#25 Birthdays, Ladies' Day, and a Death

    As I snapped these pictures the other Sunday morning, the above verse came to mind and it has stuck with me through the last several days. No matter where we are, God still knows where we are and He will still provide us with the strength we need. As I watched this plane come down and spray the field and soar back up in the sky for the next round, I was reminded of the day when we will all leave this earth and be caught up to meet our Lord. The thought brings tears of joy to my eyes as I think of that day. "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. Revelation 21:4" This verse has also been a comfort to me as I think of our Lord's return and as I also reflect on the past 2 weeks. Are we doing all we can to share God's Word with those around us? Do they realize the need to make a decision to serve Christ with their whole heart?

    Sunday morning, the 10th, they decided to spray the field across the road from the house. Poor Nicholas - when he heard the plane, he took off running for the house, crying because he was soooo scared of the plane. I was able to crawl under the fence and get some good pictures of the plane as he was spraying.

   

    Well so much has happened in the last 2 weeks. The night I sent my last update, the 7th,  we needed to drive to La Paz Centro as the black truck had some issues. Joel & Karen were headed to Managua Thursday morning to pick up Delmar and had some problems with the truck. So they parked it along the road and caught a bus to Managua, Between buses and taxis, they made it to the airport and then back to the truck. We soon had all the men peering under the hood trying to decide what to do about the problem. After putting water into the truck, the Leon folks decided to try driving the truck. However we were not too far down the road till the water started pouring out of the truck. So here comes the job for the El Terrero truck - it needed to pull the black truck to Leon. We arrived in Leon around 6:15 and hurriedly did the things we needed to or wanted to before church. I ran to the Cyber to send my emails and call my mother. When I arrived at church it hadn't yet started, but all the benches were full as you see in the above picture. Virginia & I, as well as a whole string of others sat on chairs behind the last bench till the children were dismissed for classes.

    On Friday, the 8th, we took Larry Bowman (Canadian board member) and his friend Pete to see some of the sights that we country folks have close to our home. We started out be going to Lake Assosoca. It is so beautiful this time of year. Every thing was so nice and green. Randy & Laura walked up to the lookout, while the single staff and the visitors walked down the lake and hiked back up. We then took the scenic route from Assosoca to La Paz Centro where the visitors bought us lunch at the little comedor pictured above. I had a plate with chicken, rice, and beans. It was very good. La Paz Centro has a lot of pottery shops, so we stopped at several shops. There was a few new shops that had opened since the last time I did pottery shopping. A lot of the places have some of the neatest pottery. I bought a nice candle holder for the dresser in my room. It makes it really nice when there is no electricity. On Saturday, we took the Canadian men to Managua to fly home. It was great to have them here and learn another face to the OBMM board.

      

    On Monday, the 11th, we ladies had a day out. We met in Malpaisillo at 7:30 and headed to Estelí for the day. When we arrived in Estelí, we first stopped at Los Pipitos to see if any of our Spanish teachers were in. Neither of them were there, so we headed for Mocha Nana; however they were not yet opened. We decided to do some walking and window shopping till 10:00. We started making our way back to Mocha Nana, when who should we meet in the street, but my Spanish teacher - Gioconda. We were across the street from Mocha Nana, so we all went in and talked with Gioconda for a little, before ordering our Frozen Mochas. FROZEN MOCHA!! Hurray!! They are so good and hit the spot. We then headed down the street, stopping at different shops along the way. We spent the most time in the fabric store, before heading to the Chinese restaurant for lunch. As usual, the food was wonderful and we had a great time together - sharing our hearts and our thankfulness for each other. After lunch, our next stop was La Casita. It was great to see all the plants there and just enjoy the beauty of the place. It added a wonderful end to the great day. Thank you ladies, for the wonderful day!

    

    The above pictures are pictures from a Tuesday in La Palmerita. I rode out on Beulah and Virginia was on her bike. She went up 3rd Street for some classes, while I headed for Center Street to do some visiting. My first stop that day was at Leonardo & Marta. I spent about an hour & half there, before riding to Lydia's house. I found her at home with a pile of wash to do. I offered to was some for her, not really knowing what I was getting in for. She does not have a pila like a lot of the other people use to wash their clothing. She has a concrete scrub board setting on top of a barrel. This scrub board is rougher than the pilas and is not nice to hands that are not used to washing clothing by hand. I do wash some of my clothing by hand, but it is not near as dirty as little children's clothing. I proceeded to wash some of the clothing, but it wasn't long till I had rubbed my wrists and fingers raw. I was never so glad to see Virginia and she offered to do some of the washing. The people here have told me time and time again - the reason I have so much trouble washing, frying rice over wood fire, grinding corn...the list goes on, but the reason is because I am left-handed. If I would be right-handed, it wouldn't be so hard for me. When we finished at Lydia's, we headed to Johanna's class and had time with her. Virginia was in charge of the lesson and the lesson gave me a lot to think about. I then went with Virginia to Enma's house for the last class of the day. At Enma's house, we have class with Enma, Sindy, Yesina, and sometimes Yorlenis. By the time that class was finished, it had started thundering so we decided to leave and head for home. Lydia had given us an  iyote (pumpkin) and I was the one elected to carry it home because I was on the horse. I was very glad when I saw the house, because holding a pumpkin and trying to ride horse can be a little difficult. (and the pumpkin was HEAVY!) But it was a great day!

      

    Last week there were 2 people that had birthday parties. Thursday was Karen's birthday. However it believe it was a birthday that she will never forget. Wednesday night her brother, sister, and nephew flew into Managua. Richard's picked them up and they stayed at Richard's place overnight. Thursday morning the Leon staff met for prayer at Nate's house. In the meantime, her family walked to her house and were sitting in the living room when she returned from prayer. After church Thursday night, some of the young girls from Karen's girls class dumped powder on her head. It wasn't sparingly either!! On Friday, Esnayder celebrated his birthday and we were all invited to the birthday party. In the picture above, his mother is Yesina (the girl in the yellow. She is only 16), his grandmother Enma is holding him, and his aunt Sindy is in the orange/white. There was so many ladies at the party that I had not seen in a a long time. It was quite the big party for such a little boy. They had a huge Spiderman piñata for the children.

    The above picture is of my girls' class. These 3 are my regular attendees. From left to right is is Katerin, Magdalena, and Noelia. We are now holding the Saturday classes in La Palmerita at the home of Katerin. We have class 3 Saturdays a month. They have been working on embroidering pillow tops. I decided however the other week to give them a break and let them paint these bags that Christine Nolt sent down. They had a lot of fun painting them and so did I. I enjoy this class very much and it is my heart's desire that this class would bring honor and glory to God. Also that it would be a way of building relationships with each of the girls and they could see their need for a life totally surrendered to God.

        

    On Sunday, the 17th, 2 young boys arrived at church and asked if we could take Yacadelis(13 years old) to Malpaisillo as she was vomiting blood. We quick went home with our truck load and Randy & I left almost immediately and headed back to La Palmerita. When we arrived, we were informed that they had already left with the tractor to take her to Malpaisillo. We returned the house, only to receive the sad news later that evening that she had died. We have heard so many different stories; however I will try to write what we heard from her mother, Albertina. Saturday evening, Albertina found Yacadelis and a young boy from La Palmerita embracing. She was upset; however Yacadelis and the young boy soon left. Albertina did not know where they had gone. Early Sunday morning she went looking for them, as someone had told her where they where. She found her and brought her home. Some said once she brought her home, she beat Yacadelis; however she says "I punished her for her disobedience." They ate breakfast and around mid-morning Yacadelis said she was dizzy. She soon started vomiting. She had drank poison and died on the way to Malpaisillo. The doctors said she drank so much, so fast there was nothing they could do. (the picture above from left to right is Yacadelis, Juan Carlos [her brother], Albertina[her mother], and Marvin[a cousin] The staff from Leon was here at our house when we received the news, so Rich's offered to stay with Hans & Nick, while we went to the vela(viewing). We spent several hours there - most of it sitting there talking with others from La Palmerita. So many of the people were so giddy and it made me wonder if that was their way of dealing with grief or if the reality had not yet sunk in. Just before we left, they brought the casket out on the porch and the family asked me to take some pictures of her in the casket. Monday morning we left her around 7:00 and headed to La Palmerita. We had been asked to transport the casket and some of the family and friends to Momotombo, where they were planning on burying the body. The funeral procession consisted of the the truck and the tractor & trailer from La Palmerita. We had a few truck problems on the way, but thanks to God, they didn't amount to anything. We were almost at Momotombo when Jason knocked on the truck. We were about to lose our back wheel. The lugs had come loose and were almost out. We tightened the lugs and once again went on our way. When we arrived in Momotombo, we did not go straight to the graveyard, but went to a home there. Some of the mother's family had not arrived and they wanted to wait for them. We sat there for several hours, but at 12:00, the mother's family had not yet arrived, so we offered our condolences and went home. As I sat there watching many of the people, you would have never guessed that you were attending a funeral. It appeared that it was just another party to some of the people. As I thought about the events that had taken place, the thought came to my mind "Did Yacadelis know that the poison would kill her? Or was she just doing to get attention?" I will miss her very much. She was always such a happy, bubbly young girl. Please pray for her family as they adjust to life without Yacadelis and that God would reveal  to them their need to surrender their lives to Him. She left behind her parents and 4 brothers: Juan Carlos-15, Marvin-12, Kevin-8, and Fernando-2.

    Please pray for Johanna. She has been fighting a severe headache for several days and Tuesday night Randy & Jason took her to Malpaisillo as she had been throwing up. She has been struggling financially as well. We spent several hours with her yesterday and she talked to Virginia for a little bit; however she did not get up at all. She stayed in her bed the whole time we were there. Please pray for the boys that they would sense God's arms around them and protecting them.

    Here are a couple common day pictures. The neighbors here visiting, giving advice...this so often reminds me of evenings at home when the neighbors and friends would stop to visit. And of course, all the children waiting in the waterway for us, so they can jump on the back of the truck and get a ride to church.

      

Please pray for:

• La Palmerita - Satan has such a strong hold on the community.
• Johanna - that she could sense God and His presence through this time of trial
• Yacadelis' family - that they would feel God's presence amidst the grief
• Us as staff, as we relate to the people from day to day.

Thank you so much for you prayers. Blessings to each of you as you serve the Lord in your respective places.

 

In His Service in Nicaragua, Andrea

 

PS. I would love to hear from you as well :) :)

#24 Rain, Making Rugs, and Parties....

Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer. Psalms 19:14 

 

    Greetings to each of you once again from Nicaragua. Time keeps stepping right along and each day is passed and gone before you have time to think twice. As I spend time reflecting in each day that has passed, the above verse is my desire - that all I might have done that day brought honor and glory to my Father in heaven. Each morning we arise, we don't have the promise of the entire day and going to bed that night. God gives us each moment and it is only through Him that we have the breath to live out each moment. I just would like to leave this as a challenge to each of you. Serve Him with your whole heart. Speak slowly, so that when each moment and day is passed, you will not have any regrets. I came across a small phrase the other day - Lord, please keep your arms around my shoulder and your hand over my mouth. May all that we think and do today bring honor & glory to our Father.

    On Friday night, September 24th, it started raining and rained heavy. It rained for almost a whole week and not just a little. It came in downpours some of the time. By Sunday morning, we had doubts of being able to get to church. However we decided we would try, but the truck refused to start and it was rain heavy at the time. So Randy tried calling Jason; however he did not answer his phone. The only option was to push the truck, but with pouring rain, we could not get motivated to push. Even if we would push-start it, we might not even be able to get to church. The river bed that we usually drive to get to church was full of water and the only other option would be to go the whole way around. We decided to just stay home, so Randy went and talked to the neighbors and told them we would not be going to church. We spent the morning here in our house listening to a sermon on Virginia's computer till the computer battery died. Laura, Virginia, and I played Rummikub for a while in the afternoon. In the evening Ramon, Lucia, and Rosibel came up for soft pretzels and we played several rounds of Memory.

    Due to all the rain we received in the last 2 weeks the yard once again started looking like a field instead of a yard. We had to wade through knee-high weeds. We hired some young guys from La Palmerita to come chop grass. They spent several mornings and afternoons here cutting grass. One day it started pouring while they were cutting but that did not stop them. They kept right on chopping as you can see in the above picture. Thanx to each of the boys, we now have a nice green yard, that looks like it has been freshly mowed. They also chopped some of the grass/weeds in the pasture, which now makes it easier to get to and from the back pasture. I now can get back to the pasture to bring my horse in for water without having to wade through high weeds. I enjoy walking back to the back pasture at least 2 times a day and each time I bring my horse front for some water before taking her back and tying her in the grass.

    And then off course with all the rain, it would not be normal if we didn't find Nick playing in the puddles during the day. The puddles just seem to call him there as soon as he steps outside. Whether he is riding through them with his bike, running through them, or sitting in them - there is soon a muddy boy to clean up.

    We ladies finally started the project that was so long in coming. For the longest time we were cutting up our old dresses in strips and rolling them into balls and sticking them in a suitcase. With all the rain that we had, we got the suitcase and Virginia taught Laura & I how to crochet rugs. I knew how to crochet so it was just a matter of Virginia telling me what to do. I have completed one rug so far, which we put in the laundry, and have been sewing quite a number of strips together to make another one. It is amazing how little time it takes to actually crochet the rug. The thing that takes the most time is cutting apart the dress and them sewing all the strips from the one dress together so that you have one big strip. Virginia finished the rug that she had started for my room, so I have it laying along my bed. I am hoping to make another one to put in front of my armoire, so I need to start sewing strips together. Laura has made one and is almost finished with her 2nd one. If it is a rainy afternoon or evening, you will be sure to find us getting apart dresses or crocheting.

    While Jason's parents were here visiting, his mother had invited Ramon & Rosibel to supper one evening. She had made a big pot of chicken pot-pie. Rosibel really liked it and kept asking me when we could make it again. I got the recipe from Phyllis and finally we set a date to make it. We decided on a Monday evening and I attempted to make it. It turned out pretty well and they all liked it. It hit the spot that evening, because it was rainy and cold. I made Cappuccino Mouse trifle. Sir Nicholas was so tired, he couldn't even finish his dessert. After we cleaned the supper, once again out came the all-famous Memory game. The young people around just love to play that game.

    On Friday October 1st was Angel's birthday. Angel is the father of Ramon, Lucia, and Rosibel. Mariana, their mother, had asked us to help with the meal preparation. Randy gave a turkey and a chicken to prepare for the birthday feast. Friday morning started quite early. The first task was to catch and kill the turkey. However, we ran into a few problems - 1st one was that we did not have keys for the tool shed or Randy's house. Well, we decided to chase the turkey and catch it. Then we would worry about how to get into the house. However till we got the turkey & chicken killed, Jason arrived with keys for the house & tool shed. Ramon killed the birds and Virginia, Rosibel, & I cut them up in pieces. We then cut up potatoes, chayote, carrots, and bread to make filling to put with the meat. We baked 2 oatmeal cakes. Around 1:00, I went down to Angel & Mariana's to help with food preparation there. About 2 weeks ago, Mariana had cut her finger tip and it still isn't totally healed, so they asked me if I could come down and help make cow tongue. Angel had bought a tongue that morning and it had been cooking all morning. I cleaned the skin off and cut it in small chunks. I then fried it in a little oil and added potatoes, chayote, and carrots. We left that simmer for a little before we added ketchup, mustard, salt, and vinegar. After that had cooked and all the vegetables were soft, we took it off the stove and made a big pot of rice. I left around 5:00 to go up to the house. We had youth night that night as well, so after the Palmerita young people left, we all headed down to Angel's for the party. Virginia and I had the privilege of dishing up the food for the crowd of about 30 people. I got enough of food and I think everyone else did as well.

    On Tuesday October 5th was another day of food preparation. This time found us preparing food in the Johanna's house. On Tuesday, the men started putting sides on the church building, so we asked Johanna to make lunch for the men on Tuesday & Wednesday. Tuesday morning I saddled up Beulah around 8:30 and rode out to church, where I got my backpack out of the truck and headed Johanna's house. We started by frying rice for lunch. This can be quite a task, but I am starting to learn how to do it like they do and I am enjoying it. After that, she had me grind the corn for the tortillas and then mix in some water before grinding it a 2nd time. Once that was ground twice, we set it aside and starting cooking the pasta for the salad. Once that was soft, we set it on back of the stove and put the chicken over to cook. Once the chicken was cooking good, we added potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, and onions. At the end we added some ketchup. Just before the men arrived, we fried some tomatoes, peppers, and onions and tossed the pasta with that and added some cream. To top off the meal, we had fresh tortillas and soda. Around 10:00 am I rode out to the church and took some pictures and also around 2:00 I took some more pictures. After class, I helped Johanna clean up her house before riding out to church for a few more pictures. I then rode home, tired from a long, but enjoyable day.

    I was in charge of Johanna's class on Tuesday and it went better than I thought, but I was spited that Laura & Virginia could not be sitting in the class. We have started taking turns leading out in Johanna's class. It has stretched me once again as I study and teach in Spanish. It is getting a little easier to study, but it still takes time. I just asked that you would continue to remember the young girls' class that I teach. At times it can be discouraging when only a few girls come. Right now the attendance has been really poor, but I am determined to put my whole heart into it, no matter if it is 2 girls, or if it 6. Just pray that God would reveal to them their need for a life committed to Him.

        

    Featured Young Girls: The young girls in this picture are 4 sisters. ranging from 21 to 15. From left to right; Adelys, Yamilet, Noelia, & Esther. Adelys & Esther, the 2 oldest girls each have a little boy. They come from a very sad home situation. Virginia is having class with Adelys on Tuesdays. Noelia, the youngest, comes very faithfully to church. Yamilet had lived up north for a while and has come back just recently. Please pray for these girls, that they might see that there is truly a better life out there - a life that surrendered to God. Pastora is the grandmother to all these girls and is a dear sweet lady. She comes to church quite often as well. As long as anyone has known her, she has had a terrible cough, but she still comes to church. If it is a little rainy, she still comes with her plastic to put around her.

    And here are some little faces from La Palmerita. The boys on the the left are Juancito and Wilbur, Johanna's boys. On the right, the little boy in orange is Alexander, Adelys' son and the one in the red is a brother to the featured girls.

 

    This is all for today and I hope I have not been too boring.

 

    Thank you for all your prayers! I would love to hear from some of you and what has been going on in your life.

 

    Serving Our Lord in Nicaragua, Andrea

#23 New Places, New People, Birthdays, Visitors

    "What shall we then say to these things "If God be for us, who can be against us?" Romans 8:31

    As I spent the last couple days thinking and working with different people, the above verse came to my mind quite often. If we have God on our side, there is nothing that Satan can do to separate us from the God & His love. If we purpose in our heart that nothing will be able to separate us from our Lord, there is nothing Satan can do. When Satan attacks us and tries to get us to fall, we need to do just what our precious Savior did there in the wilderness - "Get thee hence Satan, for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." Satan is doing all he can to win us to his life of bondage, but we all can have victory if we only turn to God and give our lives wholly to Him. I just leave this as a challenge to each of you. Give your lives wholly to the service of our Lord.

    The above picture is of the water surrounding the island that Johanna grew up on. We had the privilege of driving past and seeing from afar the farm that Johanna grew up on. The farm was situated on  a small island and it just reminded me of a place that would be perfect for a get-away retreat. You can't see in the above picture, but there were men out fishing.

    

 Mari Luz (Johanna's sister)    

         

Johanna's youngest sister(I do not know her name)

 

    We took Johanna and the boys to El Cua to get the birth certificate for Yeral-her middle son. We left around 6:00 on Friday the 10th and headed north towards Jinotega. The farther north we went, the cooler the climate and more then once, I wished that I had at least grabbed a sweater. We arrived in Jinotega around 8:00-8:30. Johanna wanted to stop in visit her sisters (pictured above - the one in the pink is Mari Luz and the one is the white is Johanna's younger sister; however I don’t remember her name) so we headed out of Jinotega; Johanna trying to direct us the right way. We arrived in San Rafael del Norte and we decided to stop and ask directions. Here we had missed a turn back pretty far so some police said they would show us a road that would be a shortcut. This road wound up, down, and around mountains and it seemed like we were back in the sticks. After driving for 1-1/2 hours, things started to look familiar and we soon found ourselves in the house of Johanna's sisters. We spent 1-1/2 hours with Mari Luz. She served us each a cup of coffee and a piece of bread. We left her house around 12:30 and headed for El Cua. Once again we wound up, down, and around the mountains, seeming to me like we were going farther back in and away from civilization. We stopped several times to make sure that the road we were on was the road headed to El Cua. We arrived in El Cua and were surprised to find a very nice town, almost like Malpaisillo. The roads were done in paver blocks. We found the Alcaldia (the place she needed to go for the papers) and Johanna went in while we walked up the street and found something to drink. When we arrived back at the truck, we found out that we needed to wait till 4:00 for the paper, so Randy and the boys took off exploring the town.

  

Laura & Hans on the bridge @ the river          

  

   Yeral, Wilbur, Juancito y Johanna

 

They came across a nice river so we all went down to the water and Johanna left her boys go swimming for a while. At 4:00 we had the paper and were headed out of El Cua. We left a different way then we came. After we made one turn, Johanna thought it might have been a wrong turn; however I had seen a sign for La Dalia on the road that we were on. We decided to continue on the road and after a while we came to an intersection and memories started flooding my head. If we would make a left-hand turn, the road would take us to Waslala, so I told Randy that we were on the right road, headed for La Dalia and Matagalpa. From then on, I lost tack of time. We stopped in Matagalpa for supper and kept heading for La Palmerita/El Terrero. I was never so glad to see my bed that night. However I had a wonderful day and enjoyed seeing others parts of Nicaragua.

        

Noilyn - age 8

 

     Featured Girl: Virginia and I had a little visitor the other Sunday afternoon. Noilyn asked if she could come home with us after church and spend the afternoon at our house. We had both decided to do some visiting that afternoon, but we told her she could come. She was all excited and could hardly wait to go, but not before her mother gave her all kinds of strict instructions and told her to obey. In the afternoon, we sat down and made some magnets using those little beads that you iron once you are done. She just loved doing them and made 3. When it was time to get ready for church, Virginia raided her stack of girls' clothing and found one of Janae's dresses that Esther had left here. It was a little short but fit pretty good. I then combed her hair in 2 pigtails. It reminded me of getting my sisters ready for church. On the way to church, she kept saying to me  "Si mi mama no viene a la iglesia, voy a su casa otra vez." (if my mother doesn't come to church, I am going to your house again) She had all kinds of reasons why her mother might not be able to come to church that night - maybe  she couldn't find anyone to guard the chickens, maybe she was too tired to carry Lester or maybe Lester was sick...the list went on and on. Much to her dismay, her mother was at church when we got there. I had a great time with her and I hope she enjoyed it as well. I think she did 

       

          Happy Birthday  Juan, Rosibel & Lucia

    The neighbors came up one Wednesday night to hang out after church. Virginia was decorating several cakes for the next day and she decided to decorate a cake for the neighbors that had birthdays in the August & September. So we had a feast of chocolate cake afterward. I spent several hours that evening typing a research report for Alicia. It was getting later and I noticed that she still had several pages to type so I offered to do it for her, so she would be done for school in the morning. It took a little but we soon had it done. It was great to hang out with Lucia again. Lucia is the one in the red shirt. She is Rosibel & Ramon's sister, however she lives in Managua and comes to visit every now then.

    Yes well, I shall close before I bore you all. Thank you for your prayers. Have a great weekend and serve God with all your heart!

 

Committed to Him, Andrea

#22 Fresh Corn, Good-bye, New Animals....

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.

So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. Isaiah 55:11

    As I spent some time this past month stamping "La Antorcha de Verdad" (a Spanish tract/book that is printed in Costa Rica) and "Para Ti" ( Spanish "Just for You" printed by Christian Light Publications) many times the above verse came to my mind. We may not know the impact that one of these tracts has made in the life of a person until we reach eternity. As I read the story in the above pictured Antorcha,  I was deeply challenged. It had 3 small stories about people that were delayed and resulted in innocent people dying. It left the challenge that many people today fail simply because they do not do what is necessary in the correct time. But what is so sad is that many die without the hope of going to heaven, because they did not repent nor looked for God in time. Are we willing to put aside some time to stamp tracts, prepare tracts to mail, go with our congregation to pass out tracts in a nearby city? Or we going to delay because today my friends want to hang out? I just leave this challenge that you. Do not delay...Listen to God and obey His command.

    We have said good-bye to Davy Schlabach, our business administrator this month. He is headed back to the States to prepare for his wedding. We had a farewell supper the Sunday before he left. We wanted to take a picture of all the guys together. As we were deciding where to take the picture, a drunk fellow walked up and wanted to be on the picture(guy in the back corner with arms crossed) Nathan Miller (in the back in blue shirt and glasses) and his wife-Angie along with their daughter, Gloria have come to us from Nebraska to be the business administrator. Please pray for them as they study the language and take over their responsibilities, as well as they adjust to the climate and culture here.

    Featured Lady: Maria Ester lives just down the road from us with her husband Juan Ramon and 2 sons, Jose and Adiel. She is always so willing to show us how to make Nicaraguan foods. She came one day and showed us how to make Chicken Soup-Nicaragua Style. It is a very good soup. One day I stopped in to visit her and found her husband cutting corn off the cob, so I asked her what they were planning to do. She said that they planning to make tamales. I asked her if I may come down and learn how to make them. So I went down in the afternoon to help her make them. For those of you who do not not know what tamales are, I will try to explain. You take fresh-picked corn (and it is not sweet corn!) and cut it off the cob. You then grind it through the corn grinder. After you grind it, you can add some cuajara (Cuajara is a very well-know cheese here in Nicaragua. You take fresh milk and put part of a rennet tablet in and let it set till it separates. You then pour off the whey and squeeze it dry and add salt and it is ready to eat.) Back to tamales - You take a 2 leaves of corn husk and put the corn mixture in it. Then you can either add a sweet mixture of cinnamon & cuajara or meat mixture or just leave it plain. You then fold the leaves over so that it is all covered and put it in a pot of boiling water. You let them steam for several hours. They are best right out of the kettle! I really enjoyed my lesson and would love to try it myself sometime. After we finished the tamales, she had me cut up the cuajara she had made and mix in the salt. I enjoyed the time that I could spend with her and learn how to make Nicaraguan foods.

       

    We had quite an interesting Friday night. It was our scheduled night for youth night. However it started raining at 10:00 Friday morning and rained most of the day...sometimes quite heavily. Randy received a call around lunch, asking him to go to La Palmerita and pick up an older lady and take her to Malpaisillo to the clinic as she was sick. The staff arrived from Leon around 2:00. We decided to cancel the youth night as it was still raining and was getting harder to get into La Palmerita. Randy called around 6:30 and said that he is stuck and the truck won't start so the guys headed out to help him. They ended up pulling the truck back to the house and later pulled it to Leon. While the men tried to fix the truck, we women learned how to play "Get Hooked." It is a fishing game and a lot of fun.

          

    We have made some new additions to the animals on this farm. Randy bought a horse and her colt last month from a man in La Palmerita. Her name is Chinga and she loves to run. I have had some very interesting rides. I used her several times to get to and from La Palmerita as it is quite muddy right now due to the rain. Last Thursday I bought a horse myself. I bought her from Angel & Mariana - Ramon's parents. I have rode her several times and I am quite impressed with her. Her name is Beulah. On Tuesday I bought a saddle for her and did a little riding yesterday. I can't wait to ride her on Saturday when I go to La Palmerita. Right now it is so much easier to get to La Palmerita on horse because of the mud. I have been able to go and do a lot more visiting. I have been enjoying the ride out.

    Just pray for us as we continue to strive to share God's Word and answer many questions. Thank you all for your support and prayers. Without you, this work would not be possible. May God's name be honored and glorified.

 

 

    In Christian Love, Andrea

#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

#20 Falling Rock, Truck Problems, Nature Lessons...

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