Cooking Buñuelos

We had a full crowd for Sunday school, and the new chairs that Julia bought are being put to good use. We have 3 new Sunday school teachers from the youth group. Kenia and Jessica are helping with the girls ages 6-8, and Bianca is helping Rigoberto with the boys ages 3-8.

In the afternoon, I learned to cook buñuelos with Katherine, Itzel, and their mom. Buñuelos are fritters of a mainly Spanish origin. They are a popular snack in man Latin American countries, and are made differently across the world. In Nicaragua, they are made by deep frying yucca and cheese, then covered in honey/syrup.

I bought yucca from the garden and got cheese, oil, and cheese from a little store just up the street from their house. For a couple hours in the afternoon we prepared and cooked them, spending time joking and playing. We made way more than the four of us could "healthily" eat so we shared them with some neighbors and Consuelo's family.

Pastrana led evening service and Pastor Walter preached from 2 Timothy. Daniel and Rigoberto led worship on keyboard and drums. Yorlene and 2 of the older church members each sang a special. There was a baby dedication to close the service. We had all 100 chairs out of the bodega and a few benches in the back of the church setup for service, and almost all were filled with kids, youth, and adults.

Ana's Food Distribution

Saturday morning Ana Saravia, and the Leon team came out to distribute the food that she and her friends in Miami donated. 133 familes from 6 different communities received a bag of rice, beans, oil, and salt. It was done very orderly with the pastors calling the names of each person from their community that were put on lists earlier in the week. Each person dropped their ticket with the pastors as their name was called and crossed off. We had a table across the clinic entrance with 3 people working inside and 3 more outside. Walter opened the event with a prayer and Ana had some closing words. It was great to see the pastors and leadership put together such an orderly way for distributing.

In the evening service, Pastrana led church and Erick preached. Church attendance was around 40 people, with half of the congregation age 20 or under, which is normal numbers for about all non-Sunday services. Kervin led worship, as Daniel had a night off, after being in the village almost every day this week.

3rd Youth Service

We got out to Candelaria in the afternoon and I had a meeting with the youth leaders before starting our third night of Friday services. We all agreed that we are enjoying the small number, with interested and involved young people. Every week a few are sharing music, drama, or bible veres and we are rotating who shares the message.

We started with around 30, but dropped to around 20 once we got to worship and the message, which has been normal since changing to a more serious service. Daniel led worship with Kenia singing. Kervin, and 2 of his friends from Chichigalpa shared 3 Chrisitan rap specials.

Itzel shared a message on God as our father. With emphasis on how many of our young people have been abandoned by their fathers, and some by both parents , but once they accept God as their father he will be with them forever. She shared verses from Psalms and Romans. She also had a music video with scenes from Passion of the Christ, that was very moving. Yahaira closed the service with prayer.

Nicaraguan Christmas

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday I spent time in Leon hanging out with Ana, Scarleth, Leo, Oscar, Sergio, and Francis. I have called a lot of friends and family and also done a lot of cath-up work here that I can't do from the village without internet.

I spent Christmas Eve with Sergio's family and we had dinner at his uncles house. It was a large family gathering and it felt great passing time with a family, even though mine is far away.

On Christmas day, we spent a full day at the beach. Sergio, and a lot of his cousins, Francis - Oscar, Jennifer, and Yairo - Scarleth, Leo, and 2 of their friends - and myself all packed a lunch and went to Poneloya. We stayed all afternoon and enjoyed a lot of time in the water. It wasn't very crowded and the weather was great.

Tomorrow I'll be back in the village for the first time in 5 days, it has been a good break, but I can't wait to get back. I hope each of you had a great Christmas as well.

God Bless and enjoy the last few days of 2008 with your families.
Jim Bob / Diego
John 15:13

Children's Christmas Party

On Sunday morning, the youth and I finished getting things setup for the childrens Christmas party joint Sunday school activity. Quitanka and Nuevo Amanecer came with almost 300 kids and then 250 or so were there from Candelaria.

Yahaira, Saul, Rigoberto, and Daniel led the activity with games, contests, and singing. The other youth helped us trying to keep kids back and organized. There was a Little Miss Christmas Pagent with each Sunday school teacher having 1 student in the contest. This made for a field of about 10, with the top 3 receiving teddy bears and shampoo, soap products.

After these games and contests all the kids got a flavored milk, either chocolate or strawberry and then we had 4 pinatas. The first pinata was for children under 5 and the 2nd for children 6-8. The 9-10 year olds had their own pinata, and the last one was for kids 11-13. We had all the youth trying to make sure only the righrt age groups participated in each pinata and entertained the others when it wasn't their turn. We also did our best to keep people from getting hurt when the rush for the candy took place. I saw as many youth getting knocked over and run over, as kids.

Afterwards we delivered 2 pinatas to La Isla for their afternoon party and headed back to Leon. I was excited to get back and see the Steelers game and Panthers game in hopes they could each win and clinch first place and homefield. They both let me down, but I was glad to see the games.

Saturday Preparations

Water is still out here, and Rigoberto and Alfredo had plans to visit in Quitanka, so I spent sometime this morning biking water to Consuelo’s house. Then I took time for myself in the clinic and got some things done on the computer.

In the afternoon, Scarleth and Sergio brought out the things we needed for the Sunday school Christmas party and we had soup at Consuelo’s house. We visited with their family for a while and then Scarleth and Sergio went to run some errands in Chinadega.

I spent some time at Itzel’s house and talked with her about how she feels with our smaller numbers in Friday night youth service. She said that she had heard some people thinking it was boring, or more like a church service so that’s why they had not come. She and Jose both agreed that it is more like a service, how we want it to be, and for the ones that are serious it is not boring. They loved the worship and the drama, dance, rap specials we have. We are thinking that it is moving in a positive direction with small numbers and it is the start to something.

Jairo preached in the night service, and afterwards about six of the youth helped decorate the church with curtains and balloons for tomorrow’s Christmas party. They are planning to lead different games and contests and then keep order in the piñatas. We are expecting around 500 kids from age 2-13, with anyone over 13 helping keep order and leading the activity.

Friday Thoughts & Youth Night

I spent Friday morning visiting with Itzel, Katherine, Jose, Kenia, and Jessica about the jealousy problems in our youth group. Some issues from the past, and then again last night at service, have caused our youth group to have little clichés of friendships that do not and will not talk with each other or even be near each other in service. The people here think of friends as possessions and then when you put time into other people they get their feelings hurt. Other girls, and sometimes the boys, specifically say that when they want to talk or hangout with Sergio, Tommy, Daniel, or I people in other groups of friends tell them they are only their friends, or they don’t like you like they do us, etc. etc. The problem is usually between one person and another person, but they get their whole group involved so that it becomes 10 people that won’t associate with anyone from the other 10 people. Please pray for us, as they try and tell us it is our own fault for doing things with someone to bless them, or being closer with someone means that you don’t love anyone else. This all goes back to the kids coming from such broken homes and never being loved, so they cannot understand real love and friendships. They are so quick to get their feelings hurt and show bad attitudes toward us and even more towards each other.

Sergio and I met with the leadership in the afternoon and they seem to be doing pretty well. They are also dealing with some jealousy issues not between each other, but by other church members who all have their own opinions about the leadership. We let them know what things Tommy and Linda passed on to Sergio to share with them, and our schedule for the upcoming week.

We had our second youth service Friday night and only around twenty people were there. At first, we all felt kind of down by how empty things looked, but as the service continued we found out what a blessing it was to have a service with 20 people who really care about worshipping and listening to the word, with prayer and interactive discussion. Everyone was well behaved and you could feel God’s presence throughout the service. I think that this smaller number with 15 serious and interested youth out of the total 20 is where we can really get stronger and grow, compared to having 40 there with 25 being distractions.

Yucca & Quitanka Service

Thursday morning I led bible study, challenging the youth to really start reading their bibles other than just when in Bible study and church services. I want them to spend time reading, thinking about what they read, and then in time applying it to their lives. We are trying to concentrate right now on Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” At their ages, they are so easy to just make quick decisions for their own wants, and not taking time to pray about them or think how a decision today can affect them next week, or the rest of their life.

In the afternoon, I got some more things sold of the clothes in the clinic and spent time visiting with the garden workers. I made this video of the yucca harvest, and the workers have really pleased Scarleth and Linda by keeping records of all their sales.


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Pastrana planned a joint service for the evening in Quitanka, the community he serves behind Candelaria. They trucked in around forty people from Candelaria and another twenty from Nuevo Amanecer. The service went from 6:00-10:30 with a lot of music and drama participation by young people from each village. Pastor Walter preached from 2 Peter, and Daniel shared testimony on having faith in God, when his daughter almost drowned. There were five new decisions for Christ including 3 people under 20 years old.

Seeing Gables Off

In the morning, we went to Viky’s and got breakfast and did a few other errands in Leon. Kenia and Itzel went with Sergio and I to get the food for Consuelo’s for the week while Oscar, Tommy, and Linda met at the office.

In the afternoon, we had our staff meeting to make sure that we are clear on everything to take care of while the Gables are in the states. We also discussed things for how we hope to better the mission in 2009. The girls had some time to hangout with Tommy, Linda and Julia for their last day here.

Julia, Yahaira, and the other girls rode out with Sergio and I around 5:00 PM. Julia said bye for the last time, and they headed back to Leon. Pastrana led the Wednesday night service with Daniel and Rigoberto leading music. Erick, who teaches the youth Sunday school class and has been attending Tommy’s leadership, preached for the first time.

Tuesday Trip to Leon

Yahaira led bible study and then went with Julia and I for lunch at Consuelo’s. Kenia and Itzel wanted to see Tommy and Linda again before their trip to the States and Tommy said they could come in for the night in Leon so they bussed back with me in the afternoon. When we got to Leon, they walked around with me to pay all the bills for the Barnum’s house and enjoyed ice cream.

In the afternoon we were able to skype with the girls from world race in London. They had a webcam so we could see and hear them, they could only hear us, but Itzel and Kenia loved it, for about two hours. They also took naps, so I got to do some internet work while waiting and Tommy and Linda to get back from Granada and be with the girls. We went with Sergio and Francis to eat at Solera, and the girls enjoyed the live music.

Monday Drama & Rest

Water is out here so the land is packed with people coming down to use the public well. All morning people have been getting what they need for their morning and afternoon cooking, bathing, and washing needs.

Carlos, Julia, and Yahaira came out for the afternoon and Carlos led drama and dance. They have a new dance and drama they’re getting ready for this coming Friday night. During the time they were practicing I spent some time lying in my hammock and actually feel asleep for a little while. It has been a great addition to my room in the clinic.

Julia stayed out for the night with plans to do bible study with Yahaira in the morning. She made brownies for the guys that stay at the church and a few of the other youth that were hanging out. Itzel and Kenia stayed with Julia in the clinic for the night.

Hammock and God's Must be Crazy

I grabbed breakfast and spent some time visiting with Consuelo and her family, as I usually do after meals, but think I failed to mention until now. She is one of our church servants, and the grandmother of Eddy Garcia, who passed away 3 weeks ago. She cooks for the boys that stay and guard the church every night, and once I moved out here, I have been eating 3 meals a day with them and her family. She is a great cook, and I love spending time with her kids and grandkids whom are always around.

I went back to the church property and Sunday School had started, so I slipped into the clinic to have some time alone, use the computer, and organize the room some more. I hung my hammock up diagonally across the room so I’ll have a place to rest some afternoons. I plan to still sleep under the church with the guys, but it will be a nice place to sit or lay and rest when I need some me time.

I went to Itzel’s house in the afternoon and spent time with her and her mom. The God’s Must Be Crazy was on TV so we enjoyed that. I even got an hour nap in the guest room of their house before going back down for evening service.

Tommy preached on being Godly and not religious with scriptures in Luke chapters 11 & 12, and Matthew chapter 6. It will be his last message of 2008, as they get ready for a month in the States. We took communion and had a time for prayer and goodbyes for the Gables to close the service.