That's a niiiice boulder!

Today was our fun day! We woke up at a not-so-fun hour and ate breakfast and we were on the road by 8.  We stopped in Massaya which is where we visited the volcano museum and climbed to the top of the volcano.  I think the volcano was actually named Massaya, but don't quote me on that one.

I got some pretty awesome pictures and even got to plank some!  For those of you who don't know what planking is, all will be explained in time.  I tried to upload pictures and they take forever-and-a-half to load.  One day when I have a lot of down time I'll get to uploading them.

Anyway, about the volcano.  It's really a tremendous sight!  A huge crater spitting out sulfur?  Count me in!  The ancient natives of Nicaragua actually erected a cross at the peak of the 'cano because they believed it was the gateway to Hell.  If you choose to climb the hundreds of stairs to get to the crest then you are standing right by the cross, and all around you there are beautiful mountains, volcanic rock/ash, and of course the volcano!  There is a warning to not stay at the peak for longer than 20 minutes for fear of respiratory problems from the intense sulfur content in the air.  The bus had to be parked with the front facing the exit of the park in case of an emergency. Not too comforting knowing that the 30 seconds it would take to back the vehicle up and drive out would be the line between surviving and dying...

After the volcano excursion we headed to Granada.  Granada is the oldest town in Central America, like the St. Augustine for Florida.  It's filled with wonderful things to do! One of our favorite things to do is go out on Lake Managua/Lake Nicaragua.  It's a HUGE lake with(get this) fresh water sharks.  One of two freshwater lakes in the world with sharks. Not just any shark either...no no no!  Great White Sharks.  Apparently they moved in the lake over time and evolved to be able to breathe in fresh water.  While we didn't see any, it's still always on the back of your mind!

Elsewhere on the lake there are a ton of islands (135 individual islands), courtesy of the volcano located by the lake that blew its top enough to make the islands.  Anyone is allowed to purchase their own island and build a home on said island.  They aren't cheap though.  A small one ( the size of our field by the church) will run you $60,000.  It's totally worth it to say you own an island mansion in Nicaragua, right? Speaking of mansions, this is a foreshadow for something later in the blog.  Keep reading to fiiiind out!

Oh! This brings me to my blog title tonight...  My best friend Gary and I have a saying, "Thats a niiiice boulder!"  It's really...random, but it works for us.  There are a TON of boulders around the lake that the volcano spit out a bajilllion years ago and it made me think of Gary.  So there Gary, you made it into the blog.  I miss ya brah brah!

We came in from our boat ride, sat down to eat our meal which was ordered before our excursion.  The food is prepared fresh for each meal so it takes quite a while.  I had the Filet Churasco.  Steak Filet.  It was, as everything else, AMAZING!  it came complete with a small salad, rice, and fried plantains.  Well worth the $0 dollars I paid for it.  The missions fund from Frostproof First Baptist Church covered us.  Thanks guys!

After another lengthy bus ride it was off to Massaya(again).  There is a market there much like an indoor flea market.  So many stalls with their items displayed for you to pick out and barter with them.  When they see a large group of Gringos(white folk) come in they raise the prices drastically.  This is the fun part as I love to haggle.  I bought plenty of bracelets at a discount price and I'll be bringing some home for you guys.

In closing tonight we had a surprise birthday party for a member of our group, Debbie.  She was so overwhelmed when she walked into the common room expecting our usual nightly meeting/devotional but instead was greeted by us singing her happy birthday with a cake, cards, a balloon flower, and all!  She was moved to tears and told us that she has never had many friends, but considers us all very close friends and she would remember this birthday forever.  It was quite emotional as she read the cards and gave us all a thank you hug.

Finally, here's a teaser.  We looked at cabins today.  Like, to build down here for our housing when we want to take missions trips.  Angela and Steve, the missions leaders, have been looking at an 11 acre lot and really want to purchase it to put these cabins on the land.  I, you, or anyone could basically own a log cabin down here for as low as $6,000.  You can't buy a decent car for that nowadays.  I was told that an "Americanized" mansion would cost about $20,000.  That's a 2 story house, porch, bathrooms, everything.  I'm praying about this and definitely considering my options of owning a home down here.  As you all know I call Nicaragua my home away from home, why not make that a literal thing?  Of course, I'll need more tile work if that's going to happen(hint hint!! :P)

That's it for tonight y'all.  Tomorrow we're doing a demonstration at a high school for 1,600 total students over 2 sessions and then a revival that night.  Please please PLEASE  pray that some of the high school students will come for our invitational at the end of the demonstration or at least show up to the revival.  We've had many many powerful things happen in our revivals and we want this to be another notch in our belt.

Thank you for reading/praying!

Todd

Everything's Magic

I titled this blog because today I thought of a song by a band called Angels and Airwaves.  Not a Christian group and I'm not marketing them to be a Christian group at all, but, a song of theirs, 'Everything's Magic', came to mind while doing a VBS.  The song's first verse starts out,

"And do you ever feel like you're alone?
And do you ever wish you'd be unknown?
I can say that I have..
I can say that I have..

And do you ever feel things here aren't right?
And do you ever feel the time slip by?
I can say that I have
I can say that I have"

The reason I thought of this was because we did our VBS in Managua today, a 45 minute drive from Nagarote, at an orphanage for mentally and physically disabled people who were abandoned because of their condition. Have you ever felt alone, helpless, scared?  Try being them.  It really hit me hard when I realized that someone could be as heartless to just leave a disabled person to fend for themselves.  The people we saw were mainly an older group... at least teens to young adults.  They were all very sweet and kind.  I got a hug from just about everyone that I talked to, and they would try to give me things that they had made at other craft stations. Just the nicest group of people ever!

I think it's amazing that an orphanage was set up for disabled people, especially in Nicaragua where funding might not be so readily available.  They had two helpers that were from other countries.  One I'm sure was German as she was formally introduced and also spoke to us a little.  She spoke German, Latin, Spanish, and pretty good English.  I wish I could have spoken with her more but she was busy wrangling up the group to get ready for the VBS to start.  The other girl I'm not completely sure where she was from. I heard someone say USA but, again, I'm not sure one bit.  I got caught up in making balloon animals and didn't have a chance to speak with her.

All that aside, today was an eventful day! We ate at the "world famous" restaurant in Nagarote famous for Quesillos. "Well what's that, Todd?"  A Quesillo is a corn tortilla with cheese, sour cream, and grilled onions.  The cheese is native to Nagarote and has a very mild flavor much like mozzarella. I can't speak for the sour cream and onions as I ordered mine "plain".  The restaurant also had desserts and dessert drinks.  Cacao is a chocolate drink, but they were out of the mix(which is home made) so we couldn't try it.  Reposteria is a cake, much like soda cake.  Its very moist and has a swirl of sweet pineapple jelly in the middle.  The outside is covered with sugar and it is absolutely delicious!  Tiste is also a chocolate drink which I did have the pleasure of trying.  As far as I kow, they take a chocolate powder(also home made) and mix it with water.  Put some ice in it and enjoy.  For such a simple concept it really is a fantastic idea.  It has a somewhat chalky taste/texture but it's scrumptious either way.  I'm going to start writing these recipes down and start my own dessert business back in the states! It'll be a huge hit.

We had a long downtime this afternoon as we were supposed to pass out food today but that was moved to yesterday.  I got to go to the tile store today and meet with the pastor of the Alfa y Omega church, Juan Bautista.  This is the church I've adopted as my "home church" in Nicaragua.  They're very penticostal and love to worship Jesus with songs and hand clapping. It's this sense of "home" that led me to commit to installing a floor for them. I made good on my promise I made last year today and bought 70 square meters of tile.  That makes 754 square feet of tile!  Let's review this in American terms.

Tile - $1/sq. ft.  $754
Thinset - 17 bags  $250
Grout  - 8 bags $120
Installation - $2/sq. ft(or more!)  $1,508

Grand total: $2,632 (and $1 a foot tiles are sometimes low end)

So, how much did all of this cost me?  A whopping $711. I also bought 2 trowels, 2 grout floats, 2 pencils, and a chalk line.  The total cost of everything came to $735. It would take the pastor of the church about 2 years to buy the flooring supplies I bought today on his salary.

I rode a bixi to the store with Krista and went in to meet the pastor.  Our fellow missionary and translator, Blanca, told me he said he had a tile picked out but I could pick out whatever I wanted.  I told him it's his church, pick the floor you would say is perfect for your needs.  He chose a green, large tile with a design.  I was told later that he almost strayed away from that tile because it cost more than some of the other tile. I'm so glad he had the opportunity to chose something that was beautiful in his eyes and he will be happy to see each time he goes into his church. Every time he opens those doors he'll see that floor and remember the work he, our team, and I put into it.

I wish everyone could have seen the pure excitement he had when the transaction was over.  He's bursting at the seams to help me lay this floor.  The lady behind the counter said the supplies will be delivered by 3 tomorrow if not sooner, and thats going to be like looking at a Christmas present he can't open yet!  We'll start installation on Monday and it'll take 2-3 days for a project of that size with the tools I have handy.  Plus the heat will slow me down, they'll probably run circles around me. 

I want to extend a special thank you to everyone who donated their time, money, prayers, anything for this missions trip to happen. My grandfather was my hugest supporter from the get go.  All he wanted to talk about was the church down here, the floor I was going to set, the costs, anything!  He took the time to read up about Nicaragua, learn about it's population, cultural beliefs, and how much the gospel was spreading down here. He had suggested a special offering be taken up to aid me with the costs of the flooring and other needs, he has given me his time, wisdom, and full fledged backing to make this trip not only a success but absolutely what I imagined it to be. It's a true statement to say that I would not be here if it were not for him, or anyone who has done something as simple as say a prayer for me. Thank you all for your support!  There will be a porcelin diamond in all of your crowns in heaven. 

Tomorrow is our rest and relaxing day so we're heading off to do some 'retail therapy' and explore a volcano. I'll be up early and get back late so don't expect many updates tomorrow, if any at all. You'll have to wait for the blog to be posted like everyone else!

Thanks for reading and your continued prayer.  Jesus te ama!

Todd

Why stop a good thing?

Today was amazing.  Woke up early for a breakfast of eggs and toast with a glass of orange juice to wash it down. Everyone was chomping at the bits to get going today!  A few people went to the bank next door and exchanged some monies then a group went to the pharmacy to get some medication.  Steve has sensitive skin and was breaking out from some gardening he had done in the states. Brian had a sore throat. Krista got a POWERFUL headache medication and I think we all got a few tabs of chewable Pepto. A member of the missions team who is the youth pastor at First Baptist Church in Frostproof told us he chews two tabs every morning to prevent sickness and we adopted the tradition. It's worked so far, why stop a good thing.

The bus from the school for the poorest of poor kids came to get us and we were off to our first VBS.  We arrived and set up in record time, gathered the kids up, and started with our ice-breaker songs. We sang the ritual "Chi-chi-wah" song which I took a video of for your viewing pleasure.  We then proceeded to do none other than "The Chicken Dance".  HUGE HIT!  Great success. All of the kids know the Chi-chi-wah song from years past as this has been our opening song/dance all 3 years of us coming here.  Why stop a good thing?

We then had our activities like face painting, balloon animals, art projects, percussion room(whew), and bean bag toss.  The kids had a blast and it was great to see all of them so happy. We came back to the hostel for a rest and lunch then more rest. :D  Around 2:30 we headed back to the school for their afternoon session. These were the older kids and they had 10x more fun than the last group.  I think I had more fun than they did!  At the end of the VBS we handed out salvation bracelets (with the colors of the Christian rainbow) to the kids and told them about the meaning of the colors. It's really a special thing to carry out the Lord's work in such a simple, effective way. We always do something with salvation bracelets. We've had the kids put beads on plastic string and explained each bead as they put it on, pre-made the bands and gave them to the kids, and this year we ordered gel bands with the colors molded into the band. This has by far been the easiest of the years. The salvation bracelets give a great understanding of Christianity in such a simple way children comprehend it. I love using them as a median of getting the word across and plan on using them til the Lord comes back to Earth again.  Why stop a good thing?

When school let out we road a bus behind the bus that takes the children home.  Remember the kids are POOR. They have to qualify to get into the school by being more poor than most Nicaraguans.  We have been giving food to the families of the school kids for all 3 years we have came to Nicaragua, and wanted to continue.  We gave a bag of rice and a bag of beans as well as a Christian tract to each family of the students. Each time we would give out a bag peoples faces absolutely lit up.  Think about in America we would almost take a bag of rice and beans as an insult, here they were following the bus we were riding asking for more.  We can't minister to people who are so hungry they aren't worried about Jesus at the time, so food is definitely a great way to earn their trust as well as their ears. It's been very rewarding every time we go to the homes of the students and we all bring back unique, life changing experiences. Why stop a good thing?

By the time we got back it was time for supper. A delicious mix of fried plantain chips, rice, and meatballs. Yes, meatballs! I cleaned my plate and proceeded to pick off of Krista's. :)   I came back to my room and got ready for a shower only to be interrupted by people shouting at me that I was going to miss our nightly meeting.  Silly me!  The meeting went great. We discussed today's happenings and we all really connected on a deep level. Everyone has their own views on how our travels have impacted them so far and it's nice to hear their input.  We have these meetings every night to come together as a group and discuss the next days schedule and recap that days happenings. I love the thought provoking subjects put on us and just enjoy a casual come together from all of us. In one mind and one accord, working for the Lord.  Why stop a good thing?

As a closing I say this:

The Lord is working in Nicaragua.  He will show his mighty and awesome power in ways never imagined.  I am SO excited to be a part of this group and share their passion and drive to deliver the word of God to the people of Nicaragua. We'll continue to spread the love of God and he will continue to watch over us, keep us safe, and use us as vessels to carry his message to the people of Nicaragua. Why stop a good thing?

Todd

First day in Nicaragua continued...

First of all, sorry if there are typos. My spell check decided to check out for this blog entry...

Where did I leave off? Oh yeah tour of the town...

Well, lunch was good. Chicken, rice, and a salad-like dish made of beets, onions, and carrots. The chicken was top notch, can't be beat. I would recommend ALL of you come to Nicaragua once, if not for anything else it will be to eat the chicken.

After lunch we sat as a group in the main lobby(I use lobby lightly) and filled/tied bags of rice and beans for us to pass out later in the week.  I was in charge of tying one bag of rice and one bag of beans together with Krista being my apprentice.  I totally tied 2x if not more than her.  I'm not bragging... my superiority speaks for itself. :D

Next up was nap time. Sweet sweet nap time. We napped up til 4 and then it was time to get ready for church. Around 4:30-45 we were met outside our hostal by our Bixi drivers( once again... I'll post pics when I get around to it!) and we rode the Bixi-bikes to the missions church on the outskirts of town. 

We were met by the pastor and family with all smiles! As more people came into the church the more I recognized faces. Everyone knew we were coming and was very happy to see us. It's just like we came home from a very long vacation. Haha!  The worship music is A-MA-ZING. Top notch, especially for what they have to work with.  Tonight there was a keyboard, drums, and vocals.  The keyboard doubles as the bass guitar which blows my mind that he can keep 2 beats going at once.  The drummer is completely SICK. I've known him since the first year we came and he just keeps getting better and better at drums.  Karina and all of her sisters sing very well and that completes the praise band...all comprised of the pastors own children.

The message, though we didn't understand much, was very good. Toward the end of service we all got up and gave our testimonies by writing them on pieces of cardboard and letting the church read them.  All of our testimonies were applauded, just as they would be in America. It's crazy how wherever you go people tend to be human just as you are...crazy, huh?  Testimonies over we all got introduced by the trip leader, Steve.  As we were going back to our seats the pastor caught me and started to talk to the church while still holding me by the shoulder.  The only words I could make out was 'piso' and 'gallo y pinto'.  Piso means floor, so he was telling the church that I was the guy installing the floor in their church... Gallo y Pinto means RICE AND BEANS! HA! He remembered the first year I came down he bought me a shirt that had Nicaragua on it with a plate of rice and beans as a joke, and he told the church! I'll need to return the favor...

About that floor,  I got to the church tonight on a whim and prayer that the concrete had been laid to replace the dirt floor that the church had before.  If not my 3 weeks here would have been filled with getting together with someone about pouring the concrete, having it level, letting it cure at least a week or two, THEN laying the tile floor.  I was DREADING that idea.   To my amazement the church had a cement floor. A very level, crack free cement floor.  Talk about a miracle?!  Huge weight off of my shoulders for sure.  

The hostal we're staying at has a new level being added onto one of the buildings and I told the owner I do floor work. He told me, 'Tomorrow, floor!'...sooo I said sure!  I found out it was carpet theyre installing and put the brakes on... Todd doesn't do carpet(yet). 

Anywho, I'll be hitting the tile store tomorrow to pay for the materials and and order anything I'll need that they don't have in stock. Hope to be laying the floor rather soon as it'll take 2-3 days to lay and grout the whole thing.  I would like the group that's only staying this week to be able to see the finished product before leaving.

Well, all of that said, I bought my first sodas right after church and saw a familiar dessert laying on the store counter.  I made sure to buy a whole bag(5 pieces).  At $.15 each who wouldn't?  We rode our bixi's back to the hostal, had our group pow-wow, and now I'm watching Shrek in Spanish eating my pico(dessert) and drinking a Coke. Life is good.

On a side note:

People from Frostproof, we said a word of prayer for the people involved in the wreck that happened a few days ago.  I know one girl passed away from her injuries, two boys are in intensive care, one boy is in critical condition, and the driver is banged up but ok.  I don't know any of these people involved in the wreck but I heard the two boys in intensive care are regulars at the First Baptist Church in Frostproof.  They're parents want nothing to do with the church.  If we could all just say a few words in our prayer time asking for peace and strenght to all the families involved, and understanding about the love of Christ and his plan for all of us. I can't call the boys by name but I know their last name is Fricks.

Sorry to end on such a bad note but I wanted their situation to be fresh on all of our minds so we would be able to hold them and their families up in prayer.

God bless,

Todd

Travel day and first day in Nicaragua

Ah, Sunday. A day to relax.  Our group woke up a little before 8am(10 your time) to grab some breakfast and then went out around Nagarote.  We explored some local sites like the old train station, a school for the poor, and a large tower you can walk to the top of. All in all today so far has been good :D

Now I can update you on our travels from yesterday.  I woke up at 5:50 (which I didn't know existed) and finished up my packing, got in the truck, and left for Clewiston.  My family and Krista met the bus taking our missions group to Miami at Burger King where we ate our last meal together and said our goodbyes.

Once at the airport it was business as usual, check in, check bags, check out(mentally!). Once I had my bags checked in and my boarding pass I waited for my friend Brian and my girlfriend Krista to acquire theirs.  Once that was done we went to go find our terminal and wouldn't ya know it...we got lost!  No biggie though. After much thought and careful planning Krista pointed out we were standing RIGHT NEXT TO our terminal.

Nothing too special happened for a while, flight to Panama...layover...layover...zzz... Flight to Managua! When we reached Managua I was SO ready to be in Nagarote and just fall asleep.  A huge surprise to me was that we were met at the airport by our good friends from Nagarote. They even had a sign they created that said something like 'Welcome Frostproof in Nicaragua'. Nothing like southern hospitality, huh?

Well, after that there was a 45 minute drive from Managua to Nagarote where I talked with Josue most of the way home. I'll be staying 2 weeks with him and his family starting next Monday so expect to hear more about him!  We pulled in to Nagarote and Josue's sister Karina stood up and said "Welcome to Nagarote!!" and we all clapped and cheered, happy to be in our home away from home.

We unloaded our 40 boxes of supplies and took our items to our rooms. I saw some people I remember from 2 years ago and surprisingly, they remember me! We all filled up our water bottles with the cooler at outside our rooms and we were off to bed.  A fun filled day required a good nights rest.

I'm so glad to be back in Nicaragua. I'll post some pictures I've been taking as soon as I can.  Take care everyone!

Todd

P.S
Thank you for the continued prayer and support, it means the world to me.

Introduction

Good day everyone!

It's ONE DAY before I venture off to Nicaragua for 3 whole weeks. As you can imagine I'm bursting at the seams to get to Miami, wait 3 hours there, board my flight, take a nap, then land in my home away from home.

This will be my blog for my whole trip. I'll update it as much as possible but keep in mind I'll be in a different country doing missions work. Internet and time are sometimes scarse. You are all welcome to post your comments to any blog I post and I'd be more than happy to write back. Maybe that'll help a little with the homesick-ness.

Anywho, I'll be posting more interesting and detailed blogs later, I was just interested in getting one up to test the waters. 

My cornerstone for this trip: Matthew 28: 18-20  a.k.a "The Great Commission"

Thanks for reading/praying,

Todd