So the dance party just ended, and now an intense game of mafia is going on. Always an end to a great day. This morning, Mo and I both walked for our last time to school. Tomorrow our group is coming with us to do VBS with the whole school. But anyways, we taught in the first grade special ed class today. Ha, and the teacher left shortly after we got there, so then Mo and I became the referees in the wrestling match that commenced among our 11 students. Little did we know, our teacher was preparing a special party for us. After 2 hours of chasing our little kids around a 10 by 10 room, our teacher came in and we went and had the special party. It was precious! Two of our students from each of our classes had a special thing to say to us in front of everybody, and then one of our girls BREAK DANCED for us. Yes, we got a video. And then they gave us gifts and we ate the sandwiches they made for us. Bologna and mystery sauce: the same thing we feed the kids in the villages we visit. It was one of the sweetest things I've experienced since we've been here.
After getting back to the team house, Mo and I quickly got ready to meet the team at La Pintada to work. But after waiting for a couple of hours for the truck to come and get us, we realized they weren't coming back to get us. So we had a chance to get all of the activities together for tomorrow at our school. Tonight we went and helped Little Rafe and the English Academy with his classes. It was fun to talk with his students. Well I'm off to play a game of Mafia!
Love you all so much,
Spence

Que honda hermanos! :)
Wow, today was a tough day.
Spenc and I went to the school today! It was awesome for us to see them again after a week of vacation. We played the new bingo games that we made over the break and the kids loved it. We're getting excited to have the team come with us on Wednesday to do VBS with them. We came back to the house and went back up the mountain to meet up with the group. La Pintada is the name of the school that we were working at today. They had been working their tails off carrying HEAVY HEAVY blocks and buckets of sand and rocks up this steep hill with tons of rocks. I was so glad that I got to help out in the afternoon. I made some volcanoes and lots of fun stuff :). Lots of us are getting sick and are worn out so your prayers for strength and health would be awesome.
After we got done at La Pintada, we raced home for some amazing Lasagna bliss. It was like chicken filled pasta with sweet tomato sauce and some of their native cheese. Awesome.
We had an amazing devotion tonight. The worship was so unhindered we really dug into His presence. Love it.
Before you know it, we'll be packing to come home. That sounds so weird! Well, now Rach French and I are going to make some creations with construction paper. Love y'all!

See you soon :)
M.

Oh how I love the beach! We got back tonight from Montelimar at 8:30. Long day I know. But we had such a good time while we were there. Yesterday we didn't get there until like 2 o'clock, due to traffic, but we made the most of it by getting in the riptide/ocean, and jumping in the ginormous pool. I could not stop thinking about Albarro and Osman all day yesterday. I mean it wasn't in a guilty way, it was just in a "Oh how I already miss them way!" I am not good with goodbyes, especially when it comes to the kids in the village of San Jose. But there is a time for every season, and so I will go on praying for them even though I don't get to see them. Last night about 8 of us from the team went to the discoteca and made the place come alive, for real. The party literally started when we walked in. We walked in soaking wet from the rain, and we walked out sweating from dancing. This morning, I had breakfast with Rafe and his family, and then I took a walk on the beach by myself. So nice to revel in the beauty of the Father. I then went and played in the pool with Pallito, Big Rafe, and Michael. Ha, basically I held Michael in the water and threw him up in the air. Oh how I am going to miss that family. Big Rafe and I always have such legit conversations, to the point where I almost feel like his brother. Tonight ended with a LEGIT devotion from Mo, where we just entered the Father's presence through prayer, asking for his rest and revelation in our lives. I needed it for real.
Well off to get a shower and to bed. Packed out day tomorrow. Love you all,
Spence

Oh goodness, I am exhausted. This will most likely be a short post even though today was filled with lots of adventures.
This morning we all got up to warm pancakes and bananas for breakfast. We left for San Jose in the middle of the rain so everything was nice and muddy for us there. I worked all day in construction again. It's amazing how the Lord is changing my whole perception and every aspect of the way I think about serving. I would go into more detail but I'm still sorting it all out and am half asleep. We did like over 10 volcanoes of cement and lots of hauling rocks to make the sidewalk and an extention of the porch of the pastor's house. I went inside to help with the VBS songs for a bit too. That's always fun. Lunch was tuna salad sandwhiches. Mace ate Mayo, mom. You should be proud...however I didn't tell him what was in it until after he ate. Ha, was flabbergasted. Oh and I'm sorry that I haven't called. The Magic Jack is broken again. We're sorry! :(
After lunch we went back to work and it rained on us some more. After a long days work, we came back and got all cleaned up for a dinner out at Las Praderas. Man am I going to miss that place...such good food. We all stopped by the mercado to get snacks afterwards and had a really good devotion.
Now however, is time to hit the bed. Tomorrow we leave for the beach resort until Saturday night so I don't know if Spenc will be able to post tomorrow. But we love y'all and are praying!
Oh and Caleb, my brother loves those cookies with the red filling. I told him how much you loved them too. Ha :)

Buenas!
M.

So today I saw heaven. This morning during my time with the Father, I was reading Psalms 19, and I was struck by verse 1 and verse 14. "The heavens declare your glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. v. 1 May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. v. 14." We went to San Jose with the team to build a sidewalk between the church and the pastor's house, as well as laying concrete in the pastor's kitchen. When I got there, I immediately saw Albarro playing with marbles in front of the church. He recognized me when he saw me, and went back to his usual position of biting his fingernails. I started playing "cochillas/marbles" with the kids, including Albarro. We got to catch up for a while, and it was so cool to talk to him since last time he hardly said a word because of his shyness. He told me that his mom put the pictures I gave him on their door. After playing with the kids for a while, from fighting with sticks to shadow boxing, I mixed one volcano of cement. That's all of the work they got out of me today. Mo worked the whole day with the cement, doing work. Before lunch, I felt bad because I had done so little with the construction, and since I'm a guy and everything. But that conviction shortly went away.
After lunch, I had intentions to do construction after I got all of my boys in VBS. I thought I could sneak away some point during crafts/songs/games to go help, but I literally was beckoned everytime I got close to the door, "Espencer!" Osman and his brother Elton both came to VBS, so Osman literally stayed attached to me from the time we went outside to play. I had another gymnastics class with some of the guys, doing somersaults of all sorts in the grass, which quickly led to a punching/wrestling match. But don't worry, they were constantly laughing the whole time, smiling from ear to ear. Not even lying. After a while it just got to the point where they tried to dogpile me. I would always make sure to save Albarro and Osman from being at the bottom of the pile, seeing that they were by far the smallest. I stepped back for a second, putting Osman and Albarro down, and looked around. I saw the most beautiful sight I have ever seen. I saw Doc Simmons and Mace lifting giggling kids up in the air, spinning them around. Chris Roberts was playing baseball with the boys. Jenny was dancing around with a parade of little girls and boys mimicking her every move. And Rachel was letting a posse of little girls play with her hair. Christ was shining through all of them, and the kids were reveling in Christ's love. It was unlike anything I've ever seen before because I swear the glory and joy of the Father was shining down everywhere. I made a beeline for Rachel and told her that "This is what heaven is going to be like." Ha, later she said I just walked away after saying that with the most seriousness. It was unreal.
It gets better. Tonight Rachel decided to talk on "heaven" after our mini conversation for her devotion for everyone. And without talking to me, guess what verse she referenced: Psalms 19:1. So from the Father. I am telling yall, I have never seen the Father work through a group like I have this one. Well, I am off to rest for a while before another beautiful day at San Jose.
I love you all,
Spence

Oh my what an adventurous day. Woke up this morning and we had scrambled eggs with ham, gallo pinto with that salsa , pineapple, the works. Everyone loved it. We went back to Nuestra Tierra today and everyone was pumped about that. VBS was this morning and half of the team went there and the other half was on construction. I worked construction all day. Whew. I did go in to sing some songs with the kids, though, which was good :). Then a lot of our guys took all the kids outside to play with the parachute and play catch and tag. Everyone was having such a good time. Because we were mixing concrete and shoveling dirt and all that, the whole team wasn't needed and half of us played with the kids all day. Lunch came and we were so ready. A delicious beef and vegetable stew with rice, cookies, and cokes. Yum. While we were eating there was a downpourrrrrr. It didn't stop us for too long and before you knew it, we were back out there. Dona Fide took a group to go visit houses and pray over people and from what I heard, it was an amazing experience. I think everyone who worked construction got some SUNburn. I know my neck is pretty red but nothing compared to some of the guys. The sun was fierce today. But anyways, after working for another 3 or so hours we packed everyone up and headed home. We had homemade tacos waiting for us when we got back. I do think I can say pretty certainly that they were quite the hit. Tickled the fancy of quite a few of the team members.
Now, a bunch of them went to the mercado to get more food supplied for VBS tomorrow and just to get a taste of the Matagalpa streets. Rach and I are chillin in the room and all is finally calm. There's no more buckets of cement to pass or loads of dirt to shovel. Ha, at least for tonight anyways.
We are about to have devotion when they get back from the store and Mace and Ally are going to lead worship again. I'm so excited.
We're headed to San Jose tomorrow, and I know everyone's pumped about that.
Love y'all.
Know that we're praying for you.
M.

I honestly love having Snellville here. It brightens up my day everytime, ah just their presence! So this morning, I had some legit time with the Father before a breakfast of pancakes and sandia/watermelon. We went to Neustra Tierra today with the team. It is the community that is closest to the mission house. Mo and I are not going to school this week because it is sort of like their Spring Break. So next Mon-Wed, we will be hitting up the school yard for sure.
Today when we got to the community, we started digging a trench for a sidewalk from the cafeteria to the schoolhouse. Ha, I say we like I was the one doing most of the work, when in reality, I shot marbles with the kids as much as possible. But really, I did help dig the trench for a while. Ha, it was funny today because in the middle of one of our intense marble matches, all of the kids got up to go eat Guava/bean growing on the tree. They wanted the "Chelee" to follow with them, so I climbed the tree with them behind the school house and learned how to eat these split peas. They had to teach me to mastica/bite the bean, eat off the outer covering, and then spit out the seed. I was also able to get to talk with a boy named Erick for a while today. He brought out his radio and we listened to tons of music. He played some music in English, and I translated a WHOLE song by Celine Dion into Espanol for them! I can honestly say that today, I felt the most confident with my spanish than I ever have before. And it was funny, because I felt satan trying to discourage me saying "You'll never be good enough" before we got to the community. And after being there for a while, I just let everything go to the Father and just tried to love on the people there. I carried on a long conversation with Erick, and we talked about all sorts of stuff. Oh, and then Big Rafe gave me the assignment after lunch to go and tell the community that we were having VBS in 15 minutes. So I went to a bunch of the houses and told the kids to come to the school in 15 minutes for games, songs, and playing with the "gringos." Mind you, this was all in spanish. So neat to have the Father use me in that way. We had a great time with VBS and finishing digging the trench/making supports for the cafeteria. When we left I saw a little boy off to himself, so I went and talked to him. His name was Franklin, my middle name, and he looked to be about 6 years old. Come to find out, he was 10. I picked him up once, and after that he was crawling all over my arms. When I was walking over to the bus, he asked me if we were coming back tomorrow. I told him of course, but it hit me that very soon, we won't be coming back each week with new mission teams. Breaks my heart for real.
Tonight we had some legit worship with the team. I love having teams here that are so passionate about seeking the Father's face. Mace rocked it out on the guitar, and Ally led us in worship.
Well I am about to fall asleep, so I'm out. Love you all so much,
Spence
p.s. Brady family, it was so great to "talk" with yall tonight via video chat. Hopefully next time I will be able to hear yall. I love all of yall so much, and know that I am praying for each of you.

So the last couple of days have been so crazy and I haven't gotten to write on the blog...SORRY :).
Everything is going so well though!
Yesterday morning Spenc and I went to church, I sang again with the praise team. It was sad that it was our last Sunday to be at church because next week we won't be in Matagalpa. But nevertherless, we were glad that we got to go yesterday. After church we came back here with all the fam including the 8 kids and grilled chicken and pork. Good stuff. Jorge and the fam left and Spenc and I started getting ready to pick up the team! We went and hung out in Managua for a while at the On The Run (a gas station that's got some good food). When we finally picked them up, it was SO GOOD to see them walking toward us! We made the 2 1/2 hour trek back here to the house and everyone was exhausted. Rach and I stayed up and talked for a while but we hit the bed at like 1ish to get up this morning at 6.

Well, Spenc should be writing tonight again about today. It's been great! :)

Buenas!
M.

Oh how I love impromptu trips to Managua! This morning after breakfast, Big Rafe and Lesbia came by and invited us to go to Managua with them to get food/supplies for the SUMC team. Naturally we agreed because it is always a good time with those two. Big Rafe is always cracking jokes, and Lesbia has the most contagious laugh. When we arrived in Managua after the almost 3 hour ride, we went to the mall for lunch. Lesbia and Mo got caught in a shoe store RIGHT when we walked in. That's when Rafe and I knew it wouldn't be a quick trip at the mall. After Lesbia had bought two pairs of shoes, at 2 separate shoe stores, the girls were ready for lunch. So what restaurant do we naturally go to? McDonalds. Rafe and I both got a Big Mac Doble, which I don't know if they're new or just not in the States, but it is a big mac with double the meat. So good, and I finished it off with a TWIX mcflurry. Needless to say, I wasn't hungry until 8 o'clock tonight. Ha, and the lady behind the register after I said I wanted a mcflurry gave me the same look from bonquiqui, for those of you who have seen it. "Now I got to get all that ice cream out, and crunch up the little candy to pieces. No, you can have a coke."
After lunch we went to PriceSmart to get all of the stuff. It is pretty much the Nica version of Sams Club. By the end of the journey in PriceSmart, Rafe and I had a buggy full of stuff for the team house, and Lesbia and Mo had buggy full of food for the teams. When we had finished loading the truck bed with all of the supplies and covered it with the tarp, it was almost 3. We got caught up in a little traffic leaving Managua, because we got behind the funeraly procession for the mayor of Managua. For those of you who didn't know, the mayor of Managua committed suicide a few days ago. Some people still speculate that it was foul play because he shot himself in the chest, but no one knows. A lot of big new lately in Central America, even with the Honduran President. Ha, and I think it is ironic that we planned to go with Omar Jr. to Honduras this past Tuesday, but clearly those plans changed with their government in revolt.
Mo and I both fell asleep on the way back to Matagalpa, ha along with Lesbia snoring up front. Somehow I got involved in an Uno game on the front porch when I got back with the neighborhood boys, Mo included. Eventually, everyone went inside except Albert and me, a game of uno for 2 people. I had a legit Nica dinner tonight: gallo pinto, tortillas, and cheese. Once again I ended the night with Uno, playing with Mama Fide, Carla, Jorgito and Mo.
Pinata tomorrow for the two one year old's first birthday! Oh the fun that will be had at Tip Top. And SUMC, your beds are ready! I am so pumped for yall to get here.
Love you all,
Spence

So today was PACKED with stuff. Oh my, here goes :).
This morning we headed off to the school after the usual getting in the Word and breakfast. We helped out in both the first and second grade class. We had a good time. We actually got to sit and talk to the teachers and kinda hang out with the kids today instead of be up in front teaching and conducting a lesson. After school we walked to the park to catch the bus. After 25 minutes of no bus, we started the climb. Ha, right as we were about there, you-know-what came trouncing up the hill like it was nothing. Yep, el bus. Oh well.
When we got back we started working on two different games of bingo for the first and second grade class. First grade's has colors and numbers while the second grade has words. Kind of hard to explain but they turned out well. Jorge (Dona Fide and Don Omar's youngest) and his family came into town right before lunch. They're staying until Sunday :).They have three boys, who we probably already mentioned in an earlier post from when we went to their house- but it's Jorgito-9, Bryan-4, and Carlito-1. We all ate some good lunch. Salad, steak, rice, mashed potatoes, and an AMAZING fruit punch.
After lunch, Spenc and I finished the bingo boards which took a good 3 hours. Raf and Lesbia brought their kids over as well so six kids plus the ones from the neighborhood. Everyone played outside in the street and lots of laughter and screams echoed through the whole afternoon.
Spenc, as usual, was out there with them as soon as we finished. Rober and I went to watch some of indoor/outdoor soccer league in town and to get some icecream...yummm.
Tonight we and the whole fam just chilled here at the house. Lesbia and Raf brought over homemade pizza to cook. Excellent! After dinner some of us played Uno for like an hour. Now, it's been pouring rain for about an hour and a half and it's making me sleepy. Plus, no nap today.
Tomorrow, I think we are putting the sheets on the beds for the GROUP!!!! Ay, can't wait. You have no idea!
Buenas noches,
M.

Noche de Pelicula dos con Rafael y Lesbia! Mo and I just returned from Big Rafe and Lesbia's house, enjoying a night with the kids and another movie. We got there in time tonight to see the kids before they were off to bed. Mo and I were both attacked as we walked in the door by all 3 of them. Oh they are precious. Tonight we watched a movie called "The Perfume" and it was different, but actually pretty good.
This morning we taught the 1st grade special ed class. I think we're becoming pros, because this morning we had one EXTRA activity that we didn't even get to! Usually we run out of things to do and have to improvise, or we barely stretch the last activity out till the end. The bus still didn't have gas this morning, so there were only 10 kids in the class, instead of the usual 16. But that is definitely better than the 5 kids we had last week. All of the troublemakers were back this morning, but it is easier to break up fights with 3 "Profes" in the room. Isaac, the boy with the worst down syndrome in the class, didn't have his medicine this morning so he was a handful. If one of the 3 of us was not constantly with him, he would pitch a fit in the floor, and we'd just go about what we were doing, stepping over him. It is so nice to now have relationships with the students and even the teachers. The students start clapping when they see us, and now both teachers enjoy our presence, carrying on conversations, and laughing with us. Good times.
This afternoon I played once again with the neighborhood kids. I love how this is becoming a daily thing. They just expect me to be out there by like 4, and if I am not there, they come to one of the doors/windows yelling "Espencer!?"We first played kickball, and then bingo/uno with Mo, then onto futbol, then handball, and finally Mo joined us once again later for baseball. We called the game right before a downpour started. I went inside and used MagicJack to talk to my parents. Oh how I love Lynn and Pam.
Well, now I am off to bed. We are going to the school again in the morning, because the school is closed for like a week, starting Friday. Sort of like their Spring Break I guess. Who knows...
I love you all,
Spence

Whoop! Another wonderful day here in Nica.
This morning we went to the school to work in the second grade class. They LOVED the activites we did. It's so cool to see how much we've grown with the kids and how much less stressful it is now that we've worked out so many of the kinks. I think the SUMC group that's coming is going with us one day to the school to do VBS so y'all will get to meet all our kids! I'm pumped. After school we walked to the park and caught the bus up the hill. It was perfect timing so the likelihood of us ever walking up that hill for here on out is slimmmmm. Ha :). We're Nicas now so we just catch the bus to Apantes and get dropped off right at the house. It's only 4 cordobas for each of us, so together it's not even 50 cents. Worth it. When we got back here we just kinda chilled out until lunch. One of the pastor's that Don Omar was meeting with had lunch with us. We had spaghetti again which is one of our favorites around here these days.
After lunch, I was absolutely exhausted from not getting back from Raf and Lesbia's until like 11 last night and then waking up so early. So I took like a 2 hour nap. Awesome. I listened to some Hillsong in Spanish and gosh it was so good. Then Spenc and I helped Rober out a little around the house (more Spenc than me). Spenc palyed with the boys in the barrio this afternoon for a good while. Rober and I painted some canvases. You know I could do that all day long...I mean, at home I DO do that all day long.
For dinner Spenc had the rest of the spaghetti and I cooked (aka let Fide take over) some chicken and rice for me. And washed it down with Cafe con Leche. It's excellent. Hot milk with instant coffee and a spoonful of sugar. Delish. From then on until now Spenc and I have been working on all the activites for tomorrow with the first graders. The bus is still out of order so who knows how many students are actually going to make it tomorrow. We'll see.
Anywho...I hope you all at home had an awesome day and didn't get sunburned. I hear the temps up there are pretty roasty. :) SPF 80.

Love y'all.
Dios les bendiga.
M.

Movie night tonight! Mo and I are about to walk over to Big Rafe's to watch a movie with his family. Ah, gotta love their crazy kids.
This morning we had another devotion with Fide over Ephesians 5. I felt convicted about not remaining in the Father's presence the entire day, and allowing little things draw my heart and my intentions away from the Father. Fide reminded us both that there is no condemnation in Christ, and that we should never feel guilty, but instead just take it to the Father. She wanted us to read Ecclesiates 3, and I was so pumped because I know it is my Dad's favorite chapter! It made me think of yall, Mom and Dad. Such a legit devotion this morning, and it was so nice to enter the Father's presence in such a powerful way.
We chilled for a while this morning until 10 when Big Rafe came by. He informed us that there had been a bad bus accident on the way from Jinotega to Matagalpa, and all of the passengers were at the hospital. He wanted us to take some of the meds we had over there. We had 3 bags already ready for the hospital, with surgical trays, licodine, and even some morphine. It was nice to already have that stuff organized. When we got to the hospital, we were only allowed past the entrance because we had meds. We met with the director and he was so thankful for the supplies. He told us that 83 people had been on the bus, and 3 had already died. Oh and these buses are regular school buses by the way. Crazy that they can fit 83 people on there! When we got to the hospital this morning, 8 people had already been sent to Managua via ambulance. They don't have a helicopter for the hospitals here in Nica. This evening we learned that a 4th person died this afternoon, and they had sent 35 people to Managua by the end of the day. One of the pastors in one of the communities we visit, La Escalara, was on the bus. He suffered from a collapsed lung. And Erica, Big Rafe and Lesbia's nanny, had a brother and a niece on the bus. They both had a broken arm and some lacerations to the head. So yall be praying for everyone in the bus accident! So sad that so many families were affected.
We had lunch with Omar Jr.'s family. I played legos with Jazmine after lunch while all of the adults talked. Ha, she was hilarious because every addition I would make to the towers we were building, she'd respond, "buen idea!" She is so even tempered too. Her little sister and Fide would come and knock the tower down and she would just laugh and we'd rebuild it. After they left, Mo and I prepared a few activities for school tomorrow. Today was National Teachers Day, so school was not in session. Happy Teachers Day!
Well we are off to a movie! Love you all so much,
Spence

A! En menos que una semana, el grupo viene. que contenta estoy :)
What a day. I always love Sundays back at home and here is no different. We woke up and Dona Fide made us pancakes. Delicious as usual! We caught the bus to church and even before the sun was all the way up, we could tell that today was going to be a HOT one. Church went well. Spenc and I went to Sunday school again and got lollipops. Yum. After church, we went with Roberto, Chuga, and a lot of the young people from the church to eat. Dona Fide and Don Omar had Raf's family over for lunch so we let them have some family time. We watched part of the USA v. Brazil futbol game and everyone was going crazy in that little restaurant. It was just us but we had a big group. Spenc got 7Up with a hamburger which he said was excellent. I got two tacos nica style with this fruit juice that was almost like a thick smoothie. I'm getting good at trying everything mom; I'm trying to make you proud :). After lunch Roberto, Spenc, and I came back to the house and Spenc played with Pallito (Raf's oldest boy) for a good while. Roberto played some guitar and I sang a little. Then the rains came.
Raf's family, Spenc, and Dona Fide all went out for icecream in town and I got to call the fam! Then Roberto and I went back to church for the night service. I sang again with the praise team. I love worshipping in Spanish. It blows my mind to think that there are so many people around the world praising His name in tons of different languages and our God is so great, He understands ALL of them. Tonight at the service there were 4 men from a church in Texas visiting to see what kind of missions work they could do around Matagalpa. One of them preached for the service too. It was weird hearing English being preached there, but cool.
After the service we hung out for a bit because it was raining BUCKETS. Finally Chuga, Roberto, and I starting walking back to the house. We contemplated getting a taxi, but we were having too much fun in the rain. We got back to the house soaked, but laughing. They stayed and ate with me since Dona Fide and Spenc had already eaten. We had beans with queso melted on top with Tostones and Tortillas. It was very good. And to wash it down, some Nica coffee. Doesn't get much better than that folks. Everyone washed the dished together and Roberto and Chuga left a little while ago.
Well, that's pretty much it for today. I'm praying for y'all.
Con carino,
M.

The city of Leon from the BIGGEST cathedral in Central America.
Ha took this today in Leon. Looks like a postcard for the Sandenistas!
Morgan experiencing the mud/volcano goodness. Yes, it is hot, and yes it smells. Oh, and Mo just woke up.
Ok precious. Met him a triage with the medical team crying. The picture helped.
Marcos! This little boy couldn't walk from birth, and we made his day by bringing him crafts and candy. He is chomping on a peppermint in this pic. This is from when Cornelia was here 3 weeks ago. Sorry for the delay!

Nice to see that Mo's parents know how to comment on the blog. Sadly, Lynn and Pam have yet to get the internet fixed at the house. Come on guys, it's been months! Just kidding, I love you both.

Early start this morning, leaving the house at 6 AM for the 3 hour drive to Leon. Both of us went with Omar Jr. and Big Rafe. On the way, we stopped at San Jacinto to see the "mud pits" created by the nearby volcanos. It was hot, with a pungent smell that stung the nostrils. Check out the pictures on the blog/facebook coming later tonight! We first went to their brother, Jorge's mission house in Leon. He works for Living Water International, digging wells in the nearby communities. Their house was beautiful. It was nice to be able to meet Jorge and his wife, Carla, as well as their 3 little boys. After a second breakfast of bacon and tortillas by Carla, we went in their team bus to Chinandega to look at the house with Omar. Jorge, Carla, and their two oldest boys, Jorgito and Bryan went with us. Chinandega is only 30 minutes away from Leon. Oh and Dad, I think we were close to Georgia temps today. Both of these cities are close to the coast and at a much lower elevation, so it was HOT and humid. The house in Chinandega was not as big as Omar Jr. expected, and we looked around for some more, but to no avail. Omar Jr. is going to start working with Crosspoint starting the new year, bringing in his own mission teams to Chinandega to work with the pastors and the churches in the nearby villages. How cool that all three of the brothers work in a ministry! We had a lunch filled with laughter in Chinandega, with Jorge and Rafe giving Omar Jr. a hard time.
After dropping the family back off at their house, we went to the town of Leon and did a quick tour of the biggest cathedral in all of Central America. Intense I know. We had a good time learning about the history of Leon; Mace, Mo said she wished you could have been there!
We arrived back to Matagalpa a little after 6, pooped. Mama Fide made us grilled chicken and rice, and we both are already talking about going to bed soon. I hope yall know that we don't just say that we are praying for you guys back home. Today on the way back, I had a great time with the Father, checking out the beautiful scenery he made, crying out for yall back home. I prayed for a lot of you by name. Know that!
Well I am going to try and get some pics uploaded. Love you all!
Spence

Okay starting now, for each comment that's left, that's how many paragraphs y'all are gonna get from us on the following post. Spenc and I have thoroughly thought this over and how we feel as if we are writing to an empty audience. The comment link has appeared to be broken or out of service for the past few posts....I hope it's working before our next post or else all we have the inspiration to write is perhaps a short "hola". Since you were not aware of this new relationship we desire to establish with our "followers" we will not penalize you faithful viewers tonight. Henceforth, may your hearts be satified with my recap of the day, and your fingers be antsy and compelled to respond. In case any are confused, the comment link appears below each post, the cell phone is always in the off position, and the plane tray is ALWAYS in the upright position throughout the entire flight.

Ha. No, but really, today was an awesome day. After breakfast we went out to San Jose. We were checking on the pastor and Spenc and I played with the kids for a while. They had a pinata that they were all going crazy trying to bust open. So cute. We came back here just in time for beans, rice, mashed potatoes, and steak with fresh squeezed pineapple juice. Awesome. We rested a bit after lunch and Spenc went out to play ball with some of the kids that live in the houses right around here. Roberto and I went out to walk around Matagalpa. It was so much fun, I bought some Mango in the market and we got smoothies by the park. We even took the bus back up the hill instead of making the climb today. Whoop!
When we got back like 3 hours later, Spenc was still playing outside. Crazy boy. The kids were having such a good time. For dinner Dona Fide, Don Omar, Spenc, and I all ate together whatever we were hungry for. I reminded me of home where everyone just kinda gets what they want and everyone is happy :).
I tried calling you today Dad! I hope you got my message.
Well, I am about to hit the bed. We are leaving at 6 in the morning to go to Chinotega (Spelling?) to look at possible team houses over in that area with Omar and Raf.
Goodnight y'all!
Con carino,
M.

Buenos Noches. Tonight Mo and I've been chilling out for a while. With it raining all day, there was little to do tonight, so we had the beautiful chance to call home. So nice to talk to the 'rents, and even to some friends via skype/facebook chat!
This morning after breakfast and a devo with Fide, we had a long conversation with Big Rafe and Omar Jr. It is so exciting to hear/see their plans for this ministry with all of their BIG intentions. The Father is working so much here in Matagalpa, it is unbelievable!
I helped Rober paint some of the last guys' room this morning before lunch. Ha, it must be funny to hear our conversations, with me trying to talk in Spanish, and him in English. After lunch, Mo and I got together some supplies to give to the 1st and 2nd grade special ed teachers. We have been holding onto all of the stuff, mostly because we wanted to see what they really needed, and tomorrow is National Teachers Day here in Nica, so we thought it was appropriate. We had a meeting with both of them this afternoon at 2 to talk about our upcoming activities for the weeks to come. Mo and I tried to walk to the school in the rain. Ha, we looked like the biggest tourists: green rain jackets, bookbags, and tennis shoes. When we approached the vertical drop, also known as the hill on the way to school, our shoes were sliding so much, we had to back up to get courage. Thankfully Big Rafe came up from behind us in his truck and drove us the rest of the way. This "meeting" we had with the teachers ended up being like a teacher's lounge for like 5 of the other teachers at the school. We were able to help the second grade teacher make a matching game, and we were able to talk about the upcoming "curriculum" we were hoping to cover. But it was nice overall to be able to talk with the other teachers as well. Ha, there was a little boy in there waiting for his mom to leave, and it reminded me of the countless days I've spent at Grayson waiting for Mom. I leaned over and told Big Rafe that the little boy reminded me of myself, and he just happened to be picking his nose at the same time as I said that. Sweet. Naturally Big Rafe didn't let me live that one down.
Because of the down pour, we still didn't get to go to San Jose this afternoon, but we're hoping to go in the morning. Cool side story: Yesterday I was reading/praying when I was convicted about getting to know the rest of the neighborhood where we live. But I was sort of fighting the Father about it, because I was like, I don't know enough Spanish. He let me have it though when he said, would you even do it if you were fluent in Spanish. Wow. Well later in the day, some of the boys in the neighborhood were playing baseball when they lost the ball on top of the house. I went to answer the door, and I took them an extra tennis ball that I had. They asked if I wanted to play with them, so I went and played. Clearly from the Father. We were supposed to play "futbol" today, but because of the rain, we'll have to play tomorrow. Yall be lifting that up though, because I hope to show those boys the love of Christ by building a solid relationship with them.
Well I'm gonna roll. Love you all!
Spence

No hay falla hombre.
Today has been yet another wonderful day in the barrio. This morning we got up and had some breakfast and headed off to school. When we got there, we realized that only 5 of the 17 kids in the first grade class were there. The teacher told us that the bus didn't have any gas in it so they couldn't go pick the kids up. The only kids that made it to school were the ones that walked there with their parents. Isn't that crazy? But that ended up being such a blessing. The class was so much easier to manage and the teacher seemed so much more at ease so we got to talk to her some too. I put some pictures from the trip so far on facebook so if y'all want to see them, by all means :). They have some from the first grade class. The kids are precious.
We came back and read for a bit. I finished Crazy Love today. Such a good book. Lunch was a homemade chicken soup with rice. After lunch we rested for a bit. Robear, Spec, and I went into town to one of the parks and just to walk around in the afternoon. We had a good time moseying through the streets. It seems like everytime we scale "the hill" it gets easier. But we don't sweat any less. Tonight Jesus (nickname- Chuga), who is Robear's roommate, was over and we all sat out on the porch and chatted.
Well that's really all that went down today. Tomorrow we're going back to the school to help the teachers plan some things for next week.
Ah! This experience is still so unreal and like a dream for me.
The Lord is continually showing me how much He wants to use me when I'm weak. Because His strength is perfected in my weakness.
Love y'all. And you're covered in my prayers!
M.

Monsoon '09 commenced this evening at around 6 o'clock! It was raining so hard that we had to move some of the things on the patio to higher ground. For instance, I have SEVERAL suitcases full of meds from medical teams in my room now. haha.We just finished a dinner of omelets with Fide and Omar and Rober. We then had a conversation of "Spanglish" with Omar after dindin. Good times.
This morning, we had another devotion with Fide over Psalm 17, in the Shadow of God's Wings. We were both able to read a while before Big Rafe arrived, and then we had a convo in the dining room with him about life, love, and other mysteries. haha. We organized all of the meds this morning into suitcases going to the hospital, clinics, and supplies left for the team house. Naturally I enjoyed the organizing, especially since it was medical supplies! We now have a whole tub of topical ointments, which I find to be really amusing. The hospital bags contained mostly surgical supplies and the clinic bags contained medicine that had already been opened. I am looking forward to taking those supplies to their respective places this week!
After a lunch of laughs, Morgan and I got everything ready for school in the morning. We made three different activities for the 1st grade special ed class. It is nice to have everything done now, instead of last minute. We were going to San Jose today to check out the roof that has been put on the pastor's house, but Big Rafe forgot that he had to go to his kids' school for a Fathers Day program. Oh I almost forgot, Felicidades el Dia de Los Padres. Today is Fathers Day here in Nica!
Well that's a wrap. Love you all,
Spence

Que honda y'all :)
First things first, Magic Jack is in full force again gracias a Dios.
Since it's just us (the fam) in the house again without a group, we got to have our devotion together this morning. We each shared what 1 Corinthians 10:1-13 meant to us. We all really felt like the Lord had something to say to us through that. It's awesome to be back to that sweet communion with the Lord and other hearts that are running to the same Savior. That encouragement is so life-giving.
Today at school, it went the best that it has ever gone! We had activities with counting and connecting blocks and tracing numbers. They loved it. Big Raf went with us today to see how everything was going. Ha, it was like for you teachers who know how it feels to have a VP in your room while you teach. All the while you're just praying that the kids behave and do their work. It went so well.
Coming back to the house, we relaxed for a little bit and then went out to Nuestra Tierra to drop some materials off. We got to talking about all the ways the Lord is affirming their new ministry Puentes de Esperanza and how He is so obviously blessing their obedience. Gosh, that gets me so excited. I don't know what the Lord has for me in the future, but I do realize how much joy I get from being apart of the things that He's doing in my life right now.
We came back here for some spaghetti that was AWESOME and a good long nap for me. After napping and Spenc helping Robear in the garden chopping trees with a machete and clearing some of the weeds out, Big Raf fed Spenc and Mango from one of the trees in the garden. He looked like a true Nica with Mango juice running down his chin and arms.
Ha, we've been joking even since we got here that we want to visit Cafe Latino, so today was the day. Robear, Big Raf, Dona Fide, Spenc, and me went to get some coffee. The frozen mochachino was excellent. We ran over to the supermarket to get some food to cook for dinner and visited this lady's house to look at her beautiful plants. She had like these little tee-tiny pineapples and a velvety-red vine/flowery thing. Gorgeous. We took some of each to plant here at the house.
Back at the house Big Raf's fam came over...Dona Lesbia, Ashley, Pallito, Michael...and we cooked porkchops (chicken for me :)) and gallopinto (rice and beans). After a wonderful dinner we all just helped clean up and sat around chatting. There was a boxing match right outside the house that a bunch for guys were out there fighting so we watched from the porch. Robear played a bit on the guitar and we sang some songs. Spenc had his nose in the book "Where There is no Doctor" for quite some time. He's pretty pumped.
Now, we're about to go to bed and I hope that y'all had a wonderful day!
Con carino,
M.

This morning was absolutely amazing. We went to the Baptist church again with Fide and Omar, and during the first few songs, I just felt the presence of the Father so evident in my heart. I have always had a heart for the Nicaraguan people, but during that time this morning, I almost felt like the Father was crying out through me for them. If that makes any sense. I was crying out on behalf of all of the children I have met in the villages, that their hearts would remain fixed on Christ, even though all they see around them tells them otherwise. I was praying that his presence would continue to rain down on their lives, and that they would continue to grow up in the love of the Father. I felt like I got a glimpse, just a glimpse, of the purely passionate love that Christ has for the people of Matagalpa. Oh, and after we finished singing, which by the way, Morgan sang Beautifully, I looked outside and it was raining. God's love was raining down on the city of Matagalpa. Straight from the Father, I know.
We had lunch back at the house with Omar Jr.'s family. Jazmine, his daughter, once again stuck to me like glue. She is so precious. At 2, Rober came by and took Morgan and me on a walk. Chuga, his roommate, came with us as we went to the park. It was nice to be out and walking around the city. We also got smoothies as well at a little shop. Needless to say, they were good.
Tonight, Big Rafe brought his family over, and we all basically trained for the circus. I started calling Rober and Big Rafe, Barnum and Bailey, ha. They juggled for a while, and then Chuga and I jumped in, and somehow by the end of the night we had a baseball game going on. Morgan, Rober, and me versus Big Rafe and Chuga. After the tent went down, Morgan and I put together our activities for tomorrow morning. Second grade special ed, here we come!
Love you all so much,
Spence

hello friend!

ha, he was huge!

this was the bug that the little tiny ants carried away!

sweet thing could barely hold his ears up with his little body.

this is halfway up the hill that we walk to get to and from school.

Felicidades!
Spenc and I experienced our first Cincinera tonight. It was so culturally rich, I loved it. Azelia is the Pastor's daughter and so we went to the church for the service. It reminded me a lot of a wedding because there was like a bridesmaid for each of her fifteen years. She had on a fluffy pink dress with her hair all up with a beautiful hairpiece that swept the back of her hair up. Some girls there had on like prom-like dresses too. The way we understood it was that it was a service to give thanks to the Lord for her fifteen years. So we sang a lot of praise songs and there was a pastor that came a spoke as well. The service lasted about 2 and a half hours...then there was a nice dinner outside the church. It was really cool. Each of the bridesmaids had a gift for her from her childhood and they each got up one by one and so did her family members to give her encouragement for the years to come.
But today, was a very relaxing day again. We woke up and had some cereal with Rober and then kind of chilled for a while. Big Raf came over and we sat and talked for a while. Spenc discovered another crazy creature (thought to be a baby tarantula) right outside my door. oh awesome. I'm going to try to put some pictures up of these fellows we keep finding in a little while. You'll enjoy them :)
So we hung out around the house and I took a good long nap after lunch. Then we hung out with Dona Fide for a but and everyone started getting ready for the fiesta at the church for Azelia.
I guess that's about it. Spenc and I are sitting at the table now just kickin it.
Tomorrow is church. I'm singing with the praise team. I've never sung in Spanish for anything for real, so say a prayer tomorrow if you think about it for it to be completely the Lord and no fear in love.
Can't wait for the 5th of July!
Con carino,
M.

Chill. Yep, that pretty much encompasses what's been going on here today. I had a full night's sleep, but I still woke up before 7:30. I just can't sleep past 8 here. After breakfast, Morgan and I both went and cleaned our room's. My stuff was everywhere with the team here. I was able to ichat my parents and Amanda this morning, and that was sweet. Ha, and then Morgan and I went with Big Rafe to "La Matagalpa" the local supermarket to pick up some chicken for lunch, and cereal for breakfast tomorrow. Oh, we saw a lady today in the city selling underwear with padding on the bottom to make your butt look bigger. No joke, haha. After dropping off the food for Eleda to cook, Big Rafe took us on a tour of Matagalpa, via his truck. We went to see the hotel where the teams used to stay before they bought the mission house, and we went through some of the ritzy neighborhoods of Matagalpa. Eleda cooked our favorite meal, herbed chicken with rice and salad, for lunch. So good. And this afternoon Morgan and I both did our laundry. It was a nice day to just relax, help Rober with folding clothes, and spend some time with the Father. Read a little bit of Daniel today and I took note of his selflessness. Gotta love it. Oh, and everyone needs to read The Sacred Romance. Seriously one of the best books I've ever read and I'm still not done with it.
Morgan and I also enjoyed watching the rain for a little while on the patio before dinner. We found an insect that was at least six inches long that we killed and then watched ants carry away. I know intense. Pictures soon to come. We had dinner with Big Rafe and Lesbia at their place. I love them! It is hilarious to watch Michael, Pallito, and Ashly interact with each other. Oh and Big Rafe is going to let me borrow Where there is No Doctor. It was on his shelf and I can't wait to read it! So after a night of great convos, we are back at the mission house, Morgan already passed out in her room.
Nos vemos.
Carino,
Spence

Algunas fotos :) Ojala que les gusten!

His beauty is so captivating.

Ha! Pallito don't eat Spenc's hand!

Carlos! This was out to eat with the medical group from Cornelia.

Right after we got off the Zipline!

Sweet group:)

Que me deciembre?!
ha, newest phrase that i've learned here in Nica. it means, "what'd you say to me?" in slang. sweet deal.
The past two days have been so good! On Tuesday we went to a town called Yaule which is like 10 minutes away from the team house, so close. We did home visits and went to pray with the people house to house. Then we went back to the church and did some VBS with the kids and presented the dramas to them.
Yesterday, Spenc and I had a much better time with the first grade class . They ended up taking the last hour of the class to go to a school across town to watch an Anne Frank documentary. Too bad Spenc and I had to walk home from there. WHEW. We went straight from that to going to meet up with the group at Nuestra Tierra for lunch. That afternoon we hung out with the kids while the men from the group worked on some construction stuff. We had a workout class/dance marathon with the kids and had such a blast!
And today, we took the group to the zipline in Granada. A WONDERFUL time was had by all. We went there in the morning and then went to Papa John's for lunch. Yum. After lunch we took them to the Market in Masaya. They loved it even though it was raining buckets.
After we dropped them off at the hotel around 4:30 Spenc fell right asleep for the long trip back to the team house. My IPOD was out of charge about halfway home so I listened to Little Raf and Carlos sing a wide variety of songs the rest of the way without any kind of break. Ha, it was great.
Well, I'm exhausted, and going to bed.
But know that we love you and that we are praying for y'all back at home!!
<3
M.

Los Nicas somos Tuani! Ha, that is the shirt that Ms. Jane is sporting beside me. So this morning started off with a workout with Carlos. I went to the gym in town and met him there at 5 AM. I know, early start right! It was a lot of fun to be able to work out with him though, and see what their gym is like. I love that it is only 6 dollars a month. Morgan and I made the trek to the school again at 8 to teach the 2nd grade special ed class. We had two activities that we made for them and everything went so well! We needed that so much after such a stressful class last Wednesday. The first activity was sort of like "catagories" with words that begin with "d" since they are practicing that sound. Then we did an activity where they had to trace words like "deportes(sports), dulce(sweets), and dedo(fingers)" and then color a picture of it. We used the construction and graph paper that Mom so gathered from friends in the States for both of the activities. Oh and Mom, tracing the words out for them to draw reminded me of when I was little practicing at the dinner table how to spell out my name.
After walking back up the treacherous hill we rested for about an hour before taking lunch to the team at Nuestra Tierra, about 15 minutes away. I was able to hang out with Erbin and Sergio again today, but to their surprise, I forgot to bring the kite. I promised them I'd have it next time. The team did VBS in the morning before we got there, and then in the afternoon they did more construction. I wanted to help them in the afternoon with the construction, but once I would go to help, I would look up and have little boys wanting to play with me. Since there were so many kids, it was necessary for us to keep them playing so the rest of the team could work. It was beautiful to see this afternoon the team doing their dramas for the community in the streets. They were very powerful, and I am excited to see even more how they will be used.
This evening we had another devotion and time of worship. It was so legit! Andrew has been talking about how we need to seek fresh revelations from God daily, and it has been so convicting and encouraging. It has been so nice to see the passion that has been laid on Andrew's heart to do big things here in Nica. It is evident that he not only wants life change for the group, but to witness life change in the communities here as a whole.
Well I am off to bed! Tomorrow we are going to a community I have never been to but it is supposed to be one of the biggest in this area. Big Rafe said it will be perfect for the dramas. Pray that they will be powerful and that we will see big things happen tomorrow!
Love you all,
Spence

SO sorry that I didnt blog last night, but we were having one of the most amazing nights since I've been here.
Yesterday morning, we went to San Jose for church. The kids were so cute and we sang some for them. Good times in the neighborhood. We came back to the team house for lunch and then headed to the hospital. Wow was that covered in the Lord's provision. When we went in, we were praying over all the patients, their families, and anything else that they said they were struggling with. We gave out beanie babies and care packages and prayed over the new moms :). It was so cool to be praying over these people who came from who knows how far away for physical pain. We were demonstrating the Lord's love for them and praying for healing both physically and emotionally. There were just a lot of little things that happened that made it so obvious that we were supposed to be there.
We ran by the Nutrition Center and dropped off some baby crocs for the little feet there and got some icecream in the rain. Then we headed back home for dinner. After dinner we hung out and then had a devotional/worship time. It's kind of hard for me to explain how evident and tangible the Lord's presence felt last night as everyone was getting anointed with oil and prayed over. Gosh, it was awesome. Today was pretty sweet too. Currently, Jessica and I are sitting on the floor of our room just kickin it and writing this wonderful blog. Sorry if anyone got worried (Caleb, mom?) that we hadn't written. We are still ALIVE. No te preocupes.
Spenc is getting on later tonight to write about today, so I know you'll keep this window up on the computer mom.
Love y'all!
M.

Snellville made it! We made it back to the mission house at 2 AM our time, 4 AM Atlanta time with all of our friends. Their plane got delayed in Miami, so they didn't arrive in Managua until 10. Morgan and I got to experience the Managua mall since we were in Managua for 4 hours waiting for the team. Carlos and Little Rafe entertained us all night. They were a trip! Carlos serenaded us for quite a while on the bus, and Little Rafe was his back up dancer/singer. I am so glad they are here, and I know without a doubt, that the Father is going to do big things this week while they are here. Andrew and I were talking this morning about how we are CONFIDENT of how the Father is going to move in might ways this week.
Love you all,
Spence

p.s. Thanks for all of the "presents" yall sent us! We chowed down on the puppy chow last night, and we still have a lot left to hold us over. Amanda I loved my canvas. It's perfect. I will have to email you a picture that I took the other day that reminds me of it. Love you too much Mom! Fide wanted me to tell you that she LOVED her gift.

oh my!
Yesterday was crazy. I had every intention of writing on the blog, but as soon as I got out of the shower, I laid down and that was all I could do. Yesterday morning we woke up really early to leave by 7 for the zipline. It was like 3 hours away so we had to get an early start. When we got there, there was already another group going so we had to wait for another hour and a half. We demolished all the snacks and played coin games on the table.
When it was finally our turn, everyone that was going got suited up with harnesses, gloves, helmets, tons of ropes and pullies. Then we headed up the volcano. It was extremely jungly and unfortunately I didn't reapply bug spray before we got into the woods, awesome. I love that we were with a medical team though because they left Spenc and I all sorts of medicines for possible sickness. Anyways, so we get up there and climb this tree to start. I got the hang of the zipline pretty fast, jump up for a guide to attach your harness to the line, then lead hand back on the line as a break and the other hand on your harness for direction. The actual ziplining took about an hour and a half because there were 11 different lines that you swung from tree to tree being reattached to the next line. SO much fun.
Once everyone was done, we headed to the market in Messaya (spelling anyone?). The group stayed there while Spenc, Carlos, both Rafi's, and I went to eat lunch at their local "chickfila". Ha, it was good. Then we went back and shopped around for like 20 minutes. I got a really cool bag that I can use to take around with me down here instead of emptying my bookbag. Sweet deal.
Then Spenc and I got icecream and everyone reloaded to bus for another drive.
We finally dropped the team off at the hotel...sad, I know. It took us an hour to get out of Managua though becasuse they were working on the road and the traffic was out of control. We got back to the house like 8ish for a peanut butter and jelly sandwhich and then finally some SLEEP.
Tonight we're going to pick up the next team...I hope they're nice, I hear they're from Snellville maybe? :/
Ha, love y'all!
M.

Mmhmm, what a dinner! Tonight we went out with the Cornelia team for dinner at "Las Praderas/The Prairies." Morgan ordered a bbq chicken, and they literally came out with the whole chicken. I ate a steak that was still sizzling on the plank when it came out. So good! I even helped Morgan finish some of hers. The team topped it off with huevos de toro. Haha! Of course, I took a bite to be apart of the group.
This morning, we went with the group to Emerald Mountain, a coffee plantation close to La Perla and La Escalera. When we arrived, there was no one there, so we expected to see a lot less patients. Eventually though, after we set up the doctors and the pharmacy, people began arriving. We knew it was going to be a busy day, when before lunch we'd already seen close to 80 people! Morgan once again rocked out the pharmacy today, while I helped in triage. I helped to take the weight, blood pressure, pulse, and temperature of every patient that came in. So much fun, because when the doctors would find something interesting or neat, they would call us over to check it out. Dr. Rhett called us over once to help a lady complaining of ear ache. He got out a probe, and began going to town in her ear. After some digging, he pulled out a mass of ear wax, that was at least the size of a quarter. He said it was the perfect consistency though, because it was hard enough to be pulled out at once, yet soft enough to grab a hold of. Graphic, I know. Mom, we need to invest in one of those probes for the honey combs in Nanny's ear! A blind man also came through with his wife. It was so cool though, because when the doctor asked him to open his eyes, you could clearly see the cataracts that were causing all of the trouble. He had a very advanced form of cataracts, that in the states could be easily fixed with surgery. It was so sad, because his wife was also developing cataracts, but her eyes were not nearly as progressed. There was also a lady with an ulcer on her foot that was able to receive antibiotics. The last guy to come through, worked on the plantation, and complained of blurry vision with very red eyes. Dr. Rhett showed me how his eyes had essentially been sunburned because of all of the work he does picking coffee. We gave him drops and sunglasses that we ordered him to wear, so hopefully that will work out! Those were the 4 coolest stories.
So overall it was an incredible day. If you can't tell from the blog, I am completely fascinated with eyes, especially in 3rd world countries. Cataract surgery is just a day procedure and has over an 85 percent success rate in receiving back vision. I just think that is a huge place where the Father could possibly use me some day. :)
Tomorrow we are taking the Cornelia group to Managua, but not without going ziplining first over an inactive volcano. Intense, I know.
Nos vemos,
Spence
p.s. Babs, Morgan and I are craving puppy chow, if you catch our drift. You know the powdered sugar, chocolate stuff :)

Hey everyone :)

So I'm sitting on my bed now feeling like falling asleep. Whew, BUSY day.

This morning was actually pretty stressful. Spenc and I were in the first grade special ed class. There are some in there that are so agressive and fights break out every 2 minutes I feel like. We were making bead necklaces with them and everything was going alright. As soon as they got most of their beads on though they would sling their string around or hold it up or something and all the beads would go all over the floor. The chalk was another disaster by itself. Gosh, Spenc and I couldn't even stay for their recess because we were just so overwhelmed. But we have high hopes for next Wednesday with them. I hope it goes better. Please be praying for that.

Then we came back to the team house and Rafi got home from taking over 135 boots to Nuestra Tierra (where we worked yesterday) for all the school kids. And we set off for La Perla. I rode in the back of the truck with lunch and a lady from the group. We had fun going on all those bumpy roads. We got the La Perla and their school house had only one door and no lights so it was super hot and stuffy inside. I worked outside in the pharmacy again and loved it. We went and climbed/some people climbed the waterfall. It was beautiful. All the kids were swimming and doing back flips in the water. Precious.

We came back here and had steak, rice, and fried plantains for dinner with some coconut cake to finish it off. And now, we're all just relaxing.

Magic Jack still isn't working even though I want to call y'all so badly :(.

I guess that's it for today, I think we're eventually going to play some Spades tonight.

Con carino,

M.

Best picture of all time. Hands down. Osman rocking the parachute.
Sergio and Erbin. My two friends at Nuestra Tierra.
Sergio rocking the kite! Mom, I am so glad we added it to my bag :)
Yep that is rain in the distance. This is from yesterday at Nuestra Tierra. It is the place where I felt like Simba from Lion King.
La ciudad de Matagalpa.

Well, we are exhausted! A day at San Jose is always the BEST day. We had a breakfast of "cinnamon oatmeal bread cereal" and fresh pineapple. Morgan and I went with the teams all day today, helping with VBS and the medical team. We arrived at San Jose and immediately went to work setting up the mini hospital in the church. The VBS was held behind the church in the open air building with over 70 kids to begin with, eventually growing to 100. I was hoping to help somewhere in the mini hospital, but it seemed that they had everything under control. Right now we are working with 2 doctors, one "nurse" and two people doing triage. Morgan helped in the pharmacy, distributing medicine to the patients after they saw the doctors. I went up to help with VBS, sitting in the crowd with the kids. I am telling yall, Cornelia goes all out! They had a Bible story, songs, skits, 2 crafts, and a whole suitcase full of tricks! It was cool because I was able to speak Spanish with a lot of the kids, and help the team from Cornelia talk back and forth with all of the children. Almost like a translator, except not, ha. I really enjoyed helping with the crafts, asking everyone, "Necisitas ayudar/Do you need help?" haha. We also fed all of the children. I helped a little 3 year old boy, Osman, with his craft, and his little sister, who he was taking care of, and after that we was literally attached at my hip. After lunch, I played baseball with some of the kids I met last year, Elisandro and Norbin. I still have not found the little boy I was so close to last year, Albarro. I looked for him all day though! Cornelia also brought out a parachute, and I have some of the best pictures of Osman that I will have to put on the blog soon. We played a little futbol/soccer for a while as well. But honestly, the whole rest of the afternoon I entertained Osman. I realized while I was playing soccer, with Osman watching, that I had to take advantage of being with Osman. So I pretty much just carried him around, and played whatever he wanted to play. Ha, at one point I did a somersault, and before I knew it, I had a gymnastics class going on. I looked around and I literally had over 30 boys wanting to learn how to do back handsprings. So funny!
Yall be praying for me, because I really feel like the Father is going to reveal something to me this week with the medical mission team here. I still haven't been able to work with the medical team, and I don't exactly know how I am supposed to take that. I mean, I had such a great time today with the children, and I wonder if I will be able to do that if I am ever a doctor. You know, just play with the kids. So yall be praying that something "divine" will really happen this week!
How cool that the medical team saw over 120 patients yesterday, and over 150 today. So incredible. Well I love you all. Off to have an ice cream party with the team!
te amo,
Spence
p.s. We are struggling with the MagicJack. It still isn't working :/

Hey everyone :)
Last night I couldn't write the blog, sorry. I was DONE with the computer after the thousandth time of trying to get the magic jack to work to call you mom! I'm going to fiddle with it again today and figure it out though, so be ready for a call :)
Yesterday was, to say the least, action packed.
We got up early and ate pancakes with the group and then Spenc and I headed off to the school with bingo boards, beads, and other fun activities packed securely in his book bag. Arriving right at 8, we came into our 2nd grade classroom and began the bingo game. They loved it! Sweeeeet. Then we made drawing with chalk of different clothing like camisa, zapatos, etc. ON THE FLOOR. It amazed me that the teacher suggested we just draw on the floor, but hey, it was fun.
I think at this point like 4 of the teachers randomly decided they should take the students on a field trip to the park. So we went with them and played around then walked back to the team house from there. Good deal. UP and down all those hills, excellent workout especially midday in the sun. So we got back to the team house and not long after that we left with Omarcito to take the team their lunch. It was like homemade chunky soup with meat, potatoes, carrots, green beans...it was awesome, with rice and cookies. After lunch, I believe that Spenc played outside with the kids and I was put to work in the pharmacy! RAE I hope you're reading this because I thought of you a lot and how different what you do in the pharmacy probably is from what I was doing...but maybe not :). Every medicine had two names and had to be labeled accordingly. Some people had like 5 different medicines on the chart and we had to measure out how many and the dosage...whew. I had a lot of fun though. Then was helping Pastor (the team here now sponsors the Baptist church in Matagapla so pastor, his wife, and some youth from their church are working with us this week too!) but I was helping him to pass out the medications and make sure they understood what all they did with each medicine. And I was teaching Pastor some English. He was loving it. Ha. So the pharmacy was the last group to finish up filling prescriptions and then we all headed back the team house. Dinner was chicken tacos, DELISH. We all played this game called one hundred that they taught us. It was intense. Then me, Spenc, and two youth from the group played spades. Spenc and Murphy won :(. BUT TODAY is a new day, watch out y'all.
Ha, well I better go, breakfast is almost ready and I need to get everything together for today. San Jose here we come.
BUENOS DIAS,
M.
P.S. Mom I really am trying to call you. Pray for the Magic Jack to work!

Buenos Noches mi familia y mis amigos! So right now I am "helping" the team from Cornelia count pills for the villages tomorrow. I just helped count over 2000 ibuprofen. I could never be a pharmacist, how boring. Morgan is at the table beside me, counting devotedly. So this morning, Morgan and I both woke up at our usual time, and chilled for an hour before the team woke up. A breakfast of pancakes was served, and we all got ready for church. We went with the team to the Baptist church in town (yes baptist mom and dad:)). We had lunch at the mission house, and then Morgan and I prepared for our class tomorrow. The bingo boards are ready to go! Yall be praying, because we don't know how things are going to go tomorrow morning. Hopefully everyone will stay on the same page, but we'll see. As we prepared for class, the mission teams visited the nutrition center in town, and the other half visited over 12 families with care packages. We went to the night service again tonight at church. Ha, they served communion at the end, and in my little cup of wine, I know real wine, was a fly. I showed Morgan and she said she saw him doing the backstroke. We could hardly keep ourselves together; even Fide was having a hard time controlling herself.
So as Morgan said last night, the team here is legit! It just so happens that I am in the room with the 3 young guys, who all just finished their first year of college as well. We spent last night laughing and getting to know each other. I am so excited because on Tuesday, Dr. Weaver said I might be able to work triage! Well, off to chill with everyone...
hasta luego,
Spence

Sweet deal! The first group got here tonight. Right now we're all sitting out on the porch talking and having a good time.
This morning was filled with Spenc and Ro-bear putting on all the sheets for the beds. Then Spenc went with Carlos and little Rafi to Managua to pick up the team. Too bad they broke down before they could get there, ha. They sat on the side of the road for about two hours waiting for the mechanic to come. Plus the team had to wait on the plane during their layover in Miami. Sad :(. So both Spenc and the group showed up way later than planned.
They all got back here and ate dinner and now we're just visiting. The team is really cool. A lot of people our age, sweet!
Well I'm gonna go socialize.
LOve y'all!
Keep the prayers coming :)
M.

We are legit now! This morning, we went back to the special needs school here in the city to give them our schedule of when we'd be working. It was sort of short notice, because we didn't think we were going back today, but it was no big deal. We were just a little late. Nothing out of the ordinary for me. I think I would do well living here in Nica time because they rarely are on time, ha. But we went back to the same two classes this morning and sort of just helped the teachers out. I chilled with Marcos today, putting together a puzzle with him, and writing out sentences for him to copy. It's going to be tough spreading ourselves out over the classes, because once you start working with one kid, they want you exclusively. So next week we start for real, going on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays working from 8-10ish. Mondays we will help the 2nd grade special ed, Wednesdays the 1st grade special ed, and Friday will be an open day to work with either, or possibly even teach an English class to any interested students. Or we might work with the deaf children. So many possibilities! We will meet the teams at the work sites at lunch on MWF, and go with the teams on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I'm pumped.
Not only did we make it to the schools by ourselves today, but we also made it back, dripping as usual. Morgan and I went ahead and planned activities for the next 5 weeks. We went ahead and got the activities ready for next week for both classes. With the 1st graders on Wednesday, we are going to make cross necklaces with beads, since they are learning hand/eye coordination and tying right now. For the 2nd grade class on, the teacher wanted materials that she could reuse, so we created 20 different bingo boards to play with on Monday. The bingo boards have pictures on them, like stars, flowers, and dogs, with the spanish words underneath them. We tried to keep it really simple so everyone could stay together, but we will see how it works on Monday!
For lunch, we had chicken wings, pico de gallo, and rice. Today everyone was getting the house ready for our first team tomorrow evening. So Morgan and I helped out where we could, but also got things together for the school. Tonight we talked with Omar for like 2 hours, straight. Ha, all three of them, Morgan, Fide, and Omar, are now only speaking in Spanish. I wanted them to so I could learn more, but it's tough!
Well I love you all and I am going to leave you with a verse we talked about this morning in our devotional. "Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life." Proverbs 4:23
Spence

Ay! Today was another adventurous day.
We went to San Jose this morning with Rafi and Don Omar. We sat and talked with the pastor for a while and got some fresh bananas from his wife. They were so good. We saw some of the kids that we meet last summer! And we're going back next Tuesday with the medical team. Sweet deal.
We came back to the house for our FAVORITE lunch. Spaghetti and Tostones (Fried Platains). Mom, I HAVE to get that cooking phenomenon to you when I get back. They are SO good.
We had a lot of down time today to reflect and dig into the word, which is always nourishment that we need.
This afternoon we went with Rafi to the school again to see what the classes in the afternoon were like. We didn't stay for too long but we could see that the morning classes needed a lot more help because the classes in the afternoon were pretty well under control and only had a handful of integrated special education students.
Spenc and I ventured out by ourselves for the first time today for some Sunday shoes for me. There were people standing outside the windows watching us inside of the store...I mean, come on in y'all :). It was funny. We made the climb up the hill again as well. Always a great sweat summoner. Ha.
Fide cooked us an awesome creation for dinner. It was like rice, eggs, cheese, onion, salt&pepper omlet. Excellent with the hand-made tortillas and juice.
Don Omar and Fide went to have dinner at Rafi's house tonight.
I don't know why but I have been tierd all day, so I'm about to hit the bed at 8:45. Awesome:)
Hope y'all are having an awesome day/night.
Buenas!
M.

Ah, what a day! Fide started us off with a devotion from Deuteronomy 28, and a breakfast of "Gold" and bananas. We all agreed that we liked the blessings part of the devotion than the curses, but it was cool to see how the Father promises blessings to us. But we noticed how you couldn't just listen to his word and then turn away, but you also had to follow it, passionately. At 8, Big Rafe picked us up again to take us to the school in town. He stayed with us today and observed the two special needs classes with us. It is so crazy to see these teachers in charge of classes of at least 18 students, all with disabilities. Morgan and I decided that the first and second grade disabilities classes were the ones we were going to focus on. It is so cool though, because they teach the kids life skills like sewing, baking, and a computer class, as well as the usual schoolwork. It enjoyed hanging out with all of the kids during their recess. I talked to a few boys about Barcelona soccer, and then a little boy came up with Big Rafe. He was deaf and we tried to sign back and forth, somewhat unsuccessfully. We learned how to say "amigos!" But Big Rafe and I are determined to learn more of their sign language, for sure. It is different from American Sign Language though. When we got back to the mission house, we helped Roberto paint another one of the guys' rooms. We introduced Rober to country music. haha. After a lunch of "pot roast" and rice, which I had two helpings of, naturally, we put the second coat on the bedroom. After we painted a third coat, Little Rafe, the translator, came to the mission house to talk to Morgan and me. He wanted us to come out to the English Academy tonight and grade his students' oral exams. We of course agreed, and told him we would be there at 6. A dinner of tacos filled us up for sure. The Nica tacos are more like our "taquitos" but better. Big Rafe's kids came in right before we left for the academy so we played with them for a while. A little miscommunication caused us to have to walk to the academy from the mission house, but it wasn't that bad since it was all downhill. When we got to the academy, Morgan listened to all nine of their oral exams, while I graded their written exams. They ranged in ages from 15-0ver 40, and they all have been taking this first stage of English for 2 hours a day, 5 days a week, for the past 4 months. I noticed while I graded their written exams that they struggled with the same things in English, that I struggle with in Spanish. Like they all forgot to put the adjective in front of the noun, because in Spanish it goes after the noun, which I always confused as well. We had to walk back to the mission house from the English Academy with Little Rafe, uphill. When we arrived back home, we heard that Big Rafe had been looking for us for an hour, because we thought we'd be home at 8 and not 9. But everything worked out, and "la policia" were thankfully not called. Ha, Morgan and I were dripping when we got back to the kitchen from the uphill climb. But things got better after we finished off the ice cream, and had a chat via skype with the Westbrook twins. Well I am out for bed, but I love and miss you all. We are going back to the school tomorrow afternoon to see the afternoon kids. We still haven't met them. Hopefully we'll also go to some of the communities tomorrow too!
Thanks for the continued prayers,
Spence

Aloh!
So this morning I got up and had a warm shower! [I had no clue you were supposed to turn that knob to the left on the shower head for hot water...I just assumed they were always going to be chilly. I felt as if I had struck gold when I discovered that warm water was only a knotch away. Sweet].
Pancakes for everyone this morning. Then Big Rafi took us to the school for special needs children. Today we observed in all the classes and walked around talking to the students. There are some Autistic, Blind, Deaf, Paralyzed, Down Syndrome, lots of different circumstances. It amazed both Spencer and I how many kids were in each class. Some had like 20 students all with disabilities and the regular ed classes which also incorporated inclusion for some handicapped students had like 36. All the teachers were so patient and sweet, though. It was awesome being there. We got to play with the kids during their break and had such a good time.
Ro-bear came and picked us up from the school and we walked to town and around to run a few errands and then made the climb back up to the house. That's going to be our daily walk. I feel like it's at enough of an incline to require ropes and pullies. Whew.
We came back here and had the most AMAZING lunch ever. We seriously have talked about it all day since we ate. It was a salad with this sweet yellow dressing, rice [of course], mashed potatoes, and this chicken that was seriously some of the best I've ever had. And to wash it all down, lemon tea. Ah, mouth watering as I type. Not to mention, I ate all of mine before everyone could sit down to eat...there was only 5 of us.
Spenc and I helped Ro-bear paint some more today as well.
Tonight we talked with Rafi about the school and what classes we felt that we could be the most help in. Tomorrow we're going to go back with Rafi this time so he can observe some too.
Love you all so much. We're praying for y'all back home!
<3.
M.

Que honda!? TUANI! Sorry for that, it is a usual expression here in Nica. It's generally what I wake up to after the traditional buenos dias. So this morning, we got to have another wonderful devotion with Fide and Omar. Ah, 2 timothy 2 is so legit, and I was really struck this morning on how nothing can "chain the word of God."
After a breakfast of "Gold," ha that's what the cereal is called, we headed to Neustra Tierra. It is only 15 minutes away, like literally right up the road from the mission house. For those of you who have been here, if you come up on the house on the right, you just keep going straight for about 5 miles. Big Rafe and Omar showed us the village and the schoolhouse that we are working on. Hopefully we will be able to get a lot done before we leave. Oh, and by the way, this community has the most beautiful scenery that you'll ever see. I went and stood on this rock, and it seriously overlooked a whole valley with mountains on ever side. I felt like mufasa off the lion king. Morgan wouldn't let me hold her up like Simba though. Sad day. We introduced ourselves to some of the kids, and started to play with little pebbles like a volleyball. Ha, they were laughing like crazy. We came back to the mission house, where fresh meatballs with rice was waiting. Nope I didn't say noodles, rice! But it was really good. I ate all of mine, and finished the beans Morgan kept pushing around her plate. After lunch, Rober, Tanya and I cleaned one of the guys' rooms. Yep, you guessed it Mom, I cleaned the windows again. It's pretty much just a lot of dusting since there's been some remodeling. Morgan and I went through suitcases of supplies for VBS that we hope to use in the schools very soon. We narrowed it down to one bag for us, including spanish coloring books and tons of crafts. So exciting because we go to the main school we will be working in tomorrow morning! Rafe said we will be "feeling it out" tomorrow. Funny story real quick, tonight I was reading Fide's grocery list out to her in spanish, and I apparently pronounced something wrong because I said she needed to pick up "Boob washes."
This evening, we went to the hospital again to see Big Rafe's father in law, and encourage the family. Morgan prayed over him, and we all felt the spirit of the Lord fall in that room. So legit, for real. We also went and saw one of the old guards that used to work at the mission house. He had a kidney surgery the other day, and the infection has apparently spread. He looked so uncomfortable tonight, and it broke my heart. Omar prayed over him, but everyone is really worried. So yall use the power of prayer for real. I confidently believe that he will get better with yall's prayers.
I felt like a genuine Nicaraguan on the way back because I rode in the back of the truck, practicing my spanish with Omar. We helped Fide make grilled cheese, and sat around talking to her. She is so full of wisdom it is incredible. I honestly just listen, because she always has something so enlightening to say. Yall be praying for us tomorrow because we get to go to the school for the first time. I know the Father is going to pour out his blessings on that school. Love and miss you all.
Nos vemos,
Spence

MIRA!

hey y'all :)
current status = overwhlemingly, absolutely blessed.

This morning was church! I left my nicer shoes at home on accident so my sweet sandals had to be part of my church attire :/. Tomorrow, however, I'm off to their Payless for some more appropriate shoes. Ha. Fide said I didn't need to worry today because we could sit in the back so I wouldn't be spotted. Too bad I'm a chelita (blonde, white, and American girl) and everyone seems to notice that without having to look too hard. That seems to be becoming my nickname around here with the people on the streets. Sweet.
So we went to church via "bus" which is more like a van. And we got out at the park and walked about a block to church. This morning they had the jovens (young peeps) conducting the service since they were honoring mothers. There was a lot of praise music with a huge band. By huge I mean like a 10-15 person band. And they were all youth. MAN CAN THEY PLAY. Seriously, so good. I loved all the clapping and singing. I've realized how self conscience we can be when we sing back at home and how the people here just love singing and aren't embarrassed if they aren't the best singers. Everyone just loves doing it! Then, Ro-bear (Roberto) was in the drama that was hilarious. At the end of the service a Mariachi band came in and played. So culturally rich. We took some pictures so I'll put them up! This little boy BELTED it. Whew, craziness. After church, we came back to the house and had pizza. Ha. I think the funniest part about this was that I sat next to Michael. He's like one maybe? He's Big Rafi's youngest kid. There's two things that he can do. One, walk in the most hap-hazardous fashion looking like he's about to fall over all the time. And two, say the word "Mira" over and over while perched over "una mosca" (any bug he can find) trying to get people to look. oh, and he can survive his brother and sister's extreme "taking care of Michael" actions such as slinging him around, dropping him in random places, shaking him as if to get a coin out of his pocket. Gosh, all he did through the whole lunch was scream "mira" (which means "look!") at every single bug he saw, which was a LOT, and refuse to eat his pizza. HA.
After lunch, we let his older sister Ashley, who's like 8, make bogus rules while we played Uno. I think Spenc got frustrated because at one point he just put all his cards down and was like, YOU'RE CHEATING. ha, too bad she didn't understand English or call her rules cheating. Too bad I cleaned house all three times we played. Ha, she got UPset.

Then, Fide, Ro-bear, Big Rafi, Spenc, and I went to the hospital to take care packages, beanie babies, shirts, and lots of other stuff. We spent about 2 hours there visiting people and handing everything out.
When we came back we raced to get our clothes off the line before the downpour. We were almost done and...MONSOON. whew, we got them though.
Then Spenc when for a Siesta :). I went out to the garden and just sang and sang to the Lord. It was such an amazing time with my Heavenly father. Gosh, I just felt like I could hear Him singing over me. The Lord has been revealing so much of His heart to me. My heart was completely broken for this city today. I realized how much more I want to intercede and pray over them. Just as we sing "Greater things have yet to come" over Snellville or wherever, I want to be singing that over this city. And I know the Lord hears those prayers.
Dinner was turkey and fried plantains (Spenc and I cooked those!). And some Jello and ice-cream for dessert. Excellent.
OH! And Spenc and I got to talk to Grandma and Grandpa Bone on Skype. Yay :)

Gosh y'all I am sorry those posts are so long but so much happens, I don't know what to cut out.
But we love y'all so much.

Besos!!
M.