Our Final Week in Nicaragua

On Sunday, September 21st, we attended the worship service at Artie's church, Verbo. There was lots of singing, which Susan and Alan translated for me. When it came time for the sermon, Alan and I were offered headsets to listen as the message was translated into English.

Below is a map of the Verbo Churches in Nicaragua. The second map is an inset of the Verbo Churches in Managua. Artie and Susan's church is second to the left.

Sunday afternoon, Susan took us to NCA to join in the weekly frisbee pick-up game. While I wouldn't say that the afternoon was much hotter than Nashville in the summer time, we were certainly feeling the humidity and the pace of the game. This wan't like the kinds of pick-up games I am used to! We ended up taking one water break in two hours, so I was beat by the time we wrapped up.

Monday through Thursday Alan and I volunteered in the library at NCA to work on putting barcodes on all the books. A new, larger library is being built, so they are also wanting to update to scanning barcodes to check books in and out. Here are some pictures of the library and of the NCA grounds. We enjoyed our time at the school and enjoyed being reminded of books that we read back in elementary or high school.  Each day at lunchtime, we headed to the school cafeteria to buy an authentic "Nica" meal.  We each had a plate full of tasty food, and shared a soda, all for about $4.00.

Our final trek outside of Managua was a trip to the Pacific Ocean on Wednesday. Susan and Artie drove us the hour and a half to the coast. While Susan and Artie appreciated that the roads are now paved farther toward the beach, as we got closer to the coast the roads were gravel or dirt. Since it had rained recently, there were some spots we thought we might need to get out and push. We made it all the way to the Gran Pacifica resort development. Of course, the rain began again once we arrived. So we enjoyed some time walking on the beach before hopping back in the car to be sure we could make it back to Managua. 

 We had a wonderful time in Nicaragua, and we enjoyed seeing so many different landscapes in the country, and getting to know so many folks who are working/serving there.  Thanks to Artie and Susan for being wonderful hosts.  We wish all the best for NCA and Verbo.