Happy New Year from Somotillo, Nicaragua! The New Year’s Eve celebration in the adjacent neighborhoods must have been subdued…. or more likely, the team was tired enough that we slept through the fireworks which were going off like mortar rounds!
The first day of 2015 was clear, hot and beautiful in Nicaragua. We started off our day together with breakfast and the morning devotional and then headed into the fields of the training center. The team continued where we left off yesterday; pruning and trimming the lemon, lime and orange trees, clearing brush, and mowing back growth to open up the area and make it more favorable to growing. The limes that we recovered while pruning and trimming yesterday were taken to the market and sold for 400 cordoba. This will provide a day’s wage for one of the workers. As hard and hot as the work was, the team labored under Christ’s yoke (ref. Matt 11.28-30) and not a single whine or complaint was heard by anyone! Praise God…
After lunch, we loaded up in the truck and headed for Confradia. This village is near the town dump. It is extremely impoverished. Our three vehicle caravan pulled off the dusty street and we quickly set up and went to work. The stew pot was started, the medical table set up and the engagement with the children began. While this was most likely the poorest village that the team visited this week , the faces of the children were no less beautiful. The med team distributed more antibiotic in this village than all of the rest this week. It indeed, was heartbreaking to see such beautiful children living in such squalor. Even so, the love of Christ was shown to these villagers and there was at least one adult male who received Christ into his heart.
After the food was eaten and everyone who wanted to see the doctor was able to do so, the team packed up and headed out. On the way out, we threw every last toy, piece of candy and bit of clothing that we had to those villagers running after the truck.
We finished the day by taking a short but steep hike up to the radio tower. This hill was actually the high ground held by the Sandinistas during the revolution. Now it is held by Christ. This is the location of our radio station’s broadcast antenna, which reaches into three countries.
Most of the team will begin the return journey tomorrow. Pray for our safe travels and once again, thank you for your prayer support along the way!
