This is our first Christmas outside of the U.S.A since we can remember. While we miss our family and some of our traditions back home it has been exciting to celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ abroad. Instead of snow we have rain, instead of presents there are firecrackers! Familiar Christmas carols in Spanish and Villacion Navidenos we never heard before. Let all the world rejoice! A savior is born, and His name is Jesus!
Here our some of our photos of December in Nicaragua. These displays were downtown Managua, a sight to see! A short video is included!
There is a change in our method of working with businesses in Nicaragua than when we first arrived in 2016. It is easier to explain this difference with a story! Five years ago I started working with the Association of Christian Entrepreneurs of Nicaragua, (AECNIC). An association started out of the Nehemiah Center. You can read about this association in older blog posts. (I don't know why the pictures do not show up anymore, blogger website problem?) I spent a lot of time mentoring the business owners who made up the board of directors for the association. Hours were spent helping these individuals get a stronger accounting system and flow process in their businesses. I loved working with all of them. Their positive attitudes and faith was, and still is, inspiring today. In 2018, Nicaragua went through its political crisis. During those months many businesses were hurting and barely surviving. I met with Erica* to see how she was coping with the crisis we were all living through....
July has always been very special to Jari and I. We celebrate our wedding anniversary and our birthdays! However, we have an extra special reason for celebrations this month. We have heard good news that our family will be growing! What a great anniversary gift! We decided to take a few weeks off of ministry work this month to celebrate, far from home. I will not be able to give specific details here on this blog about how our family is growing, but it is something we have been praying about for many years. Thanks be to God, He is answering our prayers. So, please celebrate this special month with us! There is another Discipling Marketplace Leaders global summit scheduled to take place in November, in Ethiopia! However we will not be able to participate this time. We are sad we wont be able to see our friends and fellow workers, but we are so excited for what is to come. This was our time at the last DML summit in T anzania . I love you Jari. I am excited to see where ...
Jari and I arrived back home in Jinotega late December, just before Christmas time. We took a few days to rest and recover from our travels and a small cold that traveling brings. We couldn't wait to go and see the field of beans now that it was almost harvest time. Up to this point, we only saw the field in pictures, but now it was time to be present and see the beans flow in the wind! The plants did not disappoint us in person. They were healthy, bushy with big leaves and plenty of bean pods maturing to a nice deep reddish color. Some of the plants leaves had started to turn yellow as they were reaching maturity and dying off, putting the last of their nutrients into the beans. Darwin had done a great job caring for the plants and now he was preparing for the harvest, but when would they be ready? The answer was, wait. A test of patience. In the first week of January we saw large portions of the bean field dying off. Since this was Darwin's first time planting beans he wasn...
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