Lots of stuff happening here!

So new season is coming. I am finishing up spanish school in a couple of weeks then I will have a lot on my plate.

My good friend Coburn just got engaged to one of the Buzbee's daughters. They will be leaving to live in the states for a while. He has a school that he runs and a feeding program in Los Brasilles. He asked me to oversee it after he leaves. So Xalted Ministries is now partnering with Imagine Ministries to help the community of Los Brasilles. I will be out there in the community a few days a week helping out at the school and also becoming a new face in the community. I will be paying the teachers and workers, overseeing the needs, and reporting back to Coburn about everything. This is a wonderful opportunity. I saw a huge need in Los Brasilles since the first day I was there. I am really excited about this and I know God has a lot of things in store for me and for the community.

I have spent the last couple of days hanging out with Coburn and my friend Michael. Coburn is leaving, so that will be tough. He has really helped me a lot in getting my feet on the ground here in Nicaragua. I have been blessed by his friendship and I wish him and Melissa the best of luck in the future together!

So I head back to Leon tomorrow morning for 2 more weeks. I am not really looking forward to going back. I have learned a ton in 2 weeks. But i feel i need to practice using it now. But we will move on to even more stuff these next two weeks. I feel like I will forget half the stuff I learned if i don't practice it. I am only going to take a month. I realized a month is long enough. I might take another couple of weeks next year to get to the next level. After all.... my brain can only learn so much so fast!

Well.... time to have my last dinner with Coburn for a while. Please keep me in your prayers. I am going to be very busy once I get back from school. Afterall, God wouldn't be using me to sit around and be bored! :)

Love ya all. God Bless!

Happy Birthday Weekend!!!

Well I went home last week from school a day early so I wouldnt miss Angel's birthday party. It was a good time. The girls can over to the boy's house and whacked a "Fred Flinstone" pinata. It was a good time.

Friday night my friend Coburn proposed to his girlfriend Melissa and she said yes. So I was happy for them. Well saturday about 15 of us went down to San Juan del Sur and rented a beach house for the weekend for Coburns Birthday that was on Sunday. We had a blast. You get a group of missionaries together and they go crazy! :)

But I had fun trying to surf and hanging. Was a good break from a busy summer.

Now I'm back in Leon studying Spanish. I am counting down the days till I am back in Murray! 43!!!! But I am even more excited to see my Best Buddy Josh here in Nicaragua before then.

I Hope you are all doing well. Keep the prayers coming. These people need your support!

"football"

So I had some time to kill today and I was walking around and I heard sooooooo much cheering going on. The closer I got to the "bar" district, the sooner I realized what was happening. It was a Barcelona vs. Madrid Soccer game. Or as they say here "Football". I decided I wanted to experience life like a Nicaraguan and went in to one of these bars to see the game. First the cover was $2.50. And that included FOUR beers. I was blown away. That gives you a perspective on how cheap some things are here. You couldn't buy ONE beer for that price back home. But I wasn't about to complain :)

So I went and asked a table of guys if anyone was sitting in their empty seat. They said I could use it. They were all Barcelona fans and ALL had on "Messi" jerseys. So I decided I was going to be a Barcelona fan. First off, I pretty much hate soccer. The only real football to me is American Football. But it was pretty awesome. It's not the sport that was awesome, it was the passion of the people in this bar. The ball would get stolen and everyone for that team would cheer. When a goal was scored everyone would start swinging their beers around. It was literally a "Beer Sprinkler". I got drenched. I wasn't too happy at first, but then thought..... "Only in Nica!" The crowd was as loud as a 110,000 person packed Ohio State vs. Michigan game. Yet there was only 100 people in this bar. It was pretty cool to experience.

I can say I like "Football" a little more. I need to get me a "Messi" jersey. They don't make them quite as big as I need :P

The people were nice. And let me tell you...... I have lived or stayed in MANY different countries. Of course all the American females I know are beautiful. But I have never seen a country with as many pretty girls as Nica! Seriously! Korea comes close. But It's amazing to watch the culture, the way they dress, the way men treat women and women treat men. It's very different. And some things make me sick. But at the same time.... some things are better here!

Well.... I am going to a "Young Life" meeting tonight with the daughter and her boyfriend. I can't wait to see it! It should be awesome. Love you all. God bless!

Leon.....

So I am in Leon. I love it here so far. I am staying with an awesome host family. Carmen and Dennis. They have a beautiful daughter Eunice who is 22 and about to finish Med school. She is very smart and can also speak English pretty well. Her boyfriend is Byron. He is a really cool guy. He's 23. What's awesome is Eunice and Byron are leaders of the Leon Young Life group. They are strong Christians. And actually tonight Dennis gave me a "Bilingual" Bible. It has spanish and english on the same page. It's awesome. So I am really enjoying talking to Byron and Eunice. He is a really nice guy and has helped me a lot with my spanish.

School has been ok. I really haven't learned a lot in the two days. Me and my teacher have ended up talking most of the 4 hours about everything. She is a Christian and today I told her my testimony. It took about an hour. But I am happy to know I can give my testimony in Spanish. Well.... she helped me with a lot of words. But I guess talking for 4 hours in spanish is good too. I just can't wait to get some actual vocab down. I realized tonight I need to make some flash cards!

Well now that I'm back in Leon, I am going to go to the church that I went to a couple of weeks ago. It's in a town close by called Malpaisillo. The pastor is becoming a good friend. His wife is really sweet. They have the MOST adorable granddaughters....Nelly and Deborah. I bought them a snow white and a Cinderella Barbie in the market today. I was a big hit!

Anyway. He has a little hardware store in the central park area. I picked them all up at 2pm and drove them to Malpaisillo. We hung out, I helped them set up church, we went to a girls house whose "Baby's Daddy" was abusing her, and prayed for her..... and we went back to church. Right before church he showed me that they have a keyboard. I got excited. I miss playing the piano. I fooled around a little bit and sang some worship songs for the girls. He overheard me and now wants me to lead the congregation in an English song sometime in the next couple of weeks. I bet many people can't say they have led worship in a US AND Nicaraguan church! I am pretty pumped. I need to figure out which slower songs I should do that I can play. Any suggestions would be great!

We had church and it was a great time. I live it here. Did I say that :) After I leave Leon to go back to Managua, I know I will be visiting here often to say Hi! It's only an hour away. That's like going to Paducah!

Well I just finished my spanish homework. Never thought I'd have homework again! But keep an eye out for more blogs. Love ya all!

Casa Havilah

Well today was a fun day. I spent the day with the girls from Casa Havilah. I took them to see the movie "Smurfs". It was cute and the girls loved it. It was so precious to watch them laugh during the movie. It was like they don't have a care in the world. They are not kids in a rescue home, they are just normal kids.

Naydeling sat on my lap most of the movie and was sleeping on and off. She is so cute. It's interesting to see which ones grow attached sooner. There are definately some needy girls, and there are some independent girls too. They are all amazing in their own ways. You have super smart ones. (Sophia) You have funny ones (Jocylen, Katherine, Vannessa). You have shy ones (Marie Ellena). You have animal lovers (Andrea). You have dancers (Mikeyling). I could name something special about every single one of the kids in the two homes down there. I was thinking about Naydeling as she slept on my lap. I wonder what she will be when she grows up. She could do anything she wants. I wonder about that a lot with kids. I wonder if Sophia will be a doctor. I wonder if Andrea will be a vet. I have some that are sooo compassionate I know they will be great mothers. It's crazy to think about how all these boys and girls will be doing something with their lives in 10-20 years that make a difference!

It was hard to say goodbye to them after the movie. I leave for Leon for Spanish school tomorrow bright and early. I could use all the prayers I can get. I am also sure it will be kinda lonely not having my friends in town. But that means more time with God!

I don't know how often I will have internet, but I should once a day atleast. I love you all. God Bless.

Oh.... And check out the picture of the girls by going to this link.....

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100884604232945.3117196.12412863

House of Varicella

So..... It's interesting in the boys home right now. And by that I mean we had one boy with Varicella last week. That is "Chicken Pox" in English! :) And now this week we have 3 more. And I know we will have a couple more before this is over. It's pretty funny. I got a picture of Angel to show you. I'd rather them have it young than when they are older.

So a few of the kids are staying home from school today. I was more shocked they went to church yesterday.

I am getting ready for school. (That sounds soooo weird!) I am preparing my heart and mind for the next 2 months. I am excited and nervous. I hope it's worth it. I really need to come back able to talk to everyone. I can barely communicate now. And I can't understand at all!

Well.... sorry for a short blog. It's been a slow last couple of days. Just hanging around.

Love ya all. Take care!

And now a chance to relax!

So summer is pretty much over for Mission trips. That means we will be doing less "cool" activities and be more on a Nicaraguan lifestyle schedule. In a week I leave for Spanish school. I think this is the first time in a LONG time I am excited about school! I think I am going to be going to DARIANA SPANISH SCHOOL www.dss-spanishschool.com in Leon. The reason I am going to Leon now and not the original Granada like I said is because of my experience there this last week. I now know a pastor there and I am going to join their church while I am there. I am excited for that too!

I am going to do a fast while I am in Leon. Not sure what kind of fast maybe food or maybe from something else. But I am going to use those 2 months to focus on God like never before!

Leon is an interesting city. It's like a touristy town. But really it's a backpacker's and travelers town. Lots of white people and lots of Hostels. It was the original capital of Nicaragua. And it has the Biggest Cathedral in Central America. My grandmother would love it!

So I am finally sending letters from the kids out to their sponsors at FCC Murray. It's been a lot busier summer for the kids. So I can finally sit them down and do it. So expect to see those soon. I am also putting videos of them on Youtube. So you can see and hear them!

Well..... Not much else to say right now. It's really hot right now. Very Humid. Nothing better than it feeling like 100 degrees INSIDE your house. I miss air conditioning sometimes!

But you all have a good day. God Bless!

An answer to my prayers!

Wow.... I have an amazing story to share. Yesterday I went to Leon with some guys. Leon is really pretty. I met some cool people. At night we went to a church service. One of our friends Francisco was preaching. At the end he called for a time of healing prayer. So anyone with any ailments could come up and our group of guys would pray for them.

First.... I have been personally praying for a couple weeks now for God to give me a physical manifestation of the Holy Spirit. I wanted to see Him take control. Well He did last night....

I was praying for one boy.... after I was done I noticed Jonathan had a woman with a baby girl in front of him. He just finished praying for the girl. She was about 1 yr old maybe. I asked the mom what was wrong and she said her nose. So I started to pray for the girl. Put my hands on her and prayed hard. Harder than I ever have maybe. After I was done I took my hands off and the mother took 2 steps away. And I kid you not.... the baby shot projectile vomit all over the floor. It wasn't like anything I've seen before. The baby was smiling, not crying, and the vomit shot out about 4 feet away and probably a Gallon's worth. First, we are in Nicaragua.... They don't have enough food in 3 days that would be a gallons worth. Let alone one days worth in that little baby belly. Second the baby stopped vomiting and just smiled. I KNOW that was the work of the Holy Spirit rebuking the sickness from the body of this baby. It was amazing. I was proud to have been a part of that. If you would have seen this event, you would have been amazed too.

So praise God for that. It was a crazy and awesome night. I love serving down here. I love the people. But mostly I love God!

Chapter 9....

I read this today in the book "A hole in the Gospel"....

"Whenever a major jetliner crashes anywhere in the world, it inevitably sets off a worldwide media frenzy covering every aspect of the tragedy . . . Imagine for a moment that you woke up this morning to the following headline: 'One Hundred Jetliners Crash, Killing 26,500.' Think of the pandemonium this would create across the world as heads of state, parliaments, and congresses convened to grapple with the nature and causes of this tragedy. Think about the avalanche of media coverage that it would ignite around the globe as reporters shared the shocking news and tried to communicate its implications to the world . . . Now imagine that the very next day, one hundred more planes crashed - and one hundred more the next, and the next, and the next. It is unimaginable that something this terrible could ever happen. But it did -- and it does. It happened today, and it happened yesterday. It will happen again tomorrow. But there was no media coverage. No heads of state, parliaments, or congresses stopped what they were doing to address the crisis, and no investigations were launched. Yet more than 26,500 children died yesterday of preventable causes related to their poverty, and it will happen again today and tomorrow and the day after that. Almost 10 million children will be dead in the course of a year . . . And even though we now have the awareness, the access, and the ability to stop it, why have we chosen not to? Perhaps one reason is that these kids who are dying are not our kids; they're someone else's." - Richard Stearns

Isn't that the truth??? It's sad. That's the biggest difference I see in myself now that I am down here. My outlook on compassion has changed dramatically. I see a girl who is a 13 yr old prostitute, or a kid with bruises on their face as a result of abuse and it's personal to me. My prayer is for everyone to experience this. Please take a chance and come down here. I Promise you won't regret it!

Pray for the children of the world right now. Take a minute. Let God break your heart so that it will be personal to you too.

"Let my heart be broken by things that break the heart of God!"