The Latest on Isamar

If you recall Isamar was scheduled to go to her dad's house on a trail basis over her school break starting on Friday.

I can honestly say that this was the saddest 4th of July I have ever had. I sit wondering all day if she was going to be ok on the 4 - 5 hour bus ride to Managua and was she going to have water (that girl drinks water like crazy), was she going to have a seat or would she have to sit in her dad's lap? Many thoughts went through my head that day.

I called her the night before and encouraged her to be a good girl and obey her dad and enjoy herself but honestly the entire time I wanted to say, "Just don't go, Isamar!!!" but I didn't I was really nice.

Today I called to check on Carmen since she is the one that seems to be hurt the most by all of this and I got a very chattery Carmen. She could not stop talking, on and on she went to my translator and within minutes I soon realized she was telling me that Isamar didn't go.

You can not imagine the excitement that went through me.

Apparently when Isamar's dad tried to leave Carmen and Isamar pitched a fit. Isamar cried the entire way to the bus stop and even while she was on the bus. They traveled about 1 1/2 hours to Chenandega and turned around, got on another bus and traveled back to Somotillo, Isamar still crying.

Isamar just could not leave her sister. She told her dad she did not want to go and did not want to leave her sister. He told the workers at the orphanage that he could not get her under control so he brought her back.

I am sad that Isamar and Carmen had to go through this but I won't lie, I am glad the experience was not the opposite for Isamar. Hopefully this experience will show the dad how important the girls are to each other. Just maybe, this will be what it takes to show him the girls need to stay together.

I finally got to talk to Isamar about her experience and she was very quite until I told her I loved her and I was sad she had to go through it but if she didn’t really want to be with her dad I was happy. Within seconds my shy little girl was excited and talking all about coming to live with us.

Please, please pray for Mi Familia (the DSS people) as they now have to make a decision about Isamar’s future. We are not sure what this means now but I can only hope it’s a point for our side.

God Bless to all,

Angie

Changing People's Lives

Each trip I travel to Nicaragua I can see the changes that are happening in the area I visit.

Somotillo is a town of 20,000 people (very poor people) and it is right on the border of Honduras. Over the past 4 years I have seen the travel time from Managua change drastically. Before this April it would take 1 hour+ to get to the next major town and now it takes about 30 - 45 minutes. The USA actually paid to fix the road and man it's really made a difference. Progress is coming to this little community one day at a time.

When I visit a village I can only hope I am making progress one smile at a time.

This trip we were able to visit the orphanage a lot and we ministered in two new villages that had not ever had a group come to love on them. Progress in the making..

We blessed 146 families with beans, rice, corn, sugar and oil. New flip-flops, toothbrushes, toothpaste and toys. It was so sweet to see the little boys playing with their little cars on the church floor making car sounds as if they were driving them. Memories I won't ever forget.

The most moving event for me this trip was giving the baseball team their uniforms and the soccer team their new cleats. Words can not describe their emotions. They were more than happy. As I mentioned before the baseball team gave me their trophy. It was so nice of them to want to give up their very hard earned trophy. I convenience them to keep it and remember what God had done for them.

The soccer team all met at church on Saturday and at the end of the service all came up front and presented me with their trophy. I really didn't know what to do. I didn't want to take it but I didn't want to reject it so I made them a deal that the Pastor needed to keep it in the church so that it would be a reminder to them also. It was so sweet but I did not want them to give me credit for something God did. I felt so happy for them.

Overall, however, the biggest event of the week was in the village called Coffadia. I had bought that morning a soccer ball for that village hoping that some teenagers would be there and sure enough 12 boys showed up. I sent them off with my friend Mario and the Pastor to play while we were playing with the smaller kids.

About 10 minutes’ later people are yelling for me to come. I was busy so I just said, Hang on a minute. That didn't work. “Hurry, Hurry”, they said. Pastor Jorge informed me that he had shared the gospel with these boys and all 12 had accepted Christ. I encouraged them by sharing my testimony with them and reminding them that their decision was going to change that entire village. Progress in the making.

We had a great experience with the 2nd village but the 1st one we visited was a little more reserve with us. We will need to work on them a little more.

Thank you for all your prayers while we were gone. 12 souls are going to heaven because of them. You may have not gone on this trip with me physically but you were there in spirit and God will honor your prayers and they’ll be crowns in heaven for you.

We are planning another trip in August because of the situation with Isamar. We have been told if you want things done you better come back soon so we will try to go before school starts. Pray the Lord provides.

I had a great team this trip. Bonnie and Thomas are starting the process to adopt Loriana. It was amazing to see God bond them together. It is truly meant to be. Please pray for them as they are just beginning this roller coaster ride I’m on.

I will be putting pictures on the site of all this as soon as I can get my wonderful husband to prepare them for the website. Stay tuned for some great photos.

Last but not least I want to challenge each of you to look at the people around you and ask are you changing people's lives? It doesn't take a mission trip, or a position at Billy Graham's ministry or something big. All it takes is a willing effort to make a change for the better for someone who can not. Maybe it's a neighbor who's lawn mover is broke or a friend's mom who is sick and needs a meal. It can be very small or very large but in God's eyes it's changing His people's lives..

God Bless,

Angie

Bitter Sweet Feelings

We are home from Nicaragua finally. We didn't get in until 11:00 last night and we were at the airport in Managua at 6:00am which is two hours behind so it felt like 1:00am to us by the time we got home.

A lot happen while we were there so coming home was bitter sweet. We can't wait to see our kids here and hate leaving our girls there. It's really hard on my emotions.

Here's what we found out.

Mi Familia decided to give Isamar to her dad for a visit from July 4 - 21st to see how they will do with each other. I can only hope this back fires on him and Isamar does not turn out to be what he wants and he decides to give her to us.

Ismar's dad does not have 6 other children. He does however live in a horrible neighborhood. She will not have a yard to play in or anything like she has today.

Isamar was interviewed yesterday and still professes that she wants to live with us not with her dad. She was asked if she could have any thing in the world what would it be and she told them to live with us. I can only hope and pray they listen to her.

Please continue to pray that God's will be done in her life. The dad told us that we could have Isamar if she wanted to come when she gets older and make her own decisions which makes no since to me. If he is going to give her up, give her now, not after she has spent years with him. There is no way he can do that if he truly loves her. He is doing this because he wants her to know him and know what kind of person he really is never did he say it was because he loves her and wants to give her a life with him.

Pray for Carmen as she is very sad that her sister might not come with us. This trip she was very clingy with Terry. She would not let him go the whole time we were there. She just keep holding his hand or hugging me. She was very affectionate with both of us much more than normal. They both cried a lot when we left. It was a very emotional visit.

Thanks for your prayers. I will have pictures soon.

Angie

Update on our trip

Wow we have had a busy time. This is the first time that I have had to write.

I really need some prayers lifted up.

1. My friend Oscar, the little boy that had kidney problems is in very bad shape. He is in the hospital and we have been told he is dieing. God has healed him already but since his parents were put in jail in December he has not been taken good care of and is now very sick. He is asking for me so I am going to see him on Wednesday.

2. We had a meeting with Mi Familia on Friday and they told us that Isamar´s dad came to visit her. He told Isamar that there is no way he will allow her to come with us. He told Carmen she was the lucky one that she gets to come. That to me is the most crueliest thing you can do. They told us that they are really in a bind because the dad can sue them if they don´t give Isamar to him IF he meets the conditions. Let´s pray he does not. The director of the orphanage is doing a report on how the dad is treating Isamar and Carmen. Hopefully they will see his manipulation.

3. Pray for me, I have lost my voice and my throat is swollen. We still have a village to go to tomorrow and time with the girls. It´s hard not to talk here.

We handed out the soccer equipment and the baseball stuff and it was amazing. They wanted me to have their trophy but I made them keep it to remember what God has done for them.

It has been a very successful trip so far but my heart is hurting thinking that I am not going to see Isamar again after this week. I am doing good but its painful. I trust the Lord and I know that he will do the best for Isamar.

Please pray...

Angie

I will update you more as I can but for now we are all doing.

Update on my world

I'm been quite lately because I have been out of town.

I went to Virginia on Saturday to see my aunt and I returned today at 4:30. Sadly, she passed away at 6:30.

I learned a great deal about my aunt this week. After spending 23 hours a day with her for 3 days you get to know somebody. (Only got an hour a day of sleep, didn't want to waist my time when I knew she had very little left.)

I saw a side of her family I had not seen before. She has 3 daughters and 1 very spoiled son. All of them had come to peace that it was her time to go. All of them assured me in some way she would be going to heaven. That's all that mattered to me. Seeing her was important but making sure the she and her family knew Jesus on a personal basis was my priority.

I will be returning home on Thursday and I am sure I will see my mother. Let's pray it’s a much better time than the last.

I called her today to make sure she had gotten the news; it was almost creepy for me. She keeps talking to me as if everything was just fine between us. Family members tell me to let the past stay in the past and move on as if it never happen. BUT it did happen. What do you think? Just let it stay or deal with it? I haven't decided yet. The easy way of course is to just let it go but what happens when it comes back one day?

On a better note, I have not heard much about Isamar except that the dad had a discussion with Mi Familia and told them he DID NOT want Isamar. He was only pursuing this because his mother (she's 85 we believe) wants him to. The lawyers told us today that if she wants her she will have to come forward and say so. Let's hope she doesn't.

I hope to find out more tomorrow as this week the Director of Mi Familia quit and 3 people on the council walked away. I can't imagine how much delay this will now cause.

I am leaving next Thursday to go and see my girls. At least I know Isamar will be there this time.

Continue to pray for us. My entire family as we lay Dorothy to rest, my immediate family as we wait patiently on the Lord and for our trip to Nicaragua next week. We will be ministering to many families who have it a lot worse than we do.

God Bless,

Angie