at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. plus some errands to run. Early that morning Tropical Storm Alma blew into Managua dumping tons of rain and cancelling school, Mother’s Day programs, and of course my two meetings and all of my errands. In Leon and Chinandega, two big cities to the north, the storm almost hit hurricane levels as it whipped through blowing off roofs of many homes, schools and churches.
And then one evening a month or so ago Halle and Kathy had invited us over to watch a movie. Early in the evening the power went out, and we ended up sitting on their front porch talking. Then the power came on so went inside to begin the movie only to have the power go off again. Over the next half hour the power came on and went off at least five times. At one point Halle walked outside, and we heard him exclaim, “There’s a fire!” Because it had been raining, none of us really believed him (he is known to try and pull your leg every once in awhile). However, we finally went out and saw the great cloud of smoke coming from down the street. We soon discovered, along with most of the neighborhood who were outside at that point, that two small homes had caught fire and were burning down. By the time the fire trucks arrived, it was too late to save the homes.
And then there are days like the other night in which Halle and Kathy’s dog began having puppies, and they were out in Managua so I ended up being the “midwife.” Or the day when Lidia came to clean and ended up in tears in my arms because of family problems. Or the days when we have teams here and you really never know what to expect. We may lose power and water for five days and have the team taking showers in the rain. There really aren’t typical days around here. But the beauty of that is that one never knows when God is going to give us opportunities to love and serve. I had no answer for Lidia’s family problems other than to pray with her about them. In taking care of the puppies I got to know our night guard better than I ever have as we talked about family and the different customs of our cultures. The families that suffered from losing their homes to the fire obviously are in great need as they lost everything that was inside. At a clothing sale a couple of weeks ago we were able to provide them with some bags of clothes and shoes along with some sheets and towels. Different people have donated building materials to begin rebuilding their houses. As for the Tropical Storm day, it ended up being a wonderfully relaxing and refreshing day! I am more and more convinced that none of us really have typical days because God is always changing our plans and giving us opportunities to love and serve ~ it’s our job to be ready!
Seeking Him for life,
See more pictures of Samantha.
"dale una luz a los que aman tanto vivir en Nicaragua."
~ Guardabarranco (Nicaraguan duo)