#21 Girls' Day, Planting, Feliz cumpleaños

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.

    Each time I go to the ocean, I am reminded of the power that our Lord possesses. As the waves crash upon the sand and the water rushes back out to the sea, I often think of our powerful Lord. He has the power to take a life, to give a life...the list could go on and on. He had the power to destroy each and everyone of us because of our sins, but He was willing to send His Son to this earth to die for us and save each of us.  As I see different people here trying to understand the plan of salvation and as they count the cost, I just stop to thank Him for working in my life as well as each life here in Nicaragua. Each day I am blessed by learning something new or being challenged by someone who I spent some time with. Sometimes He takes a young mother who has very little material possession to challenge me or a young girl who lives with her parents to remind me of the power that He has. May we always stop to thank Him for His love and power.

Karen & Denise at Barco de Oro Restaurant

     The other Thursday 8/5, Karen & Denise invited me to come spend the day with them in Leon. In the morning while Karen studied and Denise went to the dentist, I wrote my last update I sent. For lunch, we went to a small restaurant that sells quesillos. Quesillos are a native Nicaraguan food. They are made with a corn tortilla, cheese, and a type of cream sauce with onions. This was the first time that I had quesillos in Leon; however while Karen & I attended language school in Estelí a couple times and I really learned to like them. From there we went to the beach for the afternoon. It was quite a warm day. We spent about 2 hours there. We then went to Barco de Oro for supper. This was the first time that I had been to this restaurant. It is a restaurant set along the bay; however the water was low and was out pretty far. The breeze coming off the water was wonderful and we had a good time together. I had Chicken wings with salad, rice, and potatoes. Thank you girls for the great time!

    From left to right (Juancito, Melvin, Wilbur, Yeral, Yorbin) 

    We spent a Sunday afternoon visiting different families in La Palmerita. We stopped in to visit with Johanna and her boys. The children of La Palmerita have come up with some of the cutest games to play. One I have seen several times is with a bike rim. They have a stick and they try to keep the rim rolling. These boys decided to paint their faces that day. They got the black stuff for their faces from the kettles setting on the stove. It was soot from the kettles sitting on the wood fire. They looked so hilarious! Some of them got sticks and were hobbling around like old men. I even ended up with some on my face, compliments of the boys. They also, of course, like to ride our bikes when we come to the house. Usually till we leave, our bikes are nice and muddy, due to the rainy season here in Nicaragua. Each of these boys come to church Sunday and Wednesday and are in our children's class. The boys in the above picture are from 2 different families. Juancito, Yeral & Wilbur are Johana's boys. Melvin & Yorbin are Lidia's boys. At the current time, we have a Bible study with Lidia and Johana.

     It is time to plant crops here in Nicaragua. All the tractor guys are kept quite busy right now. They are trying to plant as much as they possibly can before the next rain comes. Everytime it rains, they need to wait for the field to dry off and around here the mud is a very sticky mud. (I went to La Palmerita Saturday morning and had to carry/push my bike, because it had rained the night before and was very muddy.) The men in the above picture are young guys from La Palmerita and are helping to plant corn in the field in front of Johana's house. They each have a container full of corn and plant it as the tractor drives through the field. Randy is hoping to get the field planted here at the house, but so far it hasn't dried off enough. Hopefully it will soon dry so he can get it planted before it is too late.

                           

     Angel Antonio is Ramon's brother. Just to refresh your memory, Ramon was the first & only young guy to become a member at the La Palmerita congregation. He lives with his parents just down from our house. His brother Angel Antonio & wife America have been living with Ramon & his parents for about a month now. Angel has been coming to church lately and America has also been there several times. Right now Alexa is a sick little girl. I just miss the little girl she was just last week. Whenever she saw me, she wanted me to hold her. Mariana (Ramon's mother) & Rosibel came up Sunday afternoon and Alexa wouldn't let me hold her. She just cried. She started with a cold. The doctors are saying she has bronchitis and bronchial pneumonia. Just pray for the family as they take care of her and also for her parents that they would see their need for Christ in their lives.

    The little girl with the piñata is Hector & Iris's little girl, Amy. She turned a year-old last week and they had a party for her Saturday night. Seeing Amy reminds me a lot of all that has happened in the past year. She was just this tiny baby when I got here and now she turned a year-old. Continue to pray for Hector & Iris, her parents. Hector has not been to church lately and has just got a job about 20 minutes away, but will only be coming home twice a week. Just pray that he would see his need for a deeper relationship with the Lord and the need to go to church and be in the presence of brothers & sisters in the faith. Pray for Iris that she would see her need of Christ in her life.

     FEATURE MOTHER: The young lady above is Sineida. She is 25 and has 2 children. The oldest is a boy and his name is Junior. He is 4. The baby is 10 months old and her name is Michelle. Last week I went to visit her and I found her at her sister's house doing the laundry for her sister. Sineida came faithfully to the revival meetings and has come several times since. As I was sitting there visiting, she asked me "Is it better to be poor, needing to work for the money for your food? Or is it better to be with money?" Before I was able to say, she said "Manuel (the father of her children) & I decided it is better to be poor, because then you are reminded to rely on God for your needs." She barely knew how to read and she has been teaching herself to read, using the Bible. On Thursday Sineida & her sister came to my house for the day. We had a great time together. Just pray for her & also for me as I relate to her and spend time with her from time to time. She is such an encouragement to me in so many ways. She also has been a great help to me with my Spanish. She will correct me when I say things wrong. I am glad that she is kind enough to try & help me learn Spanish better.

Thank you all for your prayers!

I would love to hear from you!

Blessings to you, Andrea