Romans 5:1Peace and Hope: We have been made right with God because of our faith. Now we have peace with him because of our Lord Jesus Christ.
It is now the evening of our sixth day here. I can here the crickets and a few birds and some geckos speaking to each other in the still night air. We had a lovely day, so let me recap for you. I do realize that yesterday I got a bit long winded.
This morning I was the first one to the coffee pot and I also opened up the van. The catch on the back door wouldn’t open and I found out later (after 3 or 4 men tried to open it too) that a bottle of oil was caught under the handle on the inside. Anyway, the side door was flung open and I started the ball rolling. There was a fair amount of loose packages so it was easy for me to start a few packages at a time, then a sip of coffee and back again for more. Soon I was joined by the others and the van was emptied.
So we stopped for breakfast and devotions. We open with a song or two and this morning’s song was a new one for me, “Go Do Something Beautiful” by Graham Kendrick. It was the perfect song for this morning.
Then we packed 40 bags of food for today’s trip to Pastor Ernan’s church. He is the Administrator here at Quinta Jardin Shalom and takes care of things especially when there are no directors here in Nicaragua. He also does a fair amount of the preparation for team visits, coordinating and working out the details.
Then Sharon, Dolores, Johanella, Bollardo, Jonathan and I were driven down to the church for sewing, weaving and crocheting! Today my girls begin a pattern piece and so, I plan to come back after lunch to make sure they don’t get too frustrated.
When my ladies arrived, they were very keen to show me what they had accomplished yesterday afternoon and evening. Many flowers were made, a purse was shortened and made into an eyeglass case, as well as a few hair ornaments completed. We did all this before we were called into the circle for opening prayer.
Once we were back at the crochet corner, I showed them the three bodices that I had prepared in advance and stopped at different intervals in the pattern. I explained that they had already learned the skills necessary to do this but it required work to read the pattern and plan row to row. So with a chain of 81, we were off!
At 11:30 Sharon, Samuel and I ate a quick lunch and went off to Huembis Marketplace to shop. I had some orders from the rest of the gang as well. I was able to get some dresses for my granddaughters and a few other things as well. Huembis is a fun place to shop as all the stalls are back to back and some in tight spaces. So as you weave between vendors, you have to watch out both sides for what catches your eye. Samuel made sure he got us to the right vendor’s stall for the items we were looking for, he translated and helped us to convert cordobas to U.S. dollars...they accept both. So 100 cordobas is about $3.20 U.S. As we hurried along the last stretch, Allan jumped into the driver’s seat, while Sharon and I paid the parking lady. She has a whistle and stops traffic while you back up and ensures you get the next space if you are waiting. Well worth it.
We made it back to the church shortly after one and were happy with our purchases. My ladies were looking a little peaked and a few had ripped out their crocheting and started again. They were getting a little frustrated so we looked at some patterns in the magazines that the Pastor’s wife, Sofia, had purchased for me. This encouraged them to try again. I also stressed that if they were really struggling with the pattern that they could take a step back and work on the flowers or purses until they felt ready to try again. Several did that and I could see that it helped convince them that they had learned well, they just needed practice. This is good. Sometimes the younger ones want to jump ahead too quickly and so it is good that they can learn to reassess their work, rip it out or try something else.
At 4:30pm, Cecilio came to pick me up as everyone else had left earlier. We arrived back at Jardin Shalom by 5pm and I had time for a shower before the others returned from delivering food and clothes to the barrio. We had a lovely treat of fish and chips and salad for supper and Calalla juice (which is very smooth, not too sweet). Yummy! Then off to relax for the evening, do laundry and write to family and friends.
Buenas Noches mes amigos.
Love Susy
So we stopped for breakfast and devotions. We open with a song or two and this morning’s song was a new one for me, “Go Do Something Beautiful” by Graham Kendrick. It was the perfect song for this morning.
Then we packed 40 bags of food for today’s trip to Pastor Ernan’s church. He is the Administrator here at Quinta Jardin Shalom and takes care of things especially when there are no directors here in Nicaragua. He also does a fair amount of the preparation for team visits, coordinating and working out the details.
Then Sharon, Dolores, Johanella, Bollardo, Jonathan and I were driven down to the church for sewing, weaving and crocheting! Today my girls begin a pattern piece and so, I plan to come back after lunch to make sure they don’t get too frustrated.
When my ladies arrived, they were very keen to show me what they had accomplished yesterday afternoon and evening. Many flowers were made, a purse was shortened and made into an eyeglass case, as well as a few hair ornaments completed. We did all this before we were called into the circle for opening prayer.
Once we were back at the crochet corner, I showed them the three bodices that I had prepared in advance and stopped at different intervals in the pattern. I explained that they had already learned the skills necessary to do this but it required work to read the pattern and plan row to row. So with a chain of 81, we were off!
At 11:30 Sharon, Samuel and I ate a quick lunch and went off to Huembis Marketplace to shop. I had some orders from the rest of the gang as well. I was able to get some dresses for my granddaughters and a few other things as well. Huembis is a fun place to shop as all the stalls are back to back and some in tight spaces. So as you weave between vendors, you have to watch out both sides for what catches your eye. Samuel made sure he got us to the right vendor’s stall for the items we were looking for, he translated and helped us to convert cordobas to U.S. dollars...they accept both. So 100 cordobas is about $3.20 U.S. As we hurried along the last stretch, Allan jumped into the driver’s seat, while Sharon and I paid the parking lady. She has a whistle and stops traffic while you back up and ensures you get the next space if you are waiting. Well worth it.
We made it back to the church shortly after one and were happy with our purchases. My ladies were looking a little peaked and a few had ripped out their crocheting and started again. They were getting a little frustrated so we looked at some patterns in the magazines that the Pastor’s wife, Sofia, had purchased for me. This encouraged them to try again. I also stressed that if they were really struggling with the pattern that they could take a step back and work on the flowers or purses until they felt ready to try again. Several did that and I could see that it helped convince them that they had learned well, they just needed practice. This is good. Sometimes the younger ones want to jump ahead too quickly and so it is good that they can learn to reassess their work, rip it out or try something else.
At 4:30pm, Cecilio came to pick me up as everyone else had left earlier. We arrived back at Jardin Shalom by 5pm and I had time for a shower before the others returned from delivering food and clothes to the barrio. We had a lovely treat of fish and chips and salad for supper and Calalla juice (which is very smooth, not too sweet). Yummy! Then off to relax for the evening, do laundry and write to family and friends.
Buenas Noches mes amigos.
Love Susy
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