Updates from Nicaragua

(Becki Sweetman – January 10) We are enjoying our time very much. The food is absolutely wonderful! We are being well fed. Steve and Kim and kids will be joining us for dinner here at the guesthouse tonight. We have been able to spend some time with them including celebrating Kim's birthday Sunday night with a hamburger supper. Their kids have latched onto Tully and Anna and love to see them. The kids helped us paint at the Nehemiah Center today. We have spent the last couple of days painting all of the hall walls (two coats) along with computer help, organizing first aid kits, and scraping varnish off windows. Many things have changed here. They have done more landscaping, and changed the rooms all around. There is a team from Canada there now which is why we are at the guesthouse. Ev said that this guesthouse is a step up and I would agree. We have hot showers and private baths for each room. Our hosts are gracious and kind. Their daughter goes to NCA and speaks like she's from Michigan. We are all staying healthy and look forward to seeing the land bank tomorrow. We were the first group to see a video that the people there made to tell their story with the help of the Luke Society and the Nehemiah Center. The center is a great model for cooperation and is a busy place!

(Becki Sweetman – January 12) We have spent the past two days in a rural area of Nicaragua outside of the town of Jinotepe. The Luke Society has a land bank community there. We drove about an hour outside of town to get there. We had to ride in the pickup, many in the bed of the truck, down incredibly rough roads. Only one flat tire in the two days. The people we were there to assist were each given two acres of land through the Luke Society as their own. They are so proud of this land and will farm to repay the Luke Society. When they repay they receive the deed to the land. We helped they by tying rebar for a community building, clearing the land for that building, and getting their pump up and running so they can have running water. They were patient and kind and very grateful for us. We were also able to be with them as they viewed for the first time a DVD that they made with the help of the Luke Society and the Nehemiah Center. They had filmed about five months ago and were thrilled to see the results! Because they have no electricity, all the equipment was run by the generator brought by Mark Vander Wees, Dave Steinstra, and Steve from the Nehemiah Center. It was a big party with homemade bread (in a brick oven) and punch. As a side note, Tom injured himself while clearing the land and had three stitches at a medical center in Jinotepe. Good thing for the doctors from the Luke Society! He is recovering nicely. We stayed in an old hotel in Jinotepe for the night and then went back out today. On the way back to Managua we stopped at the Messiah market for a time and then went to Tip-Top for supper (like KFC). We head out tomorrow afternoon for Leon for two days. While there we will work with a prison ministry, attend a Spanish church, and go to the beach. Then back to Managua for our final evening.

(Ev Holtrop – January 12) We've had a good and safe trip here. We've had a really busy week. We started out at the Nehemiah center with some painting and cleaning -- Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday we went out the country side with the Luke Society to their land bank outside of a small town south of Managua. Five families have settled here, each being loaned about 3 acres of farm land. We worked along side of the families, some of us clearing land, and others of us creating rebar supports for concrete columns. In the evening, we went for a walk around the community to see the new land owners' houses. Afterwards, we watched footage of their community's development. Interestingly enough, oxen delivered the supplies both days. Today, some of us continued working with the rebar, while the others helped with a well. One family now has running water, as we added a holding tank and a check (one-way) valve for a smooth water flow up the hill. (The well is located in a small ravine.) Despite living conditions that we would consider unacceptable, they are very happy and content. After a delicious lunch, we headed to a local market, then had an American meal at a TipTop (Fried Chicken Restaurant...like a cheap KFC). Jean led devotions tonight, and since then we have been relaxing and Ev and Faith have been riding the struggle bus trying to get this email out... good night for now!!