Hello from andreagburgess@Hotmail.com
Casa de Nueva Esperanza, Los Cedros, Nicaragua.
May/June 2008
James 1:27: “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”
My dear and precious family and friends:
I have found A quiet moment in between hospital visits and dressing changes. Please forgive my tardiness in reporting to you these past couple of months. There have been many changes, and the challenges that come with it. Every picture tells a story, so I have included a slideshow so you can see what has been happening here lately.
The rainy season began with tropical storm Alma, on May 29th, bringing power outages and road blocks with it. However, the landscape is now a lush green once again, and the evenings are a little cooler, (Thank you Lord!)
Xochilt was transferred up to our home in Jinotega to be with the 6 – 12 year olds. She is doing well, but we miss her and hope to see her soon for a visit. We are working with her 3 year old brother, Jose, who is still with us here at Los Cedros.
Celeste and Juanita are making amazing progress. Celeste copies almost everything you say and do, she is a very quick learner. She is already using some English words with a perfect accent! Cute! Juanita is so different from the fragile, sick, 9lb, 3 month old baby she was when she first arrived. She is now a chunky monkey at a little over 15 lbs at 5 months! A picture of health! When the local authorities came to visit they did not recognize her and could not believe it was the same baby! Thank you Father! They both have such sweet spirits and are usually smiling and happy.
We haven’t been able to start our teacher training classes yet, but hope to begin in the fall. Of course we meet regularly to discuss what is best for our babies, and train daily, moment by moment. We have fun learning together as a team.
Joseling is potty trained, hooray!!! One less in diapers!! Well done Joseling!!!
Mother’s Day is always on May 30th here in Nicaragua, different to the States, and in England it is in March! So I get to celebrate it 3 times.
18 month old Pedro was brought to us in the afternoon of June 2nd, with a doctors’ appointment for the next day at 7 am. Little did we know he was scheduled for surgery that day, and has had to go to the hospital almost every day since. He was badly burned when his crib caught fire at his home in March. He is so brave and such a trooper, he is my little Super Hero! Taking care of him and his special needs has been one of the hardest things I have had to face, both physically and emotionally. I have learned a lot about humility, patience and perseverance. Thank you Lord for walking me through those days (and nights!!) and for promising to be there right by our side in the days to come.
Hebrews 13:5b: “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.”
I would like to share an excerpt from an email sent by a dear sister in Christ:
“I believe the Lord’s intentions in these times is to “conform us to the image of His son” (Romans 8:29) for His glory and our good. When you emerge on the other side of this, you will have yielded yourself to a place in the Lord that comes only through this type of emotionally, physically and spiritually exhausting trial. Remember that “You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you.” (Phil 4:13) It will be His love, His strength, His good intentions for you and Pedro that will bring the victory in whatever form it comes.”
Thank you my dear friend for your prayers and words of encouragement, I pass them on to encourage others also.
Pedro will need many more surgeries and has an extensive physical therapy program for recovery ahead of him. Please lift Pedrito up in prayer, along with our other children and workers
Again, I cannot thank you all enough for your continued support and encouragement, I honestly could not do this without you. Thank you for holding up my arms when I get tired. (Exodus 17) Thank you for your faithfulness, you are always there for me, even when you don’t hear from me in a while. Thank you for that! With more frequent power cuts and long days at the hospital, it has been hard to keep in touch, I will try to write more often, and I thank you for your patience.
With so much love in Christ, blessings and smiles,
Andrea JJJ XXXX
Please remember that I love hearing all your news too! Do write to me at andreagburgess@hotmail.com
What a first week! God has sent us 12 students from all over India, one from the U.S. and one form England; we can see so much potential and such eagerness to learn and grow in all of them. 
Hop on the Bus. The first week we had some fun outings together. We watched a movie one afternoon, we had a tea-party for the women, while the men went out together, but the most unforgettable thing was our trip to Lodi garden. 
Vineyard of Gainesville