Dear Friends,
The big news since our last letter is the arrival of the World Race team. In mid-February 27 young men and women arrived for a month of ministry, meeting felt needs and bringing hope to the barrios, dumps and orphanages of Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Their stories are incredible: spending time in households with dozens of people representing 3 or 4 generations with no electricity or running water; at the dump with families who live by picking through trash to find food and clothes; ministering to a man who had been shunned for 50 years; or finding enough to feed a multitude when only one bowl of food was available. Their impact on the communities in which they lived and served is probably best reflected in the plea by one of the orphans who asked the leader of the team, “please don’t leave us”. If you want to see and hear more about this and other stories go to adventures.org and look under the section titled “World Race”. Start paging through these stories but be prepared to have your eyes opened and hearts broken. At the end of the World Racers’ time here they were joined by the team from Guatemala for 4 days of rest, recovery and recitation. We participated in this “debriefing” process, helping to counsel 50 young missionaries 
as they prepared for the next leg of their year-long journey. In addition, we got to hear first-hand many of their incredible stories. For us, the biggest blessing was just having them here, the unofficial recognition that the Central American base was officially open. We are here. Teams are coming. In fact, there are almost a half dozen trips planned for the rest of the year.
We continue to work with individuals who the Lord puts in our path and our hearts. One boy in particular continues to haunt us, a 12 year old named Gustavo we met our first weekend in town. Gustavo shines shoes to help support his mother and three sisters. His is a slender and attractive boy, very somber and shy. Looking into his eyes, it is evident that he has suffered some deep hurt. We took him to a pharmacy the first day we met him, to buy medicine for a badly infected foot. Each week we bring all the shoes in the house to him, whether they need it or not, just to keep him working. Lately, he has started coming to our house, where we make sure he gets at least one good meal while he works, but he is still very guarded. Recently, a visiting friend from AIM coaxed our first smile out of him. Its slow going, but the stakes are high for Gustavo and boys like him, boys who often turn to glue sniffing and dangerous ways to stay alive. Granada is a very treacherous town for attractive children on the street. We are hopeful that we can find a way to protect him and other children like him.
We’ve just witnessed our first Semana Santa in Central America, a combination living passion play and spring break. Charles happened upon this life size statue in a neighbor’s doorway the other morning. Although perhaps not expressed the way we would, the message is similar and the outcome is the same.
Happy Easter from Charles, Sarah, Banks and Willa.
P.S. …and he didn’t even have a machete.” With those words Sarah recently finished describing our experiences with the break-ins at our house. My take on all this is a little different than hers, but the final analysis is the same: no one was hurt. In short, God protected us, and our desire to live and work here has not been dampened. In fact, if anything, we see more than ever the desperation that drives such behavior and the deep need for help and hope. But, we would appreciate your prayers for us and our safety.
