Machetes, helping hands and jump rope

Prior to lunch, we were told that we should be ready to work after eating and work we did.  One of the residents allowed us to work on his land and we learned that he lived some distance from the village center.  The path was muddy, slippery and mountainous and quite a challenge for us.  On two occasions, I was slipping on the hills and both times one of the men reached out his hand to help.  They did this for most of us along the jouney.  Despite the challenges, it was a beautiful walk.  Some of us saw monkeys and one of the men demonstrated his athletic ability by quickly climbing a tall tree and entertaining us.  Our students spent their time chasing the local children around and having a great time.

Once we arrived at the farm, we were shown how to use a machete to clear weeds and other items from around the coffee branches.  I must say, it was a lot of fun to swing a machete around for awhile.  I think everyone had an opportunity to help and fortunately there were no injuries along the way.  Next, the Agros technician taught us how to fertilize the plants and we took turns at this activity.  It takes 3 years for the coffee plants to produce  coffee so it requires a tremendous amount of care and effort on their part.

For me, the highlight of the entire day happened once we got back to the village.  Several of our students had brought along jump ropes and began to teach the kids how to do it.  Before long, we were all standing around the area watching kids and grownups take turns jumping rope.  For two peoples divided by a language barrier, it was a time of unity and friendship as we laughed and cheered together.  I believe this is a small 'foretaste of heaven' and I feel blessed to have been a part of this moment.

Day 1 in the Village

Today was a wonderful day for our team!  Our day began at 7am with a 3 hour drive into the mountains from Managua to Sebaco, where we stopped at the Agros office and had a chance to meet members of the Agros team.  After our brief stop, we headed out to Tierra Nueva and things quicky became interesting.   The dirt road was very muddy and washed out at points.  God provided us a wonderful driver named Oscar who did a excellent job navigating the holes and deep pockets of mud.  At one point our bus became stuck and would not move.  Thankfully, there were two trucks of men along with us and they were able to get us moving after some work. This is just one example of the kindness shown by our hosts.

Upon our arrival in Tierra Nueva, we were pleasantly surprised to see a dozen or more homes that have been built since the NCC team was here last year.  We were met by many of the residents and they hosted a welcome ceremony for us.  We were greeted by the President of the co-op and the Board of Directors.  One of the residents led a devotional and then his wife and children joined him and sang a couple of songs for us.  Chuck had prepared remarks in Spanish and did an excellent job introducing our team and thanking them for hosting us.

For me, the highlight of this initial meeting was presenting the NCC banner to the community.  They were very excited to see the banner and it was obvious that it was meaningful to them.  Great job to Vicki on pulling this together.

We had a great lunch prepared by a number of the ladies.  They were delighted that we enjoyed the meal and I found out later that they had practiced cooking the meal several times prior to our arrival.  Again, just another example of the kindness and hospitality of these people.

More to come...

After sprinting through the Houston airport in a failed attempt to catch the flight to Managua, our team now finds itself in Costa Rica.  While not part of our original plans, we enjoyed the beautiful view during our landing.  The temp is in the 80's, so we can't complain.  Below you will find a picture of our team running through the Houston airport.

We have a total of 14 people on this trip, including 5 students.  I had a chance to ask Katie Carlson why she came on the trip and here is her response:

Katie Carlson

After going on the Appalachia mission trip I learned the importance of surrender, so I'm looking forward to learning something new about growing in faith, poverty, and different cultures.  God provided the means and the availability, so I'm now faithfully obeying his commandment to make disciples of all nations, and when I felt him nudge me toward going six months ago, I knew I had no choice but to go! I can't wait to see the effects this week has on my life!

Final Preparations

Today is Saturday and our team is making final preparations for our mission trip.  I just checked the weather and it is 90 degrees in Managua (Nicaraguan capital) and almost 80 degrees in Matagalpa (city near our village).  I've never experienced a 100 degree swing in temperature within one week, so it should be quite interesting.

For those who are interested in learning more about Nicaragua, here are two resources:

• Nicaragua Dispatch- English language Nicaraguan newspaper

www.nicaraguadispatch.com

•  Nicaragua Country Profile- go to the following link and search for "Nicaragua Profile"

www.bbc.co.uk

Please keep us in your prayers as we begin our journey very early tomorrow morning.  Our prayer is that God will use us to be 'his hands and feet' and that we will follow His will throughout this trip.

 In 2012 New Community Church (NCC) sent a team of leaders to Nicaragua on a vision trip that initiated a new partnership between our congregation in Pittsburgh, PA and Agros International.  That team saw the new village of Tierra Neuva that our church would help to support over the next 5 years.  In March of 2013 NCC sent our first mission team to work alongside these villagers to love and support them in the name of Christ as they engage on an adventure to move from extreme poverty to middle class land owners in this new land in Nicaragua.

It is January 2014 and our next mission team has been preparing for the last few months to go back to Nicaragua.  The 2014 team consists of 14 people, including 5 students ages 10 to 15.

As we begin this final week of packing and preparing to leave for Tierra Nueva, we ask for your prayers for safe travels and a productive week with our friends in Nicaragua.  We fly out of Pittsburgh on Sunday morning, January 12th at 6:00am and will be returning on Friday, January 17th at 5:00pm.  We will keep you updated on the trip in this blog each day.