Confession: I have been a horrible blogger. I apologize. I truly am sorry. I know that many of you back home, my supporters and friends, are dying to know what’s been going on with me out in the field and I have been slacking big time in the blog department, so I will try my best to catch you up with what’s been going on.
First off, if you’ve been following any of the other blogs you’d know that we’ve made our way out of Mexico, through Guatemala (we worked in Antigua for one week with both Squad A and B) and on through El Salvador (stayed one night in a hotel and ate the amazing local papusas from a vendor on the street—YUM!)
Papusa lady!!
…then I slept through a lot of Honduras or watched horribly dubbed Steven Segal movies (Undersiege 1
AND 2…lucky me…), and then we arrived at our final destination: Jinotepe, Nicaragua! Yay! Check out Steph´s blog for more of the travel details here: http://stephaniefisk.theworldrace.org/index.asp?filename=travel-diary She´s got
great pics and recounts the adventure really well!
So Squad A (half of the 50 of us) stayed in Guatemala while Squad B (me) continued on to Nicaragua and Costa Rica (not me). We dropped anchor at a nice hotel called Casa Mateo, which our missionary contacts own and run (they call it a gift from God). Glenn and Lynn Schweitzer, both Messianic Jews, are the missionaries we’ve come under for the three weeks we are here to serve. They pastor a local congregation called Nuevo Almanecer (New Dawn) on a plot of land called La Quinta, which used to be a zoo back in the day. It’s funny because there are little cement pools around which used to be used as turtle pools and duck ponds. The little ponds need a little pick-me-up these days, but overall the property has been going through some major transformations since the Schweitzers acquired it.
They’ve built a church ‘building’, a cement patio with a tin roof for shade with a desire to turn it into an actual building when the funds are available. A newer building, which we now call our home, is a clinic to serve the neighborhood, though at this time they do not have a practicing doctor to see patients…always looking for people though! 😉
The church and gardens
There is also a building that is receiving the finishing touches this week that will serve as the first home for the new orphanage being formed here. Their hope in the near future is to create more buildings to be used as family group orphanages. They center the homes around family groups instead of a big institutional type set up so that the kids feel the love and support from a family that they need. These simple, yet sufficient homes cost only about $10,000-$20,000 for supplies and labor, so they’re not ridiculously expensive, the Schweitzers are just praying for more funds and more couples to be house parents for the 4-8 children who will live in each home.
The orphanage
The Schweitzers also have a vision for creating a school to teach the people from the barrios skills for start up businesses: sewing, computers, budgeting, management, etc. One of the biggest problems in this area is that people haven’t been educated or encouraged in how to support themselves or how to use a skill to create income for their families. So people live day to day, if even that.
Please watch this amazing video of my teammate Steph–it will break your heart and give you an inside look at our ministry in the dumps. http://stephaniefisk.theworldrace.org/index.asp?filename=interview
It’s really a neat thing to see a ministry in its early stages and the vision of what it may be in the future. I can’t wait to see what this place looks like in 10 years! Glenn and Lynn have only been here in Nicaragua for about 6 years. They are originally from New Jersey but after their first trip to Jinotepe/Diriamba in 1995 they knew God was calling them to live and minister to the people in the barrios and the dump.
Diego and Johanna
Manuel
It’s amazing to hear the vision and call that God has on their lives and to have the opportunity to serve alongside of them and with Manuel, the local associate pastor and Diego and his wife Johanna, the youth pastors. There is a passion that radiates from all of these people—this is their life calling and they love it! It’s awesome to watch people who love what they do and find joy in all things. I am learning from them this month and I count myself blessed to serve with them while we’re here.
I love this picture. It´s me, Shawna and Diego praying for a 97 year old lady and her neice–it´s our reflection in the mirror on the wall. One of Tim´s best shots I think. Click the link PHOTOS on the left for more pictures I recently put up. I hope this is good for all of you that have been waiting for updates! I´ll do a better job when I have my lappy to actually type blogs on before I get to the internet cafe. Praise the Lord that I´ll get it before we go to Peru…oh so soon! The Lord is gracious and compassionate…. 🙂
