#18 Class Time, cutting grass...

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.

Home where we'll all be together again...home where our praise to the Lamb will never end...I'm going home, where I'll walk the streets of gold and never see a tear again...I'm going where all our dreams become reality...We'll soon be there, sitting round the tree of life, within the presence of our King...

As I was sitting here at my computer, thinking of how fast time has flown. It just seems like yesterday I had bought a ticket to fly home to visit my family. That time has come and gone and I am back in Nicaragua, spending time with those dear to my heart here. As I was thinking of the time I spent at home with my family, one of my favorite songs came to my mind. Home - talking about the heavenly home that is waiting each of us. A place where we will never say good-bye again! A place where we will not see a tear! As I listen to this song, it makes me homesick for HOME. It is my desire as I pass each day here, I might make an impact on someone's life and they might realize that HOME is also for them. Our time to go HOME is rapidly approaching. Are you...Am I ready for this day? I just want to leave this as a challenge to each of you.

              

    It has been raining quite a bit. The week before I flew home to my family we had several people from La Palmerita here to cut the grass. I forget exactly how many it took for them to cut the entire yard. Jaren & Jarell also had fun cutting the grass around the house. It gave them something to do when it was nice outside. Mike & Esther arrived June 3rd and left June 22nd. It was a blessing to have them here. With them also came Mike's sister, Melanie. It was great to get to know her. They stayed in Randy & Laura's house while Randy's were spending time in the States. While they were here, there were revivals in Leon. Philip Ebersole from Honduras was here as the evangelist. It was a blessing to be there and to be encouraged and challenged by each of his messages.

    While I was visiting my family in the States, our church here in La Palmerita had our 2nd baptism. Johanna, a young mother with 3 boys, is now a member of our congregation. She definitely does not have an easy life, but just pray for her as she desires to walk in the Lord and in His will for her. Right now her youngest son, Juancito, is not with her, as his father-Juan left to go work and took Juancito with him. I have been blessed getting to know her and she is a great inspiration as she she strives to serve the Lord in all that she does. She is the 2nd member to be added to our congregation here in La Palmerita.   

         

     It was great to get back and to teach each one of my classes. Saturday morning I had girls' class and had the largest attendance yet. Five young girls showed up, even though it had been raining several times that morning. I was blessed to have each of them here and to spend time with them, studying the Bible and also teaching them how to sew. Sunday morning, my Sunday School class was large as well. I had 8 boys and 1 girl. I wasn't sure what to expect as Virginia had said they had been pretty bad on Wednesday night. But praise the Lord, He hears and answers prayers. They were very well behaved and class went very well. They were enjoying class so much, our class went longer then the adult class!

     On Monday, Randy & Virginia took the baby pigs to Leon to try and sell them. They did rather well and sold all 6 of them to one person and were home before lunch. it seems just a little strange to only have 2 little pigs here any more. On the 5th we all went to Leon for the fasting service. When we returned, charlotte the mother pig was dead. We are not sure what exactly happened so we just have 2 small ones here any more.

    Ramon (the above picture) is the other member in our congregation. He celebrated his 21st birthday the beginning of June. He has been a member of the congregation for 2 years. He teaches reading classes in Rota 4 days a week as well as participates in church services.

    The month of July is looking pretty full. This evening we will be going to Managua to pickup the girls that are coming with SMBI's WATER program. We will also be having revival meetings in La Palmerita. Timo Schrock will be coming from Waslala as the evangelist. I just ask that you would lift him up in prayer and also pray for the community that the binds of Satan would be broken and the people would realize their need for a Saviour.

 

Blessings to you as you serve our Risen Lord, Andrea

#17 Rain, Mother's Day, Planting

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.

 

I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore. (Psalm 121)

    The other day as I was biking into La Palmerita, I looked out across the land and my eyes came to rest on Volcano Momotombo. As it lay there on the horizon, I was once again reminded of it vastness and the power that is contained within the volcano. My mind was then drawn to our Holy Father and His  attributes - the power He contains in His hand. How often do we take for granted His power? The power: to heal a life, to take a life, to destroy a city...the list could go on and on. I know too often I tend to think on His kindness and mercy and feel to remember that He is also a powerful God that could take a life at any second. Am I...are you lifting your eyes to the hills from where our help comes? Are we relying in God for our strength and guidance?

Last week, on Monday morning we went to Johanna's shortly after 6:00 to plant watermelons in her field. We had Randy, Richard, Jason, and Roger were digging the holes and I was putting the fertilizer in the holes. Johanna and Virginia then planted the seeds. However after planting several rows we decided that it was too muddy and we would wait to plant the rest until Tuesday. Tuesday morning Virginia and I went back out to help. Roger, Jason, and I dug the holes. Johanna put in the fertilizer and Virginia planted the seeds. I was amazed at how fast it went. However when it started raining the seeds either drowned or washed away :(

    This past week we received an abundance of rain. It started raining heavy Tuesday night through Friday. Saturday through Monday it rained on and off.  Wednesday and Thursday we spent most of our days in the house or in the hammocks wrapped in blankets, reading, and sipping tea and soup. Wednesday morning Nick and Hans were playing the water until Hans fell and got all wet. We didn't have church on Wednesday evening due to the rain. Jason was going to take Randy's to CAM and pick up his parents. The only way he could get here from La Palmerita was on the horse. However through most of this storm we did not lose electricity. That was a blessing!

    Friday morning Jason brought Johanna from La Palmerita and she started baking cakes for Mother's Day. As soon as they were baked they went straight to the freezer to cool down so Virginia could decorate them. However as usual the morning of Mother's Day you always seem to have people coming and saying - "I need a cake for my mother. Can't you make me one?" We ended up making 7 cakes on Mother's Day.

    On Sunday afternoon we had a church activity at Campo Medico with those from Leon. We played several rounds of Frisbee Football together. I enjoyed playing as it had been a long time since I had played Frisbee Football. Afterward we all went back to the church and had supper. A big thank you to Karen, Denise, and Andrea for the the supper. It was great. We sat around and spent time talking and having fun before going our separate ways. It was a great time of fellowship and fun.

                                          

    On Monday morning we woke up to no electricity. Jason was planning to take his parents to Leon for the morning and Virginia was going along to spend time with Karen so I decided to ride along. I didn't have that much to do, but there wasn't that much I could do with no electricity and no water. When we got to Leon, I went and visited with Yolonda (She is an older lady and school teacher. She is a member of the Leon congregation.) I had a great time with her and time passed so rapidly. From there I stopped it with Andrea and ended up staying there and helping her with her laundry. I had a great time and enjoyed my morning. From there, we headed to Rota to show the town to Jason's parents. We spent time visiting with Juan and his wife there before heading back to El Tererro #1. However we were not able to get through the road into Malpaisillo as the road was washed out so we went around through some fields. However once we got onto the flats, we ended up having to stop as we had a problem with the 4-wheel drive. We spent quite a bit of time there till they got it fixed. But praise the Lord, we got back to the house all in one piece.

    Yesterday morning we spent time at the church cleaning as the floors were all covered with dried-on mud from the storm we had. Jason & Ramon had to pull all the water up by hand as the rope was stolen from the pump once again. Johanna and I worked in the Sunday school building and the others worked on the church floor. Both required a good deal of scrubbing. Johanna kept me busy carrying buckets of water for the floor. After we were finished, it sure looked better and smelled clean.

    This afternoon we are heading to Managua to take Jason's parents to CAM and to pick up Mike & Esther and their family at the airport. It was great having Jason's parents here and I enjoyed it very much. I got to know them better. Thank you for coming to visit and stay with us. Thank you to Mike's in advance for coming and living with us for the next several weeks. God bless both of you!

    My next email is due the week I fly home so I will try and send one once I am home. Blessings to all of you as continue walking with the Lord wherever He may lead in these next weeks.

Until the next time, Andrea

#16 Girls' Class, Sunday Night Church......

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.

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace. (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8)

    As I was looking through my pictures of the last 2 weeks, I came across these 2 pictures. As I looked at them a thought came to mind as to what each tractor represents. The top tractor is preparing the soil for planting and the bottom tractor is gathering in the harvest. As we interact with people from day to day, are we doing things that is preparing the soil of the heart to receive the Word of God and allow it to be planted and take root in their lives? I just want to leave that as challenge to each of you. Are your actions helping or hindering the preparation of the heart soil? As I then looked at the other tractor with its load of fresh hay bales it made me think of a verse on John 4 - "Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest." What are we doing about the harvest that is before us? Are we willing to be a worker in the kingdom of the Lord?

    The first girls' class is past in the next one will be on Saturday. I am anxious to have another class and to see how many girls will show up. I want to make sure I go to each girls' house tomorrow and remind them that there is a class on Saturday. The first class I only had 2 girls - Sindy & Katerin. Both are girls that I know very well. The class went very well and they said it was easy to understand. I was hoping I hadn't picked anything to hard for them. I am using parts of  Brenda Weaver's book - Daughters of Eve & Daughters of God. I translate what I am going to use and thanks to Jason, he helps me correct the way things need to be said or revise things so they sound better. I have them memorizing Psalms 139. I give them 2 verses a week as we have class every other week. For a craft, I have them embroidering a verse with a border on a piece of white fabric. Once they are done, we will sew a back on it and make it a pillow.

    Please keep Hector, our neighbor man, in your prayers. Some of you may remember him from previous emails. In January, he responded to the Savior's call. However here of late he has not been attending church much at all. He has only come to one Bible study. Just join us in praying that he might realize his need for fellowship with the brothers and sisters of the church, as well as the need to learn more about God and many other blessings from the the Bible.

    Johanna is planning to be baptized on the 20th of June and I am so happy for her as she has seen her need to take this step. Continue to pray for her as she continues to look for work to supply for her and her 3 boys. Just pray that God would give her strength for each and every day. They often don't have more than tortillas w/ salt to eat. At times she finds a washing job and sometimes the boys help tend cows after school. However each moment I spend with her is an encouragement to me and challenges me.

    The other day is was in my bedroom studying for a lesson, when all of sudden I heard some strange noises. At first I couldn't tell where they were coming from until I looked out my bedroom window. Nick and Hans were just having a time of it, playing with stone and spare pipes. The chickens and turkeys love to scratch in the dirt right under my window and they have it all soft. It was also shaded yet as the sun had not yet reached it. It never ceases to amaze me where I might find the boys next.

    Today we had an interesting time watching the calf-chasing as they tried to load the 5 calves. They had one or two loaded when one of the calves ran threw the fence into the back yard and then ran over past the banana trees and ran through the fence there. Then the one black calf took off toward the back of the field, went through several fences and ended up in the other field with the other calf. The guys then got in the truck and tried rounding them up in the big field. but didn't have too much success. They finally got them back into the feeding area and got them loaded.

    These 3 young children live on 3rd Street in La Palmerita. Their parents' names are Carlos & Lydia. The children's names are Yoselyn, Yubelki, and Elbin. They might come to church for a few Sundays in a row and then they don't come for a while. Whenever we go past there house walking, biking, or in the truck, they often come running and hollering our names. Just pray that we might be able to reach out to them and that they might want to come to class.

    On the 9th, we had our Sunday evening service; however this was unlike any Sunday service I was ever at. For the first time since I have been here, we had Sunday night church at 6:00 instead of 4:00. We took a small generator along and hung 2 bulbs from the ceiling. Church was very well attended by people of La Palmerita, as well as the beetles. There were big beetles, little beetles, medium beetles, micro-small beetles. Several times I almost swallowed a bug  It is an experience I shall never forget.

    Till you receive my next email, Lord willing, Jason's parents will have been here for a visit and Mike & Esther will be in our presence. Thank you to both couples for their willingness to come and stay here with us in El Tererro while Randy & Laura fly home to visit family. It will great to both of them once again. The last time I saw them was at my commissioning service in August. Also Krista will have left the team and Joel Heatwole will have arrived to join the single staff of Leon. I plan to fly to the States for a week on June 17th. I look forward to seeing each and every one of my family and friends.

    Yes well, I think I will draw to a close. I leave you with a challenge - What are you doing in the fields of God today?? Are you sowing seed?? Are you gathering the harvest. God's blessing to each of you as you serve Him this week!

From El Tererro, Nicaragua: Andrea

#15 LP Vaccination Day, Birthday Party, Staff Trip...

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. You can access the entire list here.

    Greetings to all of you from El Tererro, where the grass is turning green and the plants are starting to look nice since the last rains that the Lord blessed us with. We have been blessed with several very nice rains in the last week. As it was raining, the thought came to my mind - that of how the dry, parched ground received the rain. I pray that our lives as Christians are not dry and parched, but that it is ever open to receive the Word of the Lord and then as we interact with other people that our witness/testimony may be as rain to their dry, parched soul. 

                       

On Friday the 23rd, Virginia & I spent the morning in La Palmerita. We took the nurses from the clinic along as it was time for vaccinations in La Palmerita. I enjoyed the morning very well, as I was able to visit it with many friends. It was great to see all the children that came and their mothers as well. I also got to see some new babies. it was interesting watching all the expressions when children and adults received their vaccinations. The above picture is of the children coming home from school. One of the boys on Center Street takes his cart to from school. Their classes end around 12:00, so after the cartload went past, there was soon a number of people at the rancho as mothers were bringing all their children. I was glad I got the opportunity to go along. On Sunday morning, we then took the nurses to El Tererro #3 to spend the morning vaccinating there.

                                                                    

On Saturday afternoon the 24th, we were invited to La Palmerita for the birthday party of Banessa. She turned a year-old. The people for the Evangelical Church in Techunami had a small service before they served us the birthday meal. While they were singing, they left the children hit the piñata. I was kept quite busy snapping pictures of family and friends. The young girl that I had featured in my last email one of the older sisters of Banessa. When we placed the cake in front of her, she had so much fun touching it. It was so cute.

FEATURED MOTHER!!

The young lady pictured at the top right is Alba. She lives on the bottom half of 1st Street. She came from a nice size family. She is 17 years old and just had a baby boy. She does not come to church regularly, but some of her siblings come from time to time. I talk to her from time to time and desire to get to know her better. Please join me in praying for her!

This past Sunday afternoon till Tuesday afternoon we spent our time at Selva Negra as a staff trip. I enjoyed the time, especially the time that we spent each morning in the chapel singing. On Monday some of us climbed to the top of Selva Negra. I am so glad I did it, but wow it was a hard climb. Coming down you just slid in the mud. I was very muddy till I got to the bottom. I enjoyed being able to spend time with the staff and get to know every one better.

       

Blessings to each of you as you serve in your field! If you think of it, I will be starting a young girls' class this weekend. Keep each of us in your prayers. The girls as they come that their hearts might be open and me as I strive to portray God's Word to them clearly.

Until the next time, Andrea

  

#14 Truck problems, Climbing Cerro Negro, Piglets, and much more....

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. You can access the entire list here.

    Greetings to all of my fellow Christians far and wide! I pray that each and every one of you are having a wonderful day serving our Lord in your own personal way. God continues to show Himself in so many ways and areas. We truly serve an Almighty God, who able to far more above what we ask or think. Well, the last 2 weeks have flown by so fast. When each day is full and busy with so many things, the days seem to go so fast.

     

    Since I wrote last, there was 2 groups of people here. Larry & Karen Weaver and Lloyd & Faye Zimmerman, both from the Pleasant Valley congregation, arrived with the Pleasant Valley (PV) Seniors on the 6th to spend a week and Keith & Christine Nolt from the Open Door congregation arrived on the 7th with a group of Horning girls. Keith's were here in Nicaragua for a week and the girls spend 2 weeks here and left on the 21st with Dwight & Heidi Fox. The seniors spent most of their time in Leon; however they came out on Thursday - the 8th, help with some work projects. The men spent the morning repairing the pasture fence and put a floor in the tool shed. The girls spent their time in our house - painting. Thank you so much ladies!! It looks so nice. It was great to see Lloyd & Faye Zimmerman. I have known them for years, but don't often get to see them.

          

   The group of girls spent their first week here with us in El Terrero; most of the time painting, but we DID have a great time. They also planted a garden for us and it is looking beautiful. We got a nice amount of rain on Sunday and everything shot up; even the weeds. On Saturday we went to Estelí to take the girls out and see some places and do some shopping. For me, it was a great day to visit familiar places and talk to people that I haven't seen since I came back from language school. We parked the truck along the main street there in Estelí and I told everyone I would meet them for lunch in an hour and I started on my way. It was fun to be able to walk down the streets and through the park, taking in all the familiar sights and smells of the place that became my home for 6 weeks after I arrived in Nicaragua. The first place I went to was Dora Elena's house - the lady who hosted while we were in language school. She was so happy to see me. She looked and me and said she thought I would never come to visit her. I explained to her why I had not got there sooner and told her about the prospective visitors in the future and the possibility of bringing them to see Estelí and visit her. She wanted to know about all the things that have happened in the months since school and I wished I had all day to sit there and talk to her. As I was leaving, she told me that I should get a bus to Estelí and spent the weekend with her and relax :) For lunch we went to the Chinese restaurant that I came to enjoy very much, even though we only ate there 2 times during school. After lunch we went to the waterfall outside of Estelí. It looked quite different from the last time we were there, but I enjoyed it. We then returned to the city for the girls to do more shopping. I then spent that time in Mocha Nana Café, a little coffee shop that Karen and I frequented when we lived there. I enjoyed my old-time favorite Frozen Mocha. On the way back, we stopped in Malpaisillo for supper.

    On Monday we met the Leon group in Rota and went to Cerro Negro to give them the experience of climbing a volcano. I went along as I was almost 2 years since I had climbed Cerro Negro. I took it nice and slow going up as it was pretty hot, but till I got to the top, I was so tired and decided to sit there and relax while everyone was snapping pictures. When it came time to head back down, I got up but I felt so weak and I wasn't sure why. Needless to say in a couple seconds I lost my breakfast. Right away I sat down again and thankfully Karen Weaver had crackers in her bag which she gave to me as well as some water. I sat there and relaxed for a while before I felt good enough to go down the volcano. When we left the volcano, we kinda got confused as which way to take and we got the wrong way. Once we got to familiar roads, we headed for Malpaisillo but then the truck started heating up. We got within a mile of the place and the truck just gave out so we got all our things and started walking home. Thanks to several girls, who willingly carried my backpack for me as I was still feeling weak and tired. I got home and went straight to bed and slept for 2 hours. It took about 3 days till I was feeling myself again.  

 On Friday the 16th, Charlotte gave birth to 9 piglets. They are all growing nicely and look nice and fat. One little one has already escaped the pen, but was quickly rescued and put back into his pen.

 We received a nice heavy rain on Sunday afternoon. La Palmerita actually had hail. Our front yard was covered in water. On Monday morning there was still a couple puddles which Nicholas enjoyed very much. He fell several times and looked like he was enjoying himself so much.

The young lady below is from the family known as the Cheles in La Palmerita. I believe there is 8 or 9 children in the family. Every now and then, one of them will show up at church, but they are not faithful attendees. The youngest girl in this family, Vanessa, has been so sick lately but she is getting better little by little. 

Blessings to each of you as you serve our Lord!

Love and prayers, Andrea

#13 Rain Showers, Beautiful Sunsets, Naughty Children

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. You can access the entire list here.

Wow!! Time does surely fly and it has come to me that it is time to inform you all once again of my life here in Nicaragua. We have had a few rain showers in the last few days that felt wonderful. We have also had naughty children in class, but they seem to remember some things amidst their naughtiness. Blessings to each as you serve our Lord, where He has place you!

#12 Smoke, dust...the list goes on

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. You can access the entire list here.