Day 6 (Saturday) Message from Jan
Our devotion this morning was based on Moses and his conversation with God when God called him to return to Egypt. God gave him several signs so that his people would believe him--then he thought he couldn't speak well enough so God said Aaron can speak for you. We need to be God's signs here on earth showing the Master's love to others.
After loading all the suitcases on top of the van we set off for Managua which is where we are staying tonight at the Best Western across the street from the airport. It is about a 2 hr drive--we stopped at the hotel to unload our suitcases and use the facilities before continuing on to have lunch at an open air restaurant over looking a volcanic lake La Laguna de Masaya (we think). Service was a bit slow and then 3 people didn't get their lunch with everyone else. The final lunch was delivered in a take out container so that the group could continue to the shopping area.
Shopping was at El Mercado Viejo Craft Market--The market was originally built in 1891, destroyed by fires in 1966 and 1978 and refurbished in 1997 as a showcase for local handicrafts. The market is geared to foreign visitors. It has leather, brass, iron, carved wood and textile handicrafts plus paintings, clothing, hammocks etc. While many of the shops have comparable goods, you can barter the price. We had about an hour and a half to shop since the market closed at 4 pm today.
Please pray everyone arrives home safely on Sunday. Eight people are catching a flight out before 7 am so they will be getting up very early while the other 6 of us don't leave till about 12:15 pm. The early group arrives home by late afternoon while the second group (except Lindsay) going to O'Hare don't get in till 11 pm.
Thank you again for keeping all of us in your prayers. God is great--you are all his wonderful servants.
This is the last communication to all the prayer partners. Each member of the team is now responsible for reporting their arrival home safe and sound to you-there personal prayer.
God's blessings
Saturday, April 2, 2016
Friday, April 1, 2016
Day 5 (Friday) Message from Jan
Our devotion this morning reminded us that we are to be lights to the world and reviewed the various ways we have been lights this week. Our skylight installers gave actual light to the people in their homes allowing God's rays of sunshine to provide light for their daytime activities. Those who delivered water filters to the homes provided God's light as we prayed with each family. The children's team provided stories and activities including Jesus and his disciples getting dusty feet which Jesus then washed showing how much Jesus loves each and everyone of us. Reviewing and reminding the women of ways to make their lives more healthful for their families was the joy of the health & hygiene leaders. In all these ways each person was serving the Lord by God's love shining through us. Praise the Lord.
Normally a team is in country on a Sunday and attend a worship service. Since we are flying back on Sunday that wasn't going to happen for us. Pastor Henry decided to have a special service this afternoon so we could worship with his congregation. The service was held after the finish of the children's ministry. The church was filled to overflowing with the team, our translators, 60+ kids and about 25 adults. What a joy to celebrate the Lord's supper with our brothers and sisters here in Nicaragua. It was the highlight of our day.
Well, its no April Fool joke--today was our last day already--the time just seemed to zip by. Tomorrow is our tour and shopping day. We will be leaving our current bed and breakfast to travel back to Managua tomorrowwhere we will be staying at the hotel across the street from the airport--that is literally across the street--no joke. We also had about 10 rain drops today --honestly. Will the just had a bit of a breeze it was cloudy till late this afternoon--once again the humidity was higher than the first 2 days.
Thanks again for all your prayers this week. Please add Pastor Henry to your prayer list. He is the young pastor here for the two villages we worked in but he also had 3 other mission congregations and beyond that serves with the national mission. His energy and joy is a joy to behold--pray the Lord gives him continued success in his ministry here.
Praise the Lord for our translators--Charlie, Freddy and Jessica--without them we could not have communicated with the people here.
Praise the Lord for Jose who previously has been a translator but this time he was the "guiding light" for installing the skylights.
Pray for the people in both communities that they will continue attending the church--in many cases the filters were an outreach way of shown Christ's love--pray the Holy Spirit instills the need for the Living Water of Christ.
Pray for Ricardo who about 2 1/2 mo ago was involved in a motorcycle accident and lost one of his legs below the knee. He has been a translator for previous team and the hope is he will be able to continue even if he needs to do it from a wheel chair.
Pray for our safe travel to Managua.
Our devotion this morning reminded us that we are to be lights to the world and reviewed the various ways we have been lights this week. Our skylight installers gave actual light to the people in their homes allowing God's rays of sunshine to provide light for their daytime activities. Those who delivered water filters to the homes provided God's light as we prayed with each family. The children's team provided stories and activities including Jesus and his disciples getting dusty feet which Jesus then washed showing how much Jesus loves each and everyone of us. Reviewing and reminding the women of ways to make their lives more healthful for their families was the joy of the health & hygiene leaders. In all these ways each person was serving the Lord by God's love shining through us. Praise the Lord.
Normally a team is in country on a Sunday and attend a worship service. Since we are flying back on Sunday that wasn't going to happen for us. Pastor Henry decided to have a special service this afternoon so we could worship with his congregation. The service was held after the finish of the children's ministry. The church was filled to overflowing with the team, our translators, 60+ kids and about 25 adults. What a joy to celebrate the Lord's supper with our brothers and sisters here in Nicaragua. It was the highlight of our day.
Well, its no April Fool joke--today was our last day already--the time just seemed to zip by. Tomorrow is our tour and shopping day. We will be leaving our current bed and breakfast to travel back to Managua tomorrowwhere we will be staying at the hotel across the street from the airport--that is literally across the street--no joke. We also had about 10 rain drops today --honestly. Will the just had a bit of a breeze it was cloudy till late this afternoon--once again the humidity was higher than the first 2 days.
Thanks again for all your prayers this week. Please add Pastor Henry to your prayer list. He is the young pastor here for the two villages we worked in but he also had 3 other mission congregations and beyond that serves with the national mission. His energy and joy is a joy to behold--pray the Lord gives him continued success in his ministry here.
Praise the Lord for our translators--Charlie, Freddy and Jessica--without them we could not have communicated with the people here.
Praise the Lord for Jose who previously has been a translator but this time he was the "guiding light" for installing the skylights.
Pray for the people in both communities that they will continue attending the church--in many cases the filters were an outreach way of shown Christ's love--pray the Holy Spirit instills the need for the Living Water of Christ.
Pray for Ricardo who about 2 1/2 mo ago was involved in a motorcycle accident and lost one of his legs below the knee. He has been a translator for previous team and the hope is he will be able to continue even if he needs to do it from a wheel chair.
Pray for our safe travel to Managua.
Day 4 (Thursday) Message from Jan
Here am I send me were Isaiah's words after God's cleansed his lips with the hot coal in our devotion this morning. Sometimes we hear God's call but things in our life don't seem to work to get us where we want to go. We need to wait on the Lord for his direction after answering His call.
Today we journeyed to Maranonal--it is more rural--instead of city water, they have wells. In some areas there are no roads, just paths used by people walking and riding bicycles. Vehicles appeared to be non-existent as we walked around delivering the filters today. None of the houses had concrete floors, most of the animals were running loose, not in pens like at La Cartonera. Also the diets of the people are basically beans and rice in this area where in La Cartonera people also had lots of fruits and vegetables, eggs, cheese and meat in their diet.
People in the area glean the peanut fields after the harvesting equipment is finished to get peanuts to sell at the market to purchase their beans and rice. While the nicer area next to the church had fruit trees and some places to raise vegetables, the areas farther from the church had mostly shade trees instead of fruit trees. The people have large piles of wood in their yards used for cooking their food over open fires.
Many of the things we are teaching about in the hygiene lessons are known to this villagers, however, they have not been able to implement the ideas in the rural outreaches due to their poverty. Numerous homes have a pig or two, sometimes a few chickens etc. There were only a couple places where there we about 20 pigs and numerous chickens--those were certainly the more prosperous people in the village.
You're probably wondering how it's been going with the children's ministry. It's been amazing.We had about 45 children in La Cartonera, and they were so full of smiles and energy and hugs that we were overwhelmed. In the morning, many of the women brought their younger ones along to the adult ed. To distract los ninos, we had coloring sheets and crayons, balls to throw, Hokey-Pokey, father Abraham, and follow-the-leader. The afternoon was more structured ("more" is totally relative -- it was structured chaos!) with lessons on germs and parasites, clean hands and clean water, and Bible stories. And of course more games.
In Maranonal, there were only a few children in the morning, but nearly 60 in the afternoon! It was hot and no breeze inside the church, so we moved outside to the extremely dusty yard. We were afraid they'd be too spread out to hear, but they were very attentive and especially got into the games. They are all so charming and loving!
Now we have some things to Praise the Lord for:
Three more skylights installed and the crew receiving hugs and tears of joy from one of the ladies
Little girl with appendicitis is OK-pain and fever went away--ask the Lord to continue to keep her well
Productive meeting that Debby, our team leader, had with the National Church Body here in Nicaragua
Thankfulness of the people for our being here
For the woman whose yard was used for the children's lessons and games today
She also donated the property on which the church was built next to her home
That you can receive these emails even though I have to wait until we wake up in the morning to send them everyday
Pray for all the people who have received water filters that they will continue to use them for their designated purpose
Pray for the continued health and safe travel for the team
Pray for continued breezes--today the humidity was slightly higher also
Pray for the children who have come this week that the joy of Jesus love will continue to grow in the hearts
Pray for yourselves thanking each other for your willingness to be part of our journey here in Nicaragua
God's blessings
Here am I send me were Isaiah's words after God's cleansed his lips with the hot coal in our devotion this morning. Sometimes we hear God's call but things in our life don't seem to work to get us where we want to go. We need to wait on the Lord for his direction after answering His call.
Today we journeyed to Maranonal--it is more rural--instead of city water, they have wells. In some areas there are no roads, just paths used by people walking and riding bicycles. Vehicles appeared to be non-existent as we walked around delivering the filters today. None of the houses had concrete floors, most of the animals were running loose, not in pens like at La Cartonera. Also the diets of the people are basically beans and rice in this area where in La Cartonera people also had lots of fruits and vegetables, eggs, cheese and meat in their diet.
People in the area glean the peanut fields after the harvesting equipment is finished to get peanuts to sell at the market to purchase their beans and rice. While the nicer area next to the church had fruit trees and some places to raise vegetables, the areas farther from the church had mostly shade trees instead of fruit trees. The people have large piles of wood in their yards used for cooking their food over open fires.
Many of the things we are teaching about in the hygiene lessons are known to this villagers, however, they have not been able to implement the ideas in the rural outreaches due to their poverty. Numerous homes have a pig or two, sometimes a few chickens etc. There were only a couple places where there we about 20 pigs and numerous chickens--those were certainly the more prosperous people in the village.
You're probably wondering how it's been going with the children's ministry. It's been amazing.We had about 45 children in La Cartonera, and they were so full of smiles and energy and hugs that we were overwhelmed. In the morning, many of the women brought their younger ones along to the adult ed. To distract los ninos, we had coloring sheets and crayons, balls to throw, Hokey-Pokey, father Abraham, and follow-the-leader. The afternoon was more structured ("more" is totally relative -- it was structured chaos!) with lessons on germs and parasites, clean hands and clean water, and Bible stories. And of course more games.
In Maranonal, there were only a few children in the morning, but nearly 60 in the afternoon! It was hot and no breeze inside the church, so we moved outside to the extremely dusty yard. We were afraid they'd be too spread out to hear, but they were very attentive and especially got into the games. They are all so charming and loving!
Now we have some things to Praise the Lord for:
Three more skylights installed and the crew receiving hugs and tears of joy from one of the ladies
Little girl with appendicitis is OK-pain and fever went away--ask the Lord to continue to keep her well
Productive meeting that Debby, our team leader, had with the National Church Body here in Nicaragua
Thankfulness of the people for our being here
For the woman whose yard was used for the children's lessons and games today
She also donated the property on which the church was built next to her home
That you can receive these emails even though I have to wait until we wake up in the morning to send them everyday
Pray for all the people who have received water filters that they will continue to use them for their designated purpose
Pray for the continued health and safe travel for the team
Pray for continued breezes--today the humidity was slightly higher also
Pray for the children who have come this week that the joy of Jesus love will continue to grow in the hearts
Pray for yourselves thanking each other for your willingness to be part of our journey here in Nicaragua
God's blessings
Thursday, March 31, 2016
Day 3 (Wednesday) Message from Jan
You might have noticed that Tuesday's email wasn't sent till after 6 am this morning--last night the signal wasn't strong enough to send. This afternoon when we arrived back, we weren't able to access a connection either.
Our devotion this morning reminded us that our motive for service needs to be to glorify God, not our selves or because we want to prove something to the world. Our breakfast consists of fruit--today it was watermelon and papaya chunks--juice, white toast, jelly and butter for the toast, scrambled eggs and today we also had rice and red beans. Coffee is also available for those of us who need a caffeine jolt in the morning.
Our skylight installation crew spent yesterday morning purchasing supplies and with the help of Jose installed 2 skylights. The first took longer because of dry rot in the area of installation while the second only took 25 minutes. Today they completed the other 3 installations. This morning the crew had shade but not this afternoon. Though there was a wonderful breeze, being on a steel roof with the sun beating down is HOT. After the first installation, the group took a long break to recuperate from the heat on the roof. Now you night wonder why when the people have electricity we are installing skylights! They pay a flat fee for electric--anything over that is an excess charged at a higher rate unlike the US were the rates are cheaper the more power you use.
Today the remaining 15 water filters were delivered to the home. We encountered a problem that several of them leaked and we had to go back to the church and redo the assembly which connects the hose on the filter to the bucket. Charlie, one of our translators, finally go all of the leaky ones fixed. Praise the Lord.
During our presentation to the women this morning, the we asked the lady who is the dentist to explain the proper way to brush your teeth. Her explanation was nearly 10 minutes long including cleaning the roof of your mouth and tongue. We asked her to come back this afternoon to tell the kids how to brush also. She brought her "over sized" teeth to show the kids the proper method and the kids were just enthralled. It was such a joy to see her using her education among her friends and neighbors. Pray the Lord gives her the opportunity to continue using her knowledge for the benefit of the community.
Happiness and joy were shown by one of the women who received both a skylight and a filter today. While the Spanish wasn't understood the enthusiasm and joy show on her face and her body language.
Finally, as the guys were walking back for lunch, several kids were walking behind them and one slipped on the hill and hit his head against a rock which was sticking out of the ground. Dr Jeremy was there to deliver first aid, they took him home and later went back with Jose to check to see he was OK which he was. Praise the Lord the injury was minor though bloody initially.
Continue to pray for breezes again--it is so nice
Pray for shade trees for the skylight installers
Pray for the families of team members who are serving this week.
Pray for all the wonderful women and check whom we met yesterday and today
Pray for continued good health for all of the team
Pray for God's blessings as we move to the new village Thursday
Thanks again for your prayer support--we truly can feel your prayers
You might have noticed that Tuesday's email wasn't sent till after 6 am this morning--last night the signal wasn't strong enough to send. This afternoon when we arrived back, we weren't able to access a connection either.
Our devotion this morning reminded us that our motive for service needs to be to glorify God, not our selves or because we want to prove something to the world. Our breakfast consists of fruit--today it was watermelon and papaya chunks--juice, white toast, jelly and butter for the toast, scrambled eggs and today we also had rice and red beans. Coffee is also available for those of us who need a caffeine jolt in the morning.
Our skylight installation crew spent yesterday morning purchasing supplies and with the help of Jose installed 2 skylights. The first took longer because of dry rot in the area of installation while the second only took 25 minutes. Today they completed the other 3 installations. This morning the crew had shade but not this afternoon. Though there was a wonderful breeze, being on a steel roof with the sun beating down is HOT. After the first installation, the group took a long break to recuperate from the heat on the roof. Now you night wonder why when the people have electricity we are installing skylights! They pay a flat fee for electric--anything over that is an excess charged at a higher rate unlike the US were the rates are cheaper the more power you use.
Today the remaining 15 water filters were delivered to the home. We encountered a problem that several of them leaked and we had to go back to the church and redo the assembly which connects the hose on the filter to the bucket. Charlie, one of our translators, finally go all of the leaky ones fixed. Praise the Lord.
During our presentation to the women this morning, the we asked the lady who is the dentist to explain the proper way to brush your teeth. Her explanation was nearly 10 minutes long including cleaning the roof of your mouth and tongue. We asked her to come back this afternoon to tell the kids how to brush also. She brought her "over sized" teeth to show the kids the proper method and the kids were just enthralled. It was such a joy to see her using her education among her friends and neighbors. Pray the Lord gives her the opportunity to continue using her knowledge for the benefit of the community.
Happiness and joy were shown by one of the women who received both a skylight and a filter today. While the Spanish wasn't understood the enthusiasm and joy show on her face and her body language.
Finally, as the guys were walking back for lunch, several kids were walking behind them and one slipped on the hill and hit his head against a rock which was sticking out of the ground. Dr Jeremy was there to deliver first aid, they took him home and later went back with Jose to check to see he was OK which he was. Praise the Lord the injury was minor though bloody initially.
Continue to pray for breezes again--it is so nice
Pray for shade trees for the skylight installers
Pray for the families of team members who are serving this week.
Pray for all the wonderful women and check whom we met yesterday and today
Pray for continued good health for all of the team
Pray for God's blessings as we move to the new village Thursday
Thanks again for your prayer support--we truly can feel your prayers
Wednesday, March 30, 2016
Day 1 (Monday) Message from Jan
Everyone has arrived--most of us met in Miami when the O'Hare group met up with the Detroit group. Lindsay who flew from Iowa thru Houston met us in Managua. Praise the Lord, everyone's baggage arrived also so we are all ready to start. After a 2 hr trip to Leon via van, we went out to dinner and following devotions, we are all going to get some sleep as we started out day very early. Pray that we will have a great day on Tuesday--that the people will be receptive to our leading, that the Lord will be glorified. Pray we all stay healthy--the weather is hot but the humidity is only about 50% so it isn't unbearable. Thanks again for your prayers God's blessings
Day 2 (Tuesday) Message from Jan
We began our morning sorting supplies for a units for today and sorting toothbrushes which hadn't been sorted. Our devotion this morning compared us to pens who will write what is said about Jesus today--Wow, what an idea--be a pen for Jesus.
Today we installed 10 water filters--The homes varied from dirt floors, to concrete floors and tiled floors. Everyone has electricity some from a generator. The ladies were very cognizant the answers to the questions about flies, mosquitoes, etc.
It is the dry season here, so there are very few flies (only were their are animals especially pigs) and we have yet to see a mosquito--praise the Lord. While the temperatures are very warm--42Centrigrade which is about 100 degrees. Our translator said this is very unusual to have temperatures this high at this time of the year. The other good thing is that the humidity is only about 50% which is as comfortable as summer in the midwest. During the rainy season, the humidity is well over 70%. Praise the Lord for low humidity and today there was a very nice breeze.
When we delivered one of the filters today, the lady told us she went to school to be a dentist and has her degree. She has recently purchased a dentist chair and is looking forward to the day they can have a clinic in the village which will include the dentist. In order to pay for her chair and supplies she will need, the family is raising pigs which they then sell.
While the lower humidity and lack of mosquitoes is great, the dust is all over our shoes, pants etc. We were so happy to get back to take a shower and rid ourselves of the dust, mosquito spray and sun tan lotion which made the dust stick nicely.
Praise the Lord for breezes and pray they continue as we walk around installing the filters.
Praise the Lord for nice showers to rid us of the dust.
Pray for a little girl who has appendicitis with a fever-that the doctors would know what is best procedure
Pray for continued flexibility and cooperation among our team
Pray for the families of our team who have spouses, children and grandchildren at home
Thanks for your continued prayers for us.
God's blessings
We began our morning sorting supplies for a units for today and sorting toothbrushes which hadn't been sorted. Our devotion this morning compared us to pens who will write what is said about Jesus today--Wow, what an idea--be a pen for Jesus.
Today we installed 10 water filters--The homes varied from dirt floors, to concrete floors and tiled floors. Everyone has electricity some from a generator. The ladies were very cognizant the answers to the questions about flies, mosquitoes, etc.
It is the dry season here, so there are very few flies (only were their are animals especially pigs) and we have yet to see a mosquito--praise the Lord. While the temperatures are very warm--42Centrigrade which is about 100 degrees. Our translator said this is very unusual to have temperatures this high at this time of the year. The other good thing is that the humidity is only about 50% which is as comfortable as summer in the midwest. During the rainy season, the humidity is well over 70%. Praise the Lord for low humidity and today there was a very nice breeze.
When we delivered one of the filters today, the lady told us she went to school to be a dentist and has her degree. She has recently purchased a dentist chair and is looking forward to the day they can have a clinic in the village which will include the dentist. In order to pay for her chair and supplies she will need, the family is raising pigs which they then sell.
While the lower humidity and lack of mosquitoes is great, the dust is all over our shoes, pants etc. We were so happy to get back to take a shower and rid ourselves of the dust, mosquito spray and sun tan lotion which made the dust stick nicely.
Praise the Lord for breezes and pray they continue as we walk around installing the filters.
Praise the Lord for nice showers to rid us of the dust.
Pray for a little girl who has appendicitis with a fever-that the doctors would know what is best procedure
Pray for continued flexibility and cooperation among our team
Pray for the families of our team who have spouses, children and grandchildren at home
Thanks for your continued prayers for us.
God's blessings
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