Chickens, hogs and pick up trucks. Ah, the ministry!

The ministry here is two fold (from what I can tell at this point).  At certain times, we do a census to find English speaking people.  Then once the census is done, we do a sort of needle in haystack kind of work going back to find them and see if they would like a bible study.  Everyone here is very hospitable.  When you come to the house, they automatically give you a chair to sit (even if they have to send a child next door to borrow one) and this is before you even say why you are there.  People have varying degrees of English so we often have to use both English and Spanish bibles to make sure they grasp everything.  Some are expats from around the world, others are Nicas who have spent varying amounts of time in the States or have gone to school for English here.  Monday and Thursday are off days for the English group when we rest up and get errands done.  Sometimes I try to go out with the Spanish group if I have the energy.  Tomorrow, I will get up and go to the market with the grandma in my house to her haggle then watch she and another lady who cook here.  I've already told them everything I want to learn to make from scratch and they seem to be excited.  Back to the ministry... we always have a good time together although we walk many miles each day.  If someone comes with a car or truck we take that or occasionally there will be only a few of us so we will use motorcycles.  Here you can see up to 4 people on a bicycle or motorcycle easily.  Usually the man pedalling with the woman on the bar holding a baby or the man on a motorcycle with one kid in front of him, one behind and the woman at the back.  I'll try to remember to take pictures.  We drink plenty of powerade and water and break often to make sure everyone is ok.  Right now rainy season (winter) is ending.  The temperature has been around 91F with a heat index of about 97F.  Humidity is around 85%.  Evenings are cool in the 70s.  The good thing about rainy season is that the sky can open up at anytime, pour for 10 minutes then just stop, leaving it a bit cooler.  We just run under someone's porch and laugh at who got most wet and then keep going.  The sun dries you out quickly.

Brother having a study with a young boy as we passed by in the ministry.

Clothes out drying at a house.  I'm very proud that I can now properly hang my clothes to dry at our house.  I had some city girl problems at first!

Local House.  Others which are made solely of cardboard and heavy plastic.  Often with an out house composed of 4 large sticks in the ground with heavy plastic wrapped around them.  Next to Haiti, Nicaragua is the second poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.  

Fun in the ministry

Taking a break

Angie & I

Car Group- Believe it or not, several more people including myself got in after this photo!  People are sitting on each other's laps in the cab of the truck too!

Into the field we go!

Some of our territory leading into the center of town

Enjoying a sudden rain shower under an awning.  We had to wring out our skirts after the downpour but had fun trying to run through the rain drops before the downpour got heavy.

Hog at a bible study's house.  No photo can do justice to just how big he is!

Sitting in the yard for a bible study.

How can I concentrate on the reading with chickens and hogs everywhere?!

I had the pleasure of being on a ridiculously packed bus like this for service one day.  I however was in the front.  By front I mean standing on the last step of a school bus which the driver normally would have left open for you to hang half in and half out but I guess he didn't trust me not to fall out so he kindly squeezed the doors as far as they would go smashing me against a pregnant lady, a lady with a bakers bowl full of batter and a bunch of other people.  I couldn't hold onto anything, turn my head, nada.  I could however watch the road zooming by through the half closed door as we weeved in and out of traffic and through pot holes.  Fortunately we only rode for about a mile.  All I could do was laugh and shake my head when the doors finally opened and we all tumbled out!

I took the video below of a plant in the ministry that closes when it feels human touch.  Not sure what it is called but I thought it was kind of cool. (if the video doesn't work when I publish this, I'll try again)