A Casual Sunday

Today for the first time in over a year, we did not attend church as a family.  We've been busy with packing to move this week, worn out from the intense heat and humidity and well, we were just plain tired.  So, we had a very casual morning and everyone woke up when they wanted to.   Noel was the first to come into our room.  Every morning he spends time with the dogs.   This morning he could spend more time with them because he was not in a hurry to rush off to school or in this case, to church.

Sunday mornings, breakfast is cereal; it's fast and easy.  Today was no different, except that each boy could eat whenever he awoke.  Nicaraguenses are not prone to sleep late.  I think I heard all of them awake by 8:00.   

As for Preston and myself, we had been up for hours sitting in bed reading.  Preston was typing fast on his computer as God was downloading to him some "good stuff" with regards to his  morning's bible reading.

After breakfast, Freddy came into our room with his Bible and journal.   He likes to be close to us.  Out of all the boys, he is the one who hangs around us the most.

I decided to look around the house to see what the other boys were up to.  They were sitting in a bedroom.  Israel was laying on his bed listening to "Hosanna" from his cell with his Bible in his lap.  Pablo was reading from his Bible and also Noel.

The fact that we did not have to remind the boys about using the morning for some quiet time of reading and reflection says a lot about the boys desire to learn more about God through His Word or their respect to adhere to the daily schedule that we have established for the boys.  Whatever the reason, I count it as a miracle either way; progress is showing in many areas of their lives.

After about hour, we all met in our room for a few minutes of discussion about "controlling our thoughts and renewing our minds".   We also talked about not allowing their own thoughts to condemn them for not being in church today, or the words of other people.    We've seen firsthand "well-meaning" people try to make another person feel guilty for not attending church on a given Sunday.  There is a lot of bad teachings that have taken place in the churches that causes many, many people to live under condemnation.  This condemnation usually results in a person to stop attending church altogether.  

Since the boys are back in school, we have not had a morning together that was casual and laid back.   We have missed our morning time of devotion and prayer.   We still meet with Pablo and Freddy in the mornings, but I miss the whole gathering of all of us.  This morning was very special and I'm sure that it pleased the Lord.

They Came Looking For Him

Last Thursday, I (Sandra) stopped by San Sebastian School to let Israel and Noel know that I was in town and to meet me after school. The school was empty except for the director, associate director and the boys' teacher.  The classes had been dismissed early. 

I chatted for a few minutes with the ladies.  They told me that they were so proud of the boys and the progress with their studies.  They said that the boys were extremely polite and well behaved.  It was a joy to have them in their school.

Well, as a proud "mama", I walked out of the school with my head high and spirits soaring.   I went on to do my errands and would catch up with the boys when I got home.

Later that evening, Preston spoke to me that Israel had told him he "did not want to go back to school".   I was reeling because this announcement was so unexpected after what I had been told earlier in the day by the teaching staff.   I went to Israel and asked him if something had happened at school with the kids to make him not want to continue with school.  He said no.  I had my doubts, but I told him that if he wanted to take the next day off from school, we would allow it and we would talk in the morning.

Israel was with us the next morning for devotions since he stayed home from school.   He was quiet, which is nothing unusual for him; but he was sad.  He is a very sensitive young man and gets his feelings hurt easily.  I asked him if the kids at school were being cruel to him, or if they had said something that hurt his feelings.  He would not admit to anything, but he did say that he did not like the kids.  This I knew was not true; and I also knew that I would not get the real answer from him.  

So, I tried to talk to him from another angle.  I spoke to him about how sometimes kids can say things that may not be kind or they may be jealous because a lot of attention had been shown him lately by the teachers.  We encouraged him to not let anyone rob him of the opportunity of completing school this year. We spoke to him of the importance of getting his promotion certificate so that we could pursue finding a school next year that would accept him in order for him to hopefully complete "high school".    We talked about all the roadblocks that would be put up to get him to quit, to not realize his dream of getting his diploma, and to not achieve the ability to be able to work at a job that would allow him to take care of himself and his future family.   The discussion ended by asking him to think over what we talked about and give us an answer in a couple of days.

During the mid morning, Noel came home from school early and he was accompanied by his teacher and 2 classmates.  The teacher wanted to talk to us and to Israel.  She was concerned about Israel not being in school.  Noel had told her about Israel's comment the night before.  She had talked with the class and was able to find out what had happened to prompt Israel's announcement.  The class received a reprimand about their behavior.  She was deeply concerned that Israel might not return to school.  

Thus, they came looking for him.   They, the teacher and 2 classmates, road the bus through town and out to our home.   They came to talk to Israel and ask him to come back to school.   She, too, encouraged him to NEVER give up.   It meant a lot to Israel that there are people in his life that care about him.  It meant a lot to Preston and I that the school cares so much about Israel that they would come to OUR home to talk. We were not asked to come to the school for a discussion, they came to us.

Israel went back to school today.  He came home excited because he had aced his exam. Exams are in full swing at school prior to the first report card.  This young man is in his first year of school, taking a combined 5th and 6th grade and he is almost 19 years old.  He is 5 years older than the next oldest student.  He is a young man of courage, struggling some days to keep up with his peers academically.  He deserves to be celebrated.

Semana Santa

Semana Santa, that's what the Nicaraguenses call it.   We call it Holy Week.  It's the one week out of the year that vertually everything comes to a halt in Nicaragua.  The shops are locked up tight, the sidewalks are not very crowded and the traffic headed west - well, that is another story.  Everyone and their mother, grandmother, aunt, brother, sister, cousin are all crammed into buses, loaded on to pickup trucks, flat bed trucks and headed west, 12 kilometers or 7 miles to the Pacific Ocean.

Every vehicle was loaded down with people, plastic chairs, picnic stuff, and rolled foam to sleep on.  All in anticipation of enjoying the sun and surf.  Everyone is laughing, waving and calling out to friends.  Some have started to celebrate early with a glass in hand of clear "liquid" or a beer.  The traffic jam today reminded me of Spring Break in Ft. Lauderdale.   There are 2 tiny beach communities that will be packed with the locals from surrounding towns and maybe the mountains.  It's tradition here to head for the beach this particular week and especially Thursday through Sunday.

This prompts me to ask the question:  What is the significance of Semana Santa if everyone is at the beach?

In the past, we asked that question to the boys that have lived with us to make sure they knew the meaning of Easter.  Well, we found out they had never heard of "Easter".  When we explained the meaning of Easter, we were corrected "oh, you mean Semana Santa".  The answers we received were very shocking and that is when we knew we had our work cut out for us in sharing the gospel and it's message for everyone's life.

The answer we received was:  Semana Santa, that is when we get a week off school and we get to go to the beach.  

Never in a million years would we have thought that people living in an evangelized nation would not know the significance of Semana Santa or Holy Week.

That one answer gave us a good understanding of what little our boys knew about the Gospel and the task we had before us.

It's been a year since we received that answer and we are continuing to teach daily the significance of Christ's sacrifice.

We are all for a good time at the beach, the people because of their hard work have earned the time to relax. So many of the families have little opportunity to vacation.  I pray that they will take a few moments and reflect on the reason for "this season".  

Jesus, the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, gave His all so that we would have it all - abundant life and life ever lasting.

It Finally Happened......

It was bound to happen, it was only a matter of time.  At 1a.m. CST this morning in Leon, Nicaragua, I (Sandra) was stung by a scorpion on my toe AND I live to tell about it.  Ha-Ha.  The good news is that the scorpions that reside in our home are not deadly.  The bad news is it burns like ...........Yes, that is the only way I can describe it to you; after the initial sting, the affected area burns.  Imagine spilling a pan of hot boiling oil on to your foot.  That is the sensation I have been feeling for the last several hours.

Let me start at the beginning.  I went to bed at 11pm but was unable to sleep.  My husband is a snoring man and last night he chose to be especially noisy.  It was also a very hot night and Mordecai decided he wanted to sleep next to his mama.  No amount of talking to either Preston or Mordecai worked to get them to change positions in order to give me some relief from the noise and the heat.    I tossed and turned and punched the pillow many times.  At 1a.m., I was still awake and needed to use the bathroom.  As I got up, I was whining to PT that I would love to see his behavior the next day if he ever did not get a good nights sleep.  It was more for my benefit of relieving the frustration than his.   I  NUNCA (never) turn on the lights when I head to the bathroom, so last night was no exception.  

The following details may be a little graphic for some of you, so you have been forewarned.  I went into the bathroom and backed myself up to the toilet (we do have a modern home with a modern toilet); but in the dark, that's how I approach the toilet.  As I was about to sit down, something stung my left foot.  I knew instantly what it was.  In my shock and fear, I let out an expletive.  When I think back, it was a word that I usually did not use years ago before my "holier" days.  At this moment there was nothing holy about what I was going through.  Now, I know that as a Christian missionary this is behavior most unbecoming. However, before you get all righteous on me, I wonder what might have come out of your mouths had you been in the same situation.   So, no judgements, please!

In the mean time, I had jumped up from the toilet and ran towards the light switch.  PT and I seemed to get to the switch about the same time, because I think the expletive got his attention.  I was yelling, "there is a scorpion over there".  He ran over and stomped it with his shoe.  This was amazing because he never wears shoes in the house, unlike me, I refuse to go barefoot - our floors are always dirty no matter how many times a day they are swept or mopped.  Friends, it's Nicaragua!  And at this time of year, it is horribly dirty.  By the way, the dirt spot in the photo is not my dirty floor, it was from where PT had stomped the scorpion.  I just wanted to clarify that I am not a sloppy housekeeper.  

PT was worried and started asking me questions, there were many and I can't remember them all because the pain was really bad.  I know that he was concerned about whether we had something in the house to counterattack the side affects.  "Uh, not that I was aware of".  He then remembered that our wonderful new friend Steve Jacks had left a bunch of stuff with us after his trip last year.  PT rummaged through the stash and found a stick of benedryl.  I think a person is suppose to ingest benedryl, not rub it on yourself when you are stung by a scorpion.  But, I was willing to try anything.

After the commotion died down, neither of us went back to bed.   PT watched me and I monitored my breathing to see if there would be any adverse reactions to the sting.    If any problems developed, we had stored in our cell phone, the names of 2 taxi drivers who worked at night that we could call to take me to the hospital.  We went to our desk and got on the computers to pass time.  PT worked a couple of jigsaw puzzles online.  I did a Google search about scorpions to get some information about what I might expect. During the search, there was a story about scorpions in Nicaragua, so I looked it up.  I spent the next 2 hours reading a blog written by a couple from Seattle who left their jobs and moved to Granada, Nicaragua for a year to experience life in a poverty nation.   The husband had been stung by a scorpion; that was why it had gotten mentioned in my search.  The blog of their year of adventure was very interesting and helped pass the time.

During all the commotion, the  dogs had gotten disturbed and at first were bewildered.  They sat in the office with us for awhile until Mordecai decided he had had enough and began whining; pitiful whining.  He did not want to be up, he wanted to go back to bed.  Well, no one was stopping him.   But, where we go, he goes and he was not happy.  I finally heard enough and led him back to bed.

At 3a.m., PT and I determined that there was no danger to my health and we decided to go back to bed.  As we laid in bed holding hands, I told him that if I didn't wake up in the morning, I wanted him to know that I loved him.  He barely heard that because he had started to fall asleep.  How do I know?   He was beginning to snore again.  My thoughts wondered where that scorpion had been living prior to being next to the toilet. Had he been in our closet, in our dresser drawers, in the clothes hamper, or maybe in the towels stored in the bathroom?  He had not magically appeared, he had been living somewhere.  I also thought about Esther. She had been sleeping on the floor because it is cooler for her than on our bed; what if she had gotten stung.  Or the boys, how many scorpions are living in their room?  

This morning, during our devotion time, I shared the story with the boys.  Freddy said he had heard us and Israel said he had seen the lights on in our room.  We reminded ourselves to take time to search before sticking our hands into a drawer to get out clothing.  Turn our shoes over and tap them before putting them on.  Check the bedding before climbing into bed each night.  Precautions that we have taken for granted, but no more for me.  

I am very grateful to God for keeping me safe by not having to experience any side affects from the sting of the scorpion.  My toe still hurts, a lot, but I can endure it.   It is a new day in Nicaragua and we have many things to do as we continue on with our adventure of living in Nica.

Morning Devotions

For Preston and myself, one of our favorite times of the day is the early morning time we spend with the boys in devotions.  Right now, we have 2 boys joining us since the other 2 have already left for school.  We recently made the decision to have devotions after breakfast because Pablo is not a morning person and it takes him some time to function after waking up.  After hearing the 2 boys laughing during breakfast, we knew we had made the right decision; Pablo was fully awake and able to participate in the discussions.

We use the devotional "Jesus Calling" each morning.  It's practical and thought provoking.  We all are stretched at times to take a look at how we might "tweak" our responses to every day life situations and what it means to include God in our decisions and life experiences.

The devotional time is usually held in our room or office.  Today, since I was still sitting in bed finishing my prayers when the boys arrived, Freddy hopped up next to me.  Then Pablo jumped up alongside of him; so why not stay there and get started!

My Christmas present to me was a Kindle. This is one of the greatest inventions known to man.  We had to give away our library before leaving the states and PT and I have missed our books.  So, the Kindle is the next best thing; maybe even better. We have the Kindle app installed on all our computers, no matter where we are, we can continue reading a book that was already in progress.  (just a little plug for Amazon's Kindle) Most all the books that are on my Kindle have been free, that's the way I shop for books.  But, I do make exceptions and occasionally purchase a book.  "Jesus Calling" was one of the exceptions and we have it in both English and Spanish.

While reading todays devotion in Spanish, Freddy's voice was changing.  I looked at him, studied him hard to see what was causing the voice change.  When he finished, I asked him "what in the reading had touched him".  He grabbed up the Kindle again, turned to the English edition and began to read the entire devotion out loud in English.  As he kept reading, his voice was getting thick and broken.  At the end he took a swipe at his eyes with the back of his hand.  Something in the devotion had really touched his heart.  

For weeks, we have been talking to the boys about the power of God within each of them. The devotion today talked about God's strength and trust.  But the thing that got to Freddy was this: "I am your Strength and Song.....Remember that I am your Song.  I want you to share My Joy, living in conscious awareness of My Presence.  Rejoice as we journey together toward heaven; join Me in singing My Song."    After reading, Freddy said to me "WOW, I am His Song".   He had twisted the wording backwards, but the Holy Spirit had very clearly sent Freddy a message that he needed to hear.  
Freddy was God's Song.  

Think of it, someone had written a devotional with a message and the Holy Spirit used the message and "tweaked" it in a way that it spoke to Freddy.  Almost like a form of dyslexia in print.

When the boys receive revelation of a spiritual truth, it makes our hearts soar.  It doesn't get any better than it did this morning.  I pray that Freddy never ever forgets that he is God's Song.

School, a First for One Young Man!

We are in the beginning weeks of the Nica school year with all the boys attending.  Schools are tightening their policies of appropriate criteria to enter school.  Most and I mean most of the males of Nicaragua are uneducated.  Young men either drop out of school in their 3rd year or don’t attend at all.   If you are a male and decide you want to continue pursuing your education after a time away from school, then it is almost impossible because of the age restrictions imposed by the schools and proof of the last grade completed.  Getting records of the last grade completed can be difficult because generally they never completed a grade.  Also, if they move around a lot, the records get lost or they are too far away to go back to the community to retrieve records.

Having said all that, we are so excited that 2 of our boys are in school, Noel and Israel.  San Sebastian is a small privately funded school that was an answer to our prayers.  This is Noel's 2nd year at the school  He was several years out of school before we discovered San Sebastian.   Israel had only been to school 1 year in his brief life and did not complete that year.   We are very grateful to the director of San Sebastian for agreeing to allow Israel to attend school. 

Both boys are combining the 5th and 6th grades into one year of study.  When they complete this year of school, they will have an official "promotion certificate" that should allow them to proceed to the secondary (high school) level.  

Noel and Israel have birthdays in July and they will be 19 years old.  Think of it, 19 years old and studying at the 5th & 6th grade level.  I am so very proud of the boys for their courage to be in a classroom of younger students.  This privilege also speaks of the character of the boys and the trust that the director has in them to conduct themselves in a manner that is not threatening to the other students.

Freddy is returning to Jose Madrid for his 8th year of study.  He is 2 years older than his peers, but that is not a critical age difference.   He has 4 years remaining before he gets his final graduation certificate.  Freddy has a problem with staying focused.  This could be a result of poor nutrition in his earlier years or ADD.  We are not trained to make a proper evaluation.

Once we received the decision from the school director to allow Israel to attend school, we had the task of shopping for school supplies at the last minute.  We want to especially thank Randy, Steve and Moni for their generous donations which allowed us to get all that was needed to prepare the boys for school.  The funds also helped to pay the bus fare for the first month and purchase a pair of prescription glasses. Israel has been having vision problems.   I noticed that he had difficulty reading when we were having English classes.  He could not read anything unless it was close to him.  The donations  allowed us to have his eyes tested and purchase the needed glasses.   

Shopping was quite an adventure; these boys have definite ideas on how they want to look.  If you have ready any of our past posts, appearance to a Nicaragua male teen is their top priority.   The boys were frantically trying to find pants that  had tapered legs, they did not want to accept the fact that they were limited to the type of shirts and pants they were allowed to wear.  All students in Nicaragua are required to wear the basic white shirt and blue pants or skirt.  Each boy was bought 3 shirts, 2 pants, shoes, underwear, socks, backpacks and school supplies.   (side note: The other day when I was doing laundry, I was joking with the boys that they never had so many pair of underpants before)

                                                   

We had to stay on our toes because the vendors want to take advantage of the gringos.  Everything gets priced to us far above what a local would buy it for.  When the boys are with us, they help to talk the price down to a more manageable sum.  There are no dressing rooms in the market, so usually the boys are bare chested in the aisles trying on shirts.  Or they might be behind a blanket held up by a worker so they try on pants in private.  How many workers do you think sneak peaks at the boys?  Just wondering......

The boys are very happy to be going to school. They understand that it is crucial to their future to get an education.  All the boys had been studying English as part of our vocational program for the last 8 months and are doing very well.  The boys understand English quite well and Israel is especially good in speaking the language.  There is a world of possibilities that await them and they are on their way to discovering them.  Homework is sometimes overwhelming for them because they are so far behind in their years of study compared to their peers.

There was an election for class president at San Sebastian and ended in a tie.  The teacher broke that tie by announcing her choice for president - our Israel.  She said she felt that he would be the most responsible of the two.  Another proud moment for us.  

Friends, donors and partners, we can't begin to describe the difference that your support has made in the lives of our boys.  They are proof that anyone can turn their lives around with the loving support of others. And those of you who have blessed us with your visits, you have seen first hand the exceptional boys that they are.  They are loving, kind, desiring to grow into Godly men and forever grateful that you care enough to help them.

If you want to continue to support them, our donation page is safe and easy to use.    So much of their life is about study now, but as teenagers they need other things to occupy their minds and time.  They each have musical talent and desire to continue with lessons that have been halted indefinitely due to funding. Noel plays the drums, Israel the piano and Freddy the saxophone.  Please keep in mind that we strive to use every dollar wisely.  Using your debit and credit cards cost us in processing fees. Would you consider making your donation by check draft?     https://www.egivingsystems.org/37718

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all you do for them.  

Esther and Mordecai

Esther and Mordecai were born for such a time as this.  They aren't just average dogs. God had a huge purpose in mind for them when they were born.  It's time we told the story of how they came to be,  their importance in our lives and the difference they make in the work of the ministry.  They play a part in what we do here in the care of the orphaned and abandoned boys of Nicaragua.

In June, 2011 we were hosting meals for the visiting Book of Hope mission group.  One particular day,  a group from North Carolina was also stopping by for the first time to introduce themselves and see our ministry operations.   A total of 38 people would be in our home for lunch that day; so off to the local mercado we went for last minute supplies.   We had a little over 1 1/2 hours to shop and get back home before our guests arrived.  

This is where the differences between us as a married couple begin to show up.  I'm detailed and usually on a schedule to accomplish my list of to-do items.   My husband is casual and enjoys the sites.  I send him off in a direction to retrieve one item and when he comes back all I get from him is excitement and a lot of chatter.  He's saying something about puppies;  while not really listening, I respond "oh that's nice" and continue with my shopping.  On the way out of the mercado, I had one last stop to buy tortillas.  While I'm standing next to the vendor, counting out tortillas along with her, Preston is behind me and says, "there they are".   By "they", he is referring to the puppies.  I collect my tortillas and turn around to look at what has got him so excited.  Big mistake, BIG!  The vendors here know how to reel you in when you give them half a nod.  As quick as a blink, I was holding one puppy and Preston was holding another.  Preston asks "Cuanto cuesta?" The vendor replies back - 300 cordobas, each (less than $15 US).

For a year, Preston had been wanting a dog but the favorite price around here is $100 to gringos.  Also, my practical side always had reasons why we shouldn't have one and up to that time, I always won out.  I'm telling you the truth when I say that all my common sense left me at that moment.  I was bent on getting home, on time to finish the last preparations for lunch and did not give one thought to practicality.  As Preston looked at me with his "own puppy dog eyes", I said "Whatever".  And it was done, just like that!  We hurried out with 2 Dalmatian puppies, 4 weeks old and headed home.

Arriving home, we were in overdrive.  We had to find a container to house the puppies, put them in a safe place out of human traffic, get a small bowl of water, and since we had no newspapers, old towels would do as a bedding. Next, we had to finish preparing lunch.

Throughout the day, the puppies would cry out and various guests would go back to see what the fuss was all about.  It was not until after supper, that evening, before I would find the time to check in on the puppies. As I sat down next to the trunk where the puppies laid,  I found myself thinking about all the work involved in training puppies, the expense of food, shots, vet bills, loss of freedom to go whenever and wherever we wanted.  What possessed me to agree to buying puppies?  Most months we couldn't feed ourselves adequately and now we had puppies that would soon be full-grown dogs to feed.  Panic doesn't even begin to describe the emotions that were hitting me.  I sat on the floor, petting the little things and tears fell down my cheeks as I repeated again to my husband, "How are we going to take care of them?"

The next morning, the Book of Hope group came by for breakfast.  One of the women, immediately took me aside to talk.  She started by saying that she and her husband love to support missionaries in unusual ways.   They would like to support our dogs; take care of everything for them.   I was overwhelmed.  All the panic and anxiety I had felt through the night and into the morning was gone in an instant.  This kind woman named Terry, whom I had never met before, she and her husband (whom we still have not met) were going to be "padrinos" to our puppies.  The term padrino is Spanish for godparents.   Every single month, there is a draft made to our ministry account for the total care of the dogs.

This testimony speaks to us every day about the faithfulness of God to provide.  Even if we make decisions which might be questionable, God in his goodness has a solution.  When we think back to the events, it was predestined for Terry to be on that exact mission trip in order to be used by God.  How many people would ever think about supporting dogs?  And God knew that this woman and her husband were the perfect couple to meet our need.

Naming our dogs was easy because of the assignment on their lives.  Esther and Mordecai were indeed born for such a time as this.  These dogs are an important part of our ministry.  The boys that we take care of have a lot of emotional issues.  They have walls so high and thick that they have built around themselves, at times it is impossible to penetrate;  but boys will relate to dogs.






We have picture upon picture carved into our minds and hearts of the number of times that each boy has had moments when it was just them and one or both of the dogs.  We have one boy with OCD behavior that will bury his face into the dogs neck.   The boys love on the dogs from when they get up in the morning and each will in his own way tell the dogs good night.   These dogs are very therapeutic for the boys.

Every morning, we awake to sloppy wet kisses and the unconditional love of our dogs.  Esther and Mordecai are a blessing to us in so many ways.  When we have days that are difficult and lonely, they are there to heal us.   When we get to stressing about the lack of funds to pay the necessary bills, all we have to do is look at the dogs laying at our feet and we know that all will be well; we have proof of God's provision.

They are 22 months old, Esther weighs about 50 lbs. and Mordecai, the "magnificent specimen" that the Vet calls him, weighs in at about 95lbs.  We can't get an accurate weight because Mordecai's feet hang off the Vet's scale.

The "kids" as we all refer to them, are always close by; trailing either Preston or myself (Sandra).  They love to sleep under my desk when I am working.  They take turns switching out as to whom will

occupy the space.  Today for the first time, they shared the space which left me having to be a foot away from the desk top so that my chair wheels would not run over their feet. 

                                  

It was a very good day at the mercado back in June 2011, Esther and Mordecai are 2 very privileged dogs that God had chosen to make a difference in all of our lives. 

Israel's Going to School

There are no words to describe our excitement today.  Israel is able to go to school.  This is a HUGE event for him.  He has attended one semester of school in his whole life, but was not able to complete that grade because of 100 cordobas.  100 cordobas is equal to $4.15. The facility where he use to live did not give him the 100 cordobas to complete the course. 100 cordobas can be a big expense for people here; however,  they have no problem finding money for candy, sodas and countless hours of cell phone minutes.  Sometimes, education is not important to many people of this nation.

Israel will be 19 years old in July.   He will go to a small private school with Noel starting on Monday which is the first day of the school year.   The director of the school has agreed to allow Israel to attend.  She knows first hand how well Noel did in school last year and that he is a well behaved young man.  She has as much confidence in Israel as she put into Noel when she gave her consent for him to attend school.

The boys will be studying 5th and 6th grade in a combined study for the year.  Imagine being 18 1/2 years old attending primary school with kids half your age.  There are a few other youths that are a little older than the acceptable age but our boys will definitely be the oldest in school.  This school is for the primary years only.  They do not educate students beyond the 6th grade.

The benefit of the boys going to this school is that they will have a report card showing that they completed the 6th grade.  This important document should allow them to attend the secondary (high) school next year. Schools are getting more strict about the age requirement to attend school.  We can certainly understand their concern for the students.  There could be social and security issues with having kids 5 plus years older than the majority of the students attending school.  There are special secondary schools that have programs where the students take 2 grades in one year.  This is our dream for the boys after they complete primary school.

The boys know that education is important. Their chances for meaningful employment soars when they can list on the application that they have completed high school.    Israel will excel in school.  He has been teaching himself how to read, write and speak English.  His thirst for knowledge and education drives him to spend hours each day in study.  The happiness within him is so apparent.  He will be able to participate in a normal ritual - attending school.  

Israel was in prayer mode when he was at the meeting with the director.  He was continually and quietly Praising God during the interview.   And, God was faithful to answer his prayers.






We need help with the expense of preparing Israel for school.  Would you consider donating to buy his shoes, school uniforms and school supplies?   He will also be riding the bus to school everyday which will cost $7 a month.   Our donation site is easy and secure.  https://www.egivingsystems.org/37718

A Typical Day with Freddy

Today started just like all the others, breakfast and then group devotion.   We like to gather in our room, it's quiet, comfortable and intimate. The boys bring in chairs if they don't want to sit in the rockers, I'm on the bed along with the dogs who are taking their early morning nap, and Preston is seated at the desk.

Noel has recently chosen to be the reader of the daily devotion.  We are reading from the book "Jesus Calling".  The message of the devotions in this book speak of experiencing God's presence.   So, Noel begins to read the devotion and I follow along the best I can because it is read in Spanish.  I scan the others in the room and see that Freddy may not be paying attention to the reading.  I stay quiet and watch Freddy.  Now, to be fair, if I'm watching Freddy, then possibly I might not be paying attention as well as I should to what is being read.  But, Freddy has really got my interest.  As I write this I have to laugh because it is so comical.



The reason for Freddy's lack of attention and his most recent obsession is, Preston's feet. Preston has his feet propped up on the desk and Freddy is poking them.  He pokes here, he pokes there, and Preston is letting him.  This is a surprise because Preston usually doesn't let anyone touch his feet, he is horribly ticklish. Freddy is very intent on poking and looking at Preston's feet.  Next, he measures the size of Preston's feet with his hand.  Remember, this is all going on during the reading of the daily devotion.

After the reading, it gets to be too much for Freddy and he has to ask questions of Preston about his feet; how big are they, why do you have these bumps, do they hurt?  Forget about the discussion that usually takes place after the reading, today that is not on the radar screen.  The feet is what has the attention now by all the others.

We go from discussing Preston's feet, to discussing Shaq's feet (you know, the basketball player), to who can stand up and touch their hands to the floor without bending their knees.  Somewhere along the way, we have completely lost sight of our morning purpose and this seems to be the course that we yielded to.

We did get back to the devotion and it's meaning in each of our lives, but today I trust that we needed to let things flow in a different direction.  It was a time to allow the boys to just be boys.  To be silly and be comfortable with openly expressing themselves.  Sitting in a family environment and experiencing the everyday silly things of life is a fairly new concept for the boys.  For so many years they were never allowed to be children.  And today, it was important for them to just BE.

Earlier in the week, I was talking to Israel about Freddy and his need to always be touching something, to be checking out something, to be moving something.  Is it curiosity or ADD?  I haven't got it figured out yet; but this story is just a little glimpse into life with Freddy.

While I'm sitting at the desk trying to get my computer up and running again after a major overhaul. Freddy walks into the room shirtless but he does have a shirt in his hands.   He walks over to the TV room and stands in front of the TV.  He takes one hand and wipes all the dust off the top and back of the TV.  Then he takes the shirt and spreads it out on top of the TV;  it's his Barcelona shirt.  I look at him, laugh heartily and I ask him "Should we pray over the game today,  too?"  "YEAH", he says.  

Today is a big game being televised.  What game you ask?  The only game that matters in this house with the boys - SOCCER.  This is the Barcelona versus Real Madrid game.  Our boys are on the tail end of their summer break from school so this is a perfect way to wrap up summer vacation.









Freddy is very affection with the dogs.  Every morning and evening he likes to come into our room and nuzzle the dogs; kissing them, stroking them and talking to them.  A couple of months ago, I remember Freddy telling Mordecai "you  sure are ugly, but I love you so much".






A family of several kids might also have a "Freddy" in amongst them.  He's the one who is a free spirit.  He's the one that keeps you laughing.  He's the one that causes you to scratch your head and ask yourself - where's he coming from with that nonsense or that idea.  He's the one that will have you exasperated one minute and loving him to pieces the next.  He's the one that brings us great joy.

Everything

Are we the only people on earth that ask the question from time to time "are we making a difference"?  Since becoming missionaries 5 years ago, we have asked ourselves this question occasionally, especially in the year 2012.  We minister to a culture different from the one we have known all of our lives.  We are still trying to learn the Spanish language and we think that we experience a great deal of misunderstanding when we try to communicate with the boys in our care.

Everyone who has ever raised teenagers knows that there is a lot of repetition in regards to instruction and correction.  You tell a teen the meaning of a rule, procedure or responsibility and it seems that within 1 hour you are having to repeat yourself because of their lack to carry out the verbal instruction.  Did they misunderstand you; or are they being teenagers and turning a deaf ear; or are they being teenagers by pushing the limits to see how much they can get away with?  At any given time we are probably dealing with at least one of the these scenarios.  We scratch our heads continually, telling ourselves "they don't get it, they don't understand what we are trying to do here".

This week has been especially difficult, one of the hardest we have endured in our almost 3 years living in Nicaragua.  We have lived over a week with little to no water.  That's another story for another time. Anyway, we have had to repeat instruction to the boys in how to live during this period of no water.  Repeat, repeat, REPEAT and still no change in behavior.   So, Thursday afternoon we had a very short meeting with the boys, told them what we expected of them and they had until Friday morning to make some decisions.  

On Friday morning, we had another very short meeting talking to the group as a whole and then had each boy come into our office for a private meeting.   Each boy shared his thoughts and asked questions about anything they wanted to talk about.  We are on different levels of being able to communicate with each one because of the knowledge of English in each boy and our knowledge of Spanish.   With our language skills and the use of Google translation and a Spanish dictionary, we were able to talk without using an el traductor (translator).  

It was 3 hours of intense communication and a freedom to share from their hearts.  Every other time, we have always had group meetings and there was never much input from the boys.  Having one on one private time seemed to really work, or it was finally time to open up.  The other factor that may be responsible for the boys to open up, is the vulnerability from us.  We share with them our struggles, past, way past and present.  And we tell them, when we mess up, that we are sorry and we were wrong. 

Each boy shared what this program means to them and what they wanted to accomplish from it.  One boy shared his disappointments and another shared the deep desire for his life.  Two boys shared their gratitude for the opportunity that we are giving them.  One boy shared he'd be dead on the streets if he was not here with us.  One boy said "where I lived before, I worked hard ALL the time and they gave me nothing. Here I work very little and you give me everything. " 

That statement blew us away.   EVERYTHING!  What a word.  Everything, that can mean a lot of things: food, clothes, warm bed, hair cuts, medical, instruction, correction, discipline, fun and love.  It felt good to hear that word - everything.  

Partners and prayer warriors be informed, the boys appreciate what you do for them.  They know where the money comes from,    You!   They know where the prayers come from.  We tell them that we can do nothing without people covering us in prayer.   Together we are making a difference.   As teenagers they may not express it often or in ways that show, but the gratitude is in their thoughts and hearts.   They have told us so!!

Thank you all for what you do.   And, would you consider telling your friends?  We need more people to join with us.  The material and physical needs are many in our Nica family and we are underfunded for what has to be done.  Every dollar, and I mean "a dollar" has great power down here in Nicaragua. https://www.egivingsystems.org/37718