Economic Development in Central America

On Thursday May 3rd, we ventured back up the Escondido River to El Rama, then headed west to Grenada for our free time. We stayed at the Casa de Vivaldi - a wonderful spot with fine rooms, central location and a beautiful pool! On Friday, we headed towards Volcán Mombacho, not too far from Masaya. This volcano offered a totally different experience than Volcán Masaya. This volcano is dormant and the only activity we noticed were steam shafts on our walk around the perimeter of an older crater. The hike around Volcán Mombacho uncovered many species of animals and plant life - it was noted that one one tree alone, there were more species of plants than in the entire country of England! How awesome is our God anyway!?!?


After the team left Managua on Saturday, May 5th, I was asked to tag along with Rigo & Claudia, Mike & Lesly as well as two representatives from Missions to the Americas, Aaron Palmatier and Illdefonso Ramirez. We stayed in Managua for two nights but ventured to Ciudad Sandino just outside the city limits of Managua and Chinandega to visit existing churches that Main Street had worked on. On Monday, we headed south to Jinotepe and Masaya to investigate future church building sites and economic development opportunities. It was fascinating to see the vision that God placed on Rigo's heart!

En route to Chinandega, I was the only person who could not speak Spanish... occasionally, Rigo would stop and review in English with me what they were discussing in Spanish. This just made it very plain that I need to learn the language to go to the next level of effectiveness in Central America!




As we made our way to the Costa Rica Highway along the Pacific Coast, we stopped briefly at the carpentry shop currently under construction. Rigo envisions this as an avenue for young men normally caught up in gangs to learn a trade that can legitimately earn them money to support their families. This is one aspect of Rigo's ministry that continues to boggle my mind... he is always looking for opportunities to engage himself into the lives of those he meets. But paramount in all his discussions and projects is the underlying motivations... "to introduce more people to the Good News of Jesus Christ"... he has repeated that he does not wan to run the carpentry shop or micro-manage any of his proposed endeavors... he just wants to create as many opportunities for "divine intersections" so Jesus can make a difference in the lives of as many people as possible... it is awesome to be round Rigo - his passion is infectious!

Our next destination was a small farming community outside of Jinotepe... this is where Rigo revealed to us a much larger vision! The western coastal area in Nicaragua is higher in elevation and also is influenced by the prevailing winds off the Pacific, so the weather is actually very nice and temperate, which allows for longer growing seasons. We drove off the main road down into a valley... which led us to a parcel of land that was being sold. The parcel is actually made up of two pieces of land - one, a 100 acre dairy farm complete with barns, cows, goats, pigs and chickens. Across the street is another 120 acres that could be used for crops of all sorts - oranges, papaya, mango, all sorts of other fruits and vegetables. The topsoil was almost 2 feet deep and at one spot where they had piped water from across the street there was a deep dark black soil. Most farmers in the area are not farming now as they are waiting for "the next rain", but Rigo is convinced that with irrigation, their land would produce a myriad of crops. The Dole Agricultural Engineer emerged at this pint and he was in his element... pretty cool that a job that just about broke him will now give him the expertise to venture into an opportunity that could potentially sustain his ministries throughout Nicaragua!

Do I need to repeat about how our God is so awesome!?!?

The Church on a Hill Has a Roof!

As we ventured down the Escondido River, those of us who had returned sat there reminiscing about our February experiences... the anticipation was too much. We arrived at the Caribbean Dreams Hotel with the inviting front porch - it was like we never left! Once we ate breakfast and unpacked we headed out of town to the work site. We were welcomed by children at the top of the hill... their excitement was briefly interrupted after they examined the smaller group that emerged form the 15 passenger van... yes, they were excited, but some of their good friends from February were missing! The got over it quickly but the kids asked a lot of questions - our broken Spanish was good enough because they were so eager to re-engage with us regardless of who was missing!

Pinky (Dr. Dave... in the right photos on the right) & The Brain (Jim aka Grandpa by himself grinding away!) returned to the work site and they were truly a blessing because of the engineering challenges that faced us. Along with Pinky is the EverReady sidekick Josh (next to Dave) who would have no fear when it came to walking across beams and walls without a net or ropes - his cat-like abilities made some impossible tasks possible - that's Biblical, because it was only God that could have accomplished all that! In the right photo above, instead of the traditional "Cheese", Josh and Dave are saying the Spanish word, "Queso"... we found out that in order to get someone to smile in Nicaragua, you have them say "Whiskey"... OK, that's not Biblical, but it makes better pictures!

It was amazing how much work was accomplished by the Nicaraguans since we left in February... and from what we have heard, after we left, many Nicaraguans stayed to help finish thing up! On our last day, we had completed the full foundation for that wall. As of last Monday, the wall closest to you in the picture below was halfway completed - we finished pouring the last foundation the day we left! The shots above show the progress we made with the roof - by the time we left, all of the rafters and purlons (cross pieces to which the roofing material was screwed to)were in place and one section of the galvanized roof material was installed. A slight engineering call was made and agreed upon... the roof rafters were joined together at the same place - this gave the roof more stability and also lessened the airfoil tendency of the split roof design.

Thanks to the diplomatic engineering discussions that took place! We can't wait to see the finished product! We should hear a progress report from Rigo soon as he is in Bluefields this week! Stay tuned!

The "Bluefields 8" Returns!

This sums it all up but it will take me a few days to get it all down in writing... needless to say, our team was welcomed with open arms by our brothers and sisters in Bluefields... it was like we left and came back after a long weekend... no formalities like our first visit - back to business and back to cultivating our relationships - it was awesome.

Stay tuned for more to come, including a report from my "economic development" tour after our project - WOW, God is and continues to be up to something in Nicaragua!