Tico Tuesday, December 17th

Happy Tuesday to you, dear ones!

The sun is quickly setting on this year at Roblealto. Friday evening was graduation. Sunday afternoon was the closing service and visit with the children's parents. Tonight is the last night of fellowship and fireworks, and tomorrow the kids go home. Some to stay for good. Others just for a few weeks. In some ways, the year has flown by, but in other ways, I definitely feel like it's been a while since last Christmas break. It's beautiful to see how some families have progressed: one boy that arrived in May is leaving to live with his parents again. He has had a dramatic change in his life. The children certainly aren't angels by the time they leave the HB, but they have learned to be more respectful, patient, obedient, and a host of other virtues. And they have heard the good news of Jesus, the only One who can bring lasting changes to their lives. This year, there are a couple kids leaving who have been with us for quite some time. Their mother has gotten her act together, and we are so happy for them! Sadly, another family that has been with us for two years already seems to be regressing. The children will not be able to spend Christmas with their mother. The poor decisions she has been making has been having powerful negative effects on her children and we are very concerned. Please join me in praying for this family in particular, and for the things we are most concerned about to be resolved as soon as possible.
Please also pray for the new personnel we need. We have a number of people "getting off the train," and therefore need new ones to come aboard. Each person plays a crucial role in helping keep the Bible Home functioning well!
Thank you for partnering with me and walking alongside me as I serve God and those who are dear to him here.
I'm not sure if a Christmas Eve edition of Tico Tuesday will make it out, due to the holiday, and the 31st I'll be traveling. But, you will surely get a December Chronicle before the year's end!
In the meantime, May God fill us all with his joy, peace, and love. That same God who took on flesh, Emmanuel--God with us--is still Emmanuel today.
Merry Christmas!
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, December 10th

Happy 2nd Tuesday in Advent Greetings to you!
So much is going on, and I wish I had time to tell you so many things. But, I didn't have supper until 8:30 tonight since it took me so long to get around to making bread (a New Year's resolution was not not buy bread anymore and I've kept it!) and I didn't feel like cooking anything else. The last of my leftover turkey with gravy on a thick warm slice was worth the wait! But anyway, my room again looks like a light tornado came through, and dishes are piled up on my sink and stove (those will be taken care of in the morning though).
In more interesting news, yesterday was the Annual Christmas and Thanksgiving Service at the Bible Home. It was wonderful! The school chorus sang, we all sang, and then we told the story of why Jesus came to earth. Each house put on a different scene. In between scenes, a small group of personnel sang a related song, and I lit an Advent candle and explained what it represented. Doña Magali, the director of the HB, narrated the rest. We concluded by having cake and fruit nectar (not juice) boxes. Overall, it went really well, and everyone did a great job. A couple people and I sang the first part of "Mary did you know?" after the announcement to Mary and it sounded really nice. The kids all did a great job and the costumes were adorable but:

-I didn't know I had to say anything while lighting the advent candles until doña Magali (who got there late from her morning appts outside the HB, so we started late because we couldn't start without her!) arrived. I had to go and make photocopies of her script as we were starting. And of course I forgot the last page, so I had to quickly copy what I said for the Christ candle by hand.
-I didn't tell our asst director, who was our M.C., to not introduce the school chorus since da Magali's daughter who had been out with her, hadn't arrived yet. Oops. Magaly the daughter is the soloist in the school chorus, so they couldn't perform without her.
-Da Magali had me ask the kitchen staff to help get the stuff together to cut and serve the huge cakes. They weren't prepared for that. The 180 nectar boxes that da Magali supposedly ordered had not been purchased, so our driver had to dash out and hurry back... he made it in time though!!
-Da Magali made the program in a hurry and accidentally paired the shepherds with the announcement to Mary instead of with Jesus' birth. That made for a bit of confusion. But, oh well. We can't turn back time, and we know Luke got it right!
Even in spite of the wild stuff, I still loved it. And I loved how  12+ people came together in the cake serving process: as soon as we brought the cakes back to cut them, many helpful hands appeared and worked together well and efficiently. And, I felt really good that da Magali had taken me into consideration and given me so many responsibilities, even though I blew a couple of them.
And yikes, I just wrote you over twice what I normally do on a Tuesday. Sorry!! I hope it's been entertaining and a blessing. Oh, and THANK YOU so much for your prayers for my studies. Saturday I read about 500 pages and wrote 3. That was only possible through God's grace! I averaged over 10 pages/hour faster than my normal "fastest" reading pace! Now all I have left is to finish one more big assignment due Saturday! Please keep praying!
Muchas gracias y buenas noches!!!
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, December 3rd

Happy post Thanksgiving and Happy Advent to you all! May this be a wondrous season in which we slow down and focus on the Reason for our celebration. Before I get going: 2 things. 1) The November Chronicle is coming, but I'm not sure when. December 15th by the latest. It's major crunch time with my studies right now. Please keep praying for me! 2) This blog post on the cool missionary blog I follow totally validates what I'm about to say. Here we go:

Today was the annual retreat for children who will be leaving Roblealto's Bible Home and child care centers. We take them to a fun place with a pool, play games, do activities, and have a time of teaching and explain to them about the followup program we have for adolescents. We want to continue supporting these children and their families as best as we can for as long as we can. Last year, one of our girls had a health concern arise, so I got to take a ride in the ambulance...and miss most of the day's activities. Thankfully, there were no major health issues this year and we all had a really nice time. But by the end, I'll confess I was frustrated and angry.
I was raised in the States and taught not to litter. You just don't do that. It looks awful, on highways you can get fined for it, and it's bad for the environment. I'm no eco-nerd, but I do believe in caring for God's green (and blue) earth, and, well, trash cans exist for a reason! Besides, having litter everywhere looks, well, trashy. And it's embarrassing. But, in this little country whose culture cares so much about formalities, good manners, good looks, making a good impression, and having a clean house, litter is a nationwide problem. The irony just blows me away.
Seriously. It's awful. And it drives me nuts. I was getting really upset with all the littering today. It started in the morning with the straw wrappers from the juice boxes. Then in the afternoon it was the wrappers on the mini plastic shovels used to eat little cups of ice cream. Then, we had piñatas for the kids, and I almost went beserk. There were candy wrappers everywhere! And there continued to be a trail of them wherever the kids went. I had to remind myself not to become weary of doing good so I wouldn't explode. People just don't get it here. And I don't get why they don't get it. They say things in other cultures aren't bad, they're just different. This is one thing I think is safe to just call bad. You just don't litter, whoever you are and wherever you are on this planet. Ok. Rant over.
Anyway... about 30 of our (80) kids are gearing up to go back and live with their families once more. Please pray for them, and for many of them to get involved in our followup program! (And for them to learn to stop littering! ;-) )
Thanks!
Carrie