Nahum re-visiting friends at the orphanageNahum and Gener said good-bye to Saul last Saturday when Saul left Nicaragua for his new home in Indiana. The process was well over two years, which gave false hope that life would continue with their brother alongside. The three boys will "Skype" each week to stay in touch - see each other - and keep their relationship alive. Thank God for technology! It's truly a blessing that they have this option.
John starts (today) facilitating a summer full of Forward Edge teams ... so we're starting another chapter of Nicaragua. We've had ample time to "gel" as a family and we appreciated the time. As far as we can see, John will be working 12-14 hour days pretty much through mid-September, and I will be Mom and Dad (John does SUCH A BETTER JOB AT THAT). John will go to work at the same time the boys go to school (7:30am) but won't come home until 8-9:00pm. We know it will all work out because it always does ... but at the moment in time it's hard to imagine what it will be like.
God is amazing though ... He is always working, and sometimes (if our eyes are open to see it) pulls our past into our future where we can see WHY the past was as it was. In 1991, I worked for a company that brought bananas to the Pacific NW and Canada - and in so doing, I used a trucking company in Los Angeles that brought the containers of bananas to Portland or to the railhead (bound for Portland). Every day I spoke to Alberto Martinez ... who is Nicaraguan. Fast forward to today - he continues to work in L.A. and also has several businesses in Nicaragua (two cattle ranches, coffee plantation, rock quarry). He invited us to his home last night and we caught up on old times (yes), but he also talked to the boys and encouraged them in ways we couldn't. Not only does he have Spanish ... he is Nicaraguan and spoke to them in a way we could not. He repeated many things we had told them (education, studying and not just filling in the blanks of their homework, etc.) and that spoke volumes to them. Sitting in his living room, the boys could visualize they too could one day have a home. It was totally great and impossible to reiterate (here) all that was said.
One bit of history they related to was that Alberto's family had their land/possessions taken from them with the uprisings with the Sandinista party in the early 1980's. He lived what they've heard, so their ears were wide open. We were thankful for Alberto's generosity and hospitality, and we are also thankful that God would reunite a relationship that seemingly was about "bananas" ... but was able to be rekindled for a much higher purpose (the boys' future).
At night the weather is cool (actually have to turn the fans off), it's muggy/warm during the day, and oftentimes the skies open for a nice, loud, refreshing downpour.
Thank you for staying tuned and caring about out adventure here in Nicaragua. We feel so much is at stake ... the boys' future, the awakening of hearts towards the poverty here and what every single person "could" do about it, and the opportunity we've been given to be the conduit for your support and love.
