Tuesday, December 7, 2010

It's 11pm and I'm tired, but I want to post today's events before I sleep and forget anything. It's been a good day.

I didn't sleep really well last night and was a little tired and a little nauseous this morning. Too much eating things I shouldn't. Anyway, I took things slow and got ready to leave for the day. We were supposed to be ready about 10:15am for German to pick us up. His van was having problems, so he called Mary to say that we were going to be picked up by Pastor Miguel in his new (very used) car about 10:30. Well, he made it here about 11:30 and what a surprise it was to see him pull into the courtyard.

Pastor Miguel's car is a little blue Chevy hatchback. He was proud that it is a 'Chevrolet - American'. It is pretty much on it's last leg. It squeaks and bumps and grinds and squeals all the way down the road. The passenger door doesn't have a handle on the outside anymore. The inside handle of the left passenger door is just a wire. Part of the housing around the steering column is missing and the horn doesn't work, so he has rigged a button to push for the horn. The button hangs by wires and swings around while driving. Parts of almost everywhere you look inside the car are missing. The air conditioner doesn't work, but the radio plays a fuzzy tune. He is so proud of his car. We rejoiced for him and secretly prayed for mercy as we climbed in. He had to put water in the radiator from the 15 mile drive from town to pick us up. He was very proud to have gotten us into town in very quick time. He says when the car is running better, he will make the time even quicker. Oh boy...

We got to the Sewer Pond area and it took people a few minutes to realize that we were there since they didn't see the van. When we pulled up and started to get out of the car, we noticed that the emergency brake was not set and the car was rolling. Pastor Miguel quickly sat back down and took care of setting the brake. He speaks about 1% English, but he managed to say 'sorry' with a big grin.

Pastor Calderon and his faithful crew of cooks pulled up in his beat up red Toyota pick up with the food for the feeding. They got set up with the plastic take apart tables that they bring and big pots of food. They dished up the food while German, Pastor Miguel and Pastor Calderon spoke to the people. A lady from the area spoke, too, and led the people in songs. Some of the kids took turns singing to the Lord, also. It was nice. When the food was ready to serve, they let Mary and I help hand it out. It smelled so good. Kind of a chicken stew with veggies, rice, beans all in a bowl with a tortilla on top and a piece of candy. They also get a chicha (baggie with a koolaid kind of drink). We had almost enough food for everyone. We feel bad when there is not enough, but we noticed that some families had gotten more than their share. That happens sometimes. But pretty much everyone got something.

I had been playing with the kids while the adults talked. We threw frisbees and they kicked a soccer ball. They did the same during the 2 days of adult classes and the kids were great about putting the equipment back in the tub for us to bring back next time. People were asking when we were coming back. It's so nice to have them want us to spend time there, even when we don't hand things out. I think there will be good participation when we get to start some weekly studies with them.

I got some good pics and short videos on my little camera. I'm still learning how to use it. It takes awesome pics. German took mine and Mary's cameras and took pics while we helped serve the food. This was a good job for him.

We left the Sewer Pond area and Pastor Miguel, Mary and I went to On the Run to rest in the air conditioning (and near a bathroom and food) while Pastor Calderon's team went back to their church to get the food for the next feeding an hour later. The three of us had fun visiting while we waited.

Today is the special holiday to celebrate the Virgin Mary. There is a celebration and special food and everything. Pastor Miguel must have teased Mary about it being her special day about a thousand times today (and I'm not exaggerating by much). He would just giggle.

We headed over to the Concrete Pond area to do that feeding. Pastor Calderon and his team got lost and we jumped back in Pastor Miguel's car to find them. They were only about the equivalent of a city block away. Pastor Miguel and Pastor Calderon let the people in songs and prayers and shared the Gospel while the serving ladies got the food ready. Then they allowed Mary and I to help again. There was plenty of food for everyone. I loved taking pictures of everyone, especially the kids. They are so cute. The people that live in this area are not as needy as those at the Sewer Pond. Some of the families have jobs in the big businesses down the road. They have houses made out of cement blocks and wood. They were appreciative for the food, though.

After the feeding, Pastor Miguel dropped Mary and I off at German's house. We watched some English tv (CNN from England) while the family got ready to go see the celebration of the Virgin Mary. We all piled into Joanna's car and went downtown. We walked around a bit and stopped in at La Unión grocery store for a few items, since Mary and I will be at the house for a few days while waiting for German's van to get fixed. Mary needed Pepsis and I had a hankering for some more snack pack pudding.

We enjoyed the celebration (which I will explain in tomorrow's post) and then went back to German's house for a special dinner served on this day. It was a yummy dish of rice, chicken, veggies, green olives, raisins, prunes and cooking wine. I really liked it. German downloaded pics from mine and Mary's camera cards to a flash drive so that we could download them to my computer. (neither of us have the cords for our cameras with us and Radio Shack never got a multi-card reader in) Once the download was done, Pastor Miguel and his daughter brought us home in his even more musical car.

We were glad to get home. Pastor Miguel drove much more slowly on the way home, not getting over about 35 miles per hour. The fan belt was really singing. We had to stop at a police checkpoint that is only used right before and during holidays to charge people fees for going to the beach areas. They seemed a little disgruntled with the singing car. Oh well, they didn't charge us anything. :)

Once we got home, Pastor Miguel was going to put water in the radiator again and had taken the cap off. Then he started the car and I was standing pretty close by. Hot water went everywhere. Mary and I scattered like a couple of cockroaches. He felt so bad. I got some hot water on me, but it wasn't too bad.

It's now midnight and I'm very tired. It's been a good day and I loved being here for the culture of Nicaragua. I'll post more about today's celebration on tomorrow's blog. There is a lot to share about the things that happened today. I really enjoyed looking at the pics from my camera. I can't wait to download them to facebook. I hope that everyone enjoys reading about what God is allowing us to do here in Nic. I know I LOVE being able to live it!!