Drummer Boy

Curry James is a drummer. He has been beating things for months and it is shaping into a spectators sport. The second drawer, the one with the mixer beaters and metal serving spoons is marked from one end to the other with the remnants of his melodic sessions from weeks past. Pencils make good drumsticks. So do screwdrivers and sticks and anything else that is long and somewhat straight.

He leaves the church nursey every Sunday morning on a mission. He has a need to get into the sanctuary, up the steps and to find some willing accomplice who will put him on the drum throne so he can play for his live audience which is just the last of us to leave the building, still finishing our dwindling convesations and lunch plans. But he will sit and play for as long as we let him. And if the sound guy leaves the drums turned on....bonus! But it doesn't seem to matter. He'll play by himself with no sound. If he has sticks in his hand - he's happy.

So for Christmas, Kat and Pops got him a drumset. Not a real one mind you, but a small one that is loud and more off key than a real one, but just as much fun for him. He beats on that thing and wears out the one clangy symbol audience or no audience. It's a show worth seeing. You should come over sometime. We don't charge admission. God Bless you and pray for our little man as he grows up.

Ben

Hiking in Georgia

Austin (fancy pants), Charley (the red dragon), Andrew (press on) and I hit the road late on Wednesday night after church and made the drive to north Georgia to hike the first 30 miles of the Appalachian trail. Yeah, we chose to start on the day that it was wind chill of 4 degrees at Neels Gap. And yes we chose to start in the midst of a very sad search and rescue for a missing hiker. But it was a great trip.

Not the Hostel
Our plan was to stay at the hostel in the Walasi-Yi Center at Mountain Crossings - which by the way is an amazing gear store. They have great stuff, no kidding - so there's the free promotion. The hostel is in the basement of the attached room, not the upstairs which is the living room for some of the employees. Yep, we arrived at 5:50am and slept for an hour and a half on their living room floor. They were confused, surprised and very polite all things considered. We were stupid, sleepy and embarrassed. The door was unlocked and the one think I remembered was that the hostel door was always unlocked, so I thought - hey, we're here - be quiet and don't wake anybody up - what a nice hostel - didn't' expect a tv and x-box. Oops.

Springer Mountain
The southern end of the AT. It was neat to be there. Good views. Cool register embedded in a rock. Took some pictures. A few Thru hikers had already begun their journey to Maine.

The trail
Loved it. There was some snow and some steep up and down hiking, but a lot of well graded trail as well and some very impressive views that were at their best against the clear winter blue sky. Met Uncle Walt at the Hawk Mountain Shelter!

All in all, the first 30 miles were better than I expected. Georgia was beautiful even in winter and Blood Mountain was particularly beautiful, but so windy and cold. Great Hike. Can't wait to hike the rest of the trail in Georgia.

The Update

We've had a great summer in the Skipper house. We had summer trips with the youth group and a vacation in Destin as well as just the pure joy of watching Curry grow up. We've had great times in swimming pools, at the creek, in the front yard and everywhere in between this summer. Here's a brief overview of the last few months.

May
We had a great rafting trip with the college students from our church. Followed by a long awaited hiking trip on the AT. I hiked with some students from church for 70 miles through the Great Smokey Mountain National Park on the Appalachian Trail. What a wonderful Trip! You should see the DVD. Classic documentary - even though Stroo doesn't care about it.

June
Curry's first VBS (he skipped last year on doctors orders. Turns out that 2 week olds souldn't be at VBS. Whatever).

July
Super Summer, Basecamp, Children's Camp - a big old church trip blur - with a birthday! And Kelly Wheat moved back to Mississippi with his beautiful family. Go Chocs!

August
Big Seven (middle school kids are the best). Beleivers Bash was the hottest night ever! And of course the fantastic family vacation that ended with a stomach virus.

Lot's to catch up on, but that's a start. Sorry it's been so long since the last post.

Peace

Curry's Birthday & Other Fun Stuff...

Sorry it's been so long since we last updated everyone. There is really no excuse because I've been home the last month with Curry just playing! I love having the summer's off with him, but by about 5 o'clock each day we are both ready for Ben to come home!

Curry celebrated his first birthday on May 27th. We had a great time with our families and had lots of friends to help us celebrate! If you came...thanks so much!

Curry is really growing fast and getting around so good these days! He loves to play outside - helping mom in the garden, swimming in his pool, chasing Skip and Sandie. Most days he wears just his diaper and a smile!

Curry has had a few "first experiences" in the last month or so, including his first Vacation Bible School and his first campout. Check out the pictures!

Free Day Missionaries on Tour

Today was our free day. We went to the market in Masaya. Its definately a cultural experience. Its an open air market...although the air is smelly in places and all the booths are covered, so its really not that open. Anyway, imagine hundreds of booths with shelves of trinkets, clothes, shoes, machetes, hammocks, wood working and every tourist baiting souvenier imaginable. Everyone wants to sell you their goods. You could really get lost in there. In fact, I dont remember if Kyle came out. Hey I hope hes not still there. Anyway, they sell produce, meat and souvienrs all in the same noisy market. It is no place for the clostrophobic. But we survived.

















After the market, we went to eat at a local restaurant that has been deemed safe by the local missionaries. The food was great, but it was greater when Adam found out that he could buy a pizza there. Youve never seen a Papa Johns that was more appreciated. Everyone else ate a Nicaraguan steak.. not what you are thinking..smaller..thiner...but very good.




We wound up at Crater Lake. Its an old volcano that has become a lake and a tourist attraction...much like our own Crater Lake in the US. There are shops and people who want to shine your shoes, sing you a song, give you a neclace, take your picture or anything else for a little cash. Someone had a local duo sing a little anniversary tribute for Adam and Amelia. Touching. I know.



As usual, Preacher led a great trip and of course today DR was her normal super tour guide. But now we are all tired and ready to get back home. Cant wait to see everyone in church Sunday morning.

Back at the Mission Home

We finished our work in the village of La Libertad. The week in La Libertad was fabulous. The setting was amazing. We were in the mountains with beautiful backdrops of mountain peaks and tropical vegetation. The climate was actually mild ... thats a first for our group. We had a little rain everyday, but it was never a problem.

We saw plenty of people during the week and our clinics were able to offer a lot of assistance to people who lived in the area. People traveled as many as four hours on horseback to visit our clinic. Everyone did great. I cant wait for Sunday night when we can all see the pictures together as a church family and hear the final report. We miss you guys so much.





Today was a little tough. We packed up and left the village around lunch. The hardest part of the trip is leaving. The village was our home for a week, and leaving the children was heart wrenching. They got attached and so did we. They were crying and some of us were. It is amazing to feel loved this way. The goodbyes were hard, but they reassured us of our place in the village and in a way, our place in the world. It is good to love God and to love His children. Today it seems like all Gods children really are one big family. We are truly all brothers and sisters.

The village sent us off with a celebration. Local children dressed in festive clothes and danced local dancxes for us. The mayor presented a plaque to bro. Hogan and the local pastor expressed his appreciation for ou work. It is great to feel so appreciated.

The five hour bus ride back to the mission home however was not so great. And, to top it all off in true mission trip style, one of the buses broke down. Fortunately for us it was on the street just outside the driveway of the mission home. The bus stopped to back into the driveway, and with a loud clank, the driveshaft hit the ground. We figure that things like that are to be expected.



Tomorrow we will spend some time sightseeing and shopping. Tonight we will celebrage together in a banquet at the mission home. All is well as we wrap up a good week.

In La Libertad

Big thanks to the mayor of La Libertad. She is allowing us to make this post in her office on the city computer. I couldn´t find an internet cafe in the village, so this is a huge gift. Here´s the update from Wednesday.

We´ve been here since Sunday. We were off to a slow start after traveling a long and bumby road to the village. Rain slowed us down as we tried to get our clinic set up for our first chapel. That was Sunday. On Monday all was well.

Chapel services have been great. Anthony is doing a great job preaching. He has been a huge new addition to our team. We´ve seen about 1,800 people so far and over 200 decisions for Christ. God willing that will continue or increase today and tomorrow morning.

John and Linda joined us yesterday. It is great to have them back. They know the ropes so well, and it just feels more normal with them around. We had a very sick team member from Florida last night, but the doctors did great. Meredith Wilson did an exceptional job. We prayed a lot and she is back at work this morning. It was a late night for a lot of people on our team.

The Pharmacy is doing well. The dentists have pulled more teeth than you want to know about, and Dr. Mauldin is leaving today for a commitment at home, so they will be without her after today. She has done a great job.

Preacher is doing a great job leading the team. He and I got a personal tour yesterday from the mayor. I was just tagging along with the dignitary. It pays to have important friends. She drove us to the gold mines and to an local ranch. It was very impressive.

The children are beautiful and we feel blessed to be here. Thank you to everyone who cooked, brought food, packed pills, gave money and prayed for us. It is good to be a part of our church family.

The village is beautiful. We are loving this trip. I´ll update you more when we get back to the mission home on Thursday evening. We miss you guys and hope you have a wonderful night at CBC.

T