A day in the life...

 We've been here for over 6 weeks now, and I've been getting a lot of questions from the folks at home about what a typical day looks like for us.  

Most of them start in about the same way.  Around 5:30, Abel stirs (if he's even sleeping...) to the sounds of vendors in the street calling out "el pan" (bread) and "la prensa" (the morning paper) over and over again.  It's an art, the way these guys call.  So sing-songy.  Maybe I'll try to capture the audio some morning, although I'm not altogether on top of things at 5:30 in the morning.  

What happens next depends on what's on the day's agenda.  Sometimes we all get ready and go out with the teams, sometimes just Sean or just Sean, Kellen and Wyatt.  With the teams, we typically do door-to-door ministry in the mornings and deliver food boxes.  Depending on where we are (and how far outside Granada), we either come home for a quick lunch or eat a packed lunch in the field.  Then it's usually back to door-to-door ministry and food delivery after lunch, often followed by a church service in the village's church around 4:00ish.  These church services are so important to draw in those who accept Christ during door-to-door ministry, so that they can be discipled.  

When there is no team in town, Sean goes out to meet with area pastors in order to determine where the needs are, what the needs are, and to get a sense for the vision that these men (and some times women) have for their churches, their villages and this region.  

On days when we don't go out, our days probably look pretty similar to yours, except everything seems to take longer here than it does at home.  The big boys and Elliott have school work. There are always chores to be done. Provided the water and electricity are both working, there are clothes and diapers to be washed and hung to dry (no dryer).  There are restaurants in Granada but we don't dine out all that much, so there are three meals a day to prepare and clean up after (without a dishwasher).   We don't have a car so trips to the market usually involve Sean, a backpack, and a bicycle, and have to happen fairly frequently since things don't stay fresh long when your kitchen is outside. 

It's not all work though.  We brought the Wii and some DVDs in a carry-on, so the kids play games and watch movies in English.  When the WiFi is working, we also check Facebook and Instagram just like you, and FaceTime and iMessage with family and friends.  We watch television in Spanish, which does wonders for our fluency.  We listen to the neighbor's parrot, just on the other side of the high concrete wall that separates our house from the next, who says "Esta bien!" about 200 times a day.  We count lizards.  We play with Barbies.  We chase away cats who climb down the rooftop and into the open house.  Mostly we try to stay in the shady parts of the house to avoid the heat - it's between 90 and 92 degrees every day - until it's time to retire to our bedrooms at night.  The bedrooms do have A/C units, but electricity is very, very expensive, so we run them on a timer for 4 hours each night.  One for our room (which Sean and I share with Elliott, Cade and Abel) and one in each of the big boy's rooms.  

And the next morning, with calls for bread and the paper, we do it all over again.  

Weeks Three, Four and Five update

What a busy couple of weeks we've had!  Open Eyes Ministry had a team here from Knoxville and we got to spend a week with them delivering food boxes and sharing the Gospel in a number of very poor villages outside of Granada.  We've been able to lead dozens of people to Christ, and to see people healed!  We work with local pastors before going into each of the villages, so that we can identify those most in need and also so that the new believers can be plugged into a faith family.  After delivering food and ministering, we would invite the villagers to service in the village churches in the afternoons.  How rewarding to see new converts and new friends come to church in the afternoons - and to see the churches packed to standing room only!  Talk about fruit!!

I've included several pictures from our outings.  People often ask me what the littles do while we're in the field.  Well, Elliott tries her best to communicate with the kids we encounter, and she loves them with all her heart.  Cade usually chases the pigs and chickens around.  ;-)  And Abel rides on mommy's hip, of course.  But, I have to say, it's endearing to see the way the families we encounter really warm up to us when they see the little ones.  Many of them say they haven't seen blonde hair before.  Just by virtue of their littleness, their smiles, and their shiny mops, they are helping us win souls!  

I mentioned in our last post that Sean and the boys were visiting a village that was on a tiny island only accessible by boat.  The island has no electricity or running water.  The last several pictures above show the guys on the island.  One of the churches we are working with here is attempting to plant a church on this island.  

In an earlier post, I showed some pictures of the boys visiting a village that is accessed by putting the truck on a barge-type pulley and being pulled across Lake Nicaragua.  That village is called Malacatoya. We will be working a lot in Malacatoya this week with the Webers and a team that just arrived today from New Orleans.  

How can you be praying for us?

• Pray that we will see fruit in our efforts at the village of Malacatoya this week.  
• Pray for the island church plant
• Pray for our Spanish-speaking abilities.  ;-)  We're all actually communicating pretty well, but Elliott is starting to get frustrated by the language barrier.  She loves the little ones she encounters, and wants so much to be able to talk to them.  She spends most of the day speaking the little Spanish she knows over and over and over.  It's pretty cute.