On May 27^th we had the great pleasure of attending a baptism service with the villagers from San Antonio.  This service was at an unusual location at a river in the middle of the forest during heavy rain.  Eleven persons from San Antonio were baptized after they gave their testimonies about how they accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and surrendered their lives to Him. 

Ricardo is a 20 year old young man with cerebral palsy. He has a clear mind trapped in his physically handicapped body.  The joy on his face and in his actions was amazing evidence of a life changed that is in love with his Lord and Savior and understands how blessed he is for eternity. The joy in all their faces and the support of their fellow villagers was inspiring.  None of us desired to be anywhere else on that morning---God received the glory!!!!

We are now officially in rainy season since May 20^th and, though the temperature does not change much, they tell us it is now their winter.  We live in the mountains but the center of Matagalpa is in a valley—the best description is like a bowl. The rains here can be very hard and we have seen the result of their force with boulders the size of manhole covers washing down the mountain into the city and tearing up the streets.

On the night of May 31^st we had one of those torrential downpours that flooded the streets.  At 7:30 pm we received a call from Melissa (one of our friends and another missionary here from the U.S.). 

On the night of May 31^st we had one of those torrential downpours that flooded the streets.  At 7:30 pm we received a call from Melissa (one of our friends and another missionary here from the U.S.). She indicated her house had flooded with 3-4 feet of water and now had about 4-5 inches of mud covering the floors throughout.

 She asked for help and Kaylee, Wendy, and myself went over to dig out. About ten other Nicaraguans offered their help.  This would have been a catastrophe in the United States but we used boards to push the mud, shovels and buckets to carry the mud, and a hose to clean the ceramic tile floors and walls in 9-10 rooms.  After 6 hours, at about 1:30 am we completed the major cleanup.  In the U.S. this would have probably resulted in damage over $25000 but with the tile floors and block walls the mud and water were removed leaving no permanent damage to the house.  What an experience—Melissa handled it with unbelievable faith—she was in very good spirits during the cleanup and even fixed us some egg sandwiches before we left. Only in Nicaragua!!!

It is hard to believe but we have now lived here for 3 months. This requires us to get an extension on our Visas.  On June 12^th we made copies of our passports to keep, paid the fee for another three months (one for Kaylee as she flies home on July 12^th) and sent them off to Managua for verification.  While we were there we made more friends and God provided one man that spoke English that helped us get our forms completed correctly and submitted. God is the God of details—He gives us what we need when we need it. We do not take even the simplest things for granted. 

Above is a house that we will be working on next week to renovate the kitchen.  A single mother, three teenage girls and a younger brother live in the house.  We feel so very humbled to be used by God to help this family.  This small project will help this mother better provide for her children. 

These three months have helped each of us understand how blessed we are and how important it is to give God glory for each day and surrender it to Him.  We realize that we are not worthy in ourselves to do this work but recognize through God's grace and mercy He chooses to work through us to help others.  What an awesome God we serve each and every day until he allows us to come home to be with Him.  

Remember to take time each day while you talk with God to thank Him for another day, ask Him why He still has you here and invite Him to work through you to fulfill His purpose.  Tomorrow is going to be another great day--are you excited????