Day 4 (Sunday - Masaya + Managua)

Original Posting:

Today we spent much of the day at camp preparing our lessons. We did take a brief trip to the Masaya market and then out to Adrian's church for it's 56th celebration.

Tomorrow starts the real work.

Full blog updated on 8/16/09:

Day 4 (Sunday - Masaya / Managua)

As a team we decided to use today as a day of rest and preparation, so we enjoyed a nice tortilla & fruit breakfast in the shade of the thatched cabana. After breakfast, we joined together around the table and sang hymns and Tim shared some scripture out of Proverbs 9 which teaches about wisdom and its pillars. The rest of the other team left to do a ministry in the Paradise barrio. Later in the mornng Adrian arrived and we decided to take a brief trip to the Masaya market to do a little shopping.

Upon arrival back at camp, we enjoyed a light lunch and several of us took our second cold shower of the day. Our plan was to accompany Adrian to his church in Managua and its 56th Anniversary celebration. It was a hot, spirited and loud 2 1/2 hour celebration and unfortunately most of us didn't understand a word of it. Through most of the service the power was out so there was no lighting, sound system, or ceiling fans. But that didn't deter the celebration. After the celebration time, the church served tostadas on plantain leaves and a Coke soda pop. The tostadas were very, very good. I also took the opportunity to take a few picture of some typical motorcycles including one of a not so typical rider.


Heading back to camp, we once again stopped at a La Colonia supermarket and picked up a few items. At camp we enjoyed a very nice spaghetti dinner and we challenged the creative power of the youth to make an anniversary card for Adrian and Cheryl as it's their 21st anniversary. Angela and I then worked on our presentation for Wednesday and came up with what we think are some great illustrations on how to present the concepts of how little children can come to Jesus. The remainder of the evening we spent taking yet another cold shower (separately) and enjoying one another's company. Tomorrow starts the real work and we have pretty much everything lined up.

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Day 3 - Salinas Grandes

Original Posting from the cellphone:

We're at the beach at Salinas Grandes (literally at the end of a 11k dirt road) and will be doing a Bible club this afternoon.

It was good to see the church we worked on last year, and we got to see the church we will be painting at Xiloa (hee-lo-a). It's on the shores of Lake Managua which is the largest lake in central America.

The GSM telephone connections are wonderful, but I'll save my detail postings for when we return to the states. I stilldo a daily blog on my eeePC, but I don't upload it while here for lack of WIFI connectivity.

Full blog uploaded 8/16/09

Day 3 - Salinas Grandes

For me, it was an 11 hour sleep overnight. I was really tired and appreciated the chance to get some serious sleep. Praise the Lord for cold showers and not for the reason you're thinking. But that's getting ahead of myself. After a great pancake breakfast, we boarded the van to head into Masaya to pick up our order of primer for our painting project. We arrived there just as the store was opening and our order from the previous day was there waiting for us.

Leaving the paint store, we headed towards Salinas Grandes and took a small detour to pick up Cheryl and the kids and one puppy. We headed for Xiloa which is the location of our painting project so that we could drop off the paint supplies and see how the plasterer was doing in getting the walls ready. The interior was complete and about 1/2 of the front was complete.






We chatted with the workmen, and then headed back out to the highway to our turnoff towards Salinas Grandes. For the first time this trip, there were armed militia on the corner. Needless to say I didn't snap any pictures. We then saw vendors selling iguanas and even an armadillo (meal fixin's)..



We took a re-fueling and rest break at the Texaco just south of LaPaz. We bought some pop (.5 liter is 60 cents) and snacks and then headed on. Turning at the Salinas Grandes turnoff, we saw a number of familar looking vendors. It was the 11k down a very rough and rutted road to the beach by the salt settling ponds where we ate our lunch under a cabana.

It was very refreshing, and after lunch many went swimming in the warm Pacific Ocean.



Adrian took the van and went to gather youth for the bible club gathering. These youth come from at least 4 little churches and have been meeting together since April. He arrived back with them and we had a nice gathering.

Adrian gave the introduction and then Pastor Scott gave a message from Genesis on Abraham's calling and he applied it to our lives (with Adrian translating). He did a great job of incorporating the youth into his presentation.

Following the presentation, the kids played a bit with the two balls I had brought before Adrian took them back up the hill to the
"village". While he was gone, a couple of younger boys hung around and we eventually played ball with them. I partnered with the younger one who appeared to be about 5. I quickly observed without saying anything that he mimiced the way that I threw the ball to him. So I would vary my throw and it was cool to see him respond. I was thinking during this time that our inter-action was probably the only significant adult / child play interaction that he'd probably experienced in quite some time. We were also able to share some food with them. It was a practical application to our teaching times this week which focus on children coming to Jesus.

Suddenly, the wind kicked up and started blowing to the sea, and that wind was shortly followed by an intense tropical rainstorm! We huddled under the cabana and the lean-to attached to the next building. Soon Adrian returned and we loaded the van and headed out. As we approached the village, we spotted Pastor Ervin who approached the van and we exchanged greetings. It was good to see him again after a year. We herded some cattle and then passed by the parsonage that we helped build last year and noted that nobody was home so we didn't stop. My regret is that I didn't take a picture of the buliding.

It was then a 2 plus hour ride back to the mission compound with a brief stop to drop off most of the Mingos at their home. We also stopped at a supermarket to see if we could find some lightbulbs for our room. Unfortunately we couldn't find any.

Back at the compound, it was just before 7pm and totally dark which seems so strange. Dinner was waiting for us and we all gratefully gave thanks for our food and shared a meal together. And that takes us to the start of this daily account. With the humidity and beach activity, a cold shower actually feels quite warm and refreshing.

Over dinner we decided to stay in camp in the morning (Sunday) and worship together and do our lesson planning before
Adrian picks us up to attend the anniversary celebration of his church at 3pm.

Days 1 & 2 (Thursday & Friday 8/6 & 7)]

Given that these two days were filled with travel, I'll combine them.

Group #1 (Pastor Scott, his daughter Rachael, Rachael & Bernardo Serna, & Sara Thompson left Seattle around 10:30am on a flight that would take them to Cabo San Lucas, a night's stay in Mexico City, and a third flight on to Managua. Their flights went as expected.

Group #2 (Tim & Angela) were on a red eye to Dallas with a connecting flight to Miami, and then to Managua. Generally our connections were tight, but we arrived first. While on the Managua flight I struck up a conversation with a fellow across the aisle and it turns out he was with another group that was doing dental mission work in the south part of the country.



After a lenthy time clearing immigration and then customs, we were spotted by Adrian. It was good to see him again and we reminisced and talked about the plan for the week while we waited for group #1 to arrive. We only had to wait for about an hour. Using that time, I set up my phone for GSM and made my first FACEBOOK post. Technology is definitely making the world a smaller place. This daily detailed blog won't get posted until we get back in the States.






Now that the team was once again one group, we loaded our gear and selves into the van and headed for the mission compound at Masaya. The scenes we began to see were once again flashbacks from our trip here last year. Same business, people on bicycles, lots of old US schoolbuses that are now the main form of transportation, animals on the road and alongside the road, etc. It was also interesting to see how they kept vehicles off of road surfaces that were under construction.

Reaching the compound, there was a nice chicken sandwich lunch waiting for us. We greeted the workers we had met last year along with a mission team from the East Coast that was here last year as well. We were also privileged to meet Wallace Nix, CEO of Chosen Children Ministries (who is the sponsoring organization for our mission). As we started to eat, a giant, and I mean giant thunderstorm opened above us. There was more rain coming down than I can recall in a very long time.


Finishing lunch, we headed off to Masaya to acquire paint for our project. The rain had let up, but the streets were still rushing torrents at the varous intersections. We finally found the paint store and put in our order. The 20 gallons cost us $292.56 US or about $15 per gallon. We also found that we needed sealer, but there was none in stock, so we put in an order for 2 five gallon pails of sealer (it gets reduced with water). We'll get to pick that up tomorrow somehow. Somehow is because we are all headed for Salinas Grandes for the day tomorrow to visit the beach and do a Bible club that Adrian leads every Saturday.

Arriving back at camp, Cheryl and the kids were there with their bead necklaces for sale which was a smashing hit. The rest of the day was spent unstructured by relaxing and regaining our energy and renewing friendships. I'm writing this in the thatched roof cabana that we spent a lot of time in last year.

More Good News on the Preparations

I was able to put an international data plan (unlimited access) on my GSM phone (Samsung I-770) so I'll be able to post our progress on a more contemporaneous basis without needing to find an internet cafe.

We've got our painting equipment together and now it's time to do some test packing.

Getting Ready to Leave

Our church is once again sending a team down to Nicaragua. This year the team will have 7 members (3 adults and 4 high school / college youth). We'll have a project of painting a church in the mornings and doing VBS in the afternoons.

I can't promise daily updates as it's relatively hard to gain internet access, but you can follow us on our satellite tracking device at:

http://jasonjonas.org/spot/tripViewer.do?id=2373 (cut & paste into your browser)

Don't worry if the location doesn't move as I'll just send periodic OK messages to note our location unless we'll be traveling and it would work to track our movements.

Stay tuned. We'll update more as we get ready to leave in a few days.

Tim