Hi, Friends!

Good afternoon. It is 2:21 here, and we just finished our lunch here in the hotel. We get a free continental breakfast, and they do have a wide variety of food available. This includes several kinds of fruit, two kinds of dry cereal, toast, and “gallo pinto,” which is their name for a mixture of dark beans and rice; and also either fried or scrambled eggs; and several kinds of fruit drinks. Anyway, we are not starving, for sure!

I'm sort of going in reverse time sequence on this one. Internet did not become available until about an hour ago.

This morning I attended the full training session with the others in our group. I do not edit the material presented, as by speaking in Spanish I usually have enough time to go through all the items included.

After that, “my” pastor came by to see if we needed anything. There was nothing urgent, except some wanted to go the bank to cash some travelers checks. So he took four of us to the large mall. It matches any mall I have seen in the U.S. No kidding! It is beautiful, modern, and you name it! Pastor Barr had to wait in a long line (with a number) to get served at the bank, and then they had to check each travelers check. He said he'd never bring those to Nicaragua again!

Meantime, two of the men got haircuts and one did some shopping for four grandchildren.

By the way, I posted another 14 pictures on my Picasa site before starting this memo.

I was struck last night on our way to the meeting as to the enormity of this city. Miles and miles of businesses, shops, houses, and everything else. People, people, and more people. Heavy traffic at that time of the evening. I couldn't help but wonder how on earth we can “reach” the multitudes in this metropolis. No doubt this is also true in all big cities, even in the good old USA. It is impossible, humanly speaking. I don't mean to be pessimistic, but the Good Lord will have to do something special, with what meager resources and personnel we have.

Last night's meeting went quite well. We had a fairly full house. Some problems with a computer, but nothing serious. I was glad that our pastor was present. There were approximately 40 who responded to the call. (He had told me that 82 visitors were present and had filled out visitation cards.)

The half-hour return trip to the hotel is always a reflection time, thinking over what took place, and how it could be improved.

A couple notes on a picture included in the first set. There should be a scene of what appears to be a tent camp-out. Well, they told us that this is a protest camp of people who were affected by the poison/fertilizer used in banana plantations years ago. They have been living there in worse conditions than slums. I don't know how they survive. I'll try to get more information about that down the line.

Just a minor item that might be of interest. Gasoline here is 20.30 Cordobas a liter. You figure it out. One U.S. dollar is 19.30 Cordobas. Which makes it a little more than a dollar a liter of gasoline. $4.00 gallon! And we think we have it bad in the US.

I will be doing some home visitations with the pastor next week. I also hope to visit some of the grade schools in the mornings.

We are all of good courage. I just got a phone call from Pastor Luis Leonor, who is spending a few days at Matabampo. He said that is really a beautiful mountain area, cool breezes, and everything is going fine. The young lady who had the breathing problem is OK, and we're thankful for that.

Thanks for your continued prayers. If the Lord is with us, who can be against us? It matters not, if we do all within our power, and rely on His help at all times.

As ever,
Harvey (and all our associates)

Wednesday, March 12, 2008 8:42 PM
Nicaragua-11

Hi.

Even though you may not know it, this is the second version of bulletin #11.   After downloading a batch of new pictures into Picasa, I wrote out today's bulletin. The problem is, as I went to send it, everything went dead on Internet. I hoped that it had gone, but I guess it got lost in outer space, or probably never left Managua.

I'm not sure if I can remember all I said in that version, so I'll try to remember some items.

Last night Randal Pierson went with me to my meeting. He has been working with Pastor Barr at the Central Church, but had the night "off." He is our computer guru, and I was glad he went and looked over our setup.

The service sent quite well, though the attendance was down a little.

This morning at 7:00 we went to the beach. We visited, or looked over, a fancy hotel, after parking in a rather modest area of the beach. The hotel only charges $235 for each day, including meals! I'm glad we're not staying there, though it looked pretty nice.

While "cruising" up and down the beach, some of our folk met the students from Sandia View Academy. They were having a great time.

We then swung by Hotel Barcelo. Now that is an up-to-date fabulous place. It has 298 rooms, and is miles ahead of the other place that we looked over. Four or five swimming pools, massage parlors, casino, four restaurants, museum, airport, and all kinds of upscale deals. I don't think I've seen anything better than that place in the States.

On our way back we came another route, and stopped by our church at the highest area of Nicaragua. They must have over 50 radio, TV, and communication antennas all over that area. Our denominational radio station has its antenna in our church yard there. If we would have arrived a little earlier we would have seen some technicians working way at the top of it. Some height!

Before getting back to the hotel we stopped at the Metro Mall, at their Food Court. It is huge. You name the kind of food you want, and you will find it there. We got Subway sandwiches, and some french fries from another stand.

Then two of us stopped by a supermarket and picked up some snacks. Harlen, my oldest son, requested I take some pictures of different kinds of bananas, so I did. But they don't look too appetizing. Tomorrow morning the pastor will take me to the wholesale open market (that I went to previously) and hope to get some good "banana pictures." So if you see a lot of "nanners" in my photo album, you will know why.

Tonight's meeting was about the Sabbath. The pastor had asked me to take the saw, so I played a number for them during song service.

A woman sang the appeal song, while the pastor made the call. We were very happy that 15 young people and adults came forward indicating they wanted to keep the Sabbath and show their loyalty to God. That was very inspiring.

An aside is that they believe in clapping to express joy over decisions made. I guess many places have different ways of expressing agreement and appreciation. They do use "Amen" also, when appropriate; as well as "raise the hands" as Psalms seems to indicate in places. I am sure the Good Lord is pleased with the response of His people.

Well, believe it or not, I am a bit tired this evening, so will enjoy a refreshing shower and the air-conditioned room. I turn off the air conditioning unit sometime during the night, but leave the overhead fan operating.

I hope today's batch of pictures were posted before Internet went dead. It may be that they are listed under 3-11-09, as I did not change the date fast enough. I haven't checked myself as to how they are stacked up. I hope I didn't lose them.  If the set ends with a few pictures of bananas, they did get in the "book."

Good night for now.

Love y'all.
Harvey

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