| MONTH IN NICARAGUA! Several months ago we had discussed staying a month in Nicaragua - it wasn't going to cost more for a plane ticket so what would it hurt? Our crusade would be July 27-Aug. 3 & we asked the Lord to fill up the other 3 weeks. During the Nueva Guinea crusade we received a call that friends would be in Boaco the next week & needed 1 more team leader. Wow - looky there God - another week filled up (like God didn't know this in advance...). During the Boaco crusade we received a call that a team from San Antonio (we led their crusade last year in Esteli) needed help leading a crusade in Juigalpa in 2 weeks & would be flying back to the states the very same day as our flight. That left 1 week & we spent part of it in Matagalpa, Chinedega & Masaya. While in Chinedega we went to check on our baker friends (Nathan led the family to the Lord when ordering baked goods several years before) & they insisted we stay with them for a few days. We also spent time encouraging some pastors we knew from the past. One more fellow we wanted to meet (Steve Bakos from OK) picked us up the last weekend before our flight & took us into his world where he works with the Messiah Project. It includes a couple of specific projects of which an orphanage was the one we visited. It houses kids 6 months to 6 yrs, with staff moms a constant source of love & encouragement. Steve is overseeing the construction of 5 family housing units where upon completion the kids will be housed as family units with a mom & dad in each house (on the grounds). Once we arrived back in the states our previous crusade sponsors Gilbert & RoseAnn Gilbert invited us to spend a couple of days with them for food & relaxation. An old Steven Curtis Chapman song just occurred to me & I looked up the lyrics - think this best describes where Nathan & I are in our walk - & how EXCITED we are to be there! |
| I see the Billy Graham crusades & all the thousands that make decisions. I see all the students & adults where we travel make decisions. I don't know who got it & who didn't but I know we planted a seed. Maybe someone else did & we're reaping the harvest? Maybe 5 got it? We met a man (19 at the time) in Mexico who was now a pastor. He said when he was young the kids told him to cry & cry when the Americans came so you would get more candy. Many times he did this but on one particular time he kept crying after the Americans were gone. His friends asked him - why are you still crying? - & he told them that this time he got it! Everytime we went to see him we took chocolate. |
| The pastors that work with us in our crusades are from the areas we preach in. They are always up front with us & we introduce them & encourage the crowd to find them & to find a church. I know this is a LONG explanation but one I've put much thought into through the years. Only God knows who is sincere and numbers don't really count - though some folks like to hear numbers to know how their money is spent or if the gospel is being preached. I don't get hung up anymore (& believe me I struggled) on this as it's between God & the people. |
| I have been asked many times "how do you know they really got saved? I have been asked that question many times & at first struggled with it myself. Then I think back to when in high school I made a decision & obviously I wasn't sincere as I didn't lead a Christ centered life. It wasn't until I was 25 when I GOT IT! I grew up in church & knew all the answers & think back to how many times I heard the Word. Other folks thought I was a Christian, I couldn't convince my Mom that I NOW knew Christ at 25 as she remembered my decision back when. |
| NUEVA GUINEA, NICARAGUA! |
| SADDLE UP YOUR HORSES Started out this morning in the usual way had to do today Another time around the circle try to make it better than the last I opened up the Bible and I read about me Said I'd been a prisoner and God's grace had set me free And somewhere between the pages it hit me like a lightning bolt I saw a big frontier in front of me and I heard somebody say "let's go"! CHORUS Saddle up your horses we've got a trail to Through the wild blue yonder of God's amazing grace Let's follow our leader into the glorious unknown This is a life like no other - this is The Great Adventure Come on get ready for the ride of your life Gonna leave long faced religion in a cloud of dust behind And discover all the new horizons just waiting to be explored This is what we were created for We'll travel over, over mountains so high We'll go through valleys below (we did-Melody) Still through it all we'll find that This is the greatest journey that the human heart will ever see The love of God will take us far beyond our wildest dreams Yeah... oh saddle up your horses... come on get ready to ride |
| A friend whose parents were missionaries in Nicaragua from the 50s-70-s, asked if we knew someone who needed an accordian. The next week we received a call asked for one. On the way to Nueva Guinea we dropped it off (guy on right) to one happy fellow. Guess who our Spanish team leader was the next week at the Boaco crusade? |
| Teacher packs for the schools (candy, pen, earrings, keychain, Gospel of John) |
| Barbara (formerly known as Snowflake) taught Tips & Tricks for Sharing Christ to the pastors, youth & Americans. |
| Barbara taught on how to share Jesus with an Evangicube. Had 100 donated for the teams. |
| Our pastor (FBC Donna, TX) preaching to a classroom. |
| Dwayne & Bert evangelizing on the streets. |
| O R A N G E T E A M |
| I convinced the Eskimo ice cream man (through leaps & dance moves) that I could be trusted to guard his wagon while he went inside for the preaching. I had my honest face on that day! |
| Nathan's brother Dwayne & cousin Bert were used in the message as examples of WHO you go through to get to the FATHER. |
| We rented cattle trucks to help transport the teams. |
| Giving out rice & Gospels of John to the adults. |
| This lady made corn tortilla's for her income. (Soak corn, boil, smoosh, mix, mash, shape) |
| me a Guiro (sounds Praise & Worship before school like 'widdrle) (tin can w/hair pick) like a Nicaraguan! |
| The kids at this school were to poor to have school uniforms. |
| Before services we would go out & invite folks. They would come through the pouring rain to hear the message. |
| All literature was printed, donated & shipped by World Missionary Press out of Indiana. |
| Early chapel worshipping before we leave for the day. |
| They're from Matagalpa & she is on Indi's dad worked w/ us this week. the Way of the Cross staff & does ALL the legwork for the crusades. |
| Don Ratliff, Nathan & Bert Abla in the back. |
| (sitting)Oreila, us, Indi (standing)Juan (translator), Leo Flores, Don, Barbara, Bert, Dwayne, Matt & Dale |
| Doing our devotion (day before they head back to the states). |
| OVER 12,000 SALVATIONS DURING THE 3 CRUSADES WE WERE A PART OF! |
| OUR FREE WEEK! |
| We also walked through (on a jungle trail) a coffee plantation & heard monkeys overhead. Here I'm Jane & he's Tarzan. Believable, huh? |
| Indi - adopted in our heart. She is multi talented-music, translator, wisdom w/counseling, Bible lover! |
| Friendly squirrel (or as Indi says "square earl" |
| next BIG ADVENTURE on the Nicaraguan map. (women not included!) |
| Spent the day on the beach (Pacific side) |
| My favorite Nicaragua drink the (pronounced like) KO COW. This place sells it for 20 cordoba (a buck) a pitcher. |
| Nathan's favorite parts are the eyeballs & fins. (you think I'm joking?) |
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