Fred and Wilma Flintstone

We have arrived in Matagalpa, Nicaragua. The adventure has begun!

First and foremost, I want to give a huge shout out and thank you to everyone who is a part of our support team. Whether that is in prayer, financially, emotionally, and/or all three! My goal is that you can see the lives being changed through your support in this blog, our podcast, FB, and our website. As a part of our team, you are linking arms with us and showing the world the love of Jesus Christ. Muchas gracias (many thanks!)

Today is the 10th day that we have been in Matagalpa, Nicaragua. We began our drive to Dallas to fly out of DFW airport on Monday January 13th. We flew out of DFW on Tuesday and connected in Fort Lauderdale FL. We arrived on Wednesday January 15th at 1:30 am (yes, after midnight) to Managua, Nicaragua; with the whole family and our nine suitcases. All of our suitcases and belongings made it through customs without any complications! Praise the Lord! I was so nervous; that some of the few things we didn’t sell, and brought down with us; would be confiscated at customs. God answered our prayers! Thank you to everyone who prayed with us; for safe travels and our luggage! Greg Kynast picked us up at the hotel and we picked up two more teachers that needed a ride back to Matagalpa. We picked up the two teachers, Ada and Maria, at a mission house, Tesoros de Dios (God’s treasures) that works with children who have special needs. I met the woman who is the director, Wendy, and I knew her! She attended Nicaragua Christian Academy in Managua when I went there as well! She shared the ministry that they have and it is amazing! Go to www.tesorosdedios.org to see more of what the Lord is doing through them. The kids did so well on the long journey; however, about 7 pm; as we were in the process of riding in the van to get from Managua to Matagalpa, Kalvin started crying and was very distraught. One of the women offered to hold Kalvin. I was a little confused at first, but then I realized that car seats for children are not enforced in Nicaragua for children (as they are in Oklahoma). I tried to explain that I wanted the children to be safe, but that did not translate past the cultural barrier. Lets just say that the kids remained in their car seats, despite the crying, on the two-lane highway; where a stray cow and/or person has been known to randomly appear in your lane of traffic…

We finally made it to the house in Matagalpa around 10 pm. We were exhausted. Tom and I quickly opened the trunks to put sheets on the beds, and get the kids to sleep. I went to take a shower and forgot that there is no running hot water. I turned on the shower and water sprayed everywhere! The shower head is clogged and so the water barely drips out… So I pulled out a trunk and emptied the contents. I put some water on the stove to boil, and filled the trunk with cold water and added the hot pot of water from the stove. Thankfully I was able to squeeze in and sit down. I have never been more thankful for being a petite young lady! Just some comedy relief for all of you!

Tom and I and the kids walked over to the school (Nicaragua Christian Academy-Matagalpa) to attend the Bible study Thursday morning at 8 am. We were introduced to some of the staff at the school. Then we left right away for downtown Matagalpa with another Nicaraguan family. They took us to the cell phone store to get our phones connected. The business wanted us to pay a lot of money for a down payment in order to get our phones set up with the service. The woman who was explaining all of this kept saying that this is the policy for our company for foreigners… It was a little bit of a shock to feel so excluded… I was talking to another missionary who has lived here for a little over two years and he was sharing that this is how life is for any foreigner. He was relaying that it is common and should be expected to be “scammed” with businesses as a whole. I was shocked!

I lived in Nicaragua as a child, from 1995-2003 and then we moved to Mexico City. In all the 8 years that we lived in Managua, I never felt rejected. On the contrary, I remember feeling loved and accepted as a foreigner. I was reminded of this verse “…but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” Romans 5:3-5

I want to share one more story before I wrap this up… I know it has been a long blog and I want to say thank you if you are still reading this! Let me just say that God is so amazing! Despite feeling overwhelmed with the little things (no dishwasher or dryer, no hot water, no central air, windows open all the time so dust everywhere) God is answering our prayers. He hears our prayers (Psalms 55:17)! One of the moms in the school picked me up to take me to get my nails done. While I was there, I started talking with the woman at the who was painting my nails… I had the opportunity to share with her a little about my faith in Jesus; because she wanted to know why Tom and I would choose to leave the U.S and live here. I then asked her where she went to church. She shared with me that she is Evangelical and her husband is Catholic. She told me that if she went to church, her husband would leave her and take their young son with him. I was very sad for her. This was my first time to hear the heart of a woman who professes to follow Jesus, but feels that she can not even go to church to worship and know more about Him. I tried to encourage her to keep praying and reading her Bible. I knew not to push the subject and to be very careful with this situation. Another missionary who lives in Nicaragua warned me of the great division between the Evangelical church and the Catholic church. I will keep praying for her, and I have decided that if going to get my nails done once a month; keeps me in contact with her; well then so be it! Just on a side note, I am not the type to be “girly” and for me to get my nails done more than twice a year is a stretch! So this is going to be an adjustment! Please join me in praying for this woman and her family. She has been on my mind ever since I had the privilege to get to know her a little.

Here’s to the start of this missionary adventure! TRKKMinistries (Tom, Ruthie, Kenzi, Kalvin)

Dear Jesus,

I pray that You would continue to open doors for Tom and I to share Your love with the people of Nicaragua. Lord I pray that You would help Tom and I to have wisdom as we begin to develop relationships with people here in Matagalpa. Jesus I pray that You would help us overcome the cultural barrier and that Your words would be spoken to give hope. Lord I pray that you would help us to be sensitive to the emotions and feelings of these people; whom You love. God thank you for this opportunity to share Your Word, Your love, Your truth in Nicaragua. Lord I pray for our support team. God I pray that You would take care of each and every one of them. God I lift them up to You. Please wrap us all in Your love and Your grace. Thank you for Your provision. Thank you for this opportunity to fulfill the great commission and make disciples of all nations. To You be all the glory and honor and power forever!

Amen!