(Post by Bob)
God had a suprise for Bob when he went early to help set up for the Crusade on Saturday afternoon! Providentialy, Bob took a Spanish/English Bible with him. When he arrived with Pastor Aburto, it became clear that there were very little for Bob to do to help set up. There were at least a dozen men busily putting out chairs, carrying out speakers, setting up the stage and watering the street to keep the dust down. After a dozen embraces from "mi hermanos en Cristo" (my friends in Christ) and with everything going smoothly, Pastor Aburto suggested Bob sit down in the front chairs by the stage. Bob sat down and began to read his Bible. In about 30 seconds, a little girl sat down. Bob asked her what her name was. Within another minute a dozen (!) children from the neighborhood were gathered around. They asked where he was from and whether he had any children or a wife. They all sat down and giggled and laughed when Bob tried to read the Bible in spanish. After Bob had read John 14:6 and John 3:16, the children started asking to read the Bible themselves. Before he knew it, Bob had a bunch of "helpers" reading the story of Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10) and the parable of the Persistent Widow and the Unrighteous Judge (Luke 18:1-8). At about that time, Jana, AK and Elizabeth arrived to sing the song about Zaccheaus who was a "wee little man." They were a big hit! A number of these children stayed near the Daleys all night long! Pastor Aburto told me that most of these children don't go to church. They just run around the neighborhood. I rest in the comfort, as Pastor William procliamed repeatedly at the crusade, that "God's Word never returns void."
The Crusade was another night filled with singing, preaching and a shorter altar call. Interrestingly, a number of the songs were American praise and worship songs that had been translated into Spanish. One of them was "Open the eyes of my heart, Lord." More about this song later!
For good reason, we all went straight to bed when we got back to the Aburto's house. Sunday was to be filled with worship in the morning, a big Sunday lunch and then the last day of the Crusade!
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
God's Word, a Sound System and a Crusade - Part III (Saturday)
(A post from Bob).
On Saturday morning, we went to the market in Jinotepe with Rosa and Shalom (Pastor Aburto's wife and 1 year old daughter). We took a bus (an old recycled "Blue Bird" bus made in High Point, North Carolina) jam-packed with folks. You get used to not having a lot of "personal space" in Nicaragua. I realized Saturday how often there are scripture references and statements giving God glory all over Nicaragua. You see these on the t-shirts people wear (Jesus is fiel--Jesus is faithful), on the buses people ride (Si DIOS conmigo, qien contra mi?--If God is with me, who can be against me), on the cars people drive (Gracia a ti Senor--Thanks be to God), on the walls where people wait for rides, many places. The market is filled with sights and sounds that are both foreign and familiar. You can buy almost anything at the market, but we were there to buy fruit--lots of fruit! Cantelope, watermelons, mangoes, pineapples, oranges, and plantanes. All us had bags of fruit to carry back home! Fruit is so plentiful and inexpensive (a huge watermelon costs less than $1) that they make juice out of almost everything, including cantelope (which is a taste sensation). This superabundance of fruit remnded me of Psalm 1:3: "[The man who delights in the law of the Lord] is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither." Nicaraguans enjoy the blessing of fruit all year becaue of the climate and conditions that are nearly perfect for growth. What if we all thought about how this applies to our own "fruit producing" (Galatians 5:22-23)? The better the conditions and climate the better the fruit!
When we got back from the market, it was time to unpack the sound system. Delivering the sound system was what first got us thinking about this trip. You see, our church agreed to purchase the sound system for the church at Las Esquinas to meet a need of theirs. Though their church is small, the acoustics are terrible and the noise around the church, even on Sunday, is a huge distraction. Also, Pastor Aburto has SUCH a heart to reach the lost and he has many ideas about how to use the sound system for outreach, pastor training, leader training and more. If you've ready Created to Be Help Meet then you know about the different types of men. Pastor Aburto is the classic "Mr. Visionary." The price of getting the soud system to Nicaragua was prohibitive and the chances of it ever making it to Las Esquinas were slim. Most likely someone along the way would decide they wanted to keep it for themselves. We take so much for granted in the US.
Unpacking the sound system was an event! We got out the three large suitcases that contained the sound board adn two speakers. The "unpacking team" was Pastor Aburto, Gabriel (his 14 year old brother), Elizabeth Daley, and me (Bob). There were also several folks who looked on! Elizbeth and I were in charge of unwrapping. We were careful to save as much of the bubble wrap as possible. Recycling is a necessity! Things get reused several times in Nicaragua. Pastor Aburton and Gabriel were in charge of setting up the system to make sure it worked. Within 15 mnutes the system was unpacked and ready to be tested. Through God's grace, it worked the moment we plugged it in! I prayed right then that this sound system would be a conduit for God's Word to be proclaimed to many! Pastor Aburto could not stop smiling. He said he could not wait to use the sound system at Iglesia Las Esquinas the next day! I thought about the abundant generosity of God's grace that He would allow the Daleys to be part of delivering His sound system to His people in Nicaragua.
On Saturday morning, we went to the market in Jinotepe with Rosa and Shalom (Pastor Aburto's wife and 1 year old daughter). We took a bus (an old recycled "Blue Bird" bus made in High Point, North Carolina) jam-packed with folks. You get used to not having a lot of "personal space" in Nicaragua. I realized Saturday how often there are scripture references and statements giving God glory all over Nicaragua. You see these on the t-shirts people wear (Jesus is fiel--Jesus is faithful), on the buses people ride (Si DIOS conmigo, qien contra mi?--If God is with me, who can be against me), on the cars people drive (Gracia a ti Senor--Thanks be to God), on the walls where people wait for rides, many places. The market is filled with sights and sounds that are both foreign and familiar. You can buy almost anything at the market, but we were there to buy fruit--lots of fruit! Cantelope, watermelons, mangoes, pineapples, oranges, and plantanes. All us had bags of fruit to carry back home! Fruit is so plentiful and inexpensive (a huge watermelon costs less than $1) that they make juice out of almost everything, including cantelope (which is a taste sensation). This superabundance of fruit remnded me of Psalm 1:3: "[The man who delights in the law of the Lord] is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither." Nicaraguans enjoy the blessing of fruit all year becaue of the climate and conditions that are nearly perfect for growth. What if we all thought about how this applies to our own "fruit producing" (Galatians 5:22-23)? The better the conditions and climate the better the fruit!
When we got back from the market, it was time to unpack the sound system. Delivering the sound system was what first got us thinking about this trip. You see, our church agreed to purchase the sound system for the church at Las Esquinas to meet a need of theirs. Though their church is small, the acoustics are terrible and the noise around the church, even on Sunday, is a huge distraction. Also, Pastor Aburto has SUCH a heart to reach the lost and he has many ideas about how to use the sound system for outreach, pastor training, leader training and more. If you've ready Created to Be Help Meet then you know about the different types of men. Pastor Aburto is the classic "Mr. Visionary." The price of getting the soud system to Nicaragua was prohibitive and the chances of it ever making it to Las Esquinas were slim. Most likely someone along the way would decide they wanted to keep it for themselves. We take so much for granted in the US.
Unpacking the sound system was an event! We got out the three large suitcases that contained the sound board adn two speakers. The "unpacking team" was Pastor Aburto, Gabriel (his 14 year old brother), Elizabeth Daley, and me (Bob). There were also several folks who looked on! Elizbeth and I were in charge of unwrapping. We were careful to save as much of the bubble wrap as possible. Recycling is a necessity! Things get reused several times in Nicaragua. Pastor Aburton and Gabriel were in charge of setting up the system to make sure it worked. Within 15 mnutes the system was unpacked and ready to be tested. Through God's grace, it worked the moment we plugged it in! I prayed right then that this sound system would be a conduit for God's Word to be proclaimed to many! Pastor Aburto could not stop smiling. He said he could not wait to use the sound system at Iglesia Las Esquinas the next day! I thought about the abundant generosity of God's grace that He would allow the Daleys to be part of delivering His sound system to His people in Nicaragua.
Monday, February 14, 2011
God's Word, a Sound System and a Crusade - Part II (still Friday)
(A post from Jana). Friday night's crusade was an experience like none other. We traveled to the crusade by "mini moto," a little three wheeled vehicle powered by a motor similar to a lawn mower. We left the main road and traveled by dirt road through Las Esquinas (The Corners) until the dirt road ended at a large platform and hundreds of red plastic lawn chairs. A large banner above the platform read: "Si alguno tienes sed, venga a mi y beba. Juan 7:37" (If anyone has thirst, let him come to me and drink.) How I wish I could post a picture of this sight - maybe later. By the road was the house of an hermano in the church. We were given a very warm welcome!! Everyone greated us with "La Paz de Cristo," (which is The Peace of Christ). Ladies from the church were in the back of the house preparing tortillas, tacos and enchiladas. Standing around talking to them was true koinonia, but in Spanish. To quote AK, the 2 1/2 hour Crusade was 60% singing 30% preaching and 10% altar call. The music was spirited, and everyone knew the words, the preaching was on Romans 8 and surely brought the gospel to these people. Who knows what seeds were planted? We are just praying that after the crusade is over we'll need to buy more chairs for the church!
Sunday, February 13, 2011
God's Word, a Sound System and a Crusade - Part I
We have had a remarkable first 48 hours in Nicaragua. The Lord has gone before us in every way!! After a truly smooth flight Friday morning, we landed in Managua and God moved us and our 14 bags of luggage through Immigration and Customs in (what has to be a record!) 25 minutes,
Pastor Aburto, Sr. (Pastor Aburto's father) and the youngest son, Gabrielle, picked us up in a pick up truck and drove us to their house in San Marcos. Gabriel traveled the entire way from the airport to their house on top of our suitcases in the back of the pickup. Do you know of a 13 year old in America who would do that without complaining? Best I can tell, children here in Nicaragua aren't allowed to complain.
We climbed up though the glorious mountains of Western Nicaragu past pineapple farms and other fincas to the cool area known as San Marcos. I think St. Mark would have liked it here.
As we rested from our trip and readied ourselves for the Crusade, we had the privilege of meeting the visiting pastor who would preach much of the Crusade. We had a meaningful, though difficult conversation, in two languages about Romans 8:1, the passage on which he would preach that night. Isn't God wonderful to have the preaching on one of our favorite chapters in the entire Bible.
More later...Pastor Aburto's entire extended family shares this cellular modem and one of the younger boys has been waiting.
We are so sorry that we aren't abl to post pictures. We'll keep trying Perhaps when we get to Granada.
Pastor Aburto, Sr. (Pastor Aburto's father) and the youngest son, Gabrielle, picked us up in a pick up truck and drove us to their house in San Marcos. Gabriel traveled the entire way from the airport to their house on top of our suitcases in the back of the pickup. Do you know of a 13 year old in America who would do that without complaining? Best I can tell, children here in Nicaragua aren't allowed to complain.
We climbed up though the glorious mountains of Western Nicaragu past pineapple farms and other fincas to the cool area known as San Marcos. I think St. Mark would have liked it here.
As we rested from our trip and readied ourselves for the Crusade, we had the privilege of meeting the visiting pastor who would preach much of the Crusade. We had a meaningful, though difficult conversation, in two languages about Romans 8:1, the passage on which he would preach that night. Isn't God wonderful to have the preaching on one of our favorite chapters in the entire Bible.
More later...Pastor Aburto's entire extended family shares this cellular modem and one of the younger boys has been waiting.
We are so sorry that we aren't abl to post pictures. We'll keep trying Perhaps when we get to Granada.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Arrived in Nicaragua!
We have arrived safely and are enjoying our time greatly! We gotten to spend a lot of time with Rosa, Rodulfo and their little girl, Shalom. The reason we haven't updated yet is because we haven't had internet until now. We can't put pictures on either because we don't have a very good connection. That's all for now, thanks!
Friday, February 11, 2011
Eddie rocks!
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