Rewired

     No, we have not disappeared! We live in a foreign country and when something happens, it goes by clout. We live along side of a four lane highway that connects with the coast. Nearly every double trailer arrival comes through here. They often park beside the highway in front of our house. It has not been prepared for that, but they use the area anyhow. Through the years we have lost Internet MANY times because the double trailer carries sea boxes that are a little higher than a normal trailer. Usually when they leave, if they have parked closer to the wall, they will take something with them: our wires; electricity, cable, telephone, anything. Now, living outside of the city limits normally mean we are put on the bottom of the list for repairs. During this crisis there is no one answering the phone, only a recording. Anyway, we are now connected again (until the next truck).

     We are doing fine here as far as the virus. I read before the loss of our Internet that about 290 had tested positive for the virus and approximately 15 deaths for our state. When you consider the amount of people in and out of our city on any given day, that is excellent. On Monday they have instituted a mandatory face mask law. Until now it has been very strongly suggested but there were no penalties if you did not use them. Come Monday, if you do not have a mask you will be unable to board public transportation or enter certain areas. Some of our population still does not believe this is more than a cold, but they are a small minority. Most folks are heeding the warnings. I do not know of any Deaf who are still working. They have announced that we will not be able to return to church services until at least May 1.

      Cheyenne is our "mother hen" to make sure we and her boys are safe. If I suggested that I go to town for anything, she would stand in the doorway. We are thankful for her and her eagerness to help us. When she does go to town, she will leave her two boys with us. When she returns and before she greets us, she goes to her house, showers and changed clothes. Of course she has always used a mask and gloves. We are not running scared by any means, always reminded of Esther's challenge, "If I perish, I perish." But at the same time, we try to be careful and not play the fool.

     Until we lost Internet, I was sending video devotions to our Deaf each day. They have connected with Cheyenne through her phone several times to see if we were connected yet. Today I doubled up with the studies to try to catch up with days missed. I will do so until I get to a more difficult part or they feel it is too much at once. It has been a challenge. Ann has three phones, one current and two older ones. One has USA contacts and one has MX contacts. One has USA What's app and one has MX What's App. My computer will not connect with her phone. I tape the video with a good camera, then send it to Cheyenne. She sends it to Ann's phone to edit the video and reduce the size and then sends it back to her own in order to post it on our church page. Sometimes, things get lost or mangled in the process. I used to keep up with technology for years. We got busy in the work and when I wanted to return to technology, it was gone to outer space. Now I am lost and depend on someone else for the technology. Anyway, it works (most of the time).

     Not a day goes by but what we chat about one of our supporting churches as we are reminded of you both in our conversation and prayers. We are praying for you as we know you pray for us. Seldom has the entire world been enveloped by a major disaster, all at the same time. We do appreciate your sacrifices and prayers for the work here. We shall keep you in our prayers that all will be safe and that He might get the glory. God bless you.

Gary and Ann