Past 2 Weeks

Wed 11
We took 200 pineapples to be planted later this week. Pastor Jose bought a new keyboard for the church with the money raised through offering. The land at the end of the field down by the river has been plowed and ready for corn and beans to be planted. The Gables got back tonight from their week vacation and will be catching up in the village tomorrow.
Thurs 12
We went out today for the afternoon and Tommy and Oscar met with some pastors. Linda and Scarleth talked with the sewing ladies and garden workers. Leo ran baseball and I spent time visiting and letting the youth know about the big youth event at the baseball stadium in ChiChigalpa tomorrow that we would go to instead of hosting our usual Friday Night Youth Group. Linda and I met the 4 girls with World Race at the bus station in Leon and took them out to stay at the Bloquera Bethel for the night.
Fri 13
We went and got the girls from the Bloquera and made it to Candelaria around 2. Leo began baseball practice and Scarleth got the girls setup with some of the garden workers and other women in the church to plant corn. The church got the pineapple planted in the morning. Scarleth and Tommy held some pastor meetings and I visited La Isla. We went to the Chichigalpa baseball stadium for a big youth event put on by some people from Managua. There were probably 250 or more young adults in attendance. The first couple hours were drama and worship; we had to leave to get the World Race girls to dinner at the Bloquera and ourselves back to Leon.
Sat 14
We rode out to get the girls at the Bloquera and then drove back through Leon and out to Poneloya for an afternoon at the beach. We had time to talk to the girls about their 11-month Thailand-Central America World Race and make plans for them to lead Sunday School tomorrow. We had dinner at Suyapa and then drove them back to the Bloquera and back for bed in Leon.
Sun 15
Scarleth and I went out this morning on bus to meet the girls to lead Sunday School. They shared dances, songs, and stories from the different countries they have been visiting since September. Scarleth translated and I hung out with kids in the congregation. In the afternoon, Oscar’s brother, Freddy, led drama practice and the World Race girls and I played with some of the other kids. Tommy, Linda, and Oscar came out for evening service, but with both Tommy and Linda fighting some sickness we only stayed through worship.
Mon 16
On Monday, Scarleth and I went to watch some baseball at a University in Leon. A team called Athletes in Action, AIA, from the US was in Leon to play a double header. The teams is made up of different college baseball players through Campus Crusade for Christ and they are in Nicaragua for 3 weeks. They scheduled some mission work, baseball clinics, and 18 games with young men in Nicaragua. We watched them play a 7-inning game that ended in a 0-0 tie and then another game against Leo and some of his Dominican teammates that ended in a 7-7 tie.
Tues 17
Tuesday was a day off for the Gables to try and fully recover before a group of 6 from Atlanta City Church get here for 2 weeks. Oscar and I worked to answer some emails and settle some finances from San Juan de Leon all day. Scarleth is still sick on and off the past 2 weeks, so Oscar and I are trying to stay healthy and praying for the rest of the team to feel better before all the groups start coming for the rest of summer.
Wed 18
We had our first full staff meeting since the Gables return from the States. We spent some time checking up on each other and Tommy shared from 1Timothy 4. We went over our extremely full calendar for the next 3 months and Linda shared dates for upcoming staff retreats and meetings. We all went out for a typical Wednesday. Leo is staying busy with a growing baseball team. Tommy, Linda and Oscar held a Candelaria church and small business leaders meeting. Scarleth and I went to meet with Pastor Pablo and Rosa in La Isla to help them with Sunday school attendance and getting the right families ready for Adopt-a-Family to kickoff soon.
Thurs 19
Scarleth and I worked with Linda today in Leon to get almost all of the families online and ready for Adopt-a-Family to be ready online. Tommy and Oscar had a meeting with Pastor Jose and took Leo to run baseball practice. Freddy drove the Gables and me in his bus to get the ACC team from the airport. We left Leon at 6 pm and got back a little after 10. The team of 3 guys and 3 girls ages 17-27 will be here for 2 weeks helping with youth group, drama, and whatever else comes up. They will also be spending about 5 vacation days site-seeing the country.
Fri 20
We went out today with a very big group: Our team of 6, ACC team of 6, 2 extra translators and a 16-year old girl named Sarah from California visiting my neighbors. ACC spent time visiting homes and playing with kids in the afternoon, while Scarleth and I setup for youth group. ACC ran the youth event tonight with games and dancing for the first 45 minutes. Adam led worship singing 2 songs in English and 1 in Spanish. Daniel also sang 2 songs in Spanish before ACC shared some drama and testimonies. Jade shared first, and then the full team did a drama called “the gift.” Adam shared his testimony and we all enjoyed refreshments.

Sunday in Candelaria

Scarleth went to Leo's baseball game in Leon, and Oscar took the day off. I took local transportation out this morning for Sunday School. Attendance was good in all 5 classes and they are starting to use the material Jennifer supplied for the appropriate age groups.

Around noon 2 guys with Living Water were working on cleaning the community well. They added clourine and flushed the entire pipes for the well that serves as cooking, cleaning, and drinking water. They will finish their work on it tomorrow and then some church members will pour new concrete around the base.

Freddy came out and 14/17 youth were there for drama practice. They are getting better and we are very excited for ACC to get here and help with drama. We are hoping to have them lead many different drama teams in the streets of Chichigalpa in late June.

I visited a few homes on my way out of Candelaria to the bus terminal and rode back to Leon in the evening.

Easy Saturday

I woke up feeling much better today, but still no energy. Oscar had school and Scarleth and Leo spent time with thier visitors.

I did some computer work to get ready for Sunday School tomorrow and worked on some updated attendance sheets now that we're into June.

I spent most of the day resting off Friday's sickness and getting energy back for this coming week.

Friday in Leon

With the Gables on vacation we decided to not have a Friday Night Youth Group meeting. Scarleth had some family come visit and I have been sick all day so it worked out that we took tonight off. It rained heavily Thursday night and Friday morning so the baseball field was still standing in water.

Oscar did work from the office communicating the meetings from the past few days over email and working on June's payroll until afternoon when he had a funeral to attend.

I watched 4 movies and tried to rest off what feels like the same 24-hour bug I had about 6 Fridays ago.

Gables on Vacation

With all the groups coming up, and after a lot of traveling and visiting in the states the Gables have decided to take a week vacation and spend sometime just the 2 of them. They will be back in Leon on Wednesday night ready for our first group that comes in Thursday the 12th.

The rest of us took local transportation out for an afternoon of meetings and baseball practice. Leo had about 20 guys at practice, and they are enjoying the gloves and catchers equipment we got in Leon last week.

Scarleth and Oscar spent over 2 hours discussing upcoming projects with garden workers and the sewing classes. Pastor Walter and Oscar are setting up meetings for the land purchase in Santa Matilde for IHBC.

Pastor Daniel and I went to visit in La Isla and Guanacastal for the afternoon.

Full Wednesday

We had a team meeting this morning about our plans over the next 3 months and the many groups coming all summer long. Afterwards we all went to the village for the afternoon and evening. Tommy, Linda, Oscar, and Scarleth met with sewing ladies, gardeners, and other church members while Leo ran baseball practice. I visited families in the villages until 6:00 service started.

Linda shared information from thier trip to the states and let the church know about the groups that will be coming for the next 3 months. Daniel and Bismark led worship and then Tommy spoke about community. I took the children in the pastors house for a movie.

Gables Return to Candelaria

The Gables got time to visit in Candelaria this afternoon. It had been 5 weeks since they got to see the pastors family, garden workers, and the church members. Linda was very excited to see the progress of the garden and the medical/dental clinic.

Scarleth and Oscar stayed busy with the Gables in meetings with different small businesses and I spent time visiting homes of children and teenagers.

Mom Home, Gables Too

Mom and I went by Viky's for breakfast and she got to tell Oneda and Reyna goodbye. Translator Enrique drove Mom and I to the airport around 8. We got her through check-in and spent our last 30 minutes together grabbing lunch and sharing stories.

We put her in line for security and then went to arrivals to pick-up Tommy and Linda. They got in with no delays and we got all their luggage loaded in the truck, and returned to Leon. The seem very excited to be home. It is Tommy's birthday and they are hoping to meet up with the Marin's for dinner.

Sunday School and Night Service

Mom and I took the bus out early this morning because it was her last day and we wanted to see as many people as possible before the flight home tomorrow. We got to Candelaria in time for Sunday School and found out that June 1 is National Kids Day in Nicaragua. The teachers had put together a big party with 4 pinatas and snacks and games for the kids.

It was a lot of fun being with 150-200 kids playing and afterwards Mom and I had meetings with the Sunday School teachers about lesson planning and shared some of the material that Jennifer gathered for us. They let us know which stories to photocopy and how many worksheets they needed to apply to the age groups they taught.

All afternoon we spent time visiting with as many kids and family as time allowed. We hungout with about 10 kids that stayed after morning service, teaching some English from a picture dictionary my mom brought. We then went and visited families and youth members that I wanted Mom to meet.

Pedro and his mother came around 5 to get ready for the evening service. Daniel and Bismark did a great job leading worship and Pedro spoke on discipleship and evangelism. Yahiara had over 20 kids in the pastors house teaching about the miracles of Jesus from the growing animated DVD series library.

Visiting Lots of Villages

Alvaro took Mom and I out today to visit as many villages other than Candelaria with only 2 days left in my mom's trip. I knew we would be back to Candelaria for Sunday services so I wanted her to see as many other places Saturday would allow.

I took her by the goat ladies place, and then out to Bethel. She had fun visiting with Yahaira's and Daniel's family. Rosa and Yorlene's mom was out visiting in Bethel and had her 17-day old daughter, Veronica, with her.

We went on to visit with Pastor Pablo and his family in Guanacastal. Mom was happy to see he had been using the bike that First Baptist Church of Boone bought him. They lost a lot of fruit trees and their TV antenna in the storm, but the house held up pretty well.

From here we went to Santa Matilde. Mom got to meet 3 of the youth group girls and some other kids from the village. A few small trees were down, but we didn't see any really bad aftermath of the storm here. Victoria Zapata's yard had a big limb down but it missed her house and her chickens were enjoying it.

Mom got to reunite with Laura for dinner. Laura served as my mom's translator in January and they have kept up through email since. Her friend, and a translator for us with some larger groups, David, joined Mom and I for dinner. We stayed out til around 10 pm fellowshipping in the park infront of the big cathedral.

Happy Nica Mother's Day

May 30th is Mother's Day here every year, regardless of the day of the week. Mom and I woke up after the power returned at 3:30 am and once the sun came up went to grab breakfast. Leon had no water or cable/internet/phone across the whole city. Our house had power, but it was in one of the only areas that did get power back Friday morning.

We watched Amazing Grace at my place and then caught a ride out to the entrance of Chichigalpa with my neighbors. Mike, Mike, and Maria were taking out a lot of tarp to fix some houses in Chinadega. Mom and I wanted to go and visit some people in the villages and see how bad the storm had left the area.

Along the road on the way out, we saw many large trees and powerline poles laying on the ground, but by the time we got into Chichigalpa things looked better. Nothing larger than wrist width limbs were down and the dirt roads were badly washed. We got to La Isla and crossed the river by foot.

We spent time visiting with Rosa and her family. They were still without power, but did not suffer any real damage to their house or yard. We caught the bus home and I took mom out for dinner at Solera.

Tropical Storm/Hurricane Alma

Well, the Marins were right about a lot of rain coming to Leon, but they didn't tell us it was because of a tropical storm. Alma was a tropical storm until about 1 pm when it hit land just west of Leon, at which time winds picked up enough to be the first hurricane of the year. Alma is the first hurricane in history to originate in the Pacific and move north up Central America.

The power went out around 2:30 pm while all of us were getting work done at the office, at the Gable's house. Rain let up just long enough for all of us to get home and then we sat in our rooms in the eye of the storm for the rest of the afternoon. Two trees feel onto the roof at my place, all members got some entertainment watching them machete the limbs off of it until the storm got too bad to stay outside.

Mom and I spent time reading and playing cards in her room. By 5:30 it was too dark to see anything so we decided we would just head to bed and hope things improved by morning. Power came back on at 3:30 am and we woke up and started our Thursday.