Greetings from Jinotepe, Nicaragua! We all arrived safely on Sunday evening and are staying a beautiful hotel here for a couple days. The hotel is owned by an American couple, Glen and Lynn Schwietzer, who have a vision of providing a place for missionaries to stay, among many other visions they have going on. We are so blessed to be here, even if only for a couple nights.
The trip from Antigua was good – we weren’t racing so all of the B Squad traveled together which was fun. We took a shuttle bus from Antigua to Guatemala City – a crazy ride! Vehicles hold so many more people down here than in America! It was a shuttle van/bus thing with 28 seats, so it was all of us, plus the driver, and ALL of our stuff stacked on top of the van! They can seat that many because there are seats that fold out into the aisle and lock everyone in to where they are seated. It was fun, but crazy – glad it was only 2 hours. Oh, and the driver only drove 18 miles an hour!! At least until I fell asleep. No joke.
We took a nice big, long distance, comfortable bus, from Guat City into San Salvador, El Salvador, where we stayed the night. That was definitely an interesting city. We didn’t have much time there (7pm to 4am) but were able to see that it has been greatly affected by Americans. It felt much like a city from home, was definitely a party city, and areas of the city are not safe. We stayed in a safer location, but there was still a guard with a shotgun at our hotel, at the pharmacy across the street and in front of some restaurants. They us US Dollars there too, which we found intersting.
Same bus, same driver, new day! A 12 hour trip into Managua, and an hour shuttle to Jinotepe, arriving here about 8:30pm Sunday. All of Squad B is here through Tuesday, doing some street ministry, and will be parting ways on Wednesday.
ZEO, my team, is the first to head out. We are going to Ometepe, Nicaragua, which is an Island in Lake Nicaragua. We will be staying at an orphange run by a lady named Helen, and the 27 kids that are there. I am excited for this change of pace from Mexico – where we will be buiding longer term relationships with these kids. We will also be working alongside a pastor in a neighboring town doing church planting again. The island sounds like it is absolutely beautiful, which is a perk, :-), with one active volcano (Vulcan Conception) and one inactive (Vulcan Maderas). Team Nessa will be staying here in Jinotepe, though not in the hotel, doing various ministries, including working in the dumps communities. Team Agapetos is headed to Costa Rica, working with pastors there. The Media team and Chad are splitting up between Agapetos and Nessa for the first couple weeks and then some of them will join us in Ometepe.
Please pray for my teams, as over half of us on ZEO are sick in one way or another, including myself. I have been battling stomach issues for a couple weeks, and though not terrible, certainly unpleasant. Sarah and James are currently sick, with no voice and James has been vomiting. Lynette has been fighting a chest cold for quite some time, and the other two girls are just trying not to get sick from any of us! Right now, I also have an allergic reaction to something (perhaps detergent from the Antigua laundrymat) and have hives on much of my body. Again, not a big thing, but really annoying.
We believe that God has much planned for us in Ometepe, great things, and I also believe that the enemy is fighting against us. There have been prophetic words spoken over Nicaragua, that revival will start here, and I want to be a part of it, even if only for a month! The Holy Spirit that dwells in each of us is mightier than any sickness or affliction the enemy can throw at us, and we desire to walk in that power. Pray for our healing, but also for strength in the midst of it, for endurance and joy! May we rejoice that we are suffering for the sake of Jesus Christ. Praise God that He has called each of us to this place to be His hands and feet. I can’t wait to tell you all of the stories of the children I will come to deeply love by the end of this month.
Thank you all!!
