It's an Adventure!

Dear Friends and Family,

These last two weeks have been full of much adventure and even more learning about the Nicaraguan culture. As some of you may have heard, we have experienced first hand how to deal with having your car repaired in a third world country. If you think having your car repaired in the U.S. is inconvenient, try communicating with a mechanic who does not speak English and then going with the mechanic to obtain the part to your car in the oriental market- not knowing that is where you were going until it was too late to back out. (We have been told by other North American missionaries that " the oriental market" is one place that you do not want to go to). Well, Mark went and it was quite an experience! Mark also experienced his first motorcycle ride in Nicaragua when the mechanic insisted on taking him home on the back of his motorcycle. Mark held on with one hand and had his Spanish book tucked under his other arm. We won't mention that there was no helmet involved! Because Mark had such a great experience at the oriental market- I wanted to go. Our Spanish instructor agreed to take us both one day after our Spanish class. Cindy took all her jewelry off and Mark gave our money to Freddy (our Spanish Instructor). We did exactly as Freddy said and we were safe. The people were very nice and quite excited to see Chelles (North Americans). The oriental market is where most Nicaraguans do all of their shopping. You can find ANYTHING that you need there- from plastic ware, clothes, car parts, fish, chicken, beef, fruits and vegetables, electronics, furniture, and even live Iguanas. It is huge! We did not branch out and try any of the food, but we were able to purchase a few things. Just to give you an idea of the prices, we bought a scientific calculator for Luke for school ($1.75), a school uniform skirt for Markie ($4.00), and worm medicine for our puppy ($1.00).

We have also experienced the Nicaraguan grocery store. It is called Pali. Most missionaries that we have met shop at La Colonia, La Union, or Pricemart. These stores have some American products, are air conditioned, and are over all nicer. We are trying to get a feel for how the typical Nicaraguan lives, so we wanted to try out their grocery store. We actually liked it.

Our kids are settling into school.(Markie is doing much better) Stephen is playing basketball and Luke, Markie, and Philip are playing soccer for the school. Hopefully this will help them to feel more at home.We have had several injuries, Cindy broke her thumb (she fell down our steps), Stephen bruised his sternum very badly at basketball practice and had to come out of the first game due to the pain (he is improving each day), and Philip has injured his thumb, but it is not broken. Luke is on antibiotics for a throat infection, but we are all on the mend.

Saturday, Janurary 27, 2007 we attended the dedication for The House of Hope. This is a home for newly saved, former prostitutes who are pursuing a new life in Jesus. The House of Hope was founded by Mike and April Havlin, EFI missionaries from North Carolina. At the home the women and their children are given a place to live, are discipled in the Lord, and are taught a trade such as sewing, simple business principles (running a fruit stand), and their children also have the opportunity to go to a nearby school.

Mark and I are continuing to work on studying Spanish. We are conjugating verbs, developing sentence structure, increasing our Spanish vocabulary, and interacting with Nicaraguans every chance we get. We have so far to go, but we are able to communicate on a very basic level. Most people are very patient and even try to help us. We are ready to DO what we came here to do, but realize that the Language must be the priority at this point. Mark has been able to make some contacts and this may develop into a site for the first Bible College. Please pray that we would be able to learn this language "RAPIDO"!!!!

Mark will be doing the chapel service for the school that our children attend on February 19th. Please pray that he will have the Word of the Lord for these children.We have also met some other missionaries who have been so encouraging to us. They are from various denominations, and are all doing different works, but we all have one purpose- to share the Love of Jesus with the people of this country. Please know that we miss you very much, but as we have said before, we know that a part of you is here with us. Thank you for your support- prayer, phone calls, emails, and financial. We would not be here without you.We Love You!Mark, Cindy, Stephen, Luke, Markie, and Philip
Posted by ********** at 10:23 PM
1 comments:
Sandy said...
Glad to hear from you. All is well in Sparkle City.Basketball season is over at Dawkins, Miss seing you at work. Keep up the the good work and God bless you guys for your work.Sandy
February 11, 2007 12:06 PM
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