The Saga Continues

(This blog was written last week but since we had no internet I couldn’t post it)

Well, this has become almost comical now. If you read our last blog we tried to explain to you some of the difficulties that we were facing last week. If you have no idea what I’m talking about click HERE to gain some perspective on today’s blog: )

Anyway, it’s a new week and the saga continues. Here’s a brief timeline of this week’s daily events as they unfolded:

Saturday Afternoon

I was telling you that we were in a drought, right? It literally hadn’t rained for about a month and temperatures were in the mid 90’s and it was soooo miserable (mainly because we have no a/c in the house or our car), remember? Well things have changed. It started raining on Thursday (2 days ago) and hasn’t stopped since it started! It’s dropped the temperature to the mid 60’s (which is awesome) but the amount of water that has fallen is unbelievable. Me and MJ drove down the mountain this afternoon to get some groceries and the roads were horrible. We made it down and then back up but it was pretty sketchy (i.e., slippery and dangerous) and we knew that things were only gonna get worse if the rain continued- and it did.

Around 4:00pm Kevin (Maryssa’s boyfriend) tried to go home on his motorcycle only to have to turn around because his motorcycle wouldn’t make it. He got to a certain part of the road and it was gone (the road, that is)! It had been replaced by a mighty rushing river. He tried to walk across it but it was at chest level so he decided to come back to our house.

But the weirdest thing about the day was that it was soooo windy the entire day. And I mean the entire day. We don’t have a TV with The Weather Channel to know what was going on but it seemed like we were in the middle of a tropical storm or a hurricane... literally. The winds were at least 40-50mph the entire second half of the day (for about 10 hrs straight) and the rain didn’t stop the entire time. We could hear trees cracking and falling out in the jungle and we were just hoping that all the houses and the pavilion weren’t going to collapse. Even though we haven’t left the safety of the house we know that the camp is probably gonna be in pretty rough shape because of all the branches and trees that are down everywhere. The real concern is that we have a camp scheduled next weekend and we already had a lot of prep work to do, now there’s all this storm damage to deal with too... awesome!

Sunday Morning 

When we awoke this morning, to get ready for church, there was no water. The water has been going out a lot over the last several weeks. So, even though it was very frustrating, it seemed par for the course (for the way our life’s been here lately, that is). So we went up ‘the hill’ to the tank (in the rain because it was still raining) and there was no water in the tank at all! So that meant an early morning trek out into the jungle to find the problem, yippee! 

Upon arrival to the water source we found that the problem was bigger than a broken pipe or a loose fitting this time. At some time during the night (because of the massive amount of rain that had fallen over the last 3 days) there was a huge mudslide on the mountain that took out our water source. For real? Seriously? I couldn’t believe it... well, actually I could. This is like something you’d see in a movie or something- not something that I’d ever think was going to be a part of our lives. Matthew and Alimpo (he’s still here a couple more weeks) went and fixed it though. So now the wait begins (for the water to make it 1/4 mile back down to our water tank and then to our house).

Standing at the top of the hill, looking down, you can see a large tree (probably 50-60' tall) that
 was pushed down about 300' to the bottom of the hill along with all the vegetation that was once a part of the mountain. You can see our water lines that are now suspended in mid air (after they were repaired).
They use to lay on top of the ground but now there's no ground! lol! 

So here I sit. Looking out at the rain that continues to fall. Waiting patiently for the water to be restored at our house so that we can brush teeth, flush toilets, cook, clean- all the stuff we usually take for granted... water is way underrated.

We didn’t make it to church today, because the roads are impassible, so we’re all held prisoner at the house. The wind is blowing and the rain is falling as we’re all huddled inside... it’s crazy.

Monday Morning

Well, at this point, it’s been raining for over 4 days straight. All the kids and our 6 dogs (that’s right 6 dogs!) have been sequestered inside the prison that is our home. Somebody please put me put of my misery.  

Even though it’s raining we (Me and Matthew) decided to go out and take a closer look at the property to see how much work we were gonna have to do to get the camp ready for this weekend (as of right now we still have a camp coming Thursday-Sunday). It was worse than we anticipated...

Our neighbor has a small lake that is adjacent to our driveway as you enter our property. Well, he ‘had’ a small lake that was adjacent to our driveway. At some point  during the night the dam that separated his lake from our driveway broke and all the water rushed out as the dam burst and ran across the main drive of the camp property. There were dead fish and debris all over the lower part of the property and it’s quite the mess. 

As we drove around the property on motorcycles we noticed that not only were there trees down everywhere, we also noticed that the extreme winds the night before had knocked a majority of our caqui (the fruit/trees we have on the property that generate income for us in May-June) off of the trees. Then, as we went to look at the house that my mother-in-law and father-in-law lived in, we saw that there were a couple of  eucalyptus trees down up next to the house. The storm damage is pretty extensive.

One of the large trees that were blown down during the storm at Grandma and Papa's house.

The rain was still falling when all of the sudden the inevitable happened... the electricity went out. Great! This was the one thing that had surprisingly stayed on the last 4 days but now it was gone. Oh well, at this point nothing surprises me. Stranded on the mountain (in the rain) with no electricity, with a house full of kids, dogs, and no groceries... gotta love it.

The new tarps (temporary roofing) that covered the horse stalls were completely shredded during the high winds. 

As the day passed, we realized that somebody was gonna have to try and get to town to get a few necessities. There were a few things that we really needed from the store (toilet paper, bread, etc.) but there was no way that the car was going anywhere. So Matthew and Ike (one of my nephews) went down on a motorcycle to try and get everything we needed. When they got to the part of the road that was gone (and had now become a rushing river) they had to put on backpacks and wade across the river that had swelled and overtaken the road- leaving the motorcycle behind. Way to take one for the team guys: )

Although the rains have stopped the road is still covered with water and can't be driven across.

Around 9:00pm it was still raining hard. The strong winds had subsided at this point but the rain was still falling. Me and MJ decided that we were gonna go out in the dark to check on our ducks that were penned-up down at the lake. We were afraid that the rising water could possible sweep them out of the lake and into the white water rapids that had replaced the gentle stream that usually ran behind our house. When we got down to the lake, we saw that the bridge had been overtaken by water and that what was usually a controlled stream (that’s usually about 6’ wide)- had turned into a giant river 20’ wide! We stood there in awe as we couldn’t believe how much water was rushing through the property. 

Oh, yeah- I forgot to mention. MJ was cooking in the kitchen earlier in the day when out of nowhere some kind of demon possessed wasp/bee/hornet thing bit her on the hand and now I’m stuck with the elephant man (or woman)! She’s been swollen all day. Can it get any worse?!

MJ's hand after she got bit. It was swollen all the way up to her elbow! Can you tell which hand it is? haha.

Tuesday

It’s still raining... 5 days now! We’ve heard of more mudslides on the mountain. We also heard that there’s major flooding down in Terra Boa (at the bottom of the mountain). The electricity is still off and we’re going stir crazy being stuck in such close quarters with all these people and dogs for this long. And all this on the heels of what all happened last week. 

 

MJ sweeping water and mud off the front porch (for the 100th time over the last 5 days).

But, as I sit here, ultimately I know that we’re in a spiritual battle right now. And I know that the enemy hates us and he hates us being here on this mountain. But with the amount of adversity that we’re facing- it’s soooooo over-the-top that it’s obvious. It’s obvious that there are forces at work that are trying to break us down and discourage us so that we’ll leave. So we’re trying to keep things in perspective. It’s difficult nonetheless. But for some reason (even though we should be having a breakdown just about now) I just want to laugh out loud. There are so many things going wrong right now and there’s so much drama that it’s becoming funny. Am I losing my mind? Probably. haha! Please pray for us. I really don’t have any spiritual thoughts or comments to insert here at the end of today’s blog except to say this, “we’re still standing- so bring it devil.” 

“Take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.”

                                      Ephesians 6:13

Standing,

Jim

Breakthrough or Breakdown

Breakthrough or Breakdown. Sounds like a clever sermon title, I know. But that’s not what it is. The other day Me and MJ were talking and trying to ‘encourage’ each other (and no, that’s not code for ‘we were arguing’...we were literally trying to encourage one another, haha!) and I made the comment to her that we just needed breakthrough (for the particular situation we were facing). And immediately she said, “or we’re gonna breakdown.”

Have you ever felt that way? Have you ever felt like if you didn’t get some relief or find the solution for what you were facing (i.e., breakthrough) you were gonna literally lose it (aka- breakdown)?

Well what do you do? 

There’s only a few choices...

You can quit.

You can find something to temporarily take your mind off of the situation.

You can ignore the situation (which usually isn’t possible).

 Or you can press-in and fight to get closer to God through the situation. 

Those are the only choices. We’re in a very difficult season right now and it’s extremely tough. And we’re needing to make some hard decisions. And on top of the decisions ‘life’ is hitting us square in the face. Here, I’ll give you a glimpse of what’s going on ‘this week’:

• We’re in a drought right now (literally). It’s been in the mid to upper 90’s for over 3 weeks straight with no rain! That may not seem like a big deal to all our friends in Georgia or Oklahoma but keep in mind that we have no A/C in our house or in our car. It’s been miserable to say the least. And you know how it is when everyone’s hot and sweaty, right? Yep... hot= aggravated and agitated. And if it wasn’t hard enough trying to live here as it is- just add suffocating heat to the mix and it’s enough to push any normal human over the edge. If you think it’s not that big of a deal just wait until July then turn your thermostat to the off position (and leave it off) then get back to me: )

• This past week we thought that Robert was going to either die or have to be hospitalized. It was serious. He wasn’t eating (which is an indicator of something being ‘majorly wrong’), he wasn’t drinking and he laid lifeless for almost 5 days straight. We thought he had gotten dehydrated because of the heat. So we had to force him to drink fluids every hour for 5 days (and praying that he would recover) so that we didn’t have to take him to the hospital. Now don’t go judging us because we didn’t immediately take him to the hospital. Because here, the hospital isn’t a good place. To take someone to the hospital here where we live is like rolling the dice on whether or not they’re ever gonna make it out alive. For real. If you’ve ever been to a third world country hospital- you know what I’m talking about. We’ve been there and it’s literally like walking into the corridors of Hell. We’ve had 2 friends die in the hospital just this past year from things that seemed treatable. So we decided to try and treat him on our own at home (as of the posting of this blog, he’s totally recovered).

Robert acting like he's going to kiss a giant slug he just caught.

• Our car broke down again (2nd time this week) and we’re stranded here on the mountain. It’s being repaired and hopefully we’ll get it back in a few days, but not having transportation and being way out in the middle of nowhere isn’t good.

Our car being put onto a tow truck. Just one of the many exciting times we've experienced with our car: )

• Maryssa and Kevin (Maryssa’s boyfriend) wrecked on a motorcycle 2 days ago. They were coming across the highway and hit an oil slick on the road, which caused them to wipeout and they both hit the ground hard. They’re still in a lot of pain because of the road rash but no broken bones. Then, to top it all off, Kevin was in another motorcycle accident this morning! Someone was driving their motorcycle (too fast) up the mountain and collided with Kevin as he was going down the mountain. They were both thrown from their bikes and the other guy went to the hospital for stitches but Kevin is OK.

Maryssa and Kevin

Kevin's leg after the accident

• We’re being attacked by some kind of super-beetle. It’s half beetle- half flea- half demon (I know- you can’t have 3 halves. But you get the point, right?). It looks innocent enough but when it bites you it burns like fire and you immediately get these raised welts on your skin. And of course they usually only bite you at night when you finally get into bed to rest from the hard day you just had! One bit me last night and It literally looked like someone took a hot curling iron and touched it to my skin 3-4 times.

My chest after getting bit by the 'super beetle.' FYI- the picture makes me look fatter and whiter than I actually am. lol!

• We’re having some major behavioral issues with some of our adopted kids. I won’t get too specific or name names but the things that have been happening have seriously made us want to throw in the towel. Because, after almost 6 years (yep, it’ll 6 years in March), we just don’t know if we’re gonna be able to help them. We don’t know if we’re equipped. And that breaks our heart as parents. To invest so much time and energy into someone and see no results is very discouraging.

• Our caretaker (the person who lives here on the property and helps us maintain the camp) basically told me that he wants more money or he’s leaving! We don’t have the money to give him a raise, so long-story-short, he’s leaving at the end of the month. He’s been here on the property for 5 years now and has been a huge asset to us. We’re already overwhelmed with all the work and now, with him leaving, the outlook is bleak.

• Our water is giving us problems. Try living without water... you can’t! I’ve been up and down ‘the hill’ at least 7 times in the last 48 hours trying to fix it too. We get our water from the mountain. It runs through a pipe that lays on top of the ground and goes into a 500 gallon holding tank on ‘the hill’ just above our house. If you’ve ever been here, you know what I’m talking about when I say, “the hill.” Anyway, with the extreme heat we’ve been having, it’s caused all the fittings to loosen on the pipe that runs from the water source to the tank and from the tank to our house. And you don’t know it’s happened until the tank is empty. Then you have to go and find out where it’s disconnected or where there’s air in the pipe and bleed it. And, of course, this usually happens at night! Nothing like trouncing around in the jungle at night...Yippee: )

So that’s just a taste of what our life looks like this week. I could list out more things but those are just the highlights (or lowlights- depending on how you look at it). Now, on the ministry side- things look great. Kids are being ministered to and loved, teenagers are experiencing the power of the Gospel, and adults are being challenged to give their lives to Jesus and truly follow Him. But everything on the other side (i.e., our personal lives and the nuts and bolts side of the ministry) is under tremendous pressure. We’re over-worked, stretched beyond what we can sustain, we haven’t had a real break in over 2 years, we’re constantly feeling like we’re at the end of our rope, we’re very lonely being here and we feel like we’re pretty much by ourselves, ... so it feels like we’re gonna breakdown.

So what do we do? Remember, there’s only a few choices:

-We can quit.

-We can find something to temporarily take our mind off of the situation.

-We can ignore the situation (which isn’t possible).

-Or we can press-in and fight to get closer to God through the situation. 

Here’s the funny thing (funny ironic- not funny haha)... as difficult and crappy as our life is right now, the first three choices aren’t even on the radar. And for me- that’s huge. I can trace back over my walk with Christ and see where quitting, finding an alternate route or just immersing myself in something to take my mind off the uncomfortable situation was usually my first reaction. But not now. Things are different. 

When I was a new believer (and even through some of my years in Bible college) most of the voices that were speaking into my life never talked about how difficult it was to truly follow Jesus. They only talked about how to be blessed and victorious and how to go to the next level and how God had a purpose and destiny for my life and how that I was more than a conquerer and... you get the picture, right? Not that any of those things aren’t true, because they are. The only problem is that there’s also difficulty, struggle, hardship, persecution and trials that are also a part of following Jesus as well. 

The thing that I’ve learned is that where I experience the most pain and where I reach the end of my rope and where I can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel... in those places- that’s where I see the hand of God the most. That’s where I see the greatest victories. That’s where I experience His presence and His help in the greatest measure. Not in the good times. Not in the easy times. Not when everything is going smooth. Because let’s face it, we all tend to ‘not’ depend on God when everything’s just clicking along and everything’s good, right? And we tend to ‘not’ have a mindset of “God, I really need you right now” when everything is comfortable and there are no problems on the horizon. 

So even though it feels like breakdown right now, we know that as we press harder into God and continue to rely on Him and His strength- that’s where we’re gonna find the peace and the joy that we so desperately need. 

What about you? How do you handle difficulty? Which path do you usually take? Do you see that you experience God in a mightier way in difficulty or when everything’s going great? Just something to think about...

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have it’s full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

                                                           James 1:2-4

Hanging Tough,

Jim and MJ