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Newsletters
Jun 2010 |
Newsletters - Jan 2004Alongside Ministries en Nicaragua Dear Friends, Happy New Year! We’re going to deviate a little from our regular format in this newsletter and just write one of those normal, Christmas/New Year kind of family newsletters. We thought you might like to hear a little bit more about the personal side of life for a change. As you know we were all together as a family for the holidays and we had a lot of fun catching up on all the little bits and pieces of information that get lost in cyberspace when communicating solely by e-mail. We treated the week like a vacation and had some special activities, along with Christmas, planned for our family. We spent 2 days at the Pacific Ocean playing in the water, enjoying the sun, going for walks and just basically enjoying each others company. The place where we stayed has an all-you-can-eat, all day long buffet which was particularly appealing to the boys and our room was air-conditioned which made taking a long hot shower very enjoyable again. The day after Christmas we joined several other missionary families on a day-long sail boat trip. We headed out from San Juan del Sur with our destination a small beach further south near the Costa Rican border, where we enjoyed a picnic lunch. While sailing you can deep sea fish and the boat’s chef will cook up whatever you catch for your picnic on the beach. It was another relaxing day just to play and talk and eat and eat and eat… Brandon, our oldest son is now 20. He is currently living in Bellevue, Washington and staying very busy juggling 2 jobs. He’s discovered the down side of owning a car and is working to pay off purchase and repair bills. He has been so very diligent and takes his responsibilities seriously. He has learned a lot living on his own, making decisions and dealing with the consequences, both good and bad. He plans on returning to school to pursue classes in the area of fire and life safety while he gives some thought to becoming a fireman. Britton, our middle son is 18. He, too, is living in Bellevue, just a couple of blocks from Brandon. They see each other quite regularly since they also work at the same restaurant – The Cheesecake Factory. While working 3 to 4 nights a week Britton is also enrolled at Northwest College, a Christian college in Kirkland, Washington. Right now he is taking his general ed courses but is planning to major in education with his goal to teach junior or senior high school history and coach. He lives with 3 other young men and often provides us with some pretty humorous stories of his late night activities with his roommates and friends. Being so far away we can’t do much more than shake our heads and laugh and just be thankful it isn’t anything illegal! Brookes, our youngest is 15. He is taking homeschool courses and supplementing those classes with some classes at the Nicaragua Christian Academy. He took classes in computer applications, web design and Spanish last semester. Next semester he will replace the computer applications class with World History while he continues with the others. The basketball season starts up in January or February and Brookes is looking forward to playing on the NCA team again. Last year he played on the JV team but will play with the varsity team this year. They play several other private schools here in Managua and it is a lot of fun to watch. Besides school, Brookes has been enjoying taking part in the high school youth group and getting to know other kids his age. He is also Halle’s extra eyes and hands at the Saturday morning baseball games where he is either keeping book or being a field umpire. Besides continuing with our ministry activities we (Halle and Kathy) have been very busy with the completion of our house. It has been such a valuable learning experience. While it took much longer than we imagined it would we can see the light at the end of the tunnel! Shortly after the first of the year the cabinets in the kitchen and bathrooms will be installed and then we will make the big move. We have to be out of the apartments by the 15th of January so we’ll be moving with or without cabinets! There is still a lot to finish but we are looking forward to having a place of our own and being able to work and live at the same place at the same time. After we get settled we will still need to build a water storage tower, paint the outside of the house and finish the tiles on the porch. We are looking forward to expanding our family after we move in to the house. Amanda Van Deman, our neighbor, good friend and partner in ministry, will be moving in to our third bedroom. This is really a win-win situation since it will save some rent money for Amanda and she will be able to help us out occasionally by being home (especially in the evening) when we can’t. Unfortunately we really can’t leave the home unguarded after dark without the concern of a break-in so it will really help to have another person around. In addition, one of our big goals in 2004 is to develop the sports center on the property adjacent to our home and Amanda is a key figure in its planning and development. We are excited as we head into 2004. We continue to walk step by step in faith, trusting in things we can’t see and often don’t understand but mindful of the guiding hand of God who knows everything and has plans for His glory if we will continue in obedience. Please continue to pray for us that we would always keep God in the forefront of our ministry. We want to live lives that glorify God in every possible way. Thank you for your support through prayer and finances. We look forward to another great year in partnership with you as we minister here in Nicaragua. Serving Together, Thank you for supporting our ministry in Nicaragua. Eastside Development
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