Jari and I have finally settled into our apartment. We have been blessed with a home close to where we will be volunteering. The Nehemiah center is only 3.5 kilometers from where we stay, a short 10 minute bus ride. Amos Health and Hope is only 200 meters away from the Nehemiah Center for Jari. Being close allows us to take a bus, bus to caponera, or even walk if needed.
After orientation and my first week of Spanish lessons I was able to take a trip and meet the Junta (board) for the Associacion Empresarios Cristianos Nicaragua (AECNIC). This is a group of 24 Christian business men and women who have completed business as mission training done in collaboration with the Nehemiah Center and Partners World Wide. The meeting started at 9 a.m. in a city to the north called Chinandega!
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| Quick Shot inside |
This was our first time being all day on a bus to another city. Most of the buses in Nicaragua are old school buses. We stopped the bus from our taxi, and boarded the bus. It was 5:30 a.m. and the bus was already full of passengers. We were standing room only, for 20 minutes until a few people got off. Then I was able to find a seat. The woman next to me was sleeping, with her head against the window, like many others at this time in the morning. More and more people crammed into the bus on our way to Chinandega. When you thought no more people could fit, the bus stopped to pick up more! Packed in like chickens! The woman I was sitting next to awoke and then pulled a Bible out of a plastic bag. She began to read Psalms 90, then flipped to Psalm 120. Then read 2 Kings from her large print Bible. Then she put her Bible away, laid her head on the bench in front of her and started to pray. I could see her prayers on her face, and soon I prayed along with her. I asked God to answer her prayers and bless the rest of her days here. When I ended my prayer, the bus stopped in Leon. Many people got off the bus, finally some room! I called Jari over to sit next to me because she was a few seats down. We enjoyed an open spaced bus the rest of the way to Chinandega.
The bus terminal was in the market place and we took a taxi to the church where AECNIC was meeting at. It was great to meet the Junta! They were all excited to meet us and greeted Jari and I like family. The meeting started at 9:30 and it was a packed meeting. The meeting ended around noon. The junta discussed things like memberships, accounting and sustainability of the association. It was a great and fruitful meeting.
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| Inside Inglesia del Nazareno |
The purpose of Associacion de Empresarios Cristianos Nicaragua is to form a voice for Christian businessmen and women with the government and to have a group with some clout! Their work is just starting and I thank God to observe this start-up association.
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| Junta AECNIC |
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| Outside the church |
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| Ebenezer Education Center, on the church grounds. |
When the meeting finished we were on our way back to the mercado and the bus 'terminal,' but we stopped at the vice president of AECNIC business, Yesica, runs a Medical lab. She explained what she does and told us her future plans. She hopes to update her equipment and grow her lab. "In the Name of Jesus Christ I will do this" she proclaimed!
Amen! God the King is faithful!
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