Hodgepodge of February happenings…

Posted on March 9, 2015 by Chachi

We had some fun family time for Valentine’s day…because when you think of February what else is there really. The kiddos surprised us with cards and decorations in the morning and we made sure to do something special with them later in the day, and what is more special than ice cream?!?

Our Highway has been under construction for the last six months or so and it has been quite the maze to navigate every morning. We are all hoping the end product is going to be great but it has been an adventure! We came across this accident the other day, a truck full of stones flipped over and plowed over a row of little shops. Nobody was killed but a number of people were injured. We are definitely concerned about the danger of the new highway when it is done. We are praying we see less of these types of scenes as the trucks will be traveling faster in the years to come.

We had two teams come down to build houses in February which is such an awesome thing to be a part of! Palmer Trinity School and Westminister Christian School from Miami both sent down teams to put their hands to the plow and build houses for Nicaraguan families who would never be able to do this on their own. This year Franklin (who drives for Open Hearts) and his family received a house. Also a young man named Byron, who has showed up to help Palmer Trinity nearly every year for the last ten years that they have been building houses, received a house for his family. It was awesome to be able to bless Byron, his mother and siblings after so many years of him helping on the job sites. The cement pan is where all the sweat, blood and sometimes tears happens…but the end product is worth every drop!

We also had a group of students down from the Atlanta area public school system. Our friend Jeff Flavin has gotten this team together over the last couple of years and it has been a great blessing to us here. This year they brought school supplies for our students at Club Esperanza and spent the week loving on our kids and our staff at the Club as well, which was really appreciated!

We are pretty deep into the dry season and we are hitting that time where all the grass has turned to dirt, it is blistering hot, and the dust covers everything, everywhere! Mason and Aliyah turned their tree into a lemonade stand to sell to their aunts and uncles to deal with the heat….Juliette, well she is happy with watermelon!

I had a great meeting with Pastor Victor from Walakitang and two of the members of the church there. It is always a mix of emotions in the stories we hear when we are able to meet with Victor. There are great things happening with the church in the Miskito community of Walakitang. The church is helping in many different ways and a great reputation is being established. Several new families have become part of the church since we last met. At the same time there was tragedy recently when a family in the church had two children drown in the river which was so tragic and difficult. It is in moments of tragedy that we need God the most, and it is a good thing that Victor and the church are there to support this grieving family. Please keep praying for Walakitang.

The last little blurb of this hodgepodge is a pretty crazy moment I had at Casa Robles the other day when I was over for lunch. We heard motors buzzing in the street and had to go outside. The Ministry of Health was coming down the street and it looked like houses were on fire, but they weren’t…it was the WAR ON MISQUITOS!!! I was surprised that a kid had the machine, with no mask and he clouded the entire house…but hey, you gotta do what you gotta do right?!? Nobody wants to catch Chickengunya!