This will be a quick list of things that have happened over the last week.
I needed some time to pray over some things. I felt that it was important enough to ‘fast and pray’, and since I can’t ‘fast’ meals due to health issues, I decided to ‘fast’ the computer and internet. It was a difficult week with many highs and lows. But I feel stronger in my commitment to follow where God leads me and feel secure in my relationship with Him. Many prayers for direction were answered during that time and I’m thankful for the experience, even though it was tough sometimes. Walking with the Lord is not always easy, as is life, but it’s so worth it to know you are in His will. These times of ‘recalibrating’ like a GPS are very beneficial.
I had my usual Monday thru Thursday Spanish classes and ended my semester (8 weeks) with Juan. I’ll return to classes with him when I return to Nica in mid-February. I see how much more of a mountain that I have to learn, but I do see great results from these past 2 months. It’s hard not to feel frustrated when I want to speak fluently right this minute, but Juan said that I did excellently and everyone who has studied Spanish in High School and College has told me that I have accomplished a lot thus far. So I’m thankful and even more determined to learn more while I’m in the states for the next 7 weeks. It will be fun to get back here and see how I’ve improved and then move forward in the spring. I still struggle with hearing loss and that hinders my learning experience, but God knows how much I want to be fluent and I know that He will help me accomplish it. Sometimes when we have to fight harder for something, it’s more precious to us. That’s how I feel about my Spanish learning. It’s precious to me.
Tuesday, we had our regular Sewing class. The ladies finished their drawstring backpack bags. They were a hoot watching them on the sewing machine. They were troopers and helped each other along. It will be so nice to have more machines in the spring. We will have our last class for this year on Tuesday. I picked up some pins, pin cushions, seam rippers and thread for them. A team supplied some scissors. This will make nice parting gifts for them to use while I’m gone.
Wednesday, we went to Las Quimeras for Women’s Bible study. Mary is finishing up her evangelism training, so I opted to let her have the whole hour. I spoke with Pastor Sergio about the list of Sunday School kids that we’re providing Christmas gifts for. I also used the time to read some scripture that was perfect for the ‘seeking’ mood that I was in. Mary went to babysit Manuel after Bible study, so I fixed dinner for me, Megan and Talon. Then Megan and I tried to match up kid’s names between the list that Pastor Sergio gave me and the file of kids from the feedings so that I could determine their ages. It was a difficult task. Everyone spells differently (usually because of lack of education) and everyone has 4 names. We did pretty good though.
Thursday, I spent a lot of time sewing on Bible bags. I’ll have them ready to give to the Women’s Bible study at ROSCC church this Friday. Sherry and I had a long talk and I really appreciated it. She told me how much she and Mike appreciate me being a part of the ministry and how I fit in with future growth of the ministry. I love doing what God has called me to do here. I’m thankful to be a part of Voice of Hope.
I’ve been very reflective this week as I have been praying about direction, words to express my calling and situation and the work that I need to do personally to communicate to my supporters and prayer partners what the needs and opportunities are to join me in this journey for the new year. I have lots of thoughts floating around in my head, but nothing to put on paper yet. It’s all okay, though.
Friday, I sewed some more and helped get ready for the team which arrived at the Mission House on Saturday. I caught up with my laundry and organized some stuff in my room.
Beth arrived on Friday night and we talked for about an hour to catch up on things. It was nice. She liked my new home.
Saturday, Megan and Talon left very early to go and meet the team in Managua (they had spent the night at the hotel there) and take them to do the Fun Day stuff. Since Megan and Talon neither one had went on a fun day before, it was quite the experience for them. First thing, the phone that Mike gave Megan to use had a low battery and died early morning. Chico was their translator. A school bus (belonging to a church here) was used to get the team and take them around. Unfortunately, the driver didn’t know where he was going and was constantly stopping to ask for directions. Chico was trying to explain things to them, but they ignored him. Then the bus overheated on the way up the mountain to look at the volcano. The team had to walk the rest of the way up. They weren’t happy about that. Since it takes a long time for a big team to get through the zip line tour, the team didn’t get to eat lunch until about 2:30pm. The service at our favorite restaurant is slow, but the food is good. Then they went shopping at Catarina and started for home. Unfortunately (again), the bus driver was having trouble getting out of Managua and finding his way around. Megan noticed that the fuel light was ‘on’ on the bus, but the driver assured her that it didn’t work right and that they had plenty of gas. They stopped at a gas station and had a debate over the situation. When the team finally arrived in León, the team leader wanted to go to Tip Top Chicken to eat, but it was way too late for that. The team was getting in about 4 hours later than expected. I think they ended up getting some food before getting to the Mission House. I was in bed when they arrived, as was Mary. Beth stayed up to greet them and get them squared away in their rooms. They had quite the adventure for that long day. Glad I was safe here in my room!
This morning, we all had breakfast and got ready for church. As we were preparing to leave, Sherry asked if I would stay back at the Mission House with her to help translate to the cooks and other workers. I said sure. I wasn’t looking forward to riding in the school bus anyway. I figured I would get car sick and had taken a couple of ginger pills. I was glad to help with getting lunch ready and icing some cakes for the social time. The team split into 2 groups and half went to Telica church and the other half went to Las Quimeras. They all loved it. Some people from both churches were going to get baptized here in our pool, so they and their families came to the Mission House via our vans. It was great to share the baptisms with them. Few Nicaraguans know how to swim and therefore are afraid of the water. A couple of the ladies were terrified, but they were obedient in following the Lord’s command of baptism. I got some pictures and was very proud of them all. We had cake and juice and then they all went home.
The team had grilled chicken, rice, tostones and veggies for lunch. Yum. Then we had a training time and Mike did a wonderful job of explaining the ministry and then some of the VOH staff demonstrated the Sinbox drama. I think everyone is ready for the ministry week. The team split into their work groups for the week and got stuff prepared for the Fiestas and VBS.
Part of the team will work on construction of the church at the Sewer Ponds, part on doing a VBS each morning, and the rest on doing 12 Fiestas. Beth will teach an English club on Mon, Tues and Wed afternoons at Las Quimeras. I’ll still teach my afternoon classes. There will be church services on 2 nights. It will be a busy week.
Tonight (Sunday) Talon and I stayed back from church to serve dinner to the team as they returned from church services. Sherry needed to get Manuel to bed and the cooks needed to get home. The first group returned for dinner at 7:30pm. We got them served and then the next group was here by 8pm. We started cleaning up the dishes and Mary and Talon finished cleaning up the kitchen. The cooks had the place all cleaned up. We just needed to wash up the plates, cups, silverwear, pans, etc. It wasn’t too bad.
A lot of the team chose to swim this afternoon and this evening. They like having the pool here. It’s lights out at 10pm and everyone complied this evening. They were having a really good time and then all of a sudden it got quiet. By the end of the week, they will be more tired and less loud. It’s always funny to see that happen. I think everyone had a good day and I hope it made up for yesterday’s crazy adventure.
I’m working on putting together 60 gift bags for the kids at Las Quimeras to be delivered by me and Beth on Christmas Day. I’m also getting some gift bags of sewing notions ready for the Sewing class on Tuesday. I’ll have the Bible bags, notebooks and pens ready for Friday’s Women’s Bible study at ROSCC. It will be a week of gift giving! I love it!
Tomorrow I should get some info back from a company about getting individual health insurance. I’m losing what I had through FBC Rogers at the end of January. I’ve had to wait until I heard from them what my support for 2012 will be so that I could determine if and what I can afford to get. I’ll need to get a lot of loose ends tied up in the next weeks. It will be easier to do in the states, so I’ll be busy the week I get back there. Lots of things to work out and figure out. Gotta get the ‘worldly’ stuff in order so I can concentrate on the ‘Kingdom’ work. ☺
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