Satisfied Wages for Nicaragua

When Abram heard that  his  relative had been taken captive, he  led out his trained men,  born in his house, three hundred and eighteen, and went in pursuit as far as  Dan. - Gen 14:14 This is a short verse in Genesis that describes the size of Abraham's household. He had 318 trained men, born in his household, to fight as soldiers! That is a big family! When I read about this verse and its significance towards business in a book by Dave Kahle, "The Good Book on Business" it illustrated the size of Abraham's household, or business as the book explains. If there were 318 trained men to fight, born in Abraham's household, how many more people where part of his household. The families of those men. The cooks to prepare food for them. The care takers of the cattle those men were responsible to protect, and on and on!  A huge enterprise! I have used this example as an illustration of business in the Bible to coach pastors and entrepreneurs in our ministry. It is a gre

 It is coffee season here in Jinotega! The city streets have filled with people who work in the coffee industry again. The season lasts from November through January, but December is peak time. Coffee is one of the top exports, so the industry employs a lot of people here in the mountains.  In the past year I have learned so much about coffee and its economy living here, and have learned to appreciate the sweet smelling, brown drink that is in my cup every morning. From planting coffee seedlings on steep mountain sides to roasting 50 pound sacks of beans, there is a lot of hard work being done. Jari and I are spoiled by great cups of coffee everywhere we go! I never thought I would write a sentence like that, I didn't even drink coffee while I lived in the USA. It was too bitter and didn't taste good at all! However, Nicaraguan coffee is smooth and sweet!  Coffee Plants at our favorite farm On the farm we frequently visit, we have been able to see the changes in plants, cutting

 Nicaraguan's trust in the Church!  A recent article came out in the press here in Nicaragua. It headlines caught my attention, as it read "Nicaraguans put their trust in the church above any other institution."  Here is an excerpt from the news article: The church is the most trusted institution in Nicaragua, according to the Latinobarometro 2021 report. The Latin Barometer measures the level of trust of institutions in 18 Latin American countries The church: The region's trust in the church reached 61 percent in 2020, the report indicates. However, the church reached its highest level of trust in 2000, (77%) to fall in 2017 to its lowest level of confidence with 58 percent, in a fluctuation of 19 percentage points in 25 years of measurements.  For us working with businesses through the church this is great confirmation for what we already believe as a ministry. The Church is the crucial element in society for economic, social, missional and environmental development