Day 5- Going in all kinds of directions: A mixed bag of events!

We woke up to another beautifully sunny and warm day in Bluefields. The dogs seemed to bark less last night, so that meant for a quieter sleep for most of us. Lorraine led us in a devotional this morning, whereby she talked about growing spiritually. She shared about her personal experiences and how God has been shaping her life. It was very inspiring and encouraging, a great way to start the day.

After breakfast, we all split up into smaller teams, going in different directions. Bill, Nathanial, Kevin, Todd, Lorraine and Laureen went off first thing this morning to the work site to build more re-bar. Todd looked dapper as he was welding corner pieces together- sporting a tool belt and welding mask. While Bill and Kevin continued to tie wire (re-bar) on the school building.

Meanwhile, Liz, Cathy, Kathy, and Edith went with missionary Ms. Margaret to visit a few homes. Kathy was blessed to have held a newborn infant born to a young teen girl.  As well, this group dropped off gifts of pencils, crayons, candy, and pencil sharpeners to another school of approximately 152 students. This school is very impoverished, as they lacked floor boards in places and basic necessities such as paper and writing utensils. We pray that the gifts we dropped off would be a start to help this school educate these children, and that God would multiple the gifts we gave, and continue to provide for these students and teachers.

Meanwhile, another group consisting of Tim, Juanita, Monica, and Zach went to the feeding station to feed the children and interact with them. The boys played a great game of basketball with a soccer ball with some young boys. Juanita and Monica made bracelets with many others. We plated and served the food, and were able to share a brief message of hope with the children through an interpreter.

All groups met up at the construction site either before or during lunch. The feeding station group got to ride in a local taxi from the feeding station to the school… all 4 of us and a big bag stuffed into a small Kia car!

We continued to work on re-bar, and cleaned up the worksite for the rest of the afternoon. Prior to supper, some local craftsmen came to Pastor Ed’s house and shared their wooden crafts and jewellery for us to purchase. We had a lovely supper and a time of sharing and prayer later this evening. We are off the beach tomorrow, we have a boat ride and sometime to relax!

As we reflect on this day, we as a team continue to marvel at how God has answered our daily prayers of safety and protection, and we continue to see how God is working in Bluefields. We were very pleased and thankful to God that we were able to bless Pastor Ed with new tires for his truck (shared cost with a previous team), which he got today! We are deeply thankful for the people and families we have been able to get to know thus far, and visit, pray with, and help. Thank you too for all your prayers back home, we certainly feel your prayers here!

God Bless you all, in love – Monica for the 2012 Nicaragua Team

Day 4 – Finally Made It to the Feeding Station

It was another beautiful day in Bluefields today.  Lorraine was up with the roosters again this morning; today she was off early with Pastor Ed to delivery a devotional for the kids at school.  She talked about being ready and used Noah as an example of how he was ready when God called him.  Pastor Ed then interpreted for her. 

The sun was powerful in the morning and the crew persevered until the clouds and breeze arrived in the afternoon.  Tasks accomplished at the school worksite included teardown of yesterday’s concrete forms, positioning of sand and gravel for the next pour, and the erection of new forms.  God’s eye was on the jobsite keeping us all safe and energetic.

Nathanial with one of the local workers Roberto

After the depth of the well at the church was lowered another ten feet, we were finally able to help at the feeding station.   The 2 Cathy’s, Zach and Shirley went this morning to help the ladies there serve food to about 50 kids.  After they ate, we played with them.   They are just regular kids that love to eat and play.  We played skip rope, basketball, and coloured with them.  What a joy they were.

After work 4 people went Monica, Lorraine Cathy & Shirley went to a section of the dump and handed out a few more food packages.  They had the opportunity to pray with these families at the same time. 

Praying with a family that received a food hamper 

Supper was fantastic again this evening, no we are not fading away.  At tonight’s gathering we discussed our upcoming presentation scheduled for Tuesday.  A skit has been planned and we practiced our song (with a Spanish verse – interesting).



Todd & Kathy 
(for the Nic Team)

Day 3 - Many Experiences

Today was a very busy day.  We had a number of different groups going many different directions  Let me try and recount them all:

There is a subset of the group that was going to stay behind this morning to participate in the feeding station at the church site.  This is a program that runs during the week to provide food for the kids in the area that may not be getting any kind of regular meal.  Unfortunately, at the last minute, we found out that as per yesterday, there was not enough water in the well to hold the feeding station.  So, those folks jumped back into their dirty clothes and came with us to the work site.

At the school we had a tough day planned.  As it has been since we got here, it's smoking hot!  The temperature on the thermometer reads about 32 degrees; however, the app on the iPad indicates it feels like 40.  You pretty much require a sunscreen of 60 to not spontaneously burst into flames.  We made room in the farthest class and put the 7 wheel barrows full of sand, 7 bags of rock and 7 bags of cement on the floor.  Then we gently turn it over to mix it together, creating a rather large volcano like structure on the ground.  Then add 8 buckets of water and the fun begins churning it all together into what looks like soup.  Once it's all mixed up, the shovel it into 5 gallon pails (only about half full) and we hoist them up to the the guys on the scaffolding.  By hoist, I mean lift and then hold it above your head for the guy to grab it.  This went on for the entire morning.  I believe we mixed about 8 of these in order to complete the cement beams on one side of the building.  Let me tell you - that was plenty!  After lunch we did some odd jobs to get ready for tomorrow.  Looks like it might be another hard day on the job site.  Once again, God's hand was upon the team - no serious injuries.  We have some minor sun-burn and the odd scrape from re-bar.

Mixing cement

More mixing cement

Having some fun with Noel, our foreman.

Lorraine had an interesting experience today.  She had offered to help Esther (Pastor Ed's daughter), with a physical education class for a few of the grades.  Lorraine had somehow brought with her a "Zumba" tape that Esther thought would be fun - so the two of them practiced here a few nights and delivered the Zumba class today.  It sounds like it was a big hit!  We managed to sneak a little video of the project, but it's a little too big to share on the blog.  You'll have to ask us to see it when we are back.

Lorraine and Ester busting a move!

Another sub-group went out to Casa Materna to deliver some of the items that we brought with us for this mission.  When we were here in 2009, Casa Materna was a 14 bed facility that is close to the hospital and is for mothers from outlying areas with complicated pregnancies.  They come it from these areas and can be somewhat attended to while they wait for their baby to be born.  They might also come out of the hospital and spend a few days there as well, recovering before the head back to home.  If you have been helping with this back at SHBC, you will be glad to know that some of the items you have made/donated have been given out there today.  The facility is now houses 37 beds in relatively cramped quarters.  These stories are not always nice.  One girl who was there was 12 years old and a victim of incest.  The youngest they have had there is 9. The group that went did indicate that the place did need some work including things like bed sheets and curtains etc, to spruce the place up a little.  We will look to see what can be done over the course of our stay.

Another group took some of the food hampers that we built and Pastor Ed guided them to a place where the people harvest oysters,  The group could hardly contain the fact that there were piles of oyster shells higher than anything they had seen before.  Oyster shells were everywhere.  The people were warm and welcoming and invited group members into their "homes".  This is not exactly what you and I might call a house.  For the most part we probably would not park our lawn mowers in these buildings.  But, this is where the live and what appears deplorable to us is every day for them.

Pastor Ed and Monica Praying with a food hamper recipient

Piles of shells 

Local bakery where we picked up bread for dinner tonight

Lastly, another group went out in the evening with Miss Margaret (see previous post for Miss Margaret description) to help teach some of the local ladies how to knit.  It sounds like this was an amazing time for those who attended.  

 Shirley helping out with knitting lessons.

Once again, it was a very busy day.  We hope you are enjoying the blog.  If you are, please leave us some comments as we would love to hear from you.

Curt (last man up again tonight)

(for the Nic Team)

Mountains of Sand and Gravel

Breakfast was amazing as usual.  Day started at 7:00 AM, but two of our team members left early to observe the devotion that Pastor Ed gave to the kids at VERBO School.  Kevin Hanna's devotion focused on his goal of reading the Bible in a year.  He based his desire to do this on Pastor Monica's challenge.  A hearty breakfast and we were back to the school for work.

The thrust for the day was to complete the re-bar cages and get them into place.  We also hauled what seemed like an endless pile of sand to the second floor of the school.  An assembly line was formed starting with the filling of pails; and the pails were passed up the chain to the second floor.  We also hauled up bags of rock (again - seemingly endless) and pails of water in preparation for tomorrows cement mixing party.  (WHOOO HOOOOO).

Kevin and Todd have been promoted to roof duty!  Lucky guys...  The ladies have been eating lots of veggies to acquire Popeye like muscles so that they can hoist the bags to help out with the heavy work.  We also had the opportunity to run into another old friend here - his name is Jose.  I would describe him as a friendly giant.

Some of the group was to go to the feeding station and help out.  It is summer here and the wells in the area are running low.  As a result of there being no water at the church, the feeding station was canceled for today. Also, the School appears to have run out of water by the end of the day today.  Please pray for water in the wells!  I can't help but think about how God's well is continuous and thirst quenching.

Some of the crew went with Pastor Ed to the rock quarry to deliver packages of food.  They contained rice, beans, flour, matches, oil and soap.  They prayed with the families and were well received. Other members went visiting families with Miss Margaret. Daily we meet as a group to worship in prayer and song and discuss the agenda for the following day

Lorraine handing out a food packet

The evening concluded with a heart wrenching story from Nicaragua's "Mother Theresa" - a missionary from England.  I think we all will remember her stories!

Looking forward to tomorrow!

Curt
(with help from Lorraine, Cathy Clark & Shirley)

Day 1 on the Job Site

Monday!  The day started out much like our other days.  Up for the 7:00 AM morning meeting and a short devotional.  Shirley relayed some moving stories about her recent desire to run for cancer (in support of family members).  We prayed for breakfast and Juan had an amazing breakfast (as usual) of eggs and beans/rice with cereal, fruit & juice.  The bus arrived at 8:30 sharp (he's always on time) and took us to the school.  Monday's are busy as the teachers look to settle the kids into the school day.

It was almost like a homecoming.  Those of us who were here in 2009 and worked on the foundation of the existing building were taken aback,  Here were three beautiful school rooms and three more on top looking to be completed.  It's hard to describe the feeling you get seeing these building being used to educate these kids!

 Building before we started (click for larger image)

Other end of building before starting

The task at hand is to complete the concrete work so that the roof can go on.  There is lots of re-bar to tie and then place into the correct locations.  Forms will need to be put in place, and then concrete mixed and poured.  

 Cathy and Kevin bending re-bar

 Assembly of the re-bar columns for the top of the wall

The team hard at work on the assembly line

Up on scaffolding on the second floor

It was a long day and the sun was scorching hot!  There were two of us up on the roof (Bill and Curtis) and we both got a little "cooked".  I was speaking to one of the locals and he indicated that even for HIM it was hot today.  Perfect day for that to happen.  Oh well, that is what Aloe is for isn't it?

Tomorrow a small group (5 people) will not come with us to the job site in the morning, but go over to the feeding station at the Church and help out there, playing with the kids and working with the food preparation.  

Thank-you for your continued prayers.  No injuries today and we would like to keep things that way.  God is good.

Curt

Sunday In Bluefields

Today was our first full day in Bluefields.  It was warm, and the sun shone for most of the day with minor periods of welcomed clouds.  With the humidity of the ocean and nearby river, it feels hotter than the thermometer indicates.  Juan (the gentleman who has been hired to cook for the group) made pancakes and fruit with yogurt for breakfast. Juan was a chef in Coasta Rica with his own TV show.  He is amazing and we are so thankful that we have him to ensure the food that is prepared is safe (and also delicious).

Each morning we have (and will have going forward) a short devotional.  Bill, our SP team representative, lead this morning and we sang a few songs.  It was good preparation for church at Verbo.  The bus showed up and took us all to the church site.  We were a little early and it was nice to walk around in the building that we helped to finish in 2007 as their Sunday School facility.  There were a number of people who helped us with that task on this trip and we recalled some of the things we did as we walked through the completed structure.  It was powerful.

Church began with lively worship, singing songs and praising God.  A few of the ladies with some of the younger girls were all dressed in white and they carried colored scarves with which they danced as the worship team sang.  One song was done in a Calypso style and it was very moving.  Maybe we should try a couple like that at SHBC?  Henry Meyers (one of the elders) spoke a message about finances and how everything we have belongs to God.  We are only stewards of these things.  It was good to see Henry again as he was our project manager on the 2007 trip.  For those of us who have been before, it was nice to be reunited with people with whom we had got to know previously.  After church we stayed for a while and mingled with the congregation.

Lunch back at Pastor Ed's house led to a little time to pull together all of the things that we had brought with us for the School.  Packages were assembled and they caried up for storage when we will be able to deliver them.  We also had a little free time to explore the area, so a few set off and walked around the neighborhood.  The streets are filled with immense disparity.  We came across one opulent house with white pillars and two cages with very large parrots.  It was amazing.  right next door was a small shack that you could see through the walls.  The contrast is tenuous.

Dinner was served and we gathered together for our evening meeting.  Bill handled the usual business items and then a lady who had arrived at Pastor Ed's house the day before we got in (Jenny) gave her testimony.  It was yet again, another powerful experience for the day as Jenny described her conversion.  She lived a existence that she described as "dark" with no interest in God or Church.  She now is on fire for the Lord and is helping out with projects in Nicaragua.  There is a vision that agriculture could really change Nicaragua, and she seems very passionate about following up.  They are about to test plan some carrots and see how things go.  Keep Jenny in your prayers.

Tomorrow we get down to the work site and get started on the school.  Please pray for safety, strength and that God's hand would be on all of the team.

We, again, thank-you for your prayers.

Curt

VERBO Church - after service

We Have Arrived

In past trips, the second morning starts off early again as we head off to the terminal for the hour-ish flight to Bluefields.  Instead this time, there was a team just coming out of Bluefields back to Managua so we were told that we would not leave until 2:00 ish in the afternoon.  (If you are noticing the "ish" items, it's because in Nicaragua they do not run on a treadmill like we do in North America).  So, we did our best to rest from the long first day travelling, had breakfast at the hotel and took a little time to reflect on the work ahead.

We left the hotel at 11:00 AM and spent the next two hours working through the process at Los Costansas terminal.  This is the regional airline that flys to Bluefields from Managua.  As it turns out, the luggage limit for checked bags is 30 lbs instead of the 50 you get on Continental.  This means that we were overweight (the bags not us).  They sent us on two planes.  The first group went on a smaller plane (11 people) and the second group left 15 min later in a bigger plane that first went out to little Corn Island - a resort like island.  Apparently, Monica got to sit in the co-pilot's seat!  She was beaming when she arrived in Bluefields.

So, all our luggage has made it here and so have we.  Thank-you again for your prayers!  I better go as everyone is eating dinner while I'm typing this.  

I've included a few picture for you - more to come later.

Curt

The ladies out front of the Las Mercedes Hotel in Managua

The Guys in the lobby of the Las Mercedes

 

11 of us on the Airplane to Bluefields

Juanita & Monica having a laugh at the Managua terminal