Ministry and birthdays...

Heather and I have had opportunities to contribute and teach in the ministries here. The kids have also found meaningful ways to contribute and love on the kids of Pantanal.

Heather has been able to lead several kids events and use her giftedness. One section of Granada is quite poor and has had a reputation for being dangerous so people have avoided the area. There is a "kids club" there and Heather had a good time singing and dancing with the kids there.

She worked with some of the local kids in another area with a local church Fortin where they have a feeding program. There she taught the kids some fun
songs and a lesson that Jesus is powerful based on the story  of the 5 loaves and 2 fish. She had 5 loaves of bread and then she brought out lots of bread and fed all the kids there. They all had a great time.

All the kids were happy to help pass out the food. Kaiyin was a little unsure, he knew it was serious and didn't want to do it wrong. Heather had good conversations with the local mothers and the kids were able to connect with the local kids there.

I had to return our rented car before the event was over so Heather and the kids had to walk back the 3 miles from Fortin.

We had planned on helping out at a "backyard Bible Study" for kids in Pantanal. We all crammed into a taxi to drive out to pantanal. 9 people in a tiny toyota. The many speed bumps were exciting as the
car creaked and scraped. We arrived and walked down the dirt roads of Pantanal but didn't find anyone. Kaiyin ran around and didn't quite understand that the streams in the roads was sewer water until he got some on his shoes and exclaimed, "my feet smeel like poop!"

We found out that the event had been canceled. Heather already had her lesson on Jesus is Powerful so we gathered local kids, the girls brought out the face paint, a trip to the local store for bread and it all came together.

At each of these ministries Anzo has helped with setting up and organizing things so nothing gets left behind. Eli played soccer and tag with the other kids and helped keep things orderly for the girls while they painted faces and fingernails. Abi even performed a special ballet dance for the kids in Pantanal.

The Sports ministry and soccer league have been moving forward. The soccer league just started last week and league games are in full swing. There are 31 teams and over 300 attendees. before each game the teams are presented with a short gospel message.

There have been a couple birthdays here. The daughter of Jesse, one of the locals who is involved in the ministries here, had a party where we were all invited. one of the "hits" of the party was watching Kaiyin dance blindfolded while smacking the Pinata.

Eli also had his 14th birthday here. For his birthday we went out to breakfast at the local waffle house for chocolate waffles. I rented a car (the one I had to return at Fortin) and we went 20 min away to a volcanic lake called Laguna del Apoyo. We spent the afternoon on kayaks, tubes and jumping off the pier into the warm water. Eli loves cheesecake but it is unheard of here. Heather managed to make cheesecake in glasses with some slices of mandarin on top for his cake. It was a great day.

We have also had fun with the people on the team here. Much of our fun has come in the water. The heat here isn't too bad but the water is a great place to horse around and cool off. We went to the lake beach on a play date with one of the missionary families. The beach has lots of slides and playground equipment (and biting ants). There was one 3 story spiral slide that is held up by two beams on the side. Kaiyin learned that if he stopped after the first turn he could reach out, grab the pole and then slide down it away from the slide.

One afternoon we taught the missionaries some of the songs we were doing for the kids that they enjoyed so much. Even while we were teaching them in the front room of their house, local kids started accumulating at the door so we opened it up, invited them in and had fun singing and dancing.




We have had lots of fun on our own as well.

Lots of pictures and not much text, but, I have to get going. Heather and the older 4 kids are working making hammocks with the deaf today and I am watching Kaiyin and Kiya. Kaiyin has much more interest in escaping than listening to me so...

Blessings to you and thanks for your continued prayers (we need them!)

Kid's Update

Eli has been doing a great job ministering through sports with the local kids.  Everywhere we go, the older boys seek him out to play soccer and baseball.  I don't know how he does it, but he plays for hours in the heat!  He also helped pump 100 gallons of water by hand!  He made paper airplanes to help entertain kids at a Bible study.  His favorite thing about Nicaragua is the soccer ministry and the hardest thing for him is not having food around at liberty all the time.



Anzo has been my tech man.  He makes sure I have my speakers, my ipod with the music, holds the speakers and makes sure everything gets back in the backpack.  He makes sure we don't forget anything and makes sure nothing get's stolen (which is important because if you put it down it will most likely get taken).  He played baseball at the sports ministry and scored twice!  He also helped pump 100 gallons of water by hand.  His favorite thing about Nicaragua is the ministry and the hardest thing is the heat and the heat (his words exactly).



Abi has been using her artistic abilities to minister here.  She face painted some amazing things on the kids at a backyard Bible study and helps me lead the worship music at the events we've been to.  She also painted nails at one Bible club. This coming Saturday she has choreographed a dance routine and will be dancing in front of all the kids. Her favorite thing about Nicaragua doing missions especially painting faces and painting nails and the hardest thing so far has been the heat and that we don't have a car to go places.


Zoe has been using art and sports.  She's played soccer, baseball, face painted, painted nails, and led music. She has also helped with doing dishes and carrying around little ones who seem to flock to her instinctively. She is up for anything you ask her to do. Her favorite thing about Nicaragua is how easy it is to make local friends and the hardest thing has been walking everywhere.



Kiya is miss popular everywhere we go.  She's had her picture taken numerous times and everyone wants to touch her amazing curly hair.  She wants to make friends so much and asks me how to say stuff in Spanish all the time.  She's also participated in Baseball. She said her favorite thing about Nicaragua is the people and the hardest thing is getting bit by mosquitoes.

Kaiyin has been his usual ball of energy.  He's dying to ride in the back of a truck, which we haven't allowed!  He played baseball and tag at sports day and "stole the base" while the adults were playing baseball (literally, picked up first base and ran off).  The people seem to love his energy, he even rode the local bus with Jesse (a local from Pantanal) and Jenn (a local missionary).  Kaiyin's favorite thing about Nicaragua is the pool and the hardest thing is being in time out (his words :)

Pantanal

We have been in Nicaragua for a little over two weeks now.  We are settling in to how life could be if we were to relocate.  Not having a vehicle has been challenging for our big family.  Today we walked to the grocery store and then each took 2-4 bags each and walked back.  Even Kaiyin had a bag.  We're quite a site walking through the streets of Nicaragua. Eli said he has been hungry since we've gotten to Nicaragua, but he doesn't really know what real hunger is. It's amazing how ministry opportunities just pop up out of no where.  On Wednesday of last week, I (Heather) went to a women's Bible study in Pantanal.  It was their kick off night and there were about 15 women who came and shared.  One girl turned to me during the Bible study and asked if I would be interested in adopting more children.  After letting her know I was not, she told me about a young family who's dad had just died two days prior.  She said there were four kids and they were living alone with the oldest being 15 and the youngest being 5.  I got her in touch with the right people who could help this little family.  The next day they visited the family to figure out the whole story, bought them groceries at the market and have plans to help them secure their house with the help of their older sister of 18 who is supposed to come in a week.  We've had the privilege of leading kids worship music on five different occasions at different Bible clubs.  

 On Thursday, the kids and I spent the morning in Pantanal helping hand pump water from the well to fill up the water tank.  In the afternoon, the kids played soccer and tag in the uneven dirt street while dodging garbage and ditches which weave throughout the roads. The kids were invited to see the new born chicks that had just hatched the day before and Oscar (one of our new little friends) proudly invited Eli to his backyard to see all his toys which he poured out of a potato sack and declared "muchos".   As I was standing there, two women, who I'd previously met at a Bible study, brought me a chair to sit in the street and chat with them.  I found out one lady has 8 kids, the youngest being 2 and her niece, who was in her twenties was starting 1st grade next month.  We chatted for about an hour before going to a backyard Bible study.  

The girls and I led worship songs with the kids and they seemed to love the music.  The kids were learning the books of the Bible.  

The past two Saturdays we've spent at the sports ministry and soccer league games.  We've played baseball and soccer from kids ranging from two years old to grown up.  I've given the message both times and the kids seemed especially reflective about the message this past week.  I told them that Jesus calmed the storm and he could calm the storm inside of them as well.  The people in Pantanal have been accustomed to so much violence.  When people get angry, they just punch and hit each other or in true Nicaraguan form, throw rocks at each other.  One of the missionaries here carries around a first aid kit that I've seen her use 5 times since we've been here!  This Saturday I helped butterfly stitch a finger which had been cut while cutting firewood with a machete. 

The kids already have friends.  Today while walking to church, one of the girls came running down the street to hug Abi and Zoe.  There is much work to be done and it's just beginning.