21 days left

well... let's see. school is rapidly coming to a close and you can tell the kids are super ready for break. but their english is coming along very well. i'm working a lot with the fire fighters. i really like that. and tonight, i will be teaching a young class at church. completely in spanish. yeah, i'm a little nervous b/c i sound like an idiot when i speak spanish, but also really excited to start sharing stories and ideas that i have about god with other people in their own language. this group that meets on saturdays is like a 15-32 year old class for young people in our church. pray that god will give me the words to say, literally. :)

also next week i'll be teaching a youth class. a friend of mine, ivan, has started a youth program for high school kids. i've been helping him and next week is the fourth week. he can't be there so i will be teaching, again, only in spanish. thank god he has allowed me grasp the basic words of this language.

with that said, i am excited to visit and see everybody throughout july and august. but am more excited about returning for another year. please continue to pray and think about any support that you might be able to help me with as there are numerous costs for returning here, i.e. - airplane ticket, another visa, my glasses broke the other day so i have to buy new ones. all this stuff adds up and i and the people here in shell would really appreciate any help. thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers over the last 5 months.

31 days left

well, sunday morning was a very exciting morning to be a fire fighter. as my 24 hour shift was coming to a close and couldn't come more rapidly as i was at the station the entire time with zero action, zero calls and zero tv, we got a call just before it was time to change groups of bomberos (spanish for fire fighter). one drunk guy had driven a small 4 door truck into a concrete pillar of a house on one of the main roads here in town. by the time we got there, a small crowd of 50 people or so were standing around watching. it's typical work of a bombero to size up the scene as you pull up to an accident. the only sizing up that i was able to do was to decide which guy to take in the fight that was goin on in the middle of the street next to a messed vehicle. apparently, the drunk guy (boracho en espanol) was driving the his girlfriend's dad's truck. and when we arrived he (boracho) was fighting with said girlfriend's dad. so because of my size up, i took the dad out of the fight because he was bigger, i'm not real good at sizing up the scene yet. once we got them seperated and somewhat calmed down, we started trying to figure out what had happened and what we needed to do. there was blood in three different seats of the truck, but only one person was there, said boracho. the other three dissappeared before we got, which means, they can walk and run away, they don't need our help. but this boracho was a sight man. he was really drunk, and really crazy. he was mad, then he was sad, then he was mad, then he was crying...this happened for a few minutes. finally he started walking down the hill towards the dirty river (the river where all the sewage goes to from shell). it's probably 150-200 yards or so away. so we start talking with the police and yadda, yadda, yadda. i look down the hill and this boracho is standing on the rail, yes, the rail of the bridge like he is goin to jump off the bridge, fall 20-25 feet, and land in a gross 2-3 feet deep river that is full of turd and pee. my first thought was, "man, i don't want to have to go down in the river and clean this guy up." so i yelled at the other bombero to drive the ambulance down there and i took off running for the bridge. as i was running down there, another by-stander came up to the boracho and i assume started trying to ask him to come down and be careful and to not jump. whatever they talked about it allowed me to run right up behind him without him knowing i was there. my first instinct was not to grab him, but to just be there and be cautious of him. i didn't want to try and grab him and miss or scare and cause him to slip and fall and me be the reason for him goin down and possibly seriously injuring himself. so i'm just there, waiting for probably a long 4-5 seconds. he is on the rail looking down at the 20' fall, i'm inches behind him waiting and trying to think of what i should do. then out of nowhere, his legs bends, his shoulders cower, his arms come back with an erie confidence as if he is about to leap from airplane 20,000 feet from the ground with a parachute securly attached to his back. so i did what anybody else would do and quickly grabbed him around the waist and with every ounce of muscle that i have threw him back over the top of me into the street. once we hit the ground on the street i grabbed his arms, jumped on top of him putting my knees in his chest and waited for the other bomberos to arrive with the ambulance.

it was a pretty exciting morning. a good way to start the day off.

35 days left

well, almost to the one month marker. i can't believe that it has went by this fast. what an awesome place and experience. i don't have internet at my house anymore so the only time i use this is when i'm working at the fire station. oh yeah, i'm a fire fighter here in shell now. i've been doing this for about a month now and i love it. they don't really have fires here though. just medical emergencies. we get a lot of people that get flown in from the jungle that we help transport to different hospitals. it's a fun job and i get to drive the ambulance with lights and sirens, so that's always fun.

i just changed my flight from july 1, to june 20. for a couple of reasons, but mainly so i can go on a camping trip with joey, ryder and rick in minnesota. does anybody know about the boundary waters. i've heard they are awesome. that's where we are going anyways. but i'll fly into st. louis on saturday and we head out on sunday. and will be gone for a week. but i can't wait and look forward to visiting and seeing everyone when i get back....

59 days left

well, my time here is quickly winding down. and with that said, i still believe that more time here is necessary to finish whatever it is that god is doing in my life. he has allowed me to quickly learn a big chunk of the spanish language, and that is speaking volumes to the people of this little town. just the other day, i heard of a lady that i don't even talk to that much comment on how well my spanish was coming along. and here, when a 'gringo' can speak their language that says a lot to the people here and they respect and like you better. i have tons of friends and aquaintances here and these relationships continue to grow and grow each day. for my work, my students are learning and understanding and speaking perfectly what i have taught them. i know that another year hear would be a gianormous blessing for them and their families. also today i found out that the school is having a difficult time covering the bills and they have asked me to help out as a teacher for a summer program.

i know this post is short and sweet, but it's now time to start preparing for the up and coming months. if you have been a supporter for me while i've been here, i can't tell you how much you have blessed me and the people here in shell. with that said, to anyone who would like to talk with me more about supporting me here for another year, i would love to hear from you. send me an email and even your phone number and i can call you from here for $.02 per minute, talk to me on skype, talk to me on facebook. however we can communicate, i want to hear from you.

to my family at osage hills. me wanting to be here for another year has been a difficult decision to make. i've seriously gone back and forth as to what to do. you have no idea how much i have missed you all and long to speak, see, and eat some wobbly boot hot wings with you. students, i love you with all my heart. i know this is stinks that we have to put off hanging out for another year, but i'll be home to visit and this year will fly by. scott and tessa and all the rest of the leaders of youth will take good and solid care of you. they love you dearly. can't wait to see you in july

to my family. you guys are awesome. i've got a great family and i wouldn't have been able to come down if otherwise. i miss yall tons and can't wait to spend fourth of july with yall.