a little of this and a little of that

Wow!  It is hard to believe that I have been back in Nicaragua for over a month now.   Where has the time gone...and to think that I always talk about how things are slower in Nicaragua. :-)

Well here is a little recap of the last 4 weeks.

CFCI board with the Nicaragua team

The day after I arrived Christ for the City's International Board meeting was hosted in Managua.  This was a great time meeting all of the board members and their wives.   We traveled all over introducing them to some of the churches and people we work with here.  Our CFCI team of 3 drivers had a rigorous schedule of airport pick ups and drop offs as well as bus station trips too.    Overall it was a great week and everyone had a great time.  I got to see some old friends and make some new ones.

The next week I attempted to gather my belongings from the various placed they were being "stored" for me.  I'm staying with an awesome missionary family, the Robinson's  who have been so gracious to take me in until the end of may when I go to house sit for another family.

Here is our team Pollo Verde "Green Chicken"  I think we did really smell like green chicken too!

Ultimate Frisbee is something I have enjoyed playing since moving to Nicaragua.   This year the guys organized a trip to Costa Rica to play in a tournament there.  So Friday after noon 13 of us piled into a 15 passenger van and drove 6+ hours to Arenal, Costa Rica.   We played well as a team and learned a lot more about competitive frisbee.  I was the only girl from our  team in Nicaragua that could go so we picked up a few more at the tournament.  They were great to have on the team.   The Green Chickens won 3rd place.

Next we had a team from Grace Church come to work in Rivas and do pastor training.   We had a terrific week with about 45 pastors sharing different topics with the men and the women.   I was with the women for the week and the teachers shared about a Biblical view of femininity.  We had lively discussions and a great time encouraging and loving on these women throughout the week.  

As a bonus my good friend Mary Ezzell was also a part of the team and we had lots of opportunity to catch up on life.  God also provided an wonderful opportunity for us to share how He has restored our relationship after several very difficult years.  It was a great testimony of God's faithfulness.

In between all of this great stuff I have also started a Masters program online.   Part of the requirements for my new position with NCA is that I get my Masters degree.   So far it has been a great jump back into the learning and school environment.  I definitely a little rusty in the paper writing area but I'm slowly getting the hang of it once again.   This is a giant leap of faith as I wait to see how God will provide for me to continue studying.   However I know that He is always faithful.

Things are moving along for the school in Matagalpa.   We just developed a job description for me and are beginning to make connections to other organizations that are working in education.  Our biggest need is for a director.   Please pray that God would lead us to the right person for this position soon. 

Ken, Mary, Julie, Jimmy and Rafa 

***This blog post was written about 3 times as the power kept going on and off and erasing my entries.   I guess this means welcome back to Nicaragua and sorry if it is not the most detailed version. :-) ***