This post was an email update that was sent out during my time spent in Nicaragua from 2009 to 2011. I started posting them here when some of my friends who had not received them, wanted to see and hear about the work there: Post One of Nicaraguan Updates.
And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand? Revelation 6:15-17
As we traveled to Waslala the other week with the WATER students, we came upon the fallen rock above. There was a dirt path going around this rock as it had fallen and covered the road. As I looked at that rock, the above Scripture passage came to mind and I thought of those that the passage talks about. When Christ returns, will you rise up to meet Him or will you cry for the rocks to cover you? Each one of you know the answer to the above question. I just pray that you might think seriously about it. His coming is drawing nigh...Are you ready?
One of the usual things that we do when the WATER students are here is to take them on a 3-day trip to Waslala. Waslala is about 6-1/2 hours northeast of Leon. Those of us from El Terrero met the Leon staff around 8:30 on Tuesday the 20th in Malpaisillo. We then began our trip headed towards Waslala. The first part of the trip went rather well and we stopped for lunch in La Dalia around 12:00. From there on we had gravel roads to Waslala. Our first stop after lunch was to check out the rattling noise from the back of the truck. The guys determined that problem to something with the brakes. We then continued on, only to be stopped a little later to tie the tarp down due to the approaching storm. As the guys got out to put the tarp down, they heard a hissing sound from under the hood. The radiator was getting hot, so now the search for water. We found water and took care of that problem as good as we could, only to realize that the rear tire was flat. As the guys were changing the tire, it started to rain. We finally got back on the road and stopped one more time to put more water in the truck before we got to Waslala. We arrived in Waslala around 4:00 instead of the prospective 2:30-3:00. But praise to the Lord, we arrived safely. Wednesday morning the guys took the truck to the mechanic shop in Waslala to get fixed. However, that was not the end of our truck problems. When we wanted to leave Thursday morning, the truck would not start! We tried pushing it several times, but to no avail, so we called the mechanic. He arrived sometime around 11:00 and quickly got the truck running. By 11:15 we were on the road headed for Leon. We stopped once to grab a bite to eat, and then kept going. Praise God! We had no major truck issues on the way home and arrived in Leon with about an hour to spare before church.
I enjoyed our time spent in Waslala and was so glad to be able to spend some time with Pablo & Euni and their family. It was a very refreshing and renewing time for me. The girls rented a gym to play volleyball after we arrived Tuesday night. We played till 6:30 and then went to Pablo's for supper. After supper we all gathered around and sang for a while. It was so wonderful to sing with everyone and to learn a couple new songs. Wednesday we met for breakfast at 8:00. After breakfast Euni & I walked down to the store to buy some flour to make bread. Then several of us girls walked out to Janie's store to look at fabric. Around 10:30 we went for a hike. We walked through the stream up to a waterfall. We stopped along the way several times for Pablo to show us something. In the picture below he was showing us a bird's nest - I think a flycatcher, but don't remember. He gave us a little history about the nest and also how they make them. There were eggs in this nest which is rare for this time of year.
From there we continued upstream to the waterfall. I just love the outdoors and spending time surrounded by God's beauty. We spent some time in the water and also under the falls. The falls proved to be a great back massage. We then sat down and ate our lunch with the sounds of nature in our ears. Some of the people climbed to the top of the falls and took in some the beauty at the top of the falls. After lunch we hiked downstream, some of us falling into the water. Once we got back to Pablo's, some played volleyball before it was time to get ready for church that evening. They had Prayer Meeting at the Waslala church that evening. We sang for a while and Delmar had a devotional before we split up in small groups to pray. We had supper once we got to Pablo's and then we had several games going - Rook, Skip-bo, Dutch Blitz...Pablo's girls came up to Jacinto's house and spent the night with us. We sat around and talked for a while before heading off to bed. Thursday morning we met for breakfast at 7:30 and then we girls went to Naomi Lee's house before heading to the Waslala Market. We spent some time there before we headed back to Leon.
On Friday the 23rd and Saturday the 24th, we staff along with the WATER students had a children's Bible school in Rota and in Leon at the guys' house. Friday afternoon found us in Rota. The class did not start till 2:45 instead of 2:00. This year our theme was "The Creation". For our first 2 stories, we used the flannel graph board and put on the cloth pieces as the story was read. However the flannel graph was forgotten on Friday so Jennifer used a whiteboard and drew for us. We then did half of the craft with the children. The craft was a book with 8 pages. It had a cover and and page for each day of the creation. After doing some of the craft, we continued on with the next story - a question & answer type of story. The final story was done as a skit. It was the story of when Adam & Eve sinned. Everyone did their part so well. After the skit, the children could finish their craft and then they were dismissed. Saturday morning we repeated everything at the guys' house here in Leon. We also did the skit for the children of La Palmerita on Wednesday afternoon and for the Leon congregation on Thursday night.
Monday the 26th found some of us staff, along with WATER students and the visitors, heading to Granada for the day. We left Leon around 6:30 with a full truck. The cab was full as well as the benches. We had someone also sitting on a bucket. We arrived in Granada around 9:30 and had a brunch at a restaurant there. The food was excellent. I had a BLT sandwich with some of the best bread on it. We then went on a boat ride around Granada and saw different islands. We got off at one of the islands to see and old fort. Alicia & I are sitting on the wall of the fort in the above picture. We stopped by "the monkey island" It is a small island that has a number of monkeys on it. We then went to the Masaya Tourist Market and the Masaya Volcano before stopping for supper at TGI Friday's. I had never been to Granada before but it just reminded me so much of being at the ocean with my grandparents. The boat ride reminded me of going fishing and clamming in Delaware. I had a wonderful day with everyone, but as usual after a busy day, I was ready to get home.
On Tuesdays, Laura is now having classes with Lydia. Lydia responded to the invitation on the last night of our revival meetings in La Palmerita. She is young mother from 3rd Street. She has 3 boys - Yelder, Melvin, and Yorbin. Her oldest son Yelder has some mental issues, some due to the fact that he has the same dad as his mother. She has been living with the father of her youngest 2; however he is a drinker and has not been the nicest lately. Some nights she has been going to Johanna's to get away. During revivals she had told him that she might accept Christ and that they would need to separate. Please pray for her as she takes the steps necessary to serve Christ victoriously. She does not have an easy path ahead. Pray for us, especially for Laura, as she relates to her and answers questions that she may have.
Thank you for all your prayers and support. They are felt each and every day. May God richly bless you for all that you do.
Serving our Risen Lord in Nicaragua, Andrea
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Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. Some days it can just be ramblings, but I hope it has blessed you! "For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ" Ephesians 4:12. Blessings!