Open Hearts Nicaragua - Farrington Family
Open Hearts International Children's Relief Mission
“What exactly is a plethora El Guapo?”
Ah, I hope at least somebody laughed with me when reading that title…remember the movie “Three Amigos”? It is a classic comedy, and that quote comes to my mind at random moments. This is one of those moments, because what we have here is a plethora of a blog post! God is good, thank you for all of your prayers this summer!
CLUB ESPERANZA HAPPENINGS
We want to send a long overdue “Thank You” to Rachael Paris for her work this summer at Club Espernaza! All the teachers raved about her way with the kids and how she put them in line, which is a huge compliment because some of these kids are crazy! Praise God, we so appreciated the extra help during your stay here Rachael! All the kids miss Teacher Raquel and send you their besitos! And the girls from Havilah send hugs too!
The third level of preschool had a fun little time planting plants in our garden during “Tree Day” in Nicaragua. It was so sweet, because they all brought little plants from their houses in cans, bags, plastic bottles…it was obvious they had been growing at home…and we planted them together at the club! Getting your hands dirty is the best way to learn.
We got an excellent upgrade to our main gathering area….Ceiling FANS!!! Thanks to a group with Austin Samaritans from Austin, TX we got five new fans installed. The days can be long and hot here and having these fans installed makes it easier for everybody…especially the kiddos! It was an adventure putting them in amongst all the action of the day…but they are up and running! The kids all had a great time with the group as well; playing different games, reenacting Bible stories, and just hanging out together…we only lost once sconce off of a fan!!! It was a blessed time together at the club.
Lacrosse The Nations keeps our ongoing lacrosse program running at the club. They make due with a small space, but the kids love the game. I am pretty sure we are the only place in all of Nicaragua that has Lacrosse. But the way these kids play, I think it will catch on around Managua. I know they already have a second location going!
I had a little fun with Josue this day as he was having lunch at the feeding program…I was trying to get him to share his lunch with me, he wasn’t having any part of it. He had that big chunk of meat and gave me a look like “are you kidding me”. Smart Kid. Cute Kid. We continue to feed nearly 300 children every day of the week at Club Espernaza! Praise Jesus!
We also had visitors from Florida that are part of an organization called Beautiful Feet. We hunkered down at the Club for the week working on painting the kitchen and some of the outside parts of the wall that were unfinished. They also took the kids on field trips to the Zoo, Volcano, Ruby Ranch, Soccer…it was such a blast! One of the leaders from the group always had a crowd around him…he did some of the craziest magic tricks I have ever seen! As you can imagine, it was fun to watch all of the students trying to figure out what was going on. I mean really, I have seen magic tricks before, but I had no clue what was happening! It was much fun!
We recently received a donation that is going to allow us to begin working on some of the much needed construction projects at the Club. We mentioned some of these recently when we made our last payment on purchasing the Club land. Well we are off to a great start. We replaced the fixed glass windows in the main area with windows that actually open! It is glorious and with the new fans it is a much better environment to learn, Praise God! We also put some metal work on the front of the new windows to prevent theft, and they look nice too! In the near future we hope to finish the exterior wall, improve the playground area, and put a roof on the Feeding/Tutoring Center. Praise Jesus we are moving one step at a time! Thank you for your continued prayers!
We have a small computer lab at the Club which we are realizing is a HUGE blessing to offer the students that come for our tutoring programs. This is a place we are hoping to expand as we finish our second building and have more space. Please be in prayer for more computers and a perfect space!
We have also begun to grow some vegetables on the piece of land we have down by the lake. We hope this small crop of Pipiyan (local squash) can give us a good nutritional supplement to our meals at the Club. The crop has to make it first, but we definitely are happy to be using this land in the new neighborhood.
CASA ROBLES HAPPENINGS
The multi year roof project at Casa Robles took another step forward this past week. We have finally gotten to the front of the house in an effort to stop the leaking! Some of the worst leaks were up front, but we saved it for last because nobody sleeps on the front patio. But little rivers did flow and we hope they stop now! Praise God for this ongoing project…this home is a huge blessings and gives our Robles family a great safe and secure place to live and grow! Our next step is closing in the front area of the house.
Nicaragua has a Military expo and so it was without a doubt that we were making the trip over with the kids from Casa Robles. It was a wild experience to climb in all the tanks and giant machinery, but what was even crazier is they let you hold all of the guns…including RPGs. Let me just say…Gun Safety isn’t as emphasized in Nicaragua as it is in the USA. There were no live rounds, but it was still a bit wild to see. The kids had a great time! We older folks did too!
FAMILY HAPPENINGS
Aunt Grammies (Krist’s Aunt Kris) came to visit and help the family this summer. We were so blessed because she stayed with us in our house and we had such a blast with Tia!!! And you know what, its the little things that sometimes make life easier…waking up every morning to coffee already made was awesome! Thank you for letting us be lazy parents Aunt Grammies!!! We love and miss you!
Chris & Mason made a trip to Esteli to watch a soccer game. Sporting Kansas City from MLS in the USA was in the country playing against the best team from Nicaragua Real Esteli. It was a fun adventure, and we were pretty much the only ones cheering for Kansas City! But everyone was nice, and Esteli pulled off a 1-1 Tie.
The little girls keep growing…Aliyah is quite the gymnast. We were sitting on the floor one day and she just climbed on Chris’s shoulders and stood right up. We think it is from playing with her Aunts in the pool…but it was impressive!
Note to Parents: Don’t flush baby wipes down the toilet! Four children’s worth of baby wipes ruined our septic system. This is what it looks like when you have to replace the entire leach field…at least the tank could be cleaned! Grosssssss!!!!
No it is never really cold enough for a bonfire here, but Aliyah invited everyone to the bottom of the hill for smores and a bonfire and lemonade. It turned into a really fun family evening together…it even got a little cool…i mean I am talking 85 degrees but it was nice. The smores and lemonade were great, and it was fun to all be together after a busy summer of running ten different directions. Thank you Aliyah!
PRAYER HAPPENINGS
The Lord continues to move mightily at Miss Ruby’s house when we gather to pray there. Thank you for all of the prayers for that time. We went to the prayer house with hundreds of people this summer, to worship God, to pray over each other, to share a time together in God’s presence…set apart and focused on the Lord. Thank you Jesus that you are real, that you are alive, that you care about us, and that you move in our lives! Amen.
We hope that God richly blessed your summer as well and we hope that the school year in the United States starts well for all of you up there. And for all of the rest of our family and friends around the world we hope the fall is beautiful for you!
God Bless! Love, The Farringtons
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Open Hearts Nicaragua - Farrington Family 