Saturday, March 16, 2013

Amy is home safe...

Got a message from Amy that she is home safe, had a hot shower with blasting water power and is missing Nicaragua already.

Continue to pray for our team as we mentally process all we did and saw. And as we readjust to normal life in the USA. Short-term trips do change lives!

Hub City Vineyard will be making another venture into Nicaragua in March of 2014 (Lord willing and the creeks don't rise, as grandma used to say). Contact the church or any of the team members to talk about the possibility of joining us on next year's trip. All are welcome!


Friday, March 15, 2013

Travel today and this weekend!

Please pray for Amy as she begins her long day of travel home today. She traveling with 12 students from UVA who were also assisting the clinical team on Alternative Spring Break. The remaining doctors and clinical team members from the Olive Tree non-profit will be also traveling this weekend. Safe travels and much sanity to all!

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Three home; one not and work goes on...

Terry, Lynne and I arrived back to Hagerstown from Nicaragua after a Tuesday travel day of over 14 hours. We hit the Hagerstown exit off I-70 at about 2:30 a.m. on Wednesday morning. Thanks for all your prayers during our trip and for our safe travels.

We three are off work today; getting some needed rest, unpacking, sorting through mail, and spending time with our respective families. We all head back to our "real" jobs tomorrow. Pray for us as we readjust back to our normal lives over the next days and weeks, that our memories of and our passion for the people of Nicaragua will not fade.

Continue to pray for Amy and the rest of the clinical team that are holding health fairs and medical clinics on the Pacific coast through Friday of this week. Plus my friend Richard from Iowa will continue to be in Jinotepe working on the library project up to Good Friday.

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Waiting for a taxi in Jinotepe

Terry, Lynne and I stopped by the library project before leaving town this morning. I am posting some pictures of Doug's greenhouse and grounds as requested by those that were here last year.

Ten minutes until our taxi arrives and our travel day gets serious!















Monday, March 11, 2013

Monday - last night in country for three by gbG (guest blogger Gary)

I spent the day working at the library project in Jinotepe. Finished touching up some random primer paint spots this morning. My OCD would not let me leave the country with those few spots unfinished. Then cleaned the rollers, pans and brushes for the finish coat painting team from Iowa which comes in next week. Finished out the day helping Richard complete another low book shelf. There is now a total of six book shelves completed for the main room in the library. More shelving plans are being drawn up and the finish paint color for the total library project was selected this afternoon.

Amy, the soon to be last in country member of our little team, is out at the beach house in Huehuete for the rest of the week. Four days of health fairs and clinics are planned from Tuesday through Friday. Amy will be out of communication while at the beach so to her friends and family: do not worry if you do not hear from her. We all said our goodbyes this afternoon as she hopped on the bus for the Pacific Coast!

Some folks from previous year's trips have asked for pictures of Doug's tree/garden area and the aquaponic project in the greenhouse. I know Chandra has those shots on her camera: so hey lady, post them! I'll walk over there tomorrow morning to get a few more shots. Maybe I can get them posted before Chan does!

Terry, Lynne and I are at hotel Casa Mateo in Jinotepe for the evening. Tomorrow mid-morning we will be heading to Managua by taxi for the start our journey homeward. We anticipate our arrival back in the Hagerstown area at 3:00 a.m. Wednesday morning. Please pray for our safety (and sanity) as we fly first to Panama City then to Washington-Dulles. And many thanks to Mr. Eddie for being our personal chauffeur for the return ride from the airport!

The last ten days seemed to fly past. Each visit leaves us longing to return again and again. Not just to be His hands and feet by helping those in need. But to re-visit with all our dear life-long friends that just happen to live in Nicaragua.

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Sunday - A bridge for Los Gomez

Today while the clinical team continues their weekend stay at Ometepe Island, I walked over to Doug and Julie's house in Jinotepe for a ride with them and friends out of town to Los Gomez to help work on a suspended walking bridge project. In the rainy season, this agricultural area is cut off by a creek that floods the only access road to this village (picture below). People cross a creek which floods up to 3 meters high by holding onto a cable across the creek. We worked along side of some Engineers without Borders college students from Colorado, people from Bridges to Prosperity and local workers from that community.
Today's project was to hand mix 4 cubic meters of concrete on the ground. The concrete mixing lasted from 9:30 til 2:30 with lunch breaks in shifts at the job site. Was a long, hot, exhausting day for an old guy like me, but was great to lend a hand on a project that means so much to the people of this community.

The pictures below show both sides of the bridge supports, the bridge cables passing through yellow tubes, concrete being hand mixed on the ground and the progress of pour. I added the cattle drive picture just for fun!





















Saturday, March 9, 2013

Split up again...

After last night (Friday) having a great time being all together at the Casa Mateo hotel in Jinotepe, our group of six is now split in three directions. I rode to the Managua airport to see off Chandra and Mary this morning for their trip home. As I type this, they should be on the last leg of their flight back home. They are scheduled to arrive in Washington/Dulles at 11:30 Saturday night. Chandra was planning on being at the late Hub City Vineyard service tomorrow morning. If she and you are there, give her a big hug for me! After dropping the ladies at the airport. We went on a search for a belt for a broken down hotel van. Luckily the interpreter is very aware of where to find auto parts in Managua Then we went back to the airport to pickup three new members of the clinical team. I along with duffle bags full of newly arrived items from the states got dropped at Casa Mateo late this afternoon.

Terry, Lynne and Amy went to Ometepe Island with the rest of the clinical group this weekend. Part of "loving others" is loving this country. And that they will definitely do this weekend.

I am back at Casa Mateo tonight by myself (shed a tear for me). At 8:30 tomorrow morning I am heading to a local bridge building project coordinated by Doug along with Engineers Without Borders. There is talk of needing enough manpower to hand mix several cubic yards of concrete on the ground. I'll need lots of Vitamin I in the morning! That's what us desk-workers turned construction folks call 800 mg of prescription ibuprofen. Hopefully there will be a blog post and pictures of this effort tomorrow night if I can still move my arms.

The picture below is the school bus being loaded for today's trip to Ometepe Island. The bus will cross to the island on a ferry and stay with the clinical folks for the weekend.