Our internet hasn’t been working for two whole days now! So, we finally broke down and came to the internet cafe. 3 days before the mission group comes is not a good time to not be in contact. I have a list about 10 miles long of things to do. Luckily I’m delegating tasks, so it’s getting shorter my the minute!

There aren’t many updates. Church building is going good. They started putting the concrete over the walls, and are still welding a way for the roof. We got the doors and our decorative window yesterday, and they are very pretty. Can’t wait to see it all put together. We’re already planning to invite preachers from the area over to have a “house warming.”

Farm work is going good too. The men are working on cleaning up our pineapple today. Tomorrow we’ll put fertilizer on it, and hopefully have a good harvest in a few months (our first harvest). I have a picture of one of our little pineapples growing, but you’ll just have to wait until we get internet back to see it. Sorry.

I fixed the video, so you should be able to see it now.

Guess what! I learned how to put videos on our newsletter too! I haven’t really taken much video lately because I didn’t think I’d be able to share it, but now I can! With my new found ability, what is the most important thing I should do first? Show off how smart my nephew is, of course!! (Please be patient. It’s worth it!)

This is my Bible class (2 to 5 year olds) singing Spanish “Are You Ready?”

We’re getting into the beginning of the rainy season. It’s gotten to where it rains every 2 or 3 days, for about an hour or so. This is my favorite time of year, because the rain keeps it cool and helps cut down on the dust (which is terrible during the dry season), but there isn’t so much rain you have to stop what you’re doing. Tuesday during ladies class I had to lead some extra songs during the lesson because it got so loud we couldn’t hear. But after about 3 songs it was back to manageable.

I think I say it everytime, but it’s true everytime. The farm is getting so pretty. The day after I took the picture of the lot where we are planting coffee (see previous post) I went to that area again, and it was already MUCH greener.

We had church services in our house today. Giovanni talked about being a worker for God. He talked about how evangelizing, helping others physically, taking people to the hospital, giving good advice, etc. are all ways that we can be workers for the Lord. He used Luke 19 and the parable of the minas (like the parable of the talents) to discuss what kind of workers we should be. Here Jesus talks about a master who gave 10 servants 1 minas each, and one came with 10, another 5, and another hid his away and produced nothing. God always gives us opportunities, it’s what we do with them that produces fruit. The man with 10 is the one who never turns down an opportunity to work for the Lord. The man with 5 is faithful, but doesn’t always accept God’s opportunities. The man who hid his minas didn’t want God’s opportunity because he let the fear of God (an unjust fear) overcome his desire to do good. How many of us want to fight to be that servant of God who ALWAYS accepts God’s opportunities? How many times have we let fear overcome an opportunity? Perhaps you won’t go on a mission trip because of the fear of another country or airplanes. Maybe you won’t talk to a friend or family member about God because you are afraid they won’t treat you the same afterward. Proverbs talks a lot about unjust or unrealistic fear, and explains that for many, fear is an excuse for lazyness. Proverbs 22:13 says, “The sluggard says, “There is a lion outside!” or “I will be murdered in the streets!” See Prov. 3:21-28 which talks of fear and opportunity (you’ll have to look that one up yourself). Let’s all work this week to step out of our comfort zones, overcome our fears, and take advantage of the opportunities God sets infront of us. They’re there, you just have to open up to them.

The water finally came back on this week! Poor Fatima is all alone at her laundry basin now. Today we went to but Fatima a new grill (most here cook on grills). She was cooking on a grill made of a barrel and it was very dangerous. But, you can’t just go and buy a grill. No, it has to be difficult and frustraiting. First we went to a place and picked out the one we wanted only for them to tell us it was a special order for someone (why they showed it to us??). Then they showed us one and even packed it all up in the truck (it’s concrete and very heavy), only for the boss to come by and say it was ordered too. They tried to sell us some others, which I think were the rejects from the orders, so we left. Then we went some other place, and their machine was broken. Finally we went today to yet another place, and found the best we could, and the lady in charge acted like we were bothering her by purchasing something. I was beaten, so I just endured it though I normally would have lectured about the need for customer service and taken my business elsewhere. Problem is, there was no elsewhere by this time! It was all worth it to get Fatima her new grill!

I have new pictures of the church building. They are now just putting up the crown (or the last iron work) on the walls. Next comes the roof! Well, technically they still have to fill in the arch so the walls will meet the roof in the point, but I’m looking forward! David picked out a design to put a special window behind the pulpit. I haven’t seen it, but his description sounded pretty. At least we’ll have some adornment in an otherwise very practical building.

Church Building Progress

The men are putting holes in the lot getting ready to plant the new coffee plants. It looks like we have a very serious groundhog problem, with little mounds everywhere! Everyone is working to get everything clean and pretty for the group. I think it is important to have groups come, because it’s like visitors in your home: a good reason to clean and organize!

Trimming the Banana Trees

Holes for Coffee Plants

I am so excited to let you know that we are finally connected to the internet. After months of unfulfilled promises, the internet people finally came today to install the internet. And best of all, it actually works!! Our computer is getting a much needed tune up! I even had to update the updating program! I also got to have such a fun afternoon chatting with Leann and Tim (and I can’t forget Josh!). They have a webcam, so I got to see them. They at least got to hear me with the microphone we have. The internet is also going to be all ours and won’t take up the phone line, so no sharing or time constraints.

We had a full house in church services this morning even though many of our members are sick. David got to preach. He talked about the power of the tongue. Using James 3 he talked about the hyprocricy of glorifying God and praying to God with our tongue, and then using it to do harm. He mentioned four ways we are tempted to sin with our tongue. (1) Blasphemy - Paul in 1 Tim. said that he blaphemed God by persecuting the church. So, we learned that when we speak ill of other Christians or God’s church, it is blasphemy. (2) Insulting - when we talk bad about others or discourage others we are sinning. Talking bad of others is listed in Rom. 1 as a sin worthy of death. David pointed out that all have differences and weaknesses, and we should encourage one another with love and humility, not insult or point out weaknesses. Sometimes we insult when we are trying to help because we do it without love or tact. (3) Gossip - 1 Tim 5 tells the young widows that they might fall into the sin of gossip because they aren’t occupied. So, to avoid the temptation, we should work and keep ourselves occupied, so there isn’t time for gossip. (4) Complaining - Phil 2:14 says to do ALL without complaining. This includes school, work, helping in the house, caring for kids, sacrificing for others. If we are complaining, it implies that we aren’t thankful to God for our blessings or opportunities. How many times do we complain about eating leftovers? Most Nicaraguans eat beans and rice for EVERY meal. How many times do we complain about work? 75% of Nicaraguans are unemployed. How many times do we complain about household chores? Nicaraguans wash clothes by hand everyday, and cook over wood fires. Can you imagine having to start a fire everytime you cook? Let’s stop and give thanks for all the wonderful blessings God has given us!

I am always so excited when I get emails from the website. We are so blessed to have a way to keep in contact with so many people. David’s parents got into town a few days ago, and were telling me how they are letting everyone know about the website. And I think that everyone who steps into my parents house get a tour of the site too. In a effort to reach out to the not-so-computer-friendly crowd, we sent out a newletter this last week. It was not easy because we had 9 months of work to sum up. I’m going to try to send one out every 3 months or so. If you didn’t get one, and would like to be on the list, let me know (or if you know someone you want to let know about our work).

The church building is into it’s slow phase. They’re putting the last blocks up, and they have to lift very heavy rock very high! The end of next week we should start on the roof, and hopefully have that up before the mission group gets here.

Church Building Progress

Speaking of the mission group, everything seems to be falling into place. Monday we have to go and order the food. A restaurant in San Marcos is going to make sandwiches for lunch, and different dinner items for us. They are such a great find, because they make everything with purified water and clean all the veggies with a little bleach. They even play oldies music!!

We have our final meeting with the label designers today. Turned out to be the perfect time, because the coffee plants are flowering. Last week we went to the tourist market in Masaya and bought three cups with saucers. Yesterday I went and picked some coffee flowers (though it hurt me tremendously to remove some of our harvest, I figured a few grains sacrificed for the better good), and we had a photo shoot. I think it turned out really good. The label I put in the gallery today is my making, so I’m sure the real one we make today will be better, but at least you can get the idea. Carlos got us our official bar code, so everything should be ready to go! We are planning on sending lots of coffee back with the mission group in June, so get ready to go crazy purchasing coffee (and supporting a great work)!!

Here’s what our finished label will look like, but it’s not perfect because I made this one, not the designer

The church building is going great! We have one wall totally done, and the rest just need one more row of blocks, and then we move on to the roof! The walls are very tall, so we should be nice and cool with the breeze coming in.

Marjuri had her baby last week! She had a little boy. She wasn’t due until the end of May, but he looks big and healthy. She had to have a C-Section, so please remember her in your prays, that she heals quickly and without complications. We went to visit her last night, but I forgot to take the camera, so pictures have to stay pending.

Our water went about 4 days ago! The water pump in Diriamba where all the water comes from went out, and they say it should take a week to fix (some say a month, but I think it’s just the gossip chain growing). Luckily the apartments have a tank, so we have water until 10am and then on again at 5pm. Could be much worse. We’re carting drinkable water to the farm and members of the church, and everyday we have a LONG line of people waiting to wash clothes from our rain water tank. Some members of the church were there until 8 last night (about a hour after dark, and considered bed time here). Pray that everything gets fixed soon!

Women washing clothes on the farm and collecting water

Hey all. Today I would like some information about your coffee purchasing/drinking habits.
What size coffee package do you usually purchase?
How often do you usually purchase coffee?
How many cups of coffee does your family drink daily?
We are thinking about packaging in 400g bags, but are worried that this might be too big for the average family (coffee’s no good after a month). What you do think?

We have some new sample labels. For those who were wondering, we were testing names with the other labels, but have decided to go with Heavenly Harvest Coffee. This label still has the same cup, but we are going to take pictures of clay cups here and see how that goes. The back text has also changed, so check it out.

Updated coffee labels

Now that we’ve gotten tons of responses about the coffee label, I decided we could write again and let you know what’s been going on.

We’ve had two baptisms. Lucia, Johanna’s daughter, and Moises, Francisco’s son. We’ve had so many of our young people decided to dedicate their lives to Christ recently! There’s the future of the church!

Moises Baptism

Building is going fast! We have two half walls! And let me tell you, those guys work hard. They come early and leave late. Everything continues on schedule (should have pictures up today).

Church buildin progress

We’re putting fertilizer around the coffee plants we cleaned up earlier, so they should be great! It is so much fun to get to walk around the farm and see all the green berries and flowers. I was practicing counting with Chepe, and so we were counting coffee berries. Edwin guessed a good coffee plant produces 100 berries, but we counted 100 on just a few branches of one plant! I can’t wait to see them ripe. We hired extra workers to cut the grass in the rows of coffee (important before the rain comes), so now the farm looks so pretty too. It rained today, so everyone says that things will get greener, but it already looks green to me (I’m from Texas you know…). Soon we’ll start planting the baby coffee plants and on the coffee plants we cut back, we’ll remove all but 5 vertical stems. Later, we’ll pick the best three of the five and remove the other two.

Fertilizing

We had another meeting with the label designer. We’re really happy with how everything turned out (thanks to all the great advice!!). The only thing we still HAVE to fix is that stinkin’ cup. We’re going to take pictures of the clay cups in the tourist market, and then hopefully have a program sketch it to make it look good for the label. We’ll let you know. Should have a picture of our improvements tommorow or Thursday.

Thought that was it but…we had extra contribution over our budget, so this week we were able to buy 37 basic baskets of food for the members of the church. We had rice, pasta, oil, coffee, soap, dish soap, matches, oatmeal, sugar, and salt, plus beans (from the crop the church planted). We have small baskets to the kids who come without their parents, so hopefully the parents will respond!

Julito with his basic basket