Pray for the pastors travelling tonight - the devil is trying to stick his fingers into the conference even before it starts.  We got word tonight that a bus carrying our brothers broke down and will be delayed getting to Puerto Cabezas.  Pray for their safety and that their able to get some rest before our conference.

We had an eye-opening day.  Our team took a trip to a food distribution site for 400 plus children within Puerto Cabezas.  We really enjoyed spending time with there... we were welcomed with open arms by hundreds of children immediately upon our arrival.  It seems that every child had a smile on their face despite their environment.  Chuck, Nathan, Austin, and Christian had a chance to serve meals to the kids - an AMAZIING experience.  Humbled.

Mugged.

Everyone wants a picture!

Cooking chow!

Soccer game without shoes.

Getting ready to serve some chow!

The meal of the day - rice with chicken and cabbage??

Part of our team leaving... surrounded by kids.

The storage room.

Rob having FUN!

Time to Pray!

wow.

Nathan and Christian dishing up chow and drinks

Chuck working hard - he told me by the time he was done one of his fingers was numb from the heat of the spoon he used.

Shoes. Wow.

A good buddy of mine - Fernando - I showed him some pictures of Oregon and my family on my camera and we had a GREAT converation in spanish and Miskito.

Once we finished looking at the pictures on my camera - this stud wanted to show us something so we followed him to a pile of sand.  He then climbed a step stool and pulled off a backflip without hesitation.

If you believe in prayer then please pray for God to intervene on the behalf of the pastors from up the river.  Their bus has broken down at the river and we have sent a truck out with spare parts and a mechanic to fix it.  That is only part of the challenge, the rest of the challenge is that some rebel groups have blocked the road to protest the government not taking care of them and providing services.  They may or may not let our pastors go by, so please pray that the bus will get fixed and that the rebels will let our pastors through.  We are excited, have spent the day preparing, and can't wait to get started with these guys.  If they show up at 4:00 AM they are going to need to sleep so the first rule of missions is being flexible and we are living by that rule.  We will know more tomorrow!

Steve

Monday, Monday ....

Today's highlight for me was our visit to a Verbo church ministry that serves about 400 meals each day to the children in this area.  I had the incredible privilege of dishing up rice into the bowls and plates that the children brought with them for this simple, but much appreciated, meal.  "Bowls and plates"didn't always accurately describe what I was handed to dish the rice into.  Many times it was a re-used large margarine container.  One was a Frisbee.  The one that almost made me cry was the plastic top of a pencil box.  Another plate had a broken section that left a small wedge-shaped void in the plate, but that's all this little one had to get her food.  But they are still SO full of energy and joy! We have so much, and today was a great reminder to me that we live in a land of plenty and that I need to be an exceptional steward of what God has given to me to serve His kingdom - and not to make me more comfortable. 

I'm including photos of the campus here, some of the surrounding neighborhoods (including some bulls on the street), our preparation session this morning, and then the time we spent with these beautiful kids.

Hey everyone, it's Nathan.

     I'm not really sure where to strat except for the fact that this place has already become a very comfortable place to be despite the insane level of humidity. Our first day in Nicaragua was quite an interesting one... Maybe you all have heard that five of us in our group had to stay behind for a night since the plane taking us to Puerto Cabezas didn't have enough room for all of us. I was one of those people and I have to say, I think the five were better off than the other 10 that flew to Puerto Cabezas that night. We stayed at a Best Western that was actually quite nice. I shared a room with John Geffel and we got to know quite a bit about each other which was a wonderful experience. That first night was one of my first two incredible experiences. The second experience just happened a few hours ago when six or seven of us went to a feed center for the local children. We helped serve lunch to about 375 children who appeared to be between the ages of 2 to maybe 12 or 13. I could hardly believe what I was seeing... The fact that these kids have so little yet are as happy as can be made me realize who materialistic I am. It's a bit difficult to just think about but I don't think it ever fully hits you until you see it with your own eyes. Playing with these children was a huge blessing because I just felt like a big "play thing" that made the kids' days more fun.

     I really miss you all at home and I just want to send a shout-out to April, Beth and Kayla, the three most important women in my life :) I love you all dearly and please pray that God will continue to work wonders as our whole group really dives into preparing to work with the pastors. There is so much left to learn and experience...

Bueno noche! :)

Nathan

It's so good to be back in PC again, I have such wonderful memories of my previous times spent here.    But each time I come is a very different trip with different purposes, people and plans.  It is such a honor and blessing to be part of this team and I so look forward to our time with the pastors from the Rio Coco.

We have already had several good meeting and training times and will spend the day getting prepared for the conference beginning tomorrow.  Gotta go, next meeting, be back with more soon.