Tearin' it up.

Tearin' it up is what I feel like we're doing to motorcycles and four-wheelers around here. I am so thankful we don't have to ride horses everyone anymore. The Fickers remember those days.

Actually, nothing is torn up or broken down from this week. We've just been riding the four-wheeler and my bike a lot lately. The four-wheeler is the vehicle of choice for making house visits. If Juanito and Mario aren't riding it, Tomas and I are. My favorite 4-wheeler moment was when Tomas, Hector (our 10-year old guide) and I got to a tough spot. "It won't make it!" they said. Little do they understand the manuvering abilities of a Honda!

If we see six families a day we're doing good. It takes so long to locate people and then walk to their houses, usually several hundred feet up or down a mountain. We pray with everyone, unless they don't want us to, and share the gospel with them. Yesterday one lady prayed with Tomas in Quiche to accept Christ. That makes it all worth it.

On the bad side we run across people like this lady named Manuela. She was really nice, but lied to us in clinic about being a widow and not having any food. Upon visiting her we found out that she only said she was a widow because she heard the Americans would give food to her. Before we left her nice block house we prayed for her and her son (whom we will be helping with medicine for his siezures), but will not be giving food. Again though, this just shows the importance of house visits.

Today Duane and I went to visit Candelaria again. Duane and Leslie had helped her get her house back several months ago after her husband lost it as a result of debt. Now he is trying to sell it again, but his neighbors aren't letting him. (Thankfully). Sometimes I want to just tie someone like him up and haul him to the police station, Duane says it's better to pray instead. So we do, and help Candelaria and her 6 kids as best we can.

On the fun side of things, David, Joseph and I like the motorcycle race so much last month that we're helping some local teenagers make one in Canilla. On our days off and some evenings we have been helping them with the track and to mark the road up the mountain. Today I rode double with a guy who asked if I was a Christian while we were stopped to mark a tree with ribbon. I told him I was, and he said that he just became a Christian too. To me, it was just a cool experience because the whole "motorcyle" world is kind of outside of the religious circle, and I look for chances to show other motorcycle kids that you can have fun and be a Christian too.

My buddy Juan Carlos and I started a Bible study together two weeks ago. We meet every Monday evening with his wife Jael and his grandma to read a chapter together, talk, pray, and sing a few worship songs. Last week I even got a dinner afterwards, so we'll see if that keeps up. It feels good to reach out though in a discipling way, rather than just an evangelistic like in clinic.

Tomorrow is clinic though, and I still need to get a mini-message together, so I'm going to get off of here. Katie posted a good update for the Corn Blog if anyone wants to check that out. It's been really busy around here lately, but I'll try to keep the blog updated! Thanks for all the prayers and support.