It has been so nice to have the weekend off! Tons of relaxing to get ready for the next week. We finished our second cut of the coffee, and get to start again this week. Hopefully we can finish the whole farm in one week this time, which is likely because there is less coffee to cut. After this cut we have one more, when we will cut everything, both ripe and green coffee, and then we’ll be done. We’re pushing to get it all done by the time we leave for the states, and I think we’ll be able to.

In Bible class we’ve been getting ready for our special service on the 30th where the kids get to sing and have competitions for who can say the most memory verses. It should be a lot of fun. We have toys for all the kids to hand out, and we’re going to have a meal too.

Last week David went to the big CISA plant up north, and we’re trying to get the pictures online today. It is amazing to see how much coffee they have drying. Fields and fields.

We had three baptisms this Sunday. One is the sister of one of our members, and one is the brother of a member, with his wife. It is wonderful that here people really work with their families and talk to them about salvation. I think they must feel wonderful when someone they care so much about becomes a Christian.

We had a guest speaker preach on Sunday. He is a preacher in Managua. A sister in Managua also brought us a pinata, so we had fun in Bible class. She also brought gifts for all of the kids of little plastic cups filled with candy. Practically every kid I see walking around the farm neighborhood has their little cup with them now! After services, Giovanni’s sister made us Mondongo soup. It’s made out of cow stomach. Eat up! David ate it, but I was feeding one of the kids from my Bible class and ACCIDENTALLY got skipped when they were passing it out.

David took a trip to Jinotega yesterday (five hours away) to pick up some toys for our kids at church. A long trip got even longer when they made a wrong turn and went 1.5 hours out of the way! CISA takes all the coffee up north to dry it, so he got to see acres and acres of coffee set out to dry. I bet it was amazing!

His trip left me in charge of the farm, and we cut 68 sacks of coffee! We even had to take two trips to CISA to drop it off. It looks like we’ll have even more today! So far we’ve cut about 225 fanagas, and we plan for about 450-500, so we’re on the downward slope of the mountain now. Someone tried to hide a small sack of coffee to steal yesterday, but we found it. You have to be so careful watching the workers, but we have guards there around the clock, so everything gets found eventually. Now that person cut all that coffee for no pay at all!

Things are going great! Usually on Thursday’s David and I go to Managua to buy groceries and relax. Last time we were harvesting we left late and came back early to be sure everything went okay, but yesterday we were able to take our usual day and everything ran without us. Yeah!! Maybe now we will have more time for newsletters and pictures! We cut 22 fanegas (which is about 44 180lb sacks).

David talked with Roger, who is the number 2 man in our apartments (and also owns a little coffee farm with his father) about what we can do now for our plans next year. This week we are going to have someone cut about 55lbs. of berries from our best plants so that we can get them ready to plant. The coffee that the farm is producing right now is the best of the harvest, so this helps us have the best plants reproducing. We also will talk to CISA (the processors) so they can have some of our coffee ready for us to pick up. We will make samples of the coffee from this, so everyone can try. I think we are going to pass out our coffee with a little comment card so everyone can say what they think about the flavor and make suggestions. Our coffee will have a mild flavor, so sometimes they mix it with coffee from the north which is stronger. I think I’m going to have to start liking coffee so that I can taste it to know if it’s good or not!

It is so great to have so many people helping us. It is amazing how willing they are. We have a friend, Roberto, who is one of the top 4 guys over 4 coffee farms owned by the Pellas family (the richest in Nicaragua). Roger got us in touch with him, and now he comes over all the time to let us know what is going on in the coffee industry, and if something new came up that we need to do. He brings us all kinds of literature too. We are working to have him come to the farm about 3 times a week next year to help us plan and prepare. One of the men cutting on the farm said “Nicaraguans are great workers, but horrible administrators” and generally speaking that is very true. We have been blessed to find so many people who have learned to be more than just a worker, and who are so willing to help and advise!

The congregation is going well. Did I tell you that the kids went to a youth retreat? We had about 15 young people go. Giovanni was the speaker, and he discussed common temptations for young people. Everyone said they really enjoyed it. I, apparently, am too old to go!

Here’s the problem. When I have time to come and write the newsletter, it’s because not much is going on, so I have time. But, when a lot is going on that is exciting to write about, I don’t have time to write about it!!

We started harvesting again this week, and things are going GREAT! We have about half the people cutting, but we are still cutting a little more than last week. All of our cutters are doing a really great job! We didn’t let the people cut who cut too much green coffee, who were suspicious for stealing, and who didn’t have a good attitude. The good attitude that everyone has now is so nice because we can give suggestions on how to cut and ask them to do things and they don’t talk back like last week. We are also measuring the coffee right by the entrance to the farm, so people get measured, then have to go straight out the front, and we check backpacks and everything too. I feel much more secure. We also changed the measuring guy and the capatas (who checks the work of all the cutters) and now we have people who are being much more careful. Every day gets better and better.

We bought a horse! It is so nice too because we spend a lot on gas going back and forth from the farm to the apartment and going around the farm. It’s not very far, but too far to walk if you are in a hurry. It’s also great because they have to do rounds watching the farm at night, and with the horse they can cover the area much faster, so it’s more secure. Plus they don’t have to walk the whole time which is very nice. Also, you’re taller on the horse so it’s easier to see through the coffee rows. It cost us 2000 cordovas. Don’t worry, that’s only $120 (actually a little less). It’s a nice horse too. It’s black and big and fat for Nicaraguan standards. We’re looking for another so we don’t over work this one, and so David and I don’t have to share!!

Last week a member from Villa Alamania (a congregation in Managua) moved out to the farm to help us with our evangelistic work. He is a young man (20 I think) and single. He is going to live with Giovanni. He’s been on an evangelistic team in Managua for several years now, so he is a great addition to the team, especially now, when so many members of the church are busy with harvesting.

I think I covered it all!

We haven’t been to the internet cafe in a while, so I just checked my email and I have pages and pages of emails! Maybe I should skip out on my email more often so I can feel really loved!!

We are taking a break this week from harvesting, as we cut the whole farm last week, so I decided to use my time being sick. I spent all day in bed yesterday, and so now I a feeling better. I keep getting this cold (meaning one time before this time) where my ears stop up. It’s the worst because I can’t hear anything (or at least that’s what I tell David when he asks me to do something I don’t want to

We are making all sorts of revisions of our coffee cutting process, so hopefully things will go much smoother. Our police officer ran off this week, so we are guarding the farm with the 4 guys we have. I think it will be better because we trust them all. Next year we hope to have a good fence all the way around the farm (our barbed wire fence isn’t too much of an obstacle) and a guard posted in front to let people in. We will also have dogs that aren’t as nice as the ones we have now (they’re worthless).

About the coffee process: We have red and yellow coffee on the farm, and we cut it when it is a good full color. We pay the workers according to how much they cut. The same day that it is cut, we take it to CISA to have it processed. This includes depulping (taking off the meat around the beans), and soaking (to remove the syrup on the beans - about 8 hours). You have to take it the day of to begin this process or the coffee will ferment. The coffee ferments when it is soaking, but since it is depulped, it is the good kind of fermenting. After they rinse the coffee, the set it out on patios (concrete slabs) to dry for at least a week. When it is dry, they have to take off another husk that is on the actual bean. Then you have your coffee, which they call “oro” or “gold.” Now it is ready to toast. Eventually we will do all of this ourselves. You can actually save the oro for up to 4 years before it goes bad. It is best to sell the coffee in beans (toasted), as ground coffee loses its flavor very quickly.

The great thing about being able to keep the coffee in oro is that you can wait for a good coffee price before you sell. Most farms here have to sell immediately in order to pay their workers, so prices are lowest during harvest time. The Pellas family (the richest in Nicaragua) have held coffee up to 4 years waiting for a good price. We hope to just wait further into the year for the better price. This gives us time when we aren’t in the harvest to decide what is best for us to do with the coffee this year.