Fun and Productive day at Beach

Scarleth Leo and I went to Playa Roca by bus from around 12-7 yesterday...had lunch there and then came back to Leon for dinner
We had Linda's laptop and Scarleth's laptop and got a lot of things coming along...I have all my donations in excel with all my receipts etc up to this point..I am halfway done doing the same for NewSong in a program called PowerChurch that Atlanta City Church uses...after i catch them up to date with it I will train Oscar on it and he will take over NewSong's

Scarleth and I got more of our headshots labeled and our names for Candelaria attendance sheets in order...we started this only 3 weeks ago and each week more kids are there on Sundays so our list has gone from 150 to 180 to 216 boys and girls under age 18..we are working to get it into excel with headshots and age birthday etc etc as time goes on.

The waves were as big as ever yesterday...I have been there 4 times now and there is no comparison to how strong it was yesterday..water was coming up to within 15 yards of the restuarants and waves were breaking over the rocks where most people stand and watch the sunset...We walked back to where it connects to the river and there was no seperation, the waves we reforming all the way across to the houses on other side of the river.

I found some pretty cool shells and caught a decent size hermit crab..i played with him for bout 10 minutes and then let Leo and Scarleth see him..I was going to get a box of sand etc and bring him back to my room as a pet, but Leo took him to wash him off and he just jumped out and buried himself the deepest in about 1 second..I was a little bummed but maybe I'll find another.

We have staff meeting today and I am planning to add 2 more lights at the chuch...at the front and rear entrances of the storage room doors, and then move the switch that does those lights out of the church to the storage room...I hope a couple of my power guys are there to help and others are willing to learn.

Still behind on getting more on my .info site but I needed to get the finanaces and attendance things done with Scarleth first.

Day in Tonala

With Tommy and Linda vacationing with the Bacons: Oscar, Scarleth, Leo, and I all had a free day so we went about an hour and a 45 min drive north to Tonala...it is a small community where they tried to do a youth group thing from last august-december but 3.5 hours driving every Sunday was too much for the amount of kids they had showing up. I got to see the El Ranchon where they held services.

Daniel, head worship leader of NewSong, and Jahida, huge help with youth and kids, met us in Chenadega and made the trip as well...We had to take a taxi to the Leon bus stop, bus to Chenadega, taxi to another bus stop in Chenadega, then bus up to Tonala..then the reverse order home. It was a lot of switching but a very fun experience.

I got to meet a few people they knew from their outreach there, and we had a big soup lunch at one ladies house...Pastor Cristino comes to Candelaria Wed-Fri for Tommy's leadership meetings and is the pastor there on staff with NewSong..we looked for him and a few other people but their homes were empty.

Scarleth, Leo, and I are headed back to Playa Roca tomorrow, the closest beach to Leon, and we will be back to the villages Wednesday when the Gables and Bacons get back to Leon. Scarleth and I will catch up on our attendance sheets, book library, and personal finances on laptops at the beach and Oscar will be handling NewSong finances from Leon.

Hoping to get more of my .info website updated tomorrow night as well..think about you all often and thanks to the most recent donations i was emailled last week, and they will come through by week's end.

Lonnnnng Sunday

we were in Candelaria from 10-9 today..childrens service, and adult service..now that Tommy is preaching Sunday nights this is how Sundays will be...he finished chapter 1 of 1st John tonight with a great sermon on getting out of the darkness and staying in the light...i ran powerpoint for the worship songs and then 5 bible verses during preaching.

At the end we did some celbration songs and some goodbye songs for Tommy and his family who will be moving to Ohio Wednesday.. everyone is excited for them but their were a lot of tears especially from girlfriends and wives of the young men leaving...We will not be back in Candelaria til Wednesday afternoon, so this was our last time seeing them until they return for a visit.

I am going with Scarleth and Oscar tomorrow to a place bout 45 mins north of Candelaria, 1 hour 45 mins from Leon..we will take a bus or 2 to get there and visit with some of their old friends from when Tommy and Linda were trying to do a youth group thing there weekly a few months back..I will be out fo Leon from 8-4 more or less tomorrow.

Tomorrow evening I will get to update more of my.info website and help train Oscar to use PowerChurch..a program we got from Atlanta to keep up with finances and do reports etc..I have already started 2-3 other projects since Leo and can't wait to share more of that soon.

Tommy and Linda will be with Kevin and Janna Bacon until lunchtime Wednesday so I will do a halfday of vacation tomorrow then catch up on some contatcs and work..then Tuesday a possible half day at beach and half day of more catching up.

Airport and Concert Saturday

We got the Rexroths to the airport to fly out around 1 and then the Bacons landed and got through customs etc about 1:30..Tommy and Linda went with the Bacons, Kevin and Janna, to Granada for some tourist stuff. They are long tiem friends from Charlotte and will spend 2.5 days just visiting with the Gables and siteseeing Monday-Wed afternoon so Oscar, Scarleth, and I get some time off.

Scarleth and I stayed at the airport trying to get Leo in by 7:30 but Copa Air loves to mess things up and he will not be coming until today around the same time..i will believe it when he lands..I'll update more about Copa and Leo's difficulties later.

Scarleth and I came back to Leon and saw my first Nica concert last night...it was a group of 3 guys called El Comando Tiburon..they are from Panama and have a Reggaeton style music...it is a form of urban music very popular in Latin America and getting popular in the states...Reggaeton blends Jamaican music influences of reggae and dancehall with hiphop..they will rap in both Spanish and English and have since called the lyrics Spanglish.

I didn't know any of their original songs, but they did some covers that I knew almsot every word to, and other songs that i recognized but can't say I really knew...It was a lot of fun and was packed..lots of age groups there..probably some as young as 8 up to people in their 40s...we paid for general admission tickets $5 US and made our way up to the 3rd row.

We are headed to Candelaria all day..childrens morning service and Tommy preaching tonight with soccer and games in between.

Please pray for Leo to get here tonight, the baseball team is losing some of its discipline and Scarleth and I are sick of Copa Air, we just can't wait to get him here and be done with them.

Hope all is well in the states...eastern time is now 2 hours ahead of me...they do not observe DST here

Diego

3rd Youth Night Paul Bens last day

Youth was great once again..I didn't count but it was over 100 im pretty sure..cost a little more to get Santa Matilde there becayse they could not all fit in a taxi and stood in back of a truck..probably about 16 people from there, including 4-5 young men..a great problem to have paying an extra $5-$8 to have more youth trucked in...a taxi brought in probably 8-10 from La Isla.

To start we did limbo down to 2 winners..one boy and one girl..i got polo and lacoste shirts for the 2 winners from the market and i think they were both from Santa Matilde..the first week we did sherades and last week Twister...I had about 40 minuntes of picture and video hightlights from the week, inclduing about a 12 mintue special of just Linda for her 55th birthday...Ben played his violin in the praise band and the lesson was on encouragement.

Tommy, of Candelaria 19 years old that is married to Pastor Jose's daughter Maryuri and the rest of his family are moving to Ohio this coming Wednesday...his dad, who has lived in Ohio for a few yearswas here last Sunday night telling the church he was taking them there..Tommy and his younger sister, who sings in praise band, and younger brother all said their goodbyes tonight and will be truly missed..2 of the 3 are very active in our friday nights and the other is always in attendance

Maryuri is hoping to be moved sometime within 3-4 months but she knows that it might not be that soon..please pray for safe trip for all off them as well as Tommy/Maryuri's marriage.

I am headed to Manauga tomorrow around 10..Tommy & Linda, Scarleth and I are taking the Rexroth's back and picking up the Bacons..the Gables and Bacons will get back to Leon around 4 pm, but Scarleth and I are staying til Leo lands at 7:30 then customs etc could put us back in Leon as late as 10:30.

Really enjoyed the group of 6 and 2 this week, and I know they all enjoyed their time here and already talking about returning...I have been very busy, but will have Monday and Tuesday off while Gables and Bacons travel/vacation

Might go somewhere north with Oscar or I might just catch up on some webpage and computer organization things from Leon..i will add some pics to the last 2 days worth of posts soon, but for now im off to bed

Love you all---thanks for all the support through concern, prayer, and finances
Diego

Linda's 55 & 4 weddings at Once

Linda is 55 and today between working out and her leaving for Manauga for a day with her best friend, Marcela, i dropped her off 6 roses..She loved them!!

She tried to get 8 trunks of baseball equipment that have been stuck in Managua for 10 months but they are not allowing it...she just told them to send them abck to the US and let the people there get them to teams coming down to avoid anymore problems in customs.

I got some quotes in Candelaria for some quality iron soccer goals..for materials and labor for 2 4 meter by 2.5 meter goals it will be more or less $750 US...i am not getting these right away but wanted to talk with the iron man just to have a start...Rob from IHBC talked about making the see-saw iron instead of wood because it is more or less useless right now...they also got some figures about a temporary tent structure under the tress in Santa Matilde while their church is being built

I helped Alfredo finish adding 4 light bulbs in the storage shed behind the church and 2 15-17 yr old boys, Ariel and Alex, watched learned some part of it, which i loved their interest!

A correction to my earlier post that a teenager feel in a fire out of a tree and has 3rd degree burns on both ankles..it was a 9 year old boy..found out today they cannot treat him at Chichigalpa and was taken to Leon and is not doing well...a young man from La Isla passed away yesterday from kidney failure, which is sadly common here.

60 people were trucked over to Canderlaria from Santa Matilde for the weddings and our entire team of 18 was there....some of the men with cold feet from earlier changed their minds again and Tommy married 4 couples all at once...some as young as mid 20s to 70s..it was different but very well done..Daniel played some good music and the congregations of Santa Matilde and Candelaria both enjoyed it

We all came back at ate at the Mediterranean restaurant and Juanita, Oscar, and Scarleth brought a birthday cake..the IHBC group of 6 flies out early tomorrow morning and will be leaving Leon at 4 am! I will take Paul and Ben on top of the largest cathedral in CA tomorrow and show them around Leon until we go to Candelaria around 1 to have Friday night youth.

Take care God bless,
Diego

2 Village Day

Wednesday was a big day in Santa Matilde and Candelaria...The full team went to Santa Matilde at 10...and visited the health department. We then played musical chairs with the kids and some baseball.

Paul, Ben, and Lori continued to see villagers and distribute vitamins and other pills accordingly...One boy had s oy bean in his ear that had to be pulled out and a 9 year old girl had fallen off her bike this past Sunday and Dr. Rexroth told her to get it x-rayed...They told us it would cost 8 cortabas (40 cents) to get it x-rayed and read by a doctor in the next town. The worst case seen was a teenage boy that fell out of a tree into a burning pile of brush/trash and had what they diagnosed as 3rd degree burns around both ankles/shins...the accident happened Sunday and by Wednesday looked infected and possibly threating...Paul got him some bandgaes and ointments that he needs to apply correctly to avoid the infection from becoming worse or even death.

I got a soccer ball at the market and took it to the youth age boys there...they have one donated in January by Greensboro College, but Pastor Walter keeps hol dof it so no one steals it...they told me 2 Sundays ago, when I brought Candelaria over for a game that they needed a ball one of them could keep up with to practice...I gave it to 19 year old, Darwin, because Walter said he is the one that comes to church the most and will keep up with it and is a good team leader.

I left with Tommy and Oscar to get to Candelaria around 1...they had their 12 pastors meeting from 3-5 with an earlier in-house meeting with Pastrana (father of Jose/Wismon/Herman/Nidia)

I met with Alfredo and Alex, 2 of the 3 boys, that did the 16 lights and 10 fans in late January...The storage shed attached to back of church is lightless so we ran a wire for adding 4 bulbs within it Thursday...we also swtiched the previous run switches because the front switch was doing the back 12 lights and the back swtich the front 4 stage area...the coolest part for me was that a 15 year old, Ariel, was watching and holding tools and wasking questions willing to learn from Alex and Alfredo..i got them all soft drinks for the 90 mins we worked and told them we would meet tomorrow about 2 to complete it...We will have it all done with the storage shed running off the stage lights by 3 pm Thursday. The 2 weddings are at 5 pm in Candelaria.

On the weddings, IHBC of Charlotte is here to help in Santa Matilde and when they left Charlotte it was set for Tommy to marry 8 couple on Thursday, by the time they arrived it dropped to 6, and now the cold feet of the men has spread to only 2 couples being married...One couple is Carmen, Sunday School teacher and Youth Leader at Santa Matilde..she is 27 with a 9 year old girl (the bike wrecker possible broken arm) and and a 4 year old girl, Julie, that I am in love with...She is marrying the man that is building the houses for the widows in Santa Matilde..he has already finished 3 in 10 days! I can't recall his name right now!

We had a great dinner at Lobito..they have everything from shrimp to steak to pork ribs and fish..It was 14 of us at dinner and we will have another big dinner tomorrow night because it is Linda's 55th birthday!

Love you all and I want to send a special HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my oldest sister, Ashley Dawn Norman Smith who turned 29 March 5th! Turns out my mom got the birthday present tho..Ashley and her husband, Jeff, flew out to Colorado for a friends wedding and Jacob, my 2 year old nephew, is with Mimi and Papa D (my parents) for 5 days!

Diego

Big Day in a Full Bus

We used the Mercedes van/bus that Freddy drives to go to Santa Matidle today...Scarleth, Linda, myself....then 6 from Charlotte with thier 2 translators (Laura/David) Paul and Ben from Indiana their translator (Enrique) and we picked up Yaidah on the way as well...Tommy had day off to catch up on US contact and Leon things and Oscar did financial things around Leon

The Independence Hills team is buying 3 acres for a church for Pastor Walter..it will also have room for playround and sports fields the land costs $8000...they are also working to raise funds to feed the widows of the village and building houses...a house that was just frames when we arrived at 10 today was finished before we left at 3

Paul looked at probably 40 plus people with different aches & pains, and general questions about health..Ben and Lori hepled passout the prescriptions he announced after each patient's visit..during that time i tlaked with Carmen, mother of 2 girls that is getting married by Tommy along with 5 other Santa Matilde couples this coming Thursday..She is the head of Sunday school at SM and also trying to get more youth members coming to our Friday events at Candelaria.

This afternoon Ben and I played a full field soccer game with about 16 boys ages 8-19 and had a good time while the older members of the group went and visited other land and homes.

We took the van out with everyone to the beach for sunset and seafood...had shrimp again but didnt complain, Paul and Ben dont mind going back either because being form Indiana they have only been to the beach a couple times..and even that was just SC beaches..nothing on the waves and freedom here.

Same plans tommorrow, but Tommy Linda and I will all go to Candelaria about 12-4:30 then come back through Santa Matilde and scoop the rest before coming to Leon.

Visit my newest page of website...US Groups: http://makemsmile.info/usgroups.htm

Groups to learn more about who is here this week and then the others to come

Love u all!!

Diego

MONDAY at BEACH

took paul and ben to Poneloya with scarleth..same beach we went to in january...it was nice...took a taxi there since tommy and linda were off..had a wreck in leon in taxi but nothing too bad..no injuries..beach was nice..enjoyed shrimp at lunch and dinner

6 people from age 18-45/50 flew in for the week from Independence Hills Baptist Church in Charlotte, NC..they are adopting Santa Matilde Church and we will have 8 weddings Thursday that they are paying for

We will have a full crew with Tommy, Linda, myself, driver Freddy, 4 interpreters, 8 guests from US, but very excited for the week ahead..

I am off to bed earliest I think since ive been here, lifting weights starting tomorrow with Tommy at 7 am..bout 2 block walk..excited since i havent been doing anything like that since December 10 or so

Love you all..heard weather there has been a little warmer, I'm thinking of you all often..even if you think im just sitting on beach loving these kids and not missing you, I am..everyday
have a GREAT week!

Diego

GREAT WEEKEND

Friday night youth was wonderful again...spoke on attitude...think it moved a few people..one girl from Santa Matilde was in tears and thanked us all for giving her something to do...another teenage boy in Candelaria came for first time and told us he was so happy to just have something to do because if he wasnt there he would probably be on the corner and thinking about stupid things to do to his body and making bad decisions...i will update more on friday when i get time

saturday was great too..more girls coming to lindas dance class, and then we saw where 2 home have been built in Santa Matilde with the wood that has been in Manauga for 9 months...Paul and his son Ben from Indiana are here from Indiana on Ben;s spring break..he is a senior in high school, and the 3rd of Pauls 8 kids! 4 boys and 4 girls from 23-9! Paul is a general practice doctor and borught a lot of worm medicine vitamins etc

They both helped a lot today in Sunday childrens service...leading some fun and games and the Paul told with boys acting out..Daniel in the Lion's den..always one of my favortie stories as a kid...Paul plays violin and piano..has played both 10-11 years..and he played a couple violin songs i the morning service..and Amazing Grace i the adult church evening service...EXTREMELY talented..and both are 6-2 to 6-4..played a little basketball between services

Tommy spoke tonight...he is preaching every Sunday night at 6 from now on, and taking them through books of the Bible..tonight we started 1 John...headin the the beach tomorrow with Paul, Ben, and Scarleth while Tommy and Linda get a day to do there contacts back to the states etc day off slash all the work they must do withotu going to the villages and Oscar will be going to Manauga with Freddy to pick up our next 6 from Independence Hills Church from Charlotte, NC...the 6 of them plus Paul and Ben will all 8 be here until Saturday

Needless to say, we will be VERY busy but i hope i can get some updates to you all soon!! Leo is flying back in Saturday and when we drop off these 8 we pick up him and another NC couple..ordering Leo's return ticket tomorrow morning...

Please pass on the word if anyone feels led to help with PROJECT LEO...his total cost to me is going to be at least $800 and then we want to get him on some type of monthly salary

http://makemsmile.info/projects.htm

Love u all GOD BLESS!!

Diego

FUN thursDAY and NIGHT

we were in Candelaria almsot all day...Tommy, Linda, and Oscar had a meeting from 1-3 with Pastor Jose and his wife Bonita...during this time Scarleth and I were working on our project of getting all the kids full names (first, second, 2 last names) they use both parents last names...along with age.

This is to make attendance for both Sunday School and Friday night youth...as Scarleth got the names i was taking headshots for the future excel document of faces, names, age, and more information soon...we got a lot of that done past 2 days...but some kids arent always there during the week with school and work, so this list will probably continue to grow..Praise God for that!

After this Tommy had his usual W/Th/F 3-5 leadership meeting with the 12 pastors and Scarleth and Linda talked with small business goat owners and gardeners while I setup the laptop and projectors for our 6 o'clock movie...I finished that and played outside as it cooled off up until 6..baseball and duck duck goose mostly.

We had announced Sunday that we would have a movie Thursday night at 6..but the turn out wasnt many at 6...we waited to 6:30 to start it and it was darker so both projectors showed up better...Tommy's projector, NewSong's rather, is brand new and very powerful, the picture is much brighter than mine because 1-I need a new bulb and 2-his is just newer and better-more lumens etc...but it was nice having both because by 7 we had over 150 people there

We showed Bee Movie, Dreamworks newest computer animated movie...completely in Spanish with no subtitiles...so Tommy, Linda, and I kinda just watched and caught the gist of the movie, but everyone else loved it..There might have been 200 there by the end I'm not really sure, but we ran out of chairs, benches, and tables so people were standing and sittin on the 18 inch wall cement across the back of the church

We want to do these more often..especially when I get more of my DVDs here...most of them are in English with Spanish subtitles but not everyone here can read nor would they want to if i can find good movies in Spanish audio

Tommorrow will be busy as well...going out abotu 12:30 with activties all day followed by youth Friday night...2nd week of this..and Tommy and I will both be teaching ATTITUDE along with praise band, games, video and picture highlights from this past week.

Project Leo is going, but I am hoping for some support...It took $400 to get him to Dominican Republic and then another $100 today for him to get is Visa changed to 5-10 years rather than the 60 day he had...he thinks he might be back as early as 3 weeks..so i will be getting him back as well...if you feel led to help Project Leo ..PLEASE tag checks to project leo! He has been working for 3 months for free with the baseball team, and we need him back so bad to continue helping those boys with baseball, discpline, and their walk with Christ!

To read the full project click here: http://www.makemsmile.info/projects.htm

Saturday our first 2 people come as part of our 25 people in 60 days..Paul and Benjamin Rexroth- father and son from midwest USA i want to say Missouri...they plan to help with construction, music, youth and I am sure much more!

To see the calendar for our upcoming 2 months click here: http://www.makemsmile.info/calendar.htm

Love you all and sorry i have been too busy to update everyday, might be just twice a week for a while, but I LOVE AND MISS U ALL and will do my best to keep u up to date with us here

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!!!
DIEGO

Back in Leon

had a great 2 day at San Juan Del Sor beach...4 hour trip south of Leon and just above Costa Rica border

on the way there we stopped in messiah and by a place where a volcano had imploded

water was very cold..but i enjoyed it up to my waist anyways both days...this morning we took a boat ride about 35 mintues out and around to see other beaches..it was really pretty

the drive there and back wasnt bad and the seafood dinner, omelet breakfast, and ice cream snacks were all great

tired tonight bout to head to bed...

please pray for the coming week that will be very busy and starting this saturday our grops begin for the next 2 months more or less nonstop

getting prepared for friday night youth group as well

Love u all,
Diego