1. If 8 out of 10 women are named Lucia.
2. Its easy to tell the tourists from the Nicas because the Nicas wear more clothes. (Tourists apparently only pack swimgear)
3. Its so hot & humid you may go through 3 sets of clothes a day.
4. Not only does everyone seem to know everyone else & their business but it also seems like everyone is related or formerly were related in some way.
5. You no longer bat an eye when the power goes out or the water shuts off. (The power went off twice while I was typing this ;-)
6. You hear the phrase "T.I.N." on a regular basis. ("This Is Nica" - meaning anything is possible here! For example we set a new record this week, 24 people in Andy's Tundra!!! That many people/kids wanted to be part of the outreach event to a neighboring village).
Oh friends, I want to just stay here and jump right into reaching out and sharing Jesus's love with the people here and encouraging those who have turned to Jesus to grow in their relationship with God. The kids and teens in this town have so much brokenness in their lives. Hardly anyone in this town has ever experienced genuine love. They honestly don't know what such love even looks like. People here have been through experiences that are unfathomable. The need is urgent. If you feel any interest in getting involved in this work financially, it would be an honor to have you partner with me! Pray that God provides people and the funds quickly.
This past week I found 3 possible houses, a good Spanish language school, got to swim in the Pacific Ocean, and started memorizing my way around town. (There are 2 awesome bakeries in town. Which is great for moral, but bad for my figure ;-) Good thing I won't have a car and will need to walk everywhere).
Awesome news - the teen girl that turned to Jesus last week, brought a friend this week to the teen group and the friend at the end decided to turn to Jesus also!!!
On Saturday, I did some curio shopping and visited the shop of a lady that the Larges have started befriending. On Sunday morning to our surprise she showed up at the church with her little boy (who coincidentally had wondered into the church Friday night while we were having a church "fun" night because he was curious about the games and projector). So cool to see them both there Sunday, then to top it off, at the end of the service she stood up and went to talk to Diane and then prayed to turn to Jesus!!! This precious lady has been battling depression and in a very tough moment earlier in the week cried out "God what do I do, where do I go?" That Sunday morning she remembered our church and decided "why not, can't hurt to go."
Earlier in the week Andy & Diane took me sightseeing to the town of Granada (one of the oldest continuous cities in the western hemisphere). It's located on Lake Nicaragua and next to town is a "jungle-like" river that runs into the ocean at a point where there are dozens of tiny islands. We took a little boat tour down the river and around the islands. Andy & Diane said it reminded them of the Amazon River in Peru where they used to live. We saw lots of wild life, including monkeys, and lots of interesting plants and houses.
This past week I also was able to observe and in some cases participate in additional aspects of Andy & Diane Large's ministry.
They offer pre-marital and marital counseling to anyone in town that is interested. This has allowed them to connect with a number of families who are going through tough situations. While the Larges met with some of these couples, I was able to be in the other room praying for wisdom for the Larges and for God to help these couples.
They also have discipleship sessions with new believers. I had the joy of sitting in on one session with 2 teen girls who are hungry to know more about God and how to follow Him.
On Sunday the church people overwhelmed and blessed me when they had a time of special prayer for me. They all said that they would pray for me regularly until I move down here.