Satisfied Wages for Nicaragua

 January 12 - 15 we harvested our third crop of beans! This time we earned a profit, despite a flooded field then a drought for the last part of the growing cycle!  Jari enjoying our progress The oppertunity came up for us to be able to plant a whole manzana (1.7 acres) of land for free! A friend loaned us some land he was not using while waiting to start some construction. We planned on planting corn, because we did not have personal experience with some of the varieties we have available for farmers in our program. However, as the rains for the second planting cycle delayed, we needed to change our crop options. Corn requires a lot of water, and the growing season is longer, around 100 days. In average years the rains would start in September, but October was already starting, and there was still no rain! We called an irrigation company for an assessment of the well on the property. They said the well was shallow, and they warned us with the current lack of rainfall we could not expe

The week in between Christmas and New Year was always a traditional vacation time for me. I would get the week off when I used to work in the tool and die shops as a young man. This is when the car factories would shut down production and so we would also get the week off in the die shops. When I moved to office work in finance, I would save vacations days to carry on this work tradition. Then I gave my life to God, and the vacation time had a better meaning for me. It was always about family time. I would visit my grandma, aunts, hangout with cousins, good times just being together. In the last few years here in Jinotega, I have not been able , or perhaps even forgot about my traditional vacation week. I am always working in our business/ministry and preparing for the next month! Until this year! I am tired, and so I took the week off, like I used to! Signage to Oscar's Rosquilla shop I visited my friend pastor Oscar in Somoto. He showed us his new location for his cajeta making b

I think this is my first blog about baptisms! There have been a good amount of baptisms happening around us since we arrived to Nicaragua, I've just never written about the event. Our first Nicaraguan baptisms happened in a church we congregated at in Managua back in 2017. Then a few more over the years. This time, these baptisms felt a little different, they were done in the mountains here in Jinotega, with a lot of men being baptized. We have a shortage of men giving their lives to Christ in Nicaragua. This is evident in the society and the Nicaraguan church. Many events we used to put on and participate in at the Nehemiah Center where attended mostly by women. Especially when it concerned family themed events. This always made me ask the question of, where our the men? How do I get expend my brotherhood? So this day of baptisms was special, as our efforts teaching work as worship to God are being rewarded!  This group was from the Verbo house churches were are loosely affiliated

I met a man from Colorado who was visiting another ministry in Jinotega. He wanted to see some crops growing so we went to visit our plot of beans. He gave me a small package of a product called Nurtishield, from a company named Soruba. He told me this product was full of bacteria that will help the plant process nitrogen and carbon from the soil. I thanked him for the product and assured him we will try it in our next planting cycle.  He traveled back to Colorado, and then sent an email introducing me to the rest of the Soruba team. We had a few video calls and they told us about a latrine toilet treatment they are developing too. They have not been able to test it to full scale in the United States because latrines, are not used anymore in the USA, except for a few campgrounds. They asked if we would be interested in helping them test and study the product here in Nicaragua. The latrine product will reduce odors, organic waste mass and also help reduce or eliminate pathogens and para

El Tigre, the threshing machine We thank God and our ministry partners! Through a grant, we were able to buy a small threshing machine! This machine has proved very useful to us and a few farmers who wanted to try the machine too! The machine offers savings on time and labor costs. This machine introduces farmers to new technologies and also shows them another oppertunity to grow their agribusiness by offering machining services. If a farmers wants to buy the machine, he can!  All I need is my machinist apron! During our field day in May, we met Miguel, his family has a good size agricultural machine business. They sell tractors, combines and other farming equipment. They also fabricate equipment in their shop. I was talking to him about a small, portable machine for threshing beans. He said they had a new model they fabricate in their shop in the capital city Managua. He showed me some pictures and a video, and I decided to order it! Everything was made in the shop, except for the 6hp

A cool morning to plant beans! We finished Mature Bean project #2! This cycle it did not look as good as the first and we only harvested 4 quintals (100lbs sack) of beans. A disappointment, but a lot learned during the growing cycle too. Darwin wanted to try a different method of planting the bean seed, by using stakes. This is a traditional method used in our region by many farmers who's fields are on hill sides. With oxen it can be difficult to furrow the sides of hills and mountains full of rocks and boulders. Even though a large portion of the field we planted was flat, there was a rocky incline on the west side of our field.  We hired some workers from the adjacent community to plant the seed. A total of six men, three stake the holes and three men following, filling the holes with a small portion of fertilizer, seed and covering the seed with soil. This is where experience of a planter is very necessary for straight rows and a consistent plant population. Planting lasted two