Saludos from Nicaragua. Greetings from Nicaragua (Elsy just interpreted that for me). Without our Elsy, Trevor and Enielka, I would have a hard time getting around, and would be calling the local pastors all sorts of things other than their names. I have a hard time pronouncing the Spanish words.

We had a great weekend touring around the markets and at Lake Apoyo on Sunday. Today it was back to work and the dirt pile was still the same size as when we left it on Friday. We have made a good dent in it and are almost done leveling the area where they plan to put the building. Now we just need to finish moving the rest of the pile, which is like bedrock in some places. Kervin, our new Nicaraguan friend, has been a huge help since he joined our team. He is an amazing Christian, works hard and likes to have fun.

In the afternoon I left the guys to continue moving the dirt pile and went along to the kids program. On our way we picked up Edgar, the president of the Nicaraguan church, and he told Melanie how there were some kids in church on the weekend with their parents who had never been to church before. Melanie did not know that the kids who attended the program last week were mostly from the community and did not attend church. It was awesome to hear from Edgar the impact the kids program had on them. There were 42 kids in the program today and they were very polite and appreciative. It was nice to see the kids singing songs, doing their crafts and learning about Daniel in the lions den.

We have much to be thankful for in Canada. Living conditions in Nicaragua are much different than we are used to. A typical house is the size of most of our living rooms, and it gets divided by a bed sheet into three rooms: a parent’s room, a kid’s room and kitchen. That’s it. But they are happy and are grateful for what they have. It has been nice getting to know the Nicaraguans, experiencing their culture and working together as brothers and sisters in Christ.

Ryan