Greetings to my family and friends:
Philippians 1:3, “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you.”
It was so good to see many of you while I was back in USA for the last 2 weeks of August. I did have a lot of traveling to do while I was there and I offer my sincere apologies for not being able to visit with all of you. I plan to be back around mid-December so do let’s catch up then!God continues to bless us here in Los Cedros, and His children are growing up so fast. (check out the photos)
The rainy season is settling in, making the surrounding mountains, hills and valleys so green and beautiful. The flooding is not so great though. I keep meaning to go to the market to buy a pair of Wellington Boots, we really need them here. The roads deteriorate rapidly this weather, and it is quite a challenge to get into Managua by car. There are a few areas prone to landslides and potholes galore. Actually, locals joke that there is a road somewhere among the potholes, (rather than saying there are potholes in the road.) It’s no joke at night though, trying to make it back over the mountains from Managua to Los Cedros on a dark, foggy, stormy night, with bulls, cows, horses, dogs and drunks in the road along the way. According to the newspaper headlines last week, 10 people died locally after just one downpour. The supply of electricity has been more stable than this time last year, but still goes out unexpectedly, taking the internet with it for hours, sometimes days at a time! At least last year it was off for scheduled hours every day so we could somewhat prepare ahead of time.
Nicaraguans proudly celebrated their Independence Day on September 15 and we enjoyed the colorful fiestas and processions in our village.
Pedro is making an incredible recovery. The doctors at the hospital are constantly amazed. I remind them he has a lot of people praying for him! We thank you and Praise you Father God! The daily trips to hospital were cut down to twice a week up until October, and from now on we plan to go just once a week. He still needs massages on his burned skin at least 3 times a day, as well as paraffin treatments and physical therapy exercises so I still get to spend lots of time working with him, Pedro, my Super Hero!
Now that I am not going to the hospital so often, I will have more time to spend with the other children again, hurray! So I have scheduled individual teaching time with them to work on their unique developmental needs. Also, this week we will start daily praise and worship times with all the children and I plan to lead small group/home group style bible studies with our staff twice a week.
On my recent trip back to USA, Kathy traveled with me up to Globe International’s HQ in Pensacola for a day of orientation. It was interesting and rewarding to find out more about working with a Missions Agency. You can check out their website for more information at www.gme.org (Children of Destiny.) They encouraged me to take a six month correspondence class for Missionaries, which I started in September. This season of my life is offering me many opportunities to really study God’s word. Along with the Globe class, I started going to a ladies Bible Study Group. We are doing the Beth Moore “The Patriarchs” study. I am also enjoying an online Bible study with Cheryl Swartz in Texas and RuthAnn in Gainesville. We “meet” every Thursday night via Skype. It was hilarious at first with the 3 of us being as technology challenged as we are. But we muddled through it and kind of have it figured out! I am trying to keep up with Kathy’s Wednesday night group too. I am reading the same book alongside you ladies! I thank God for blessing me with these things at this time, a chance to grow and learn how I can best serve Him to advance His Kingdom here in Nicaragua.
Please continue to pray for us as we move forward into this new season of change, and let me know what I can be praying for you also. We are in this together, for Christ.
James 5 v 16b: “The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.”
Once again I write to thank you all for joining me in this venture, please remember I could not do this without you.
“In Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.” Romans 12:5
“Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the LORD Jesus Christ.” Philippians 1:2
I invite you to camp on Psalm 136 with me for a while, especially: “His love endures forever.”
Hasta luego,
with love,
Andrea, Mum, Grandma XXXXX J
Vineyard of Gainesville