FIRST VOLUNTEER MISSION TRIP TO NICARAGUA

 Here I am again giving you a glimpse into Dave's and my life of going on mission trips as volunteers.

The next trip we went on was to Estelli, Nicaragua.  For me it really was one of the more difficult trips I have been on.

We flew into Managua and then were transported way out in the country to a very poor area.  Our church Bethel Christian Church in San Francisco, CA supported Christ for the City  for quite a few years.

We ended up in the town of Estelli.  Their largest town income came from a Cuban Cigar factory.  Everyone worked there on an assembly line.  The workers fingers were deeply stained brown from the tobacco leaves.  Everything had a strong oder too. We couldn't take any photos in the factory.  I'm glad I got to see it but the pay for the workers was terrible... barely subsistent for the men and women.

Each of us on our team lived in private homes.  The organization that we were under was suppose to pay the families for our room and board.  Our family didn't seem to understand that.  Fortunately we had a little extra cash so Dave and I could pay for everything. I hate to say it but I believe the man of the household really knew how to work the system.  We had to show the family Christian love for the 10 days we were there.  We slept in a bed that was their old clothes covered by sheets.  We made it work.  I wish I had recorded most of this but didn't.

We never needed an alarm clock.  The roosters on our tin roof at 3am were enough to wake and keep us awake..sigh

Dave and I have had 2 years of High School Spanish... our hosts spoke NO English!  They had an older son who would come home from work and would help translate for us.  This was before cel phones and Google translate..😐

We wore out our Spanish dictionary and guide.  Their home seemed to have a revolving door...as kids and people were in and out all the time.  We made friends with a few of the younger kids which made it fun when we were in their home.

We were in the town to do children's programs like VBS, and one Sunday we were to give the entire service at the church.  Dave did a fantastic job of doing a mini sermon.

Glad we went but hopefully some people got something out of our time there.

Overview of the Managua area.

Downtown

Doing kids programs

This is the house we lived in ... the middle house on the right.

At the bottom end of this street is a bar that went on all night long.

Men parked their horses outside it while they partied inside..

Unfortunately I cannot find a whole series of photographs about this place.

Sigh

View of life

Life is really difficult for most of the world.

This young gal would come by each person's house to sell her wares.

This was Grandma to the family we lived with.

Doesn't she have beautiful character lines?

One of the granddaughters that came to visit one day.

This is Jefferson who apparently was taken care of while the parents

were at work.  He was a real sweetie.

Doing an uncomfortable mission trip (physically, mentally and emotionally) really helped set my priorities straight.

Culture sometimes mixes what we think Christianity is all about.  Sometimes it is like "cherry-picking" the Bible.

So many lessons learned, and 2 years later we were back in Nicaragua but in a different setting.

To Be Continued

Always be Grateful

Always be Kind