Hola,
We are at the Best Western in Managua tonight...had an uneventful flight which is a good thing. Gathered together by the pool for devotions and Melanie read from Isaiah to remind us that we are chosen by God to be a servant and to fear not, God is walking with us all the way. The group is in great spirits and excited to finally be here.
Gracias for the messages from home that we shared with the group tonight...we read through 3 of them so far. Time for sleep. Sandy
Day 2 Managua to Chinandega Jan 22, 2011
Hola,
It was another day of travelling but this time via 2 passenger vans from Managua to Chinendega which took over half the day. We don´t start the work project until Monday a.m. so after settling into La Cosiguina Hotel, we quickly changed into our bathing suits and drove to the Pacific Ocean for a dip in the water. We stayed long enough to enjoy a beautiful sunset. The team is getting very well acquainted with one another and feeling like a family already. We closed the evening with a devotion led by Sandy about feeling inadequate. We went to God´s Word and read from 1 Corinthians to know that God´s wisdom is great through our Lord Jesus Christ. God´s blessings to all back home. Sandy
Day 3 in Chinandega Jan 23, 2011
Hola,
Today (Sunday) was a mountain high experience for the whole team as we worshipped with a community of Nicaraguans at Iglesia (Church) Emmanuel in the Chinendega area. We were all personally greeted by Pastor Luis upon arrival and we dispersed ourselves throughout the sanctuary to intermingle with the Nicaraguans in praises to our God. Although the entire service was in Spanish, the familiarity with the order of service helped us to follow along. Our interpreter, Roberta, joined Pastor Luis at the front to translate the entire sermon in English for which we were very grateful. The message emphasized our unity with our brothers & sisters in Christ regardless of their color or where they lived. We gave Pastor Luis our St. Peter's pictoral directory to keep and he used it as part of his sermon. The closing hymn was ¨"How Great Thou Art" (in Spanish of course) and the Nicaraguans belt it out just as loud and clear as we do ín Alberta.
Paz in Cristo (peace of Christ), The mission team
Day 4 , Jan 24, 2011
Hola,
Tonight we are sending 3 photos to recap our first day at the construction site and at another community where we assisted with a VBS:
We arrived at the site to be amazed by the progress the skilled workers had made so far prior to our arrival. Remember it was last November when we sent the $ to buy the land and the building materials.
We left 10 of our servants to join their crew of 4 while the other van of 12 servants proceeded to the Vacation Bible School in Santa Patricia. When we walked into the Church we were greeted with bear hugs from some of the women in the doorway and approximately 170 children singing their hearts out. We immediately joined in and helped in leading crafts and even some of our songs. A couple of our guys and the pastor ventured outside with the boys to play soccer. At the end of the morning we spent 15 minutes receiving hugs from the children...they are so grateful to have visitors from Canada!
The 12 of us returned to the construction site in the afternoon to help with the manual labor. Today we tied rebar, dug a water line trench, straightened nails, constructed cement forms and mixed cement on the ground with shovels. We moved the cinder blocks for the hired workers to build the side walls. Many of the congregation members live in the area and were there all day with their children watching the progress. This gave us the opportunity to mingle and practice our Spanish. Many hands accomplished mucho in one day.
Gracias,
The servant team
Day 5, Jan 25, 2011
Hola,
Every evening the servant team gathers together after supper. A planned devotion is
led by a volunteer which we previously scheduled. The variety and richness has been
amazing and thought provoking (thank you God). Next we read a couple personal
messages of encouragement sent from St. Peter's congregation and a card from a
kindergarten child which we very much appreciate. We individually go around the
group and share a "high and low" from the day. This has become a very personal time
for the team to bond. Our evening is capped off with prepping Klenli kits and
crafts for VBS the next day. Today was a "bee hive" of activity at the construction
site: delivery of more supplies, unloading cement bags, moving a gravel pile,
levelling the floor, pouring concrete for door frames, trimming a tree and digging
out another stump. Meanwhile surrounding the area others were busy with the women
and children in the community making banners, painting
nails, playing catch, doing cats cradle, creating with play-doh, sharing family
albums and practicing our Spanish with the locals.
Gloria a Dios,
The servant team
Day 6, Jan 26, 2011
We are sending pictures of how we look after a day of construction. The four Nicaraguan workers on the site don't look half as grubby as we do and they're working very hard too! At the site today we tied lots of rebar again. In between shifts of working we are all making great strides connecting with the community. Lots of baseball throwing going on between our men and the local boys on the road. Today we brought a jump rope and everybody loved it with lots of cheering for all those participating.
Alleluia,
This morning some of us went to a VBS in a community called El Viejo (old man) and the name of the Church is Gethsemane. It was a smaller group of children today of about 30-35. Their pastor led the singing (in Spanish) and they are songs we all know such as "Father Abraham has many sons, many sons has Father Abraham..." and "Our God is so great, so strong and so mighty, there´s nothing our God cannot do." Very cool to see so many similarities so far away from home.
Gracias,
The servant team
Day 7, Jan 27, 2011
Our crew split in two for the day. At the construction site the team built forms, mixed more cement, started preparing the altar area, back filled and straightened more nails. Good news...the property value of the land where we are building has greatly increased since we arrived due to stone laying workers covering up the dirt road beside La Estrella de Belen. Remember that is the name of the congregation we are serving.
Some of us travelled a bit to a community called El Pioloto for a VBS with 80 children at a Church called Calvaria. Pastor Marvin serves 3 churches in 3 different communities. He trucked some of the women and children from La Joya to participate in the VBS. We are having an authentic Nicaraguan meal at the hotel tonight. So much more to share when we return.
Love,
The servant team Top Of Page
Hola,
Hola, 
