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.
Our ministry is based on a simple but profound concept, work as worship! The Hebrew word AVODAH,( עבדה ) means service. It carries two other meanings, work and worship. In the Old Testament this word was used when the nation of Israel was called to serve God, and worship him. It is also the same word used to describe work! We can say this word, Avodah, is spiritual service. (Exodus 23:25) This concept is expressed again by the Apostle Paul in Colossians 3:23. When we “work” as unto the Lord it is an act of spiritual service and is also worship. Whether we are giving a workshop in the Jinotega Chamber of Commerce, or in a farmer’s field of beans, the concept of Avodah is what we live out and teach. It is in this field of beans where we have the most potential to reach our region of Nicaragua with the Gospel! We are now purchasing a small farm to invite farmers to experience avodah with their own senses. We have certified red bean seed, sorghum and hybrid corn available. We can de
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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