Arrived Safely in Managua

We have arrived in Managua, safe and sound. After boarding the airplane in Houston, we seemed to sit at the gate in a fully loaded aircraft for some time. I think it was Zachary who noted we had been sitting for slightly more than half an hour.

The flight lasted just under 3 hours and was rather uneventful. There seemed to be alot of North American's on the airplane this time - unlike previous trips. I believe the Hannah's were sitting beside a girl from Ireland who was traveling around to various places in the world. We were served a meal on the plane - Hamburgers and salad. Beats the cookies or pretzels we would have received on another airline.

We were notified by flight crew that they did not have all of the forms we needed to disembark - so when we landed at the airport we waited on the airplane a little more. We disembarked the aircraft and found places to fill out the extra forms we were given. Had a slight scare when one member of the team could not find their passport. Apparently they serached the plane while a few other psrayed regarding the situation. Another look into the persons' carry-on found the missing items tucked deep into a front pocket. We all were quite thankful for that!

Next was the trek through customs. As far as I know - we had no issues at all. We have usually been met by a local person who works with SP teams (his name is Laroux) and he helps us with any issues that come up. He was not able to be here this time, so we had another reason to be praying. Once again He was watching over us.

A trip to the carrosel with anticipation regarding our luggage. After sitting somewhere in Houston for six hours, our luggage could have easily been another potential issue. Not so - everything arrived. We also met representatives from the Hotel who helped us move all the luggage to a van they had waiting to cart it over to the lobby. The hotel we are staying at is just across the street from the airport, so while the team walked over, I rode in the van with the bags. I had brief converstaion with the driver in Spannish, only able to pick out certain words. He was telling me about the young kid who was looking to sell me something at the airport and used the word "Bandito".

After unloading the luggage at the hotel lobby, we waited for the room assignements and then each headed our separate ways to our rooms. A few of us grabbed our swim suits and hit the pool to cool off. It's warm here - enving in the evening.

Since there is a team leaving Pastor Ed's house tomorrow morning, we will not be flying out of Managua until 2:00 PM. After being awake for nearly 24 hours, we will get a little extra rest. God is good. Looking forward to the short (I think it's just over an hour) flight to Bluefields and to see Pastor Ed and all the gang again.

Thank-you for your prayers. We are feeling God's presence.

Time for some shut-eye.

Curt