Friday

Friday, March 29

After a much-anticipated night of sleep, we awoke Friday morning and met for breakfast at the church. Then we split into groups for the work projects after some singing and introductions. Andrew, Eli, Lamar, and Gary (one of the missionaries) headed off to a local park to install a permanent volleyball pole. The rest of the guys worked on replacing most of the tin on the roof. A few people worked on painting the outside of the church, and the rest of the girls started cleaning and prepping two rooms inside the church for a fresh coat of paint.

But as fate would have it, the group that was intending to install a volleyball pole ran into trouble soon after starting. They were only about five minutes into the project when an agitated Nicaraguan lady came out and began resisting them and their efforts to improve the park. Gary tried reasoning with her, but she was not swayed. So the missionaries made efforts to appeal to the park director to allow them to continue. However, this appeal only led them to realize that they needed to get official government permission. The volleyball pole project had to be put aside for now.

So we all ended up spending the morning at the church, working on various projects. The roofers and outdoor painters tasted the brutal Nicaraguan sun, while a fortunate group of girls (myself included) produced a little less sweat as we painted away inside the church with the breeze blowing through open doors and windows. We enjoyed Jaqueline’s marvelous cooking for lunch (rice, beans, and fried chicken) and took a nice long break afterwards. Then we worked away at our various duties until quitting time in the late afternoon.

The sun starts to go down around 6 pm in Nicaragua, so the air was beginning to cool off slightly as we all piled into the back of two pickup trucks to drive into town for supper. Standing in the back of the truck and feeling the air rush past as we sped through the bumpy streets was a highlight for many of us. For supper, we partook of some delicious tacos, but not the Mexican kind. These “tacos” consisted of a meat filling rolled into a tortilla and fried, then topped with shredded cabbage and crema (which tastes like sour cream). We then hopped back on the trucks, stopped for ice cream and souvenirs, and then headed to our places of rest.

I have thoroughly enjoyed myself thus far. It is really great to work together on projects for the church here in Leon and to get to know the hardworking and gracious missionaries.  There have been some hard moments as well, so we still covet your prayers for the safety of everyone and for continued grace to shine the light of Jesus. On Friday, our dear Miss Heisey was not feeling well. It was sad to see her feeling under the weather; thankfully, she is on the mend. Thank you all for your prayers.

Written by Christina Patches