I was getting ready to turn off the computer for the night and realized that I hadn't posted for today. My night time schedule was different and I completely forgot! I was downloading some more pics to facebook, which takes a while since we have a slow internet. While waiting between downloads, I was working in my Spanish verb workbook. Got to get more study time in...
There's not a whole lot to talk about today. I got up and wash a load of clothes first thing. I love being able to hang them out on the line. Then I made some pancakes for breakfast. I brought some mixes that just need water. The pancakes aren't too bad.
Mary and I went straight to work on packing up the toys for the giveaway next week at the Sewer Pond. Then we took a break and had tuna for lunch. I laid down for a quick nap, but never went to sleep. It did feel good to lay down for a little while. My tooth and ear were bothering me a lot today. I took some aspirin and the pain went away while I was resting. We finished up the toys with a few tubs packed for the kids at the Concrete Pit. We just need to do a few more hygiene kits for the Moms at the Concrete Pit and we're ready to roll. We are trying to use up as much stuff here as possible. We'll let the after-Christmas team give away the rest of it when we do Fiestas.
This afternoon, some neighborhood boys were climbing the palm trees next door. They were cutting down the cocoanuts with machetes. The trees are 2 stories high and they just scamper up there with those machetes. I worry about them falling. But they are very good at it. Saturnino is very good at climbing them, too! I'll have to get a pic of him one of these days. Anyway, they were very busy getting all those cocoanuts down. I don't know if they sell them or what. I got to talk to them a little bit. They own the 2 blond dogs that we see on the beach and on the street. One has a broken front leg, but let me tell you, it can run as fast as the other dogs. I'm kind of proud of it. :)
Mary and I made hamburgers for dinner. I can't get over how lean the meat is here. (the cows are very skinny). And how good the meat tastes, even the chicken, without the additives we have in the states. Of course, who knows what all is in that meat we're eating!
Speaking of meat, tonight we heard the most awful commotion on the street. It was a huge pig being 'coaxed' to the back of a house across the street from us. It was on it's way to get slaughtered and it knew it. The guys were trying to pull it into the yard and it wasn't going easily. At one point it laid down. It was screaming at the top of it's lungs. We joined Saturnino (our guard) at the front gate to watch. They finally got it back on its feet and twisted its tail and maneuvered it to the back of the house. We could hear it screaming for a while and then deadly (!) silence. That was our excitement for this evening.
Mary and I retired to our rooms about 7pm tonight. I was on the computer, as usual, downloading pics for facebook. She likes to lay down and read. About 8pm she came to lock me in my room for the night. I don't think she trusts me to actually lock my door. She likes to check it. I teased her one night that she just doesn't want me to sneak out and get into trouble. She said she wasn't worried about that, she just didn't want me to go without her! ha
We're getting up early tomorrow to catch the bus into town. German will meet us at the bus stop. He offered to drive out and pick us up, but we like riding the bus for the entertainment value. :) We'll let him drive us home, though, because we are going to visit the grocery store while in town.
Mary also wants to hunt down some reasonably priced paperback books in English. That will be a challenge! But it will be fun!
The staff at FBCR had their Christmas luncheon today. I told Teresa to tell everyone hi from me and that I was sweating and suffering for Jesus in Nic! ha!
I'm very sleepy now, so I'll sign off. Bendiciones and dulce sueños.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Monday, December 13, 2010
Monday, December 13, 2010
Got up this morning to a brisk breeze of low 60s. I had to get up in the night and turn down the fan. Mary has been cold when she gets up around 60-ish. Unless the temp is extremely hot or cold, I don't pay it much mind. I know that back home (in Rogers and Searcy AR) they are having teens and snow. We'll have a rude awakening when we get off the plane is January!
German picked us up at 10:30 this morning to head to the feeding at the Dump. We made it into town with no flat tires or breakdowns of any kind. yay! We were a little bit early, so while we waited on Pastor Miguel to meet us at the Stop Light (which doesn't work, but it's a good landmark for a meeting place), German walked to a street vendor and bought us a watermelon. He cut it himself so that he could be sure that it was fresh and clean and ready for us gringas to eat. It was yummy!
Juan Pacheco had finished teaching his morning class at the English school (near by) and he had stopped at the fruit vendor, too. He came to say hi to us and we invited him to join us at the feeding. We all ate slices of the watermelon. It was good and came in handy for entertainment when Mary and Pastor Miguel started spitting/shooting watermelon seeds at each other. Pastor Miguel needs a little more practice, but Mary got him good a few times. I tried to shoot one at Mary and it went sideways and hit Pastor Miguel. German just ignored our childlike behavior and read his paper. He was standing in front of the van and used the windshield wiper as a sort of magazine rack. He uses those wipers for many things, including hanging wet cloths from them one day as we drove into town. Very resourceful!
We piled into the van and headed to the Jericho church, where we met Pastor Calderon and his merry band of cooks and servers. They work very hard to cook the food for the feedings. It takes much work and they are faithful to pull it together. We headed to the Dump and waited outside a little while for the truck with the food to arrive. We watched some of the people come out of the dump dragging different things that they can turn in for money by recycling or even sell misc stuff. There were a few guys pulling these round things that looked like big cardboard drums. They were all tied together and they drug many of them at one time. German said that wire and cable ship inside the containers. Sometimes people use the empty containers to store clothes and other household items in instead of furniture. These guys piled these all up and set them on fire. German said it was probably to burn away the paper and keep the wire rims to sell.
When the food truck arrived, we drove into the Dump. It's a fairly new location and has a scale to weigh the trucks and a little office building. There is some construction on a bigger office building. There was a little boy on a horse that rode along with our little caravan and yelled to the workers and other people to follow and have food. The horse looked fairly healthy for a Nic horse, and Mary noticed that someone had given its mane a flat-top hair cut.
The ladies set up shop and started portioning out the food. Mary and I got to help. Pastor Miguel, Pastor Calderon and a lady from Jericho church all shared about Jesus and led singing. We had plenty of food for everyone. That is always nice. German took mine and Mary's cameras and took pictures for us. He holds a camera in each hand and shoots the same pic each time. It's funny to see him at work.
After we finished serving, Mary and I got our cameras and took some pics. Mary can always get people to pose and have fun. She even got one guy to pose showing his muscles! We had a good time with the people there. This was the third feeding that Mary and I got to help with while we have been here just the two of us. Since Pastor Calderon's team does so much of the work, it's something easy for us to be able to share in doing. We are blessed to work with them.
After the feeding, we went to On The Run for a bathroom break and to get some food. Pastor Miguel and German had some food at the feeding, so they weren't hungry. I got my favorite sandwich combo and gave German the drink. Mary and Pastor Miguel each had some papas fritas (huge french fries). It was yummy.
We headed over to the Concrete Pit area. Pastor Miguel took the megaphone and walked around to gather people. We talked with them a little bit about Voice of Hope and how we would like to come back to the area to do more with them. (last week we visited with them and then did a feeding one day) Today, we passed out New Testaments and talked about Salvation. There were just a handful of people and most of them nodded knowingly about Salvation. I asked if there was a church nearby. They said there is one about 4 'blocks' away and another in the neighboring area. We told them that we want to share the salvation message to those who don't know Jesus, and for those who do, we want to help equip them to be disciples to share the Good News. They liked the idea of classes and different ways we can help them to share. We will be going back to take some toys for the kids next week. it's a good start for getting to know the needs and to reaching the area.
We came back through town and stopped at a used book store that was closed the other day. They had one little section of English paperbacks, but they wanted $5 for them. Mary said no thanks and we left. But I got to take a few pics of the store. I like getting pics of the different businesses.
We then got back to our side of town and Pastor Miguel decided to ride with us to the house so that he could ride back with German. Pastor Miguel was really wound up today. He and Mary were like 2 little kids in the van. Pastor Miguel likes to tease Mary about, well, just about everything! He speaks a teeny amount of English and she is learning Spanish, so it's mostly body language. They were hilarious today.
After getting back to the house, I took a quick nap and Mary read for a little bit. Then we took our walk along the beach. Today, the seashells were everywhere. The last time we walked, there were hardly any shells on the beach at all. It's so strange how different the beach can be at the same time every day. Anyway, Mary found some interesting shells today. I didn't take my camera or phone on the walk, because I didn't want to worry about them getting wet. I wish I would have had one or the other with me today, as we saw so many shells covering the beach, and also, 2 different fish washed up on the beach. One was a regular looking fish. The other had a very long, pointy nose. It was really weird looking. They washed up after we walked by and within a few minutes of returning, there they were. God always gives us something new and different to look at on our walks. Kind of like how He gives us new and different things to see each day, if we will only notice.
German and I had a nice talk today about recognizing that everything we have in our lives come from God, and how we can trust Him in all circumstances. He shared with me some of the Bible stories that Juan had shared with him earlier in the day. We also talked about how important it is to look for counsel from Christians and not just worldly friends. We need to encourage, inspire, correct and pray for each other. I enjoyed our talk.
Most of our beach is plain, brown sand. Sometimes it's packed hard, sometimes like marshmallows to walk on, and sometimes so soft and loose that it's hard to go far without exerting a lot of energy. You never know until you start walking, as it looks the same sometimes. It reminds me of my walk with God. I never know what it will really be like until I experience it. I can't rely on what it might look like. It can be different each day. Surprises may pop up just like those fish appearing where we just walked by today. There is one spot on the north end of the beach that has a lot of little pieces of shells that have been broken off of bigger shells. It makes me think of the things that God needs to 'break off' of my life to shape me into something smooth to be useful for Him. And those little broken pieces are good for their abrasive power on my feet, to make them smooth (like getting a pedicure!) So many things in our lives are deemed harmful, uncomfortable, useless... but God uses ALL things to make us the child HE wants us to be. Whatever He chooses to use is fine with me, as long as HE is the one using it! I have to remind myself of this all the time. Feel free to remind me of this when I'm whining about something not going my way!!
We finally heard from Christopher tonight. He and Evelyn weren't home when we went by to pick them up for church yesterday. He didn't answer his phone. Mary was worried about them. Perhaps Chris was in a motorcycle wreck (he goes to work in Managua during the week and returns to León for the weekends). Perhaps Evelyn went into early labor. Mary had so many things going on in her mind. I called him and caught him on his dinner break. The first thing he said was "Hello Mother. Sorry I didn't call you about yesterday, but I took Evelyn to visit my mother and my phone battery went dead and the charger wasn't with me." I told him that was okay and that Mary had been worried. I put her on the phone and she got to talk to him for a few minutes. She felt much better. We are supposed to have dinner with them on Sunday, so it will be nice to see their faces and spend time with them. And Mary can relax now.
Tomorrow is another workday at the house. We're looking forward to getting the Christmas stuff ready for the families at the Sewer Pond and the Concrete Pit. And we will probably do more Spanish lessons, too. Mary is really studying hard and I'm so proud of her!
Time to close and get another good night's sleep. Resting in God's hands is the most comfortable place to be.
German picked us up at 10:30 this morning to head to the feeding at the Dump. We made it into town with no flat tires or breakdowns of any kind. yay! We were a little bit early, so while we waited on Pastor Miguel to meet us at the Stop Light (which doesn't work, but it's a good landmark for a meeting place), German walked to a street vendor and bought us a watermelon. He cut it himself so that he could be sure that it was fresh and clean and ready for us gringas to eat. It was yummy!
Juan Pacheco had finished teaching his morning class at the English school (near by) and he had stopped at the fruit vendor, too. He came to say hi to us and we invited him to join us at the feeding. We all ate slices of the watermelon. It was good and came in handy for entertainment when Mary and Pastor Miguel started spitting/shooting watermelon seeds at each other. Pastor Miguel needs a little more practice, but Mary got him good a few times. I tried to shoot one at Mary and it went sideways and hit Pastor Miguel. German just ignored our childlike behavior and read his paper. He was standing in front of the van and used the windshield wiper as a sort of magazine rack. He uses those wipers for many things, including hanging wet cloths from them one day as we drove into town. Very resourceful!
We piled into the van and headed to the Jericho church, where we met Pastor Calderon and his merry band of cooks and servers. They work very hard to cook the food for the feedings. It takes much work and they are faithful to pull it together. We headed to the Dump and waited outside a little while for the truck with the food to arrive. We watched some of the people come out of the dump dragging different things that they can turn in for money by recycling or even sell misc stuff. There were a few guys pulling these round things that looked like big cardboard drums. They were all tied together and they drug many of them at one time. German said that wire and cable ship inside the containers. Sometimes people use the empty containers to store clothes and other household items in instead of furniture. These guys piled these all up and set them on fire. German said it was probably to burn away the paper and keep the wire rims to sell.
When the food truck arrived, we drove into the Dump. It's a fairly new location and has a scale to weigh the trucks and a little office building. There is some construction on a bigger office building. There was a little boy on a horse that rode along with our little caravan and yelled to the workers and other people to follow and have food. The horse looked fairly healthy for a Nic horse, and Mary noticed that someone had given its mane a flat-top hair cut.
The ladies set up shop and started portioning out the food. Mary and I got to help. Pastor Miguel, Pastor Calderon and a lady from Jericho church all shared about Jesus and led singing. We had plenty of food for everyone. That is always nice. German took mine and Mary's cameras and took pictures for us. He holds a camera in each hand and shoots the same pic each time. It's funny to see him at work.
After we finished serving, Mary and I got our cameras and took some pics. Mary can always get people to pose and have fun. She even got one guy to pose showing his muscles! We had a good time with the people there. This was the third feeding that Mary and I got to help with while we have been here just the two of us. Since Pastor Calderon's team does so much of the work, it's something easy for us to be able to share in doing. We are blessed to work with them.
After the feeding, we went to On The Run for a bathroom break and to get some food. Pastor Miguel and German had some food at the feeding, so they weren't hungry. I got my favorite sandwich combo and gave German the drink. Mary and Pastor Miguel each had some papas fritas (huge french fries). It was yummy.
We headed over to the Concrete Pit area. Pastor Miguel took the megaphone and walked around to gather people. We talked with them a little bit about Voice of Hope and how we would like to come back to the area to do more with them. (last week we visited with them and then did a feeding one day) Today, we passed out New Testaments and talked about Salvation. There were just a handful of people and most of them nodded knowingly about Salvation. I asked if there was a church nearby. They said there is one about 4 'blocks' away and another in the neighboring area. We told them that we want to share the salvation message to those who don't know Jesus, and for those who do, we want to help equip them to be disciples to share the Good News. They liked the idea of classes and different ways we can help them to share. We will be going back to take some toys for the kids next week. it's a good start for getting to know the needs and to reaching the area.
We came back through town and stopped at a used book store that was closed the other day. They had one little section of English paperbacks, but they wanted $5 for them. Mary said no thanks and we left. But I got to take a few pics of the store. I like getting pics of the different businesses.
We then got back to our side of town and Pastor Miguel decided to ride with us to the house so that he could ride back with German. Pastor Miguel was really wound up today. He and Mary were like 2 little kids in the van. Pastor Miguel likes to tease Mary about, well, just about everything! He speaks a teeny amount of English and she is learning Spanish, so it's mostly body language. They were hilarious today.
After getting back to the house, I took a quick nap and Mary read for a little bit. Then we took our walk along the beach. Today, the seashells were everywhere. The last time we walked, there were hardly any shells on the beach at all. It's so strange how different the beach can be at the same time every day. Anyway, Mary found some interesting shells today. I didn't take my camera or phone on the walk, because I didn't want to worry about them getting wet. I wish I would have had one or the other with me today, as we saw so many shells covering the beach, and also, 2 different fish washed up on the beach. One was a regular looking fish. The other had a very long, pointy nose. It was really weird looking. They washed up after we walked by and within a few minutes of returning, there they were. God always gives us something new and different to look at on our walks. Kind of like how He gives us new and different things to see each day, if we will only notice.
German and I had a nice talk today about recognizing that everything we have in our lives come from God, and how we can trust Him in all circumstances. He shared with me some of the Bible stories that Juan had shared with him earlier in the day. We also talked about how important it is to look for counsel from Christians and not just worldly friends. We need to encourage, inspire, correct and pray for each other. I enjoyed our talk.
Most of our beach is plain, brown sand. Sometimes it's packed hard, sometimes like marshmallows to walk on, and sometimes so soft and loose that it's hard to go far without exerting a lot of energy. You never know until you start walking, as it looks the same sometimes. It reminds me of my walk with God. I never know what it will really be like until I experience it. I can't rely on what it might look like. It can be different each day. Surprises may pop up just like those fish appearing where we just walked by today. There is one spot on the north end of the beach that has a lot of little pieces of shells that have been broken off of bigger shells. It makes me think of the things that God needs to 'break off' of my life to shape me into something smooth to be useful for Him. And those little broken pieces are good for their abrasive power on my feet, to make them smooth (like getting a pedicure!) So many things in our lives are deemed harmful, uncomfortable, useless... but God uses ALL things to make us the child HE wants us to be. Whatever He chooses to use is fine with me, as long as HE is the one using it! I have to remind myself of this all the time. Feel free to remind me of this when I'm whining about something not going my way!!
We finally heard from Christopher tonight. He and Evelyn weren't home when we went by to pick them up for church yesterday. He didn't answer his phone. Mary was worried about them. Perhaps Chris was in a motorcycle wreck (he goes to work in Managua during the week and returns to León for the weekends). Perhaps Evelyn went into early labor. Mary had so many things going on in her mind. I called him and caught him on his dinner break. The first thing he said was "Hello Mother. Sorry I didn't call you about yesterday, but I took Evelyn to visit my mother and my phone battery went dead and the charger wasn't with me." I told him that was okay and that Mary had been worried. I put her on the phone and she got to talk to him for a few minutes. She felt much better. We are supposed to have dinner with them on Sunday, so it will be nice to see their faces and spend time with them. And Mary can relax now.
Tomorrow is another workday at the house. We're looking forward to getting the Christmas stuff ready for the families at the Sewer Pond and the Concrete Pit. And we will probably do more Spanish lessons, too. Mary is really studying hard and I'm so proud of her!
Time to close and get another good night's sleep. Resting in God's hands is the most comfortable place to be.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Sunday, December 12, 2010
What a wonderful Sunday.
We woke up and had our individual quiet times with the Lord.
I've been trying to memorize some verses in Spanish.
We had a quiet morning studying and on the computer. Mary did a couple loads of laundry. We baked some chicken breasts, potatoes, carrots and onions. I had a little bit for a late lunch.
We got ready for church and waited for German to pick us up at 2:30. It's a good thing he came early, because we ended up with flat tire on the way into town. German said he had not checked his spare tire in a year, so we were hoping that it had air in it. The funny thing is that when we got in the van at the house, Mary was talking about what all she carries in her car for emergencies and was telling us about an air pump that plugs into your cigarette lighter to take care of flats. Then we drive down the road and have one! While we were parked there in the road (there are not really shoulders to pull off onto), Mary and I took pics of each other and of German changing the tire. We don't like to miss any photo opps! We made it into the Texaco station in town and aired up the spare and put in some gas. Then we headed off into town.
We couldn't get ahold of Chris and Evelyn, so we ran by their house. No one was at home, so we didn't get to see them today or go to church with them. We were early for church, so we parked near the park and walked around to the different vendors. I bought a few woven zippered bags that I like. Mary spied a 'Tall Lady' and a drum band. I joined her and we watched a Tall Lady and (short) Nic man dancing. It was quite funny. I took a video of it on my camera. I hope it turns out well. Mary also got some great pics of little kids dressed up in traditional dress. The little girls had on makeup and the boys had mustaches and goutees painted on their faces. They were soooo cute!
We found German when it was time to head to church. Today was a festival/parade of horses. Many of the roads (which are mainly one-way streets anyway) were blocked off. We ended up parking a few blocks from the church and walking down the parade route. Some of the horses were dancing. It was cool. We finally made it to church. German made sure we were in good hands and then he went to get the tire fixed for his van.
It was so exciting to see Joe and Marcela arrive. She had surgery just a few weeks ago and was walking very gingerly. Her big smile was beautiful. I got a wonderful hug from Joe. He calls me his Mami. I met his Mom and Dad tonight at church. They are nice. Joe introduced Mary and I to the congregation, even though we have been quite a few times. I love that little church. Joe asked if I would give my testimony tonight. I am always happy to talk about what God has done in my life and how blessed I am walking with Him now. Juan Pacheco was my translator. When Joe introduced me, he mentioned the special connection that we have and how I call him son and he calls me mami. It made me tear up. He said that when he was at the hospital during Marcela's surgery and praying very hard for the outcome, that he knew I was praying very hard for them. What a sweet, sweet man of God he is. I'm thankful for our special relationship. I love the pics I got of him and Marcela and one of the three of us. I will treasure them.
The music was awesome, of course, since Joe is the worship leader. They have a great little praise team and they have added drums to the band. This church meets in a tiny room and the music would be loud enough even without the speakers, which are huge. They gave us a place of honor to sit on the front row, so we really got to experience the music. I recognized a few songs and we clapped through them all. My hands were red and I loved every minute of it. Of course, in Nic, you stand for all of the music, and you end up dancing through most of it. So it's a good workout! It's very worshipful. No question that you are praising when you are singing these songs!
When I was giving my testimony, Juan was translating and we had a few funny moments. One came when I was saying that I live opposite of the "American Dream" of owning a house, car, furniture and other things. I said instead of having my own house, I live with a friend. Juan translated that to amigo (which means friend, but the ending means male, even though it is used generically sometimes). I quickly corrected that to amiga (which definitely means female friend). Everyone laughed. The church family were so attentive and friendly and encouraging. I told them that they always make Mary and I feel so comfortable.
The Pastor is traveling, so Joe gave the message tonight. Juan translated it into English just for Mary and myself. It was wonderful to see he and Joe up there side-by-side sharing Jesus in both languages. I count myself so blessed to know these 2 fine gentlemen. I could catch most of what Joe was saying before Juan translated it. It was nice for me to see some improvement in my listening and comprehension skills with Spanish. I pray fervently to become fluent someday in Spanish. I should spend more time in study and I'm hungry for it. At times like these in Nic, and when I'm with my Cuerpo Vivo family back in Rogers, I want to soak it all in!
Joe's message was very good. I enjoyed it very much! I was so blessed this evening. I'm so proud of the Joe and Marcela and how much they love the Lord and want to serve Him. They are an awesome couple. I pray for her full and fast recovery from her surgery. They have postponed their December wedding to May, so that she will be healthy and strong. They have been dating for 8 years and Joe says their love is so strong, especially after going through her health problems these last months. I know that God has big things planned to accomplish through this wonderful couple. I'm honored to know them.
After church, we met up with German around the corner. He had picked up his kids and got them some dinner. They were eating in the van and rode with us back to the team house. Ishmael (about 1 1/2) rode on German's lap and helped him drive. Mariangel (2nd grade) rode in the second seat with Mary and those two laughed and had fun all the way home. I got a good pic of our two drivers, father and son. It was a fun ride home.
Smelling the kids' dinners made Mary and I hungry. We warmed up our chicken and veggies and had a nice dinner. Then we retired early to our rooms.
I got on the computer to catch up with people on facebook and to do my daily post here on my blog. I found out that some friends (and Deanna's daughter and son-in-law) made it back to Las Vegas after going to San Francisco for Jake's graduation from seminary. Their big news is that Jake will be the interim Sr Pastor of their church in Las Vegas. They are very excited. I'm so happy for them. I pray that this fresh start will give the church the boost of positive energy and momentum to make a huge difference in their community.
Deanna has been with Jake and Elaine and family for the last 2 weeks so that she could go with them to the graduation. She'll be returning to Rogers in a week or so. I know the animals will be glad to see her. It's been a while since they didn't have at least one of us there with them. Deanna's grandson is house/pet sitting. I'm sure he is doing a great job, but I doubt that he will spoil those pets the way Deanna and I do. :)
From some posts on facebook, it sounds like Pastor Wes (back at my home church, FBC Rogers) has been having some really good messages lately. I can't download them from here, but I'll catch up on them when I get back to the states. I've enjoyed the quotes that people from church have posted on their statuses.
I guess I should go to bed soon. We'll leave in the morning to do a feeding for the people who live at the dump, and then go to the Concrete Pit area to meet with the people and hand out Bibles. It will be a good day.
God has been giving Mary and I experiences that we don't normally get to have when we have teams in. It's been wonderful. We're loving it very much. And we are loving our God even more.
We woke up and had our individual quiet times with the Lord.
I've been trying to memorize some verses in Spanish.
We had a quiet morning studying and on the computer. Mary did a couple loads of laundry. We baked some chicken breasts, potatoes, carrots and onions. I had a little bit for a late lunch.
We got ready for church and waited for German to pick us up at 2:30. It's a good thing he came early, because we ended up with flat tire on the way into town. German said he had not checked his spare tire in a year, so we were hoping that it had air in it. The funny thing is that when we got in the van at the house, Mary was talking about what all she carries in her car for emergencies and was telling us about an air pump that plugs into your cigarette lighter to take care of flats. Then we drive down the road and have one! While we were parked there in the road (there are not really shoulders to pull off onto), Mary and I took pics of each other and of German changing the tire. We don't like to miss any photo opps! We made it into the Texaco station in town and aired up the spare and put in some gas. Then we headed off into town.
We couldn't get ahold of Chris and Evelyn, so we ran by their house. No one was at home, so we didn't get to see them today or go to church with them. We were early for church, so we parked near the park and walked around to the different vendors. I bought a few woven zippered bags that I like. Mary spied a 'Tall Lady' and a drum band. I joined her and we watched a Tall Lady and (short) Nic man dancing. It was quite funny. I took a video of it on my camera. I hope it turns out well. Mary also got some great pics of little kids dressed up in traditional dress. The little girls had on makeup and the boys had mustaches and goutees painted on their faces. They were soooo cute!
We found German when it was time to head to church. Today was a festival/parade of horses. Many of the roads (which are mainly one-way streets anyway) were blocked off. We ended up parking a few blocks from the church and walking down the parade route. Some of the horses were dancing. It was cool. We finally made it to church. German made sure we were in good hands and then he went to get the tire fixed for his van.
It was so exciting to see Joe and Marcela arrive. She had surgery just a few weeks ago and was walking very gingerly. Her big smile was beautiful. I got a wonderful hug from Joe. He calls me his Mami. I met his Mom and Dad tonight at church. They are nice. Joe introduced Mary and I to the congregation, even though we have been quite a few times. I love that little church. Joe asked if I would give my testimony tonight. I am always happy to talk about what God has done in my life and how blessed I am walking with Him now. Juan Pacheco was my translator. When Joe introduced me, he mentioned the special connection that we have and how I call him son and he calls me mami. It made me tear up. He said that when he was at the hospital during Marcela's surgery and praying very hard for the outcome, that he knew I was praying very hard for them. What a sweet, sweet man of God he is. I'm thankful for our special relationship. I love the pics I got of him and Marcela and one of the three of us. I will treasure them.
The music was awesome, of course, since Joe is the worship leader. They have a great little praise team and they have added drums to the band. This church meets in a tiny room and the music would be loud enough even without the speakers, which are huge. They gave us a place of honor to sit on the front row, so we really got to experience the music. I recognized a few songs and we clapped through them all. My hands were red and I loved every minute of it. Of course, in Nic, you stand for all of the music, and you end up dancing through most of it. So it's a good workout! It's very worshipful. No question that you are praising when you are singing these songs!
When I was giving my testimony, Juan was translating and we had a few funny moments. One came when I was saying that I live opposite of the "American Dream" of owning a house, car, furniture and other things. I said instead of having my own house, I live with a friend. Juan translated that to amigo (which means friend, but the ending means male, even though it is used generically sometimes). I quickly corrected that to amiga (which definitely means female friend). Everyone laughed. The church family were so attentive and friendly and encouraging. I told them that they always make Mary and I feel so comfortable.
The Pastor is traveling, so Joe gave the message tonight. Juan translated it into English just for Mary and myself. It was wonderful to see he and Joe up there side-by-side sharing Jesus in both languages. I count myself so blessed to know these 2 fine gentlemen. I could catch most of what Joe was saying before Juan translated it. It was nice for me to see some improvement in my listening and comprehension skills with Spanish. I pray fervently to become fluent someday in Spanish. I should spend more time in study and I'm hungry for it. At times like these in Nic, and when I'm with my Cuerpo Vivo family back in Rogers, I want to soak it all in!
Joe's message was very good. I enjoyed it very much! I was so blessed this evening. I'm so proud of the Joe and Marcela and how much they love the Lord and want to serve Him. They are an awesome couple. I pray for her full and fast recovery from her surgery. They have postponed their December wedding to May, so that she will be healthy and strong. They have been dating for 8 years and Joe says their love is so strong, especially after going through her health problems these last months. I know that God has big things planned to accomplish through this wonderful couple. I'm honored to know them.
After church, we met up with German around the corner. He had picked up his kids and got them some dinner. They were eating in the van and rode with us back to the team house. Ishmael (about 1 1/2) rode on German's lap and helped him drive. Mariangel (2nd grade) rode in the second seat with Mary and those two laughed and had fun all the way home. I got a good pic of our two drivers, father and son. It was a fun ride home.
Smelling the kids' dinners made Mary and I hungry. We warmed up our chicken and veggies and had a nice dinner. Then we retired early to our rooms.
I got on the computer to catch up with people on facebook and to do my daily post here on my blog. I found out that some friends (and Deanna's daughter and son-in-law) made it back to Las Vegas after going to San Francisco for Jake's graduation from seminary. Their big news is that Jake will be the interim Sr Pastor of their church in Las Vegas. They are very excited. I'm so happy for them. I pray that this fresh start will give the church the boost of positive energy and momentum to make a huge difference in their community.
Deanna has been with Jake and Elaine and family for the last 2 weeks so that she could go with them to the graduation. She'll be returning to Rogers in a week or so. I know the animals will be glad to see her. It's been a while since they didn't have at least one of us there with them. Deanna's grandson is house/pet sitting. I'm sure he is doing a great job, but I doubt that he will spoil those pets the way Deanna and I do. :)
From some posts on facebook, it sounds like Pastor Wes (back at my home church, FBC Rogers) has been having some really good messages lately. I can't download them from here, but I'll catch up on them when I get back to the states. I've enjoyed the quotes that people from church have posted on their statuses.
I guess I should go to bed soon. We'll leave in the morning to do a feeding for the people who live at the dump, and then go to the Concrete Pit area to meet with the people and hand out Bibles. It will be a good day.
God has been giving Mary and I experiences that we don't normally get to have when we have teams in. It's been wonderful. We're loving it very much. And we are loving our God even more.
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Saturday, December 11, 2010
We've had such a good day today. God has given us some fun things to do.
We got up early and caught the bus into León. It comes down our street and honks at various stops. Then is goes to the end of the road and waits for people to come to the bus stop. Then it comes back down the road past our house again. We scurried out to the little stop closest to our house.
The buses here are mainly old school buses. They are in various stages of disrepair, but they seem to make it where they are going. There is no air conditioning, but it is quite pleasant with the windows open, as long as we are moving. We hopped on the bus and road it to the end of our road, back past the house, down a little road to a small town near us that is also along the beach called Las Peñitas. There is an inlet there and I took a few pics. We then headed back to the highway and started toward León. We made quite a few stops on the highway. There are some designated stops with a little roof and concrete benches. Other stops are made if someone is standing along the road and flags down the bus.
Once in León, we got off at the main stop on that side of town. There are many vendors there selling snacks and produce. We took some pics there, too. Then we walked about 7 blocks into town to Pacheco's English school. As we were walking along, we would look in the open doors of the buildings. Most all of the buildings come all the way to the street and are joined side by side. The door opens up into a store or directly into the living area of a house. As we walked past the open doors, we took pics if it was a business. The stores are usually one room, either big or small, with everything on shelves that go to the ceiling. We past some variety type stores, pharmacies, bookstore/office supply stuff, a TV repair shop, a shoe repair shop, a beauty shop (with one stool, a chair for waiting and shelves with 'product' on it), a gym with workout equipment (Mary got one of the guys to pose showing his muscles!), a Taekwando studio, a preschool, etc. I tried to get pics of a lot of the places.
There is also a place near a street corner that we noticed before that has some scarecrow-type dummies that look like old men. They set them out on the street corner sometimes. We asked German about them and he said that they are for sale. There is a custom on New Year's Eve to set one of the 'old men' out and fill it with fireworks (they LOVE fireworks around here) and at midnight, you blow up the old man. hummmm
We walked past our famous stoplight where we always meet the translators. This light does not work, but is a good landmark at which to meet people. We made it to the English school and were welcomed in to the classroom with the more advanced students. They ranged in age from grade school to high school ages to college. Juan had us sit at the front of the class and talk. The students told us who they are, how long they have been studying, about their families, what they would like to use their English language skills for, etc. They also asked us lots of questions about our lives, families, life in the US, why we are in Nic, about our ministry, etc. We have a great time with them. German met us there and joined in on the discussion. Juan is one of our translators when we have teams in and German is his boss during those times. German shared about when he first met Juan and about being translators for VOH. 2 of the students are wanting to become translators someday, so Juan had them translate for me and Mary. We spoke like we do when we are working at Fiestas and witnessing, etc. The students were our audience. The 'translators' did very well. We got to share our testimonies with the class and about our walk with Christ and our call and lives as missionaries. When the students were first telling us their name, age, etc, one of the them (Jered) mentioned that he is a Christian. I thought that was great that he feels that being a Christian is an important part of who he is. We took a few pics with the class and wished them luck with their studies. They asked if we could come back again. We are going to try.
After class, I asked what time it was and found that we had time to go to one of our favorite restaurants. We have to get there first thing to get the good stuff. We hurried there and I got to treat us all to a yummy lunch! I so love it! Then German and I did 'numbers' which is what we call our bookkeeping tasks. We got it all figured out and everything felt very settled. We ran to a used book store that German knows, but it was closed. So we found this man on a street corner who has books of all kinds spread out on the sidewalk. Mary found a used paperback mystery in English. With German's help they negotiated down to $2. Mary said her daughter wouldn't believe she actually paid $2, since she won't pay over fifty cents in the states. We then stopped to exchange Mary's white-out pen (that she had bought yesterday, but it didn't work) for a regular bottle of white-out. Then we had German drop us off at the bus stop. He offered to drive us to the house, but we told him we had fun on the bus and at 10 córdovas (about fifty cents) it's cheaper than driving the van out there and back. So we told German goodbye and found seats on the soon to be overflowing bus.
The trip home only took about 35 minutes and we had fun looking at stuff out of the window. As we passed over a bridge that crosses a river, we saw a man standing in the water casting his fishing net. I wish I could have gotten my camera out to grab a pic. Oh, and Mary had previously spied a mobile home at one homestead. That's the only one we have seen here. Most homes are either concrete, stucco, wood, tin, cardboard or plastic. We made quite a few stops on the way home to drop people and their purchases from town off at their homes. We enjoyed the ride very much.
After we got home, we sent Saturnino home for about 5 hours. I laid down for a nap and Mary read a little bit and dozed. About 4:30 we went for our sunset walk on the beach. We start out to the south and walk to the rocks with the big cross on them. Then we double back to the north end of the beach where the fishing boats come in to an inlet. Then we double back to our house. It takes between an hour and hour & a half at a leisurely pace. By 5:30 or so it is starting to get dusk. By 6pm it's dark. On our walk today, I found a good sand dollar. Mary is going to dry it out and take it home. There were just a few people on the beach, which is normal. Quite different than Wednesday, when it was a holiday, and tons of people were out.
We came in and got our showers. The waves are so strong that they 'throw' sand at you and it ends up inside your clothes. We got hit by a few waves on our shorts. Just getting splashed leaves a wet spot with sand stuck to it. Kind of like the waves had spit-up on you.
I talked to my sister Pam tonight and she sounded like she is feeling better. Still sore and tired of sleeping flat on her back, but her voice sounded so much better. I know she is glad to have her surgery behind her.
I guess I better get off of here and read some more. I need to hit that Spanish verb workbook, too.
I'm loving my time here. We are going to Joe's church tomorrow and we have a feeding at the Dump on Monday and other ministry to do the rest of the week. It's so good. I love it! God is blessing my socks off! oh yeah, I don't wear socks down here! HA! God blesses me much more than I deserve. I love Him so.
We got up early and caught the bus into León. It comes down our street and honks at various stops. Then is goes to the end of the road and waits for people to come to the bus stop. Then it comes back down the road past our house again. We scurried out to the little stop closest to our house.
The buses here are mainly old school buses. They are in various stages of disrepair, but they seem to make it where they are going. There is no air conditioning, but it is quite pleasant with the windows open, as long as we are moving. We hopped on the bus and road it to the end of our road, back past the house, down a little road to a small town near us that is also along the beach called Las Peñitas. There is an inlet there and I took a few pics. We then headed back to the highway and started toward León. We made quite a few stops on the highway. There are some designated stops with a little roof and concrete benches. Other stops are made if someone is standing along the road and flags down the bus.
Once in León, we got off at the main stop on that side of town. There are many vendors there selling snacks and produce. We took some pics there, too. Then we walked about 7 blocks into town to Pacheco's English school. As we were walking along, we would look in the open doors of the buildings. Most all of the buildings come all the way to the street and are joined side by side. The door opens up into a store or directly into the living area of a house. As we walked past the open doors, we took pics if it was a business. The stores are usually one room, either big or small, with everything on shelves that go to the ceiling. We past some variety type stores, pharmacies, bookstore/office supply stuff, a TV repair shop, a shoe repair shop, a beauty shop (with one stool, a chair for waiting and shelves with 'product' on it), a gym with workout equipment (Mary got one of the guys to pose showing his muscles!), a Taekwando studio, a preschool, etc. I tried to get pics of a lot of the places.
There is also a place near a street corner that we noticed before that has some scarecrow-type dummies that look like old men. They set them out on the street corner sometimes. We asked German about them and he said that they are for sale. There is a custom on New Year's Eve to set one of the 'old men' out and fill it with fireworks (they LOVE fireworks around here) and at midnight, you blow up the old man. hummmm
We walked past our famous stoplight where we always meet the translators. This light does not work, but is a good landmark at which to meet people. We made it to the English school and were welcomed in to the classroom with the more advanced students. They ranged in age from grade school to high school ages to college. Juan had us sit at the front of the class and talk. The students told us who they are, how long they have been studying, about their families, what they would like to use their English language skills for, etc. They also asked us lots of questions about our lives, families, life in the US, why we are in Nic, about our ministry, etc. We have a great time with them. German met us there and joined in on the discussion. Juan is one of our translators when we have teams in and German is his boss during those times. German shared about when he first met Juan and about being translators for VOH. 2 of the students are wanting to become translators someday, so Juan had them translate for me and Mary. We spoke like we do when we are working at Fiestas and witnessing, etc. The students were our audience. The 'translators' did very well. We got to share our testimonies with the class and about our walk with Christ and our call and lives as missionaries. When the students were first telling us their name, age, etc, one of the them (Jered) mentioned that he is a Christian. I thought that was great that he feels that being a Christian is an important part of who he is. We took a few pics with the class and wished them luck with their studies. They asked if we could come back again. We are going to try.
After class, I asked what time it was and found that we had time to go to one of our favorite restaurants. We have to get there first thing to get the good stuff. We hurried there and I got to treat us all to a yummy lunch! I so love it! Then German and I did 'numbers' which is what we call our bookkeeping tasks. We got it all figured out and everything felt very settled. We ran to a used book store that German knows, but it was closed. So we found this man on a street corner who has books of all kinds spread out on the sidewalk. Mary found a used paperback mystery in English. With German's help they negotiated down to $2. Mary said her daughter wouldn't believe she actually paid $2, since she won't pay over fifty cents in the states. We then stopped to exchange Mary's white-out pen (that she had bought yesterday, but it didn't work) for a regular bottle of white-out. Then we had German drop us off at the bus stop. He offered to drive us to the house, but we told him we had fun on the bus and at 10 córdovas (about fifty cents) it's cheaper than driving the van out there and back. So we told German goodbye and found seats on the soon to be overflowing bus.
The trip home only took about 35 minutes and we had fun looking at stuff out of the window. As we passed over a bridge that crosses a river, we saw a man standing in the water casting his fishing net. I wish I could have gotten my camera out to grab a pic. Oh, and Mary had previously spied a mobile home at one homestead. That's the only one we have seen here. Most homes are either concrete, stucco, wood, tin, cardboard or plastic. We made quite a few stops on the way home to drop people and their purchases from town off at their homes. We enjoyed the ride very much.
After we got home, we sent Saturnino home for about 5 hours. I laid down for a nap and Mary read a little bit and dozed. About 4:30 we went for our sunset walk on the beach. We start out to the south and walk to the rocks with the big cross on them. Then we double back to the north end of the beach where the fishing boats come in to an inlet. Then we double back to our house. It takes between an hour and hour & a half at a leisurely pace. By 5:30 or so it is starting to get dusk. By 6pm it's dark. On our walk today, I found a good sand dollar. Mary is going to dry it out and take it home. There were just a few people on the beach, which is normal. Quite different than Wednesday, when it was a holiday, and tons of people were out.
We came in and got our showers. The waves are so strong that they 'throw' sand at you and it ends up inside your clothes. We got hit by a few waves on our shorts. Just getting splashed leaves a wet spot with sand stuck to it. Kind of like the waves had spit-up on you.
I talked to my sister Pam tonight and she sounded like she is feeling better. Still sore and tired of sleeping flat on her back, but her voice sounded so much better. I know she is glad to have her surgery behind her.
I guess I better get off of here and read some more. I need to hit that Spanish verb workbook, too.
I'm loving my time here. We are going to Joe's church tomorrow and we have a feeding at the Dump on Monday and other ministry to do the rest of the week. It's so good. I love it! God is blessing my socks off! oh yeah, I don't wear socks down here! HA! God blesses me much more than I deserve. I love Him so.
Friday, December 10, 2010
Friday, December 10, 2010
Ahhhh. Sitting on my bed with the laptop and fans. Thank You Lord for electricity!
It's been a good day.
German called early this morning and said that the van was fixed and he would come and get us for working in the afternoon. We didn't have anything scheduled for today since we didn't think we would have wheels, so we opted for him to pick us up at 1:30 and we would go in to town for a change of scenery and some groceries. We were so excited to see him pull up in the van! Before German called, we had told Saturnino (the guard) to go home for the day and come back at 6pm. When German pulled up to the gate and tooted the horn for Saturnino to open the gate, he was surprised to see me doing it. The look on his face was so funny.
German is so thankful for the van being fixed. I know it is a load off of his shoulders! We jumped in and headed to León. We were almost giddy! When we got close to town he asked where we wanted to go. Mary and I looked at each other and said we didn't care, just take us to town. ha ha! We opted to park at La Unión and told German that we would call him when we were ready to leave. We walked around to some stores and explored a little within a few blocks of the van. We slipped in to Tip Top for some chicken for a late lunch/early dinner and then headed to La Unión to pick up a few groceries for the next few days.
While we were walking around we saw many cyber cafés. They were pretty much the same. Most establishments here just have their doors (or front walls) wide open to the street. (a lot of restaurants in NYC were like that, too) The cyber cafés had 4-6 little desks/tables with computers on each. For a fee you can get on there and surf the web, check your emails, get facebook, etc.
We also saw a healthfood restaurant called "Pure Earth Café". I was excited. Later I asked German if it is okay to get food from there. He said yes, so I'm going to get some fresh juices there next time I can! I miss my fresh squeezed carrot/orange/ginger juice! Mary said it was too healthy for her taste.
We also saw a massage place called "Seeing Hands Blind Massage". Hmmmm... this conjures up all kinds of ideas in our heads. And if you know me and Mary, you won't ask...
We stopped in at a Payless Shoesource store. I used to manage a couple of Payless stores in Fayetteville and Rogers back home, so I wanted to see what it was like here. The store looked a lot like the ones in the states. The aisles were tiny! The shoes were nice, but were much higher than you would get them in the states.
We saw a lot of hostels, too. It was fun walking around. There were different kinds of stores. Some were actually rather upscale. Some sold the usual clothes and gifts. Some sold used clothing.
While in an open shopping area, we were asked by a couple of kids who are learning English, if they could interview us. They videoed it on their camera. They had questions written on a piece of paper and did a pretty good job of speaking English to ask us questions about what we feel that Christmas means, if it is very different in the states, if we think it's too commercial, what the true meaning of Christmas is, if we encourage kids to believe in Santa. When they asked us if we believe in Santa, Mary said, of course! If you don't believe in him, you don't get presents!!! When they were done they took our picture and we took theirs. It was fun.
When we came out of La Unión with our groceries, German was waiting in the van and visiting with his sister. Mary had met her before, but I hadn't. She was very nice. Then we climbed in the van and ran some errands. We found a bookstore and bought some writing tablets. German had to make a couple of stops and we went along for the ride. We stopped at Eskimo for our usual cono jumbo (double dip cone). It was quite tasty.
We made it back home and brought our groceries in. German and Saturnino ran down to the little store on the corner and picked up some large bottles of water for the water cooler. We're trying to conserve on buying water, so we cook with tap water that is boiled to within an inch of its life. :) We still need the bottled water for drinking, vegetable cleaning and teeth brushing.
We got back about 5pm, so it was too late to walk on the beach, since it gets dark before 6pm. So we sent Saturnino home for his dinner and we settled in for the night.
Mary had washed a load of tennis shoes today. My old ones survived the wash and I can't wait to wear them again. They have been pretty sad looking this year here in Nic. My black canvas Rocket Dogs survived the wash, too, although they look a little curled up at the toes. Shoes can get very nasty here.
I forgot to mention that the other night, after our walk on the beach, at dusk, we heard a sound and determined it was a horseback rider galloping down the beach. I grabbed my camera and quickly put it in video mode. The image is pretty good. It was kind of cool to catch it. We see cows on the beach at the north end a lot and horses are always walking down the road and in grassy areas. Nothing is too surprising here.
I downloaded a bunch of pictures to facebook today. It took hours. The internet here is slow, but I'm so thankful for it! I've taken over 500 pictures and 24 short videos so far. It will take a while to download all that from here, so I may have to choose a few favs to post here and do the rest when I get home.
Better get off of here for now. We are planning on getting up early and taking the bus into León in the morning. We're going to attend English classes that our friend (and VOH translator) provides at his school. He said that his students would like for us to visit and listen to them practice their English. I'm so excited!!! We'll catch the bus close to the house and then walk about 7 blocks in town to the school. Just like NYC, sort of...
I'm so thankful to our wonderful God for His peace, wisdom, direction, love, forgiveness, patience and grace. I'm so unworthy, but humbled. I am blessed.
It's been a good day.
German called early this morning and said that the van was fixed and he would come and get us for working in the afternoon. We didn't have anything scheduled for today since we didn't think we would have wheels, so we opted for him to pick us up at 1:30 and we would go in to town for a change of scenery and some groceries. We were so excited to see him pull up in the van! Before German called, we had told Saturnino (the guard) to go home for the day and come back at 6pm. When German pulled up to the gate and tooted the horn for Saturnino to open the gate, he was surprised to see me doing it. The look on his face was so funny.
German is so thankful for the van being fixed. I know it is a load off of his shoulders! We jumped in and headed to León. We were almost giddy! When we got close to town he asked where we wanted to go. Mary and I looked at each other and said we didn't care, just take us to town. ha ha! We opted to park at La Unión and told German that we would call him when we were ready to leave. We walked around to some stores and explored a little within a few blocks of the van. We slipped in to Tip Top for some chicken for a late lunch/early dinner and then headed to La Unión to pick up a few groceries for the next few days.
While we were walking around we saw many cyber cafés. They were pretty much the same. Most establishments here just have their doors (or front walls) wide open to the street. (a lot of restaurants in NYC were like that, too) The cyber cafés had 4-6 little desks/tables with computers on each. For a fee you can get on there and surf the web, check your emails, get facebook, etc.
We also saw a healthfood restaurant called "Pure Earth Café". I was excited. Later I asked German if it is okay to get food from there. He said yes, so I'm going to get some fresh juices there next time I can! I miss my fresh squeezed carrot/orange/ginger juice! Mary said it was too healthy for her taste.
We also saw a massage place called "Seeing Hands Blind Massage". Hmmmm... this conjures up all kinds of ideas in our heads. And if you know me and Mary, you won't ask...
We stopped in at a Payless Shoesource store. I used to manage a couple of Payless stores in Fayetteville and Rogers back home, so I wanted to see what it was like here. The store looked a lot like the ones in the states. The aisles were tiny! The shoes were nice, but were much higher than you would get them in the states.
We saw a lot of hostels, too. It was fun walking around. There were different kinds of stores. Some were actually rather upscale. Some sold the usual clothes and gifts. Some sold used clothing.
While in an open shopping area, we were asked by a couple of kids who are learning English, if they could interview us. They videoed it on their camera. They had questions written on a piece of paper and did a pretty good job of speaking English to ask us questions about what we feel that Christmas means, if it is very different in the states, if we think it's too commercial, what the true meaning of Christmas is, if we encourage kids to believe in Santa. When they asked us if we believe in Santa, Mary said, of course! If you don't believe in him, you don't get presents!!! When they were done they took our picture and we took theirs. It was fun.
When we came out of La Unión with our groceries, German was waiting in the van and visiting with his sister. Mary had met her before, but I hadn't. She was very nice. Then we climbed in the van and ran some errands. We found a bookstore and bought some writing tablets. German had to make a couple of stops and we went along for the ride. We stopped at Eskimo for our usual cono jumbo (double dip cone). It was quite tasty.
We made it back home and brought our groceries in. German and Saturnino ran down to the little store on the corner and picked up some large bottles of water for the water cooler. We're trying to conserve on buying water, so we cook with tap water that is boiled to within an inch of its life. :) We still need the bottled water for drinking, vegetable cleaning and teeth brushing.
We got back about 5pm, so it was too late to walk on the beach, since it gets dark before 6pm. So we sent Saturnino home for his dinner and we settled in for the night.
Mary had washed a load of tennis shoes today. My old ones survived the wash and I can't wait to wear them again. They have been pretty sad looking this year here in Nic. My black canvas Rocket Dogs survived the wash, too, although they look a little curled up at the toes. Shoes can get very nasty here.
I forgot to mention that the other night, after our walk on the beach, at dusk, we heard a sound and determined it was a horseback rider galloping down the beach. I grabbed my camera and quickly put it in video mode. The image is pretty good. It was kind of cool to catch it. We see cows on the beach at the north end a lot and horses are always walking down the road and in grassy areas. Nothing is too surprising here.
I downloaded a bunch of pictures to facebook today. It took hours. The internet here is slow, but I'm so thankful for it! I've taken over 500 pictures and 24 short videos so far. It will take a while to download all that from here, so I may have to choose a few favs to post here and do the rest when I get home.
Better get off of here for now. We are planning on getting up early and taking the bus into León in the morning. We're going to attend English classes that our friend (and VOH translator) provides at his school. He said that his students would like for us to visit and listen to them practice their English. I'm so excited!!! We'll catch the bus close to the house and then walk about 7 blocks in town to the school. Just like NYC, sort of...
I'm so thankful to our wonderful God for His peace, wisdom, direction, love, forgiveness, patience and grace. I'm so unworthy, but humbled. I am blessed.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Thursday, December 9, 2010
I slept pretty well last night. I didn't wake up in the night until about 5:30 and then I read for about an hour or so and dozed back off. Mary woke me at 8:30 by knocking on my door, but I was dreaming about the door knocking and it took a few minutes to figure out what was going on. The cleaning girl was here to sweep and mop our floors. They get so dirty from the house being open. It's nice that we can give her work. She is very sweet. Mary even shared some of her precious Pepsis with her. :)
We talked a little bit about Spanish this morning, but Mary said she had a headache from all the new info she's putting into her head. We opted to work on the toys for a couple of hours. There are tubs filled with different toys from previous teams. We are sorting them out by gender and age to prepare them for the Christmas give away at the Sewer Pond in a few weeks.
We made up some home made bags (sewn by ladies at Mary's church) with hygiene items like toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, shampoo, washcloth, etc. We have 50 made up, but we need to put together about 15-20 more for all the ladies at the Sewer Pond. We'll have to use gallon ziplock bags for the rest. But even a plastic ziplock bag is useful!!
We have some kid's toothbrushes to give away along with their toy and some candy. I think the kids will like their gifts.
The clothes we were working on sorting are packed in tubs now. There isn't enough for a full distribution at the Sewer Pond, so we're praying about where we want to give them out, or if we should hold them till the next team comes and see what they have to add to the stash.
The van is still getting fixed, so we spent the day here at the house. Pastor Miguel had a list of how many households, how many boys and girls are at the Sewer Pond. He brought the list out to us on German's motorcycle. It's much more reliable and cheaper on gas than Miguel's car. Not to mention safer! It was nice to see Pastor Miguel today. He stayed for a little while and visited. He speaks only Spanish and we had fun talking.
Since there is no church near by the Sewer Pond, they had asked Pastor Miguel to come and have a service for them today. It was nice that he was doing that. There is so much ministry to be done there. I hope we get the chance to serve there more and more in the future. I'm glad to know that they asked for a service and that Pastor Miguel was willing to go.
If the van is not fixed tomorrow (and it doesn't look like it will be) Mary and I are thinking of taking the bus into town and finding our way around via taxi. Keep in mind that there are no street addresses. Some streets have names, but there are no house numbers. (no mail routes or anything like that) Utility bills are delivered by bicycle and places are described by landmarks. So, with our limited Spanish and no idea where anything is, we will have quite the adventure. La Unión is the grocery store that we go to. It's well known and it's not too far from a lot of the things that we think we want to see and a restaurant that we can eat at, so we'll probably just try to get there. We can always call German to talk to the taxi driver on the phone if necessary. We may have some exciting tales to tell after that!
My sister Pam is doing better today. Sore and very tired of laying on her back. The doctor said he thinks that they got all the cancer via the lumpectomy. The results of the lymph nodes will come back in another week or so. He said she wasn't out of the woods yet. She will start her radiation in a few more weeks. I know this is a hard time for her.
My friends, Jim and Cindy Sigmon, are home after a month in St John's hospital in Springfield MO. They were in a bad motorcycle accident that has left Jim with some physical obstacles to overcome and a brain injury. He has had remarkable progress to date. They attribute it all (appropriately) to God's hand on their lives. They have been wonderful in sharing their faith through all of this and showing their trust in what God has planned for their future. I'm glad that they can be home so soon and enjoy the holidays with friends and family.
It seems strange to see on facebook that people are going to Christmas concerts and stuff. It's apparent that Christmas is coming since the town here is all dressed up for it, but it just seems funny to think about it back in the states right now. I do miss Christmas in NYC. The whole city is dressed up and there is so much to see. I miss my friends there so much. I have very dear memories of my time serving there.
It's a quiet night here at the house. Mary and I opted to skip our evening walk on the beach. We are kind of tired both physically and mentally today. We are having a reflective evening.
I think I'll get off here for now and read a little bit before an early bedtime. My rest and strength come from the Lord. He is gracious.
We talked a little bit about Spanish this morning, but Mary said she had a headache from all the new info she's putting into her head. We opted to work on the toys for a couple of hours. There are tubs filled with different toys from previous teams. We are sorting them out by gender and age to prepare them for the Christmas give away at the Sewer Pond in a few weeks.
We made up some home made bags (sewn by ladies at Mary's church) with hygiene items like toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, shampoo, washcloth, etc. We have 50 made up, but we need to put together about 15-20 more for all the ladies at the Sewer Pond. We'll have to use gallon ziplock bags for the rest. But even a plastic ziplock bag is useful!!
We have some kid's toothbrushes to give away along with their toy and some candy. I think the kids will like their gifts.
The clothes we were working on sorting are packed in tubs now. There isn't enough for a full distribution at the Sewer Pond, so we're praying about where we want to give them out, or if we should hold them till the next team comes and see what they have to add to the stash.
The van is still getting fixed, so we spent the day here at the house. Pastor Miguel had a list of how many households, how many boys and girls are at the Sewer Pond. He brought the list out to us on German's motorcycle. It's much more reliable and cheaper on gas than Miguel's car. Not to mention safer! It was nice to see Pastor Miguel today. He stayed for a little while and visited. He speaks only Spanish and we had fun talking.
Since there is no church near by the Sewer Pond, they had asked Pastor Miguel to come and have a service for them today. It was nice that he was doing that. There is so much ministry to be done there. I hope we get the chance to serve there more and more in the future. I'm glad to know that they asked for a service and that Pastor Miguel was willing to go.
If the van is not fixed tomorrow (and it doesn't look like it will be) Mary and I are thinking of taking the bus into town and finding our way around via taxi. Keep in mind that there are no street addresses. Some streets have names, but there are no house numbers. (no mail routes or anything like that) Utility bills are delivered by bicycle and places are described by landmarks. So, with our limited Spanish and no idea where anything is, we will have quite the adventure. La Unión is the grocery store that we go to. It's well known and it's not too far from a lot of the things that we think we want to see and a restaurant that we can eat at, so we'll probably just try to get there. We can always call German to talk to the taxi driver on the phone if necessary. We may have some exciting tales to tell after that!
My sister Pam is doing better today. Sore and very tired of laying on her back. The doctor said he thinks that they got all the cancer via the lumpectomy. The results of the lymph nodes will come back in another week or so. He said she wasn't out of the woods yet. She will start her radiation in a few more weeks. I know this is a hard time for her.
My friends, Jim and Cindy Sigmon, are home after a month in St John's hospital in Springfield MO. They were in a bad motorcycle accident that has left Jim with some physical obstacles to overcome and a brain injury. He has had remarkable progress to date. They attribute it all (appropriately) to God's hand on their lives. They have been wonderful in sharing their faith through all of this and showing their trust in what God has planned for their future. I'm glad that they can be home so soon and enjoy the holidays with friends and family.
It seems strange to see on facebook that people are going to Christmas concerts and stuff. It's apparent that Christmas is coming since the town here is all dressed up for it, but it just seems funny to think about it back in the states right now. I do miss Christmas in NYC. The whole city is dressed up and there is so much to see. I miss my friends there so much. I have very dear memories of my time serving there.
It's a quiet night here at the house. Mary and I opted to skip our evening walk on the beach. We are kind of tired both physically and mentally today. We are having a reflective evening.
I think I'll get off here for now and read a little bit before an early bedtime. My rest and strength come from the Lord. He is gracious.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
It's been a good day. I went to sleep really late due to the fireworks at midnight and after. No worries, we didn't have to get up early today. I jumped in the shower and then had some super oatmeal for breakfast. (and then some instant pancakes for brunch) :)
Mary and I spent a few hours studying Spanish. She's doing well. I, on the other hand, have not been very good at taking time for studying my verb congegation. But I'm enjoying helping Mary with her words.
I did a load of laundry, including my sheets and hung them out on the line. I spent some time on the computer to post the story about last night's celebration of the Virgin Mary. I also did some much needed communication via email and facebook. I still have a lot of correspondence to take care of, including some projects back in Rogers, but there's plenty of time this week. For lunch I fixed another good tuna salad with eggs, cucumbers and carrots. I'm getting hooked on it!
We took a walk along the beach about 4:30. Since today is a holiday, there were lots of people at the beach today. I took some pics because we don't usually see many people out during the week. The tide was really 'in' today. Compared to last week when we noticed how 'out' it was, I would say the difference today was about 20 feet or more. How strange for it to be so different at the same time of day. The walk today was a good workout since we had to walk up in the looser sand. I was tuckered out!
When we got home, I ran and took a quick shower and then fixed some instant noodle soup and snack pack pudding for dinner. Mary enjoyed tuna on skillet toasted bread today. We're watching our grocery money really closely and it's fun to just graze during the day. We are addicted to the cucumbers!
I made up my bed with the just washed sheets. They smell so good. Hopefully, I won't have to ruin the experience with bug spray for a night or two.
I am resting comfortably on the fresh bed. Freshly showered. Fans blowing across me. Laptop in hand. Christmas music playing on the iPod. It's a pretty sweet night!!!
We will be working at home tomorrow since the van is not fixed yet and we're kind of skeptical of riding in Pastor Miguel's car. It's a long walk from town if we break down. Anyway, there is plenty to do here. Our next project is to put together some hygiene gift bags for the ladies at the Sewer Ponds. Some ladies from Ms Mary's church makes some fabric bags of all kinds of fabric. They are really pretty and handy, too! We'll fill them with goodies. We also have toys to sort and prepare for the kids. And of course, there's always Spanish lessons!!
Juan, one of the translators here, has an English school in León and he asked if Mary and I would like to come and help the students practice their English. We're trying to find a good time for that. We can take the bus into town and then get a little taxi to take us to the school. I can't wait. We don't know when it will happen yet. I really hope it all works out!
My sister was having a hard day today. She is having to take some medicine that messes with hormones. It is supposed to be helpful in some way concerning the breast cancer. I'm sure it's miserable to go through all of this stuff. I didn't get to talk to her today, but Rob gave her my love.
Today is the deadline for submitting the application and deposit for the March Nic trip for my home church (FBCRogers). I can't wait to see who all of the 28 people who have indicated interest will be coming down on the team.
I guess this is all for today. I know it seems that we don't do a lot each day, but with logistical problems and tight budgets and holidays and the culture, you work when you can and you make the best of the rest of the time. When there is a team here, we are going 90 miles an hour every day. It's nice to slow down and still be effective. And it's wonderful to be here. Thank You Lord!!!
Mary and I spent a few hours studying Spanish. She's doing well. I, on the other hand, have not been very good at taking time for studying my verb congegation. But I'm enjoying helping Mary with her words.
I did a load of laundry, including my sheets and hung them out on the line. I spent some time on the computer to post the story about last night's celebration of the Virgin Mary. I also did some much needed communication via email and facebook. I still have a lot of correspondence to take care of, including some projects back in Rogers, but there's plenty of time this week. For lunch I fixed another good tuna salad with eggs, cucumbers and carrots. I'm getting hooked on it!
We took a walk along the beach about 4:30. Since today is a holiday, there were lots of people at the beach today. I took some pics because we don't usually see many people out during the week. The tide was really 'in' today. Compared to last week when we noticed how 'out' it was, I would say the difference today was about 20 feet or more. How strange for it to be so different at the same time of day. The walk today was a good workout since we had to walk up in the looser sand. I was tuckered out!
When we got home, I ran and took a quick shower and then fixed some instant noodle soup and snack pack pudding for dinner. Mary enjoyed tuna on skillet toasted bread today. We're watching our grocery money really closely and it's fun to just graze during the day. We are addicted to the cucumbers!
I made up my bed with the just washed sheets. They smell so good. Hopefully, I won't have to ruin the experience with bug spray for a night or two.
I am resting comfortably on the fresh bed. Freshly showered. Fans blowing across me. Laptop in hand. Christmas music playing on the iPod. It's a pretty sweet night!!!
We will be working at home tomorrow since the van is not fixed yet and we're kind of skeptical of riding in Pastor Miguel's car. It's a long walk from town if we break down. Anyway, there is plenty to do here. Our next project is to put together some hygiene gift bags for the ladies at the Sewer Ponds. Some ladies from Ms Mary's church makes some fabric bags of all kinds of fabric. They are really pretty and handy, too! We'll fill them with goodies. We also have toys to sort and prepare for the kids. And of course, there's always Spanish lessons!!
Juan, one of the translators here, has an English school in León and he asked if Mary and I would like to come and help the students practice their English. We're trying to find a good time for that. We can take the bus into town and then get a little taxi to take us to the school. I can't wait. We don't know when it will happen yet. I really hope it all works out!
My sister was having a hard day today. She is having to take some medicine that messes with hormones. It is supposed to be helpful in some way concerning the breast cancer. I'm sure it's miserable to go through all of this stuff. I didn't get to talk to her today, but Rob gave her my love.
Today is the deadline for submitting the application and deposit for the March Nic trip for my home church (FBCRogers). I can't wait to see who all of the 28 people who have indicated interest will be coming down on the team.
I guess this is all for today. I know it seems that we don't do a lot each day, but with logistical problems and tight budgets and holidays and the culture, you work when you can and you make the best of the rest of the time. When there is a team here, we are going 90 miles an hour every day. It's nice to slow down and still be effective. And it's wonderful to be here. Thank You Lord!!!
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