Update #4: Tuesday, July 22

Tuesday, July 22, 2025

We were up by 7am and back at VEA by 8am to start classes for the day. We finished distributing the remaining pen pal letters to the students who were not in class yesterday. We spent more time teaching in the afternoon classes than the morning class. But Regan used us to help interact with the kids in English and played some interactive games.

During the 11:30 to 1:30 time between classes we went to Maritzas home to visit her. She attended VEA with our support for over 5 years and has since graduated HS and just finished her first semester in college. She has stopped coming to VEA over the last few months since I was there last in late March. We encouraged her to continue and finish the school and put the last 5 years of studying English to good use. She agreed and said she would come back to class on Monday. We gave her her pen pal letter, and she agreed to have her response on Monday. Maritza and her mother gave us fruit from her banana, plantain, and avocado trees. We visited for over an hour before we had to leave to get something to eat before returning to VEA for the afternoon classes. We were going to get Mason pizza, but there was an accident on the narrow winding road out of the town, so we went to a small restaurant with no air conditioning and had chicken fingers and fries (Mason’s 2nd favorite). In the afternoon, Regan had us working individually with some of the more advanced students (and I learned a lot). While the students were working independently at the end of the class, I pulled up some old photos from when those kids were brand new in the school 5 and 6 years ago (some during and before covid). They had fun picking at each other about how young they were. At the end of each class we told them no class on Wed, because were going to Puerto Cabeza and we would be back in class on Monday.

After class we went to visit with Freydeling and her husband, Joseph, and their new 3-month-old baby Ester. You may recall Freydeling grew up at CasaB and we have known her for a very long time. She married Joseph who we watched grow up in the community. His mother was part of the first church we started a relationship with. She has been with us from the beginning. Dave met with F and J and counseled them before their marriage in 2024. Joseph recalled many of the things we talked about, and expressed appreciation for how it has helped them. Dave was here in late March when Ester was born, and she is almost four years old now.

We picked up Pastor Cirilo and his wife Marta at their church and went to dinner at Fritanga. Pastor Moises David and his wife (and two kids) met us there as well. We spent the time talking about CBS and the training this weekend. Pastor Cirilo and his wife Marta needed some encouragement to continue the bible study and to begin the next book. We left it that he would send some folks to the training this weekend, and he would try to begin again with his church in the next 60 days.

Pastor Moises David sent members to the first CBS training 6 years ago before COVID, but he never started in his church. He told Regan during my last visit, that he wanted to be again be apart of the group. He said he wanted to “come back to the table”. A reference to us historically having meetings while eating a meal. He is planning to send as many as 6 of his leaders to the training this weekend. Over all, it was a successful meeting. We took Pastor Cirilo and Marta to their home, and Regan returned us to CasaB at about 10:30pm. Katy was up very late getting herself and Mason ready to travel to Puerto Cabeza (Port) in the morning.