I was in an internet cafe yesterday catching up on emails and a cockroach ran up the wall next to me. The cold gatorade ran down the back of my throat, quenching my great thirst, but the sweat running down my back was persistent this day. Things like this keep my mind on the here and now.
Last week I began meeting with a core group of Christian Nicaraguans involved in our ministry here. Fortunately, they all speak English! They all are also recovering from an assortment of addictions. Many of them recently went through rehab and struggle so deeply with a great array of issues. I’m not sure that any of them could explain well why they chose to follow Christ, much less how to do so. So, last week we all got together and I started teaching them the fundamentals of Christianity. They got pretty excited about it and started asking all kinds of questions and then arguing in Spanish for a while. This happens at least once at each meeting. I’m learning how to manage one old guy in particular who will randomly stop and asking me questions like, “Do you know how many people were on Noah’s boat?” and “Do you know when the first sin was?” The Nicaraguan people have a mostly legalistic mindset. It’s no wonder since Catholicism is the primary denomination here.
On Tuesday mornings I go to the dump with many of these guys to feed the 50-70 people digging around in the huge amounts of garbage there. Small trails are etched into the three feet deep mass of burning rubbish. Smoke, flies and the sound of the beautiful nature surrounding the site fill the air. It feels so out of place. I looked around me from the hill on which I stood and saw beautiful jungle at the base of a volcano, and smack in the middle of it is the Granada City Dump, La Basurera. Trash has been collecting here for years. It is good for the soul to go to this place and minister to these people.
As far as living quarters go, I moved into the base for a little while. Nobody is using the guys’ dorm so Baker and I have it to ourselves. There is plenty of room and we are on site at El Puente. We will probably move into a house in January. Things are going well overall. It gets a little discouraging sometimes with the lack of fruit. I am so grateful for the Kayes and the other full-time missionaries who are here. Last night Baker and I had a pretty intense food fight. There is plenty of fun to be had.
