"God never leads His children otherwise than they would choose to be led, if they could see the end from the beginning,
and discern the glory of the purpose which they are fulfilling as coworkers with Him" (Desire of Ages p. 225)
Sometimes it's hard for me to believe these words. Sometimes I certainly don't like the way God is leading, and often I
get discouraged. We are facing some very serious and very challenging situations here. The devil is attacking from every
direction, and his attacks are increasing. Praise God! "Consider it pure joy my brothers, whenver you face trials of many
kinds" (James 1:2) Greater efforts on Satan's part must mean that he is getting more anxious that his stronghold is about
to be broken! "Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God" (Rev 19:1)

It was announced to the kids last night that we will be closing two of our houses here. Two sets of house parents will
be leaving and the kids will be rearranged. Today they will be told who is moving where. For many of the kids, this is
old hat. They are used to being shuffled around. For others, it will be very challenging. Adjustment is always hard, but
I fear especially for the youngest children. They have been in smaller houses for the past couple of years and it has
done wonders for them. They are now about to be put into bigger houses with lots of bigger kids. Thankfully God loves
them even more than I do and will never fail to take care of His precious little ones.

My visa issues are still not resolved yet. I firmly believe God wants me to be here and will work out something, but in
the meantime it sure is a lot of hassle and frustration. I'm going again to the embassy today, I pray something will work
out soon so that I can focus my attention on more important things.

Yesterday I spent some time in the heart of the capital (I had to go to work on my visa). As I walked through the streets my heart was so heavy as I witnessed the struggle of these people just to stay alive. They have no hope, no future. They sit on a street corner day after day, hoping to make a dollar or two to fee their family. And those are the lucky ones. Others resort to begging or stealing, or worse. Life is very hard sometimes, and I really have no concept of this. I saw a t-shirt the other day that said "Lord, as I stop and count my days, the good ones outweigh the bad ones, so I won't complain". My life has been blessed in ways that I can't even begin to understand. I have never wanted for anything. I have no idea how to reach the people here, but I pray every day that God will show me. At times the need is so overwhelming, but God is faithful, He will guide me.

In happier news, we took a very fun field trip to the zoo on Sunday. All four of us missionaries went with one of the
houses with smaller kids. The house had spent a couple of Sundays making pupusas and selling them to raise money to pay
for this trip. We made special food and the kids got ice cream and they were all just super excited. The zoo is actually
pretty big, so it was quite the day walking around in it. God gave us good weather and a safe trip and it was just a good
day.

There is much more that I could write about, but there just isn't time. Please keep this place in your prayers and I pray
everything is going well for all of you.

Blessings...

""Halleluhah! For our Lord God Almight reings. Let us rejoice and be glad and give Him glory!" (Rev 19:6,7)