Grilled Pizza

It took our families alot of trouble to get a small gas grill down here to us, but we've decided that all that effort was worth it! (At least to us!) In our small three room apartment, we don't have a full kitchen, just a hot plate. So last Friday when pizza night rolled around, we couldn't bake it unless we went down to the big house where the kitchen is. I had read about grilling pizza and we decided to give it a try. It was the BEST pizza we have ever made! First I made 8-10" crusts about a fourth of an inch thick. I squished them out on wax paper because I don't have a rolling pin, but if you have one and you use alot of flour, you can make nice crusts that don't stick to the paper. Then I made sure all the toppings were ready. Brian heated the grill to med/high and we gently slid the crusts off the paper and laid them on the grill two at a time. After three minutes they were nicely browned. Working quickly we flipped them over and spread sauce, cheese and other toppings. Brian turned the heat down low and shut the lid to bake them another three minutes or until they looked done. The result was FANTASTIC! This method was much faster and alot less painful than fighting with the ancient gas stoves in the big kitchen. And you can't beat the grilled flavor. You all should try it! Now that Spring is there, go out and grill yourself some pizza!

Firefighting Wasn't in the Job Description!

Late this afternoon I had just finished picking chicken off the bones and I opened the back door of the kitchen in the big house to dump the bones out for the dogs and there, creeping up the hill toward the buildings, was a line of fire. It wasn't very big, but in the few seconds that I watched and tried to think of a plan it started crawling alot faster. It has been so dry here and that steep slope is covered with bushes, trees, and lots of dry leaves. I ran back to our apartment and told Brian. The whole family came running. Alissa and I pulled the hose over from close to our building and Brian started spraying the flames with his thumb over the end to make the water shoot instead of dribble out because the nozzle was no where in sight. By then the fire was getting close to the house and a strong wind was kicking live embers onto the walls and roof. Jonathan and Rachel came waddling up with a five gallon bucket between them. They had run to the pila on the opposite side of the building and worked together to get the cover up and the bucket full. Very quickly we got the fire under control. We kept throwing buckets of water down the hillside and Brian kept up his "thumb spraying" until we were satisfied that everything was drenched and wouldn't flame up again.
How's that for a little excitement! The kids felt like heros and we were all glad that it was over. We think the neighbor lady accidently started the original fire burning her trash at the base of the hill. About the time we all got there with the hose, she came up with her own bucket and tried to help. All's well that ends well, I guess. We are thankful that it wasn't any worse. And if we look on the bright side...now Johnny won't have to hack down all those weeds with the machete!

Sunshine

This is our adopted cat, Sunshine. She showed up just after we moved here and the kids fell in love with her right away. She is an outside cat because of our cat allergies. We noticed that her belly was getting bigger and bigger and this week our suspicions were confirmed when she gave birth to one tiny kitten. The baby looks just like the mama. The kids have been thrilled to have a pet and having a sweet new kitten to hold and play with has been great for them.

Resurrection Time

This is the neighborhood Bible class that we have
twice a week. They made paper palm fronds and
waved them with so much enthusiasm! So many happy faces!












Here the class is acting out the Triumphal Entry with make-shift costumes and real 8 foot palm branches. It was an amazing sight and gave me an idea of how crazy and joyous it must have been 2,000 years ago.

Here we are on Easter Sunday. After church we spent the afternoon with some fellow North Americans. It was a fun day.

Group #1

We had our first group here for a short term trip the end of March/beginning of April. It was a time of encouragment for us. Brian was very busy with most of the responsibility of running things, but even with the added busyness, it was a great time. Everyone in the group had a good attitude and there wasn't any complaining. They worked on a lunch room for a local school, a few projects around here,various things to help out the church, and taught the neighborhood Bible class. We loved singing in English with them and spending time with others from home! Every person brought thier own talents and gifts and everyone was able to contribute to the work here. They were such a blessing to us; we were sad to see them go! In the future, other groups will have big shoes to fill because we felt like this group couldn't have been better!

Communication!

Communication with all of you back in the states or the lack there of has been a major problem for us. The past few week have been busy and we've had almost no oppurtunity to use the interent. Brian's dad fell down stairs and was in the hospital for almost a week before his mom was able to contact us. This is unacceptable to me!!! Please pray that we will find a better way to keep in touch. We are borrowing a modem from a friend for the next few weeks. What a luxury! We are looking forward to being able to use that everyday. In the meantime, please pray that we will be able to get our own soon! (While you are praying, please lift up Brian's parents. It looks Dad will be coming home soon, possibly today. Praise God!) Because we will have this one for a while I hope to post often and share the pictures that we've been taking! And I hope to finally get our e-mail prayer list up and running again. Lord willing, I'll be posting again soon! Until then...Adios!

Psalm 91

I've been challenged to read this Psalm every day for a month. It speaks to me in ways that I never would have understood before we came here. I have been afraid of the pestilence (vrs.6) that stalks in the darkness. A child we know just got out of the hospital with malaria. We don't have cobras (vrs.15) but we do have scorpians and deadly snakes. Dwelling in the shelter of the Most High, resting in the shadow of the Almighty. Being covered with His feathers and finding a refuge under His wings. What a comforting word picture!
The verse that stuck out to me today was the second half of 14.

"I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name."

Some of you scholars, look into that for me. What does acknowledge mean here? How do we do that? If you find any jewels as you study, please send them back to me. You can leave them in a comment on this post if you want. I'd love to hear what you find out.