Home Safe and Sound

After a long day flying from Managua, Nicaragua to Miami, then on to Dallas, we finally arrived in Seattle about 1:00 a.m.  We got a few hours of sleep before heading home through the Snoqualmie Pass.  We had to wait over an hour for Avalanche Control.  It is good to be home and sleep in our own beds.

It is also a good feeling to know that many lives are a little better because we went and helped them.  The last Sabbath, we met in the newly finished church and witnessed about 20 baptisms, three couples got married and we all had communion together.  What a blessing to be part of it.

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers.  Now to get ready for our next trip!!

More Pictures from Nicaragua

Walking along Lake Nicaragua

Out for a fun day!

The end of a busy day for Dave

Some of the people attending the meetings in the Barrio

Brenda and Carol running the Medical clinic

The Dental Clinic

Derald enjoying a treat on a hot day.

God is blessing...

There are three evangelistic meetings going on each evening.  Ron gives a health talk at the one in the Barrio--a rather rough area.  He, along with some other medical people, have held several clinics in that area as well.  The needs are so great.

One experience:

The first night of the meetings in the Barrio there was a very drunk man who showed up and was yelling and trying to disrupt the meetings.  Friday night he came again but this time he asked for prayers to overcome his alcoholism.  He said he wanted whatever it was that he saw in the lives of those presenting the meetings.  A group gathered around him and prayed for him.

Our Vision clinics continue.  We have distributed hundreds of eye glasses, Readers, and sunglasses and every person received literature.  

Today we took the day off since Dec. 31 is a big day of celebration here and they figured no one would come to the clinics.  Most of us rested, did laundry, and some went for walks by the lake.  We had our first rain today.  It was very refreshing. 

Most of our team has been down sick since we came.  We figure it is a reaction to the typhoid pills we took before we came.  Thankfully we have been able to have enough each day to run the clinic.  We are hoping and praying that we are all on the mend now.

We miss our families very much, but God is blessing and using us here.  Thank you for your continued prayers.

Vision Clinic Continues

We are in day 4 of our Clinics.  We are all situated in the school in Rivas, near the building site of the new church.  We have a Dental Clinic, Medical Clinic and Vision Clinic going while a Village Health Training Seminar is going on too.  So far our Vision team has dispensed over 250 pairs of glasses.  It is so exciting to see the expressions on faces as people can see and read again.

Tuesday, Dec. 25 Christmas Day

Setting up for a Vision Clinic at our Hotel

Dianne getting things ready!

Some of the 54 people from the local community who came for  eye examinations.

A little girl receives a pair of eye glasses.

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM NICARAGUA

Our hotel

It does not feel like Christmas here in the tropics.  Actually yesterday was Christmas here.  As we drove through the streets of the nearby towns Feliz Navid was loudly playing.  We visited the school where we will conduct our Dental, Medical and Vision Clinics as well as do our Village Health Training.  It is a local Public School that has been turned over to us for two weeks, while the students are out for vacation.  In the evenings evangelistic meetings will be held there under a big canopy.  Then we went to see the site where a new church will be built.

School where clinics will be held.

Site of new church in Tola

Arrived Safely in Nicaragua.

All our luggage arrived and we cleared immigration with no problems.  We loaded into 4 vehicles--all 49 of us.  Twenty-four people plus all of our luggage (on top and inside) crammed into the bus.  We drove for 2 hours on a smooth road.  The countryside looked similar to other Central America countries.  Our driver drove very carefully and safely.  We saw several volcanos.  One was still active and we could smell fumes as we drove past it at distance of several miles.  We particularly noticed how clean everything was.

We arrived at Hotel Dalinky outside of Rivas in Tola.  It is cute and clean, and our team has completely occupied every room. After unloading all the vehicles and getting situated in our rooms, about 13 of us walked to the nearby restaurant for our second meal of the day.  We are right across the road from Lake Nicaragua--the only freshwater lake with sharks!!

Tomorrow is Christmas Day here in Nicaragua so we will not try to open our clinics or begin training.  We will spend the morning getting organized then possibly take a boat out to an island in the middle of this very large lake.  There are several SDA churches out there.  Dick and Brenda Duerksen are part of the team here and want to take us out there.  It should be interesting and colorful. Maybe I'll have some pictures of it tomorrow.  It has been a long day so we are all heading to bed.  Thank you for your prayers.  God bless.