Where Does it Go?

We receive many teams each year here in Nicaragua and people often ask where does all of our money go? There are many ways that your money goes to work here in Nicaragua. First your money covers your food, housing and transportation while you are here. An offering is given to the families that you stay with as well as to the pastor and his family. The ministry also uses some of the money to help cover rent and utilities for our office here in Managua. An offering is also given to the church to help with whatever supplies/materials etc they need in order to continue the work that may have begun while you were here. These funds are used at the pastor's discretion and is always received with much gratitude.

Recently, Fabricio made it out to the church in Caimito to see what they have done with their offering. T bar M Camps brought a team out to work with them in March. A children's camp was held all week long and the kids had a blast. I think the team did too. :-)

From Caimito

The church in Caimito used their offering to build a kitchen so that they could start a feeding program for kids in the area. They receive food donations every week from another organization and give lunch to kids after school. The kitchen has been a huge blessing for the church and the community. They were also able to make some chairs for the kids to sit on too.

From Caimito

From Caimito

Click here to see a video of T bar M's week in Caimito

Quesiiiilllooo quesiiiiilllloooo

MMMmmmm quesillos are my favorite Nicaraguan food. They are simple, yet flavorful.
Ingredients:
Tortilla
quesillo cheese (similar to mozzarella)
onions soaked in vinegar
sour cream
salt

Some friends and I went out to Nagarote the birthplace of the quesillo on Thursday night to celebrate my birthday and it was DELICIOUS. There is a special way that you eat a quesillo. Watch the video for step by step instructions.



Here are some pics of the roomies from our outing too.

From Birthday 2008

I got to wear the special B-day hat!

From Birthday 2008

Freedom

Every time I tried to update my blog this past week the website wouldn't load so I am a little late but nonetheless the thoughts are still the same

Freedom! What does that mean to me. Well I could name a long list of freedoms that I enjoy and cherish but the freedom that I relish most is the freedom to share my faith with others. The freedom to openly encourage others through the things that God is teaching and working in my life.

Nicaraguan Independence day was this past weekend and as always it is celebrated in grand fashion. I had the joy of attending NCA’s celebration and watching many former students and colegues perform. I am so proud of the Nicaraguan culture and all that it encompasses. I proudly sang the national anthem and joyously clapped along during some of the folk songs. What a wonderful thing it is to be able to share in the celebration two great countries.

Here are a few pics of former students and my good friend Aimee and her 4th grade class

A Tearful Good-Bye

Here is a pic of my red truck in action in Caimito earlier this Spring. The kids in Caimito loved to play in the bed and sing and dance. Here Nathan is showing them a video he shot of them singing "Zapo"!

Wednesday morning I said my last good-byes to the red truck as I cleaned out the remaining of my belongings. She has been sold to a friend of the ministry who has family that can help them get her up and running again. We made the sale somewhat official today with the exchange of money and receipts. :-) Legally we are not finished as we wait for some paperwork on a motor number change but we pray that will be a quick process and we can be officially done.

Where does this leave me now? Waiting and praying for God's provision of money to buy a new vehicle. I currently have $1,400 towards a goal of between $9,000 and 10,000. Your prayers and contributions are so appreciated. If you want to contribute to a new vehicle follow this link:

Plans

This week we spent three days filled with evaluation of ministry and goals from this year 2008. It was wonderful to hear from the team some of the high points from the year. My high point was definitely was when the Mosaic Teacher team came in June. It was such a joy to work with kindred spirits and share ideas and excitement for Nicaraguan teacher training.

Some challenges for me in ministry this year have been missing teaching. Surprisingly this has made it hard at times to fully commit to short term teams. I have learned some valuable things through this time and continue to see God at work in my life teaching and shaping me for some future ministry that I don't quite know yet.

2009 is looking exciting as I can dive into developing our teacher training project. Our days of planning and goal setting always fill me with energy for new starts with new ideas and some fresh changes for some old ideas.