Nicaragua 2013 - Tuesday

The classes started with a time of worship through music.  Monday, Stephen introduced "You Are My Hope" in English then on Tuesday, Mario translated it in Spanish so they could teach it to the pastors.  This was so much fun for Stephen.

Another church doorway pic:

After worship was Ken's morning class.  He was not feeling super, he had a fever the night before.  We were all praying for him.  At one point during his morning class he had to sit down, but God gave him the strength to continue.

Tyler working the registration desk:

Lee Anne and I went to Nicaragua Christian Academy, where Carrie Franklin (a member of Grace Church) is the principal.

This is the view the kids have at recess:

We did some work in the library cataloging new books that arrived.  The students were eagerly anticipating Harry Potter and Chronicles of Narnia books that we were working to get on the shelves.  Carrie was telling us how much they love books.  Both Lee Anne and I left aware of how much we take for granted.

Lee Anne loved the flowers and doors of Matagalpa.  This library door was no exception:

I asked this boy, via the use of motions only, if I may take his picture.  He obviously thought I had a screw loose.  :)

Sweet girls at lunch:

Driving through Matagalpa to get to lunch at the doctor's class:

One of my most favorite pictures of the trip.  On the last day, Stephen was able to pet this dog.  He tried all week.

Jessica (8), the pastor's granddaughter, outside the church:

This was a view from the doctor's class.  We ate lunch there everyday.

The only cat we saw in Nicaragua:

Pet pig outside the church:

 A still shot.  Sorry I caught him in a moment.

In our afternoon class, Ken started us off talking about oneness.  We had more questions this day, and "stepped on a few hornets nests", but were able to all use Scripture to articulate the whys behind our answers.  Ken, Wes and Stephen did a fabulous job fielding and handling the questions with love and care.

After our class, Fabricio treated us to "recompense".  (This is what Tommy asked for on a trip once, and we were told to ask for it as well, when we finished teaching.)  

We all had a quick recompense ice cream cone from Eskimo.

Dinner at Norman's:

Stephen preached his first sermon ever at the church where the classes were held.  The night before, the pastor's son-in-law said he wanted them (he or Wes) to preach on family.  So Stephen was flexible and took the sermon he'd prepared on believing God is sovereign and good, and talking about how it would impact our families.  He did such a great job, and we are so thankful Wes gave him this opportunity to be stretched.

Another picture with Jessica that night:

Ending the day with Duckie in our room at Selva Negra:

Nicaragua 2013 - Monday

Monday we woke and were able to see Selva Negra in the daylight.  This was the view from our room:

And the lake next to the restaurant:

Aren't the lily pads beautiful?

Norman, a Nicaraguan who was a chef in NYC, has a catering company that prepared meals for us in his mother-in-law's home.  I loved our first breakfast there.

Stephen was being "stretched", as he only likes apples and oranges. But he did not make this face the whole time, just as I was taking his picture.

View from Norman's mother-in-law's house:

After breakfast, we drove 20 or so minutes to the church.  Today was our first day of classes, both at the church and at the medical clinic.  We started the day with Ken teaching through the narrative of the Bible, beginning in Genesis. We were studying and reading in the back.

In the afternoon, Wes reviewed ideas from Biblical Femininity and Authentic Manhood taught in July, then the marriage class began, with Ken teaching again.   We also shared each of our testimonies.  This was one of my favorite parts, as it was so encouraging to see God's story of redemption and restoration woven throughout each of our individual stories.  God is so good to each one of us.

We decided to sit the women together and the men together on Monday, then sat as couples on Tuesday, when the idea of oneness was introduced.

There are lots of pictures of the view from the church.  I apologize, but it was just gorgeous.

I told you so!

The view from the panel looking out of the door of the church.  If you look back at the panel picture, I was likely captivated by the beauty of it in that moment, too.  :)

Nicaragua 2013 - Sunday

Our first morning in Nicaragua was a the Christ for the City International (CFCI) Hospitality house.  We were the first team to use it.  It had lots of space and was in a quiet area outside of the city.  Here's Sydney's duck again:

Matt and Stephen connecting, unaware of the huge duck in front of them:

Our team was so great.  And don't you just love Kyle's chair?

Jolydia made us breakfast and prepared the rooms for us.  She is a precious soul:

Our first day we had cultural training:

It was eye opening to read some of the statistics.  

The average American family spends about $141 per day, including $48 on housing, $30 on transportation, $28 on food, $8 on entertainment, $3 on alcohol & tobacco. (The average Starbucks customer spends $6 a day at Starbucks.)

To contrast, the average Nicaraguan earns about $4.50 per day.  The average Nicaraguan is a teenager, with a third grade education, is living in poverty, with little hope to ever achieve a higher standard of living.

But where we are rich and they are poor monetarily, they are not lacking in contentment and their love for Jesus and each other.  We had the privilege of visiting New Jerusalem church while in Managua.  Ken gave a sermon on our enemy and his desire to destroy us and the importance of community.  It was a powerful message.  (Mario translated for him.)

This hammock at the CFCI house has all of my favorite colors:

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Isn't it peaceful?

The guys enjoying each other:

Others resting after lunch.

On the road again (and for the longest car trip, yet).

Our stop.  I really had to go.  This was how they labeled the baño.
   Oh my.  I wouldn't have chosen to use those particular potties had I not really needed to go.  Oh wow.

Once in Matagalpa we got a little turned around looking for Norman's mother-in-law's house for dinner.  We accidently passed this beautiful home.  It would be a sight in America!  I wonder what this family does for a living?  This stuck out like a sore thumb, for sure!

This is the view of a street in Matagalpa:

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And our favorite Jesus picture.  Stephen says this is how Joseph really got his coat.  :)

The little boy across the street who greeted me with a smile everyday:

The house beside his:

Dinner.  The top left were Tostones, mashed plantains that were deep fried.  These were very popular.  I'm not sure what the sauce on the chicken was called, but it tasted like a homemade cream of something sauce.  It was tasty.

Once in our room at Selva Negra, Doris shared medicine with me that my mom-in-law shared with her.  :)