Tropical Pines and Oaks

 

Cerro Cubulcán 

One of the things we enjoy about living in the northern part of Nicaragua, apart from the cooler temperatures and the beautiful mountain views, is that we are able to see pine trees right outside our backyard. They are on a small hill called el Cubulcán, behind our house. We have climbed this hill several times by ourselves and with friends and its one of the few places within the city of Jinotega where there are still pine trees left. It reminds us of Michigan.

Recently we learned that there are oaks trees here in Nicaragua, in Spanish these are called Robles. So far, we have only seen oaks and pines in a few places, sadly many have been cut down for “leña”  or firewood, and very few, if any are replanted. One day we traveled past a small town called San Rafael del Norte. We stopped to have lunch at a diner on the side of the road, behind the diner was an opened field with many pine trees, after our meal we went for a walk around the property. Jesse spotted what appeared to be nickel size acorns on the ground. Jesse and I looked at each other and looked around at the trees the acorns were under and Jesse asked, “These must be oak trees?” We returned to this diner on another trip and we gathered about 24 acorns, placed them in a handkerchief and brought them home to plant. 16 out of the 24 seedlings are now growing. We have also planted 12 pine tree seeds from the hill and eight of them have come up, pine seedlings! I was also given cacao fruit at a natural reserve where I stayed for a women's retreat earlier this year. I brought the cacao fruit home and gave it to Jesse so that he could research on how to plant cacao seeds.. The seeds are inside a cacao fruit, sometimes up to 30 seeds come in a pod. We planted 30 cacao seeds, 26 have sprouted and are doing well. The rains we've been getting in the last couple of months have really helped. Even though we have some green space in the house we currently live in, there is not enough room to plant the oaks or even cacao trees. Perhaps we can plant one cypress tree at our house. 

Cacao fruit and seeds

Oak, pine and cacao seedling

We have decided to give the trees away to friends who come to visit us with room in their yards, or to friends with a farm. This is opportunity we use to teach others about taking care of the environment and preserving the forest by replanting more trees. The pine oak forests in Nicaragua are in danger of disappearing altogether. In other Central American countries the threat is the same, and reports are the country of El Salvador has lost its pine and oak forests. 

In our ministry with Discipling Marketplace Leaders we teach about a quadruple bottom line: Social, Economic, Missional, Environmental. These areas are based on the three Great Directives (mandates) given by God. The Great Commission (Matt: 28:19-20), The Great Commandment (Matt. 22: 36-40), The Great Commitment (Gen. 1:28). 

Revelation 11:17-18

Our tree planting honors the Environmental bottom line. "The Great Commitment in Gen. 1:28 puts the burden of caring for creation on the shoulders of humanity.  Christians should be at the forefront of ensuring the sustainability of a creation entrusted to them by the great Creator." -DML website

I love these beautiful trees, they remind us of Michigan and it is sad to see them being cut down solely for firewood. We want to play our part in keeping Nicaragua from suffering droughts and scorched earth during the long dry season. Planting trees is way I honor and fear God, in caring for His creation.