…then we will after this!
(Quote of the Week by Pam Perry)
We’ve been in Puerto Cabezas now for about 5 days, and we
are just beginning to get our feet wet (literally and metaphorically). Puerto
Cabezas is a moderately sized town on the Eastern Coast of Nicaragua, often
referred to as the forgotten coast and/or
Mosquito Coast,
both for good reasons. Although Puerto is a lot bigger than I thought it would
be, if you go five minutes outside of town, it is absolutely desolate. The
other day we traveled an hour and a half to a small town to do some
construction, and there was absolutely no one between Puerto Cabezas and that
town. Miles and miles of land with no inhabitants. The nickname Mosquito Coast has two rationales behind it; first,
there is a local tribe and language called Miskito. And second, I’ve gotten
more mosquito bites here than I have at any other location.
Our first couple of days, we focused mostly on getting
things in order for our time here. We met with Pastor Earl and his right hand
man Junior, and set up a schedule for the next two weeks that has us plugging
into construction, hospital visits, hanging out with the kids from the
orphanage, and helping out with the church. Our first weekend here we were also
able to participate in some activities with the youth group, including a trip
to the beach and a nighttime service.
Yesterday was our first day of construction. Our team and
about seven men from the church hopped into the bed of a truck and traveled to
Betania, a small town that was hit pretty badly from the hurricane last year.
Most homes in the area were destroyed from the hurricane, and so Pastor Earl
and his church have been working the past three months to rebuild as many homes
as they can. So far they have built over 90 homes.
And today we started on our main project for the next week: building a home in
Puerto Cabezas for a local woman named Mary Linda who lost her home in the
hurricane. I’ve never been able to build a home from start to finish before, so
I’m really excited about this project. Granted, this is a one story, 16x18ft
home consisting solely of wood…but I’m still excited. The land that the home
will be built on would best be described as a swampy landfill. While working,
our feet are consistently submerged in mucky (and most likely parasitic) water
that never really goes away because of the constant rain. Surrounding the
marshlands is piles of trash that have accumulated over time. Basically, if we
didn’t have worms (parasites) before, then we will after this!
Please continue praying for our time here in Puerto Cabezas.
We have ten more days of ministry left on the race, then we will fly to Managua
and meet up with our long lost teammate Mark, and then spend a week in Granada
for debrief. Also, keep checking for video updates of our main construction
project during our time here.
