Nicaragua 2015 ~ my arrival

I'm back from my trip and it's time to share about my adventures in Nicaragua.

I left early Friday morning and flew to Houston, TX where I met up with my mom. Our flight to NI wasn't until Saturday morning, so I spent the day with my Texas family - both of Keith's sons (Mike and Darren) live in Houston and I'd never been there to see them. Mike picked me up at the airport and then we met everyone else at a restaurant for lunch. Unfortunately, Nancy (Darren's wife) had to fly to Mexico the day before to visit her grandfather who was dying. Darren and Nancy have two beautiful daughters, Sofia and Vivienne. I've only seen Sofia once and had never met Vivi.

Early the next morning, mom and I headed to the airport for our flight. We were meeting up with Barbi Borntrager (a friend from Harrisonburg, VA) and her sister Rachel. They barely made the flight and we didn't have a chance to talk to them until we got to Nicaragua. Barbi was sitting next to a Canadian pastor who was traveling with several other pastors to see Compassion's work in Nicaragua. I spoke to a few of them on the flight, and then talked a bit more when we got off the plane.

some of the Canadian travelers we met

waiting for our flight

first view of Nicaragua

Once in Nicaragua, we met up with Jonas Borntrager (Barbi's husband) who had already been in NI for two weeks. Way back in the 1970s, Jonas and Barbi moved to Nicaragua as missionaries with the Mennonite Voluntary Service program. Mennonites are pacificits, and VS was a way for Mennonite men to serve without going to war. Jonas and Barbi oversaw the guest house where other VS people would stay while in Nicaragua. They were there during the big earthquake of 1972 and in 1974 their first son was born. He had quite a few medical issues and when he was 3 months old they returned to the states for his first surgery.

My family met the Borntragers when they were living in Illinois. We became good friends and when they moved to Harrisonburg, VA, we remained friends. When Aaron went to college at EMU (in Harrisonburg), we would stay with the Borntragers when we visited. When I went to college at EMU, the Borntragers were my family away from home. They have continued their relationships in Nicaragua and return annually for ongoing work there. This the same couple Kevin met up with three years ago when he went to Nicaragua. It's been at least 10 years since I had seen them and it was great to catch up.

Jonas had rented a truck for us to get around in and mom and I piled into the back with our luggage.

We stopped for lunch at a restaurant that served fried chicken - this is very popular in Nicaragua.

fried chicken, fried plantains and rice

Then we drove to a town called Masaya. Jonas wanted to show us the church he had built the previous week. 

Jesus Church - Fountain of Life

 This is the very primitive church Jonas and some others had helped build.

a banner Barbi made for the church -
"because nothing is impossible for God"

the pastor and his family - Marvin, Wendy and Justin.
They have an older son, Brian, whom we didn't meet and Wendy is 7 months pregnant

I got my violin out and played right off the back of the truck

Barbi and Wendy

This is the family's home. They moved here recently to be close to the new church while it was being built. They have running water and electricity. The home is a one room square - not big at all. This below is the kitchen.