It's a new week and God is good!

We have just spent several days with a group from Arkansas and really enjoyed our time together.  We shared the Gospel with many, many people.  There were fiestas everyday, while vacation Bible School was going on and a group was building a church all at the same time.  It was amazing to see so many young adults working for the Lord.  There hearts were open and willing and even loved on our children while we were together.  During the vacation Bible school time we really got to know many children in the neighborhood that Pastor Miguel will be ministering to.  There are many families in need and the resources are limited.   We ask for prayer for the families that are struggling in the neighborhood for food, jobs, and homes.  Sometimes it can be overwhelming and so we are turning it over to God and letting Him sort out the needs so we can do what He asks us to do. 
We are looking forward to being at the Compassion project again this week to catch up with the children.  Christmas is on the way and there are many ways Nicaragua is celebrating Christ's birth.  The markets are full and overflowing with presents and gifts for people to buy.  The Christmas trees have been available for sale for about 2 weeks now.  Not really much different than the United States.  I pray this year we will see God in ways we have never seen Him before and that we will touch the lives of many children this year.  Nicaragua also celebrates St. Mary quite a bit.  There have been several parades in the last few days in her honor.  Catholism runs very deep in this country and it is difficult to break through that mind set and help the people to know that all they have to do is accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.  The good deeds will not get us to heaven yet even those who profess to know Jesus still think they have to do good to get to heaven.  It is difficult to explain the grace that God has given us when good works is constantly being preached and heard.  I pray that God will take a hold of this country and begin to help the people see God's grace. 

Time slowly flies

We have been enjoying time with North Americans this week.  There is a group here from Arkansas and Virginia.  The activities include fiestas, VBS, construction and church attendance.  They are a wonderful group of young adults searching for God and they have come with a willing heart to serve.  The days fly by and the nights go slowly.  Thank goodness because we all need some extra sleep.  We have enjoyed playing at the beach this week and seeing new churches and places.  Many people have already made decisions to also follow Christ as their Lord and Savior.  Sierra has started to learn how to evangelize in a small group setting and is going with two others to share the message of Jesus Christ with those standing around where we gather.  Caleb says he would like to do the same.  Miss Mary one of the ladies in the group has agreed to teach Sierra and Caleb about the EvangaCube so they can learn how to do it as well.  I think it will be a good tool for them to have under their belt. 
We are working on figuring out how to help with the teams and to increase their reach to people.  Four young children can sometimes be a burden and not a help so we are trying to figure out how to be a help.  Everyone is being a trouper and God is stretching our patience, our crankyness factor and our love for Him. 
The kids and I have had some experiences this week that we can only say God has a hedge of protection around us.  We give all the glory to God for the fact that we are here, SAFE, and doing fine. 
We are heading into December looking forward to celebrating Christ's birth.  He is the reason we are here and without His coming we would not have the gift of salvation.  May God richly bless each of you as you read our blog and pray for us while we serve here in Nicaragua.  We pray that if any of you reading do not have the wonderful gift of salvation that you would email us(jvspeigle@hotmail.com) or talk to someone you trust who can explain it to you.  Receiving that gift of salvation will change your life forever and you will never regret the decision to have Christ as your Lord and Savior.  John 3:16 says For God so loved the world that He gave is one and only Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have evertlasting life.  We pray that you will not let this Christmas season pass you by without knowing the Christ who came to make it all happen. 

Blessings from above

God is good wouldn't you agree?  Last week, Kyle's baseball glove was taken by one of the children during the sports camp time.  He was very sad and upset about the whole thing but later said he was glad another child that  needed the glove now had it.  Yesterday at sports camp the boy who took it returned the glove.  Later Kyle told me that even though he returned the glove to him and he was thankful for that, he thought maybe the boy should have it since the boy didn't have a glove.  Isn't God amazing.  He is changing the heart of a 7 year old into an amazing man.  Thank you Jesus for you grace and work in our children.  May God receive all the glory!!

Good week

We have had another good week here in Nicaragua.  Many things are happening and the kids are still just as excited about being here and they were at the beginning.  God is so good.  We have experienced much delay in our internet in the last two weeks so please understand why the blogs have been so few.  Sunday we were able to go to a town in the mountains called Santa Pancha.  The church service was unique and enjoyable.  The children's time was well organized and the children were learning some good information from the Bible.  We discovered the water in the community is not drinkable and so they have water pumped to them every 8-10 days from another area of the mountain.  They store the water in cisterns coated in algae.  They use some sort of tablet to keep the algae under control.  Please pray for this community.  They are in great need of a medical team.  The last medical team to visit the community was 40 years ago.  The few doctors that seem to be coming occasionally are not very good.  The trip to the village is difficult and long and that is probably why they don't have many teams.  We will continue to pray for God to open the door for that community so they can receive help. 
This week at school we enjoyed learning about creation.  We learned about the care of babies and how to wash and care for ourselves.  The older children also learn these types of lessons but of course on their level. 
I was planning on starting teaching this week but it has been postponed due to scheduling.  I hope to start in two weeks. 
We are planning another sports day today and would greatly appreciate prayers for this event.  There are so many children coming it has a tendancy to be overwhelming.  We will need to create some organization to the group and that takes time.  At times this culture we live in is extremely patient and at other times it is not. 
God is continuing to provide for us in every way and we are thankful to all of you who pray for us and support us.  We could not be doing it without your help.  Our pray is that this blog finds you healthy and excited about the upcoming season of Christ's birth.  To God be the glory!!

Word for the Day

Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not.  They are new every morning; Great is thy Faithfulness.       Lamentations 3:22-23.   

These words I have really held onto down here.  They are one of many promises made by God to help us on our journey down here.  I pray that as you read them today God will become alive to you and you will see His glory throughout your day!

Changes

It has been another exciting, difficult, and fun week.  We have been without internet most of the week so I have not been able to blog regularly.  My apologies to those who have been wondering what happened to us.  We did not drop off the face of the earth but simply couldn't communicate with the world.  Well, enough of that.  Here is what happened this week. 
John had a surprise on Tuesday.  He was invited to a church service with the understanding that he was just going to attend.  Well, God does have a sense of humor and when he arrived at the church he found out they wanted him to preach.  Fortunately he was prepared and did a fine job.  On Wednesday it was my turn to do some teaching at the ladies conference at the Jericho church.  I decided to talk about Martha and Mary and how we need to focus on what is better and not let the good stuff get in the way. I will post more about that another time.  Thursday was an exciting day for a change of pace.  We started the sports club in the afternoons.  I didn't count but there were enough children for two baseball teams, two soccer teams and half a ladies volleyball team.  It had to have been about 70-80 kids.  Two teachers from the compassion project school came to help and John and I were there and we each had an interpreter to help us.  It was such an amazing time.  God is good and will provide for all our needs if we remember to focus on Him.  We started around 2:00p.m. and finished close to 5.  There was only one draw back and yet it turned out good.  Kyle brought his baseball glove to the game to play and when we left it was gone.  He was very upset and did much crying but I explained to him there must have been another boy at the game that didn't have a glove and just really needed one.  I explained to him that sometimes we give things away even when we don't realize it.  I tried to get him to think of it as a gift to the child that now has it.  We walked home after the playing time and right before we were home Kyle said, "You know mommy, I am sad about the glove but I am happy that the boy has something to play with now." God has redeemed the situation in Kyle's mind and I am very thankful that Kyle was able to see the good in the situation.  We look forward to playing sports with the kids again next thursday afternoon. 
We had another change this week that laid very heavy on our hearts for most of the week.  We had asked a lady to come to our house to help out when we had first arrived here.  Well, this week we had to change that situation and so we no longer have help at the house.  It has been a very difficult struggle to decide what to do with the situation and we continue to pray that God will somehow redeem the situation and provide for her in her time of need. 
Another change for this week includes the beginning of my music class at the church.  Our first meeting will be on saturday and 2.  I am not sure how many will show up or what their expectations are  going to be.  Our first meeting will simply be to decide what direction the group wants to go in.  We will decide whether I teach them how to play instruments or whether I will teach them basic music skills.  The pastor only wants  me to include 4 groups.  One group for piano, one for guitar, one for drums and one for choir.  I have to laugh at God's sense of humor.  When the pastor told me he was going to "limit" me to only 4 groups I really found that funny.  :)  I am excited about teaching music and look forward to seeing how the group develops.  I will post more this weekend if the internet is up about how it all goes. 
This past Sunday we enjoyed going to a different church here in Leon.  We were told about it but really didn't know exaclty where it was.  Our original plans were to go the mountains and do some evangelism but the transportation didn't work out.  We decided to go on an adventure and try to find this church we wanted to visit.  The reason we were so interested in visiting this church is because they sing songs in english and spanish.  The pastor preaches in both languages also.  So as a family we went on an adventure.  We did find the church and we were even on time.  There was another North American family there and we thoroughly enjoyed the whole event.  The children's time was enjoyed by our children because there was another child there that interpreted for them and they could understand.  On the way home, everyone wanted to see if we would be going back to that church anytime soon.  It was a blessing to be there and worship God in both languages. 
This weeks prayer requests: health for the family, wisdom to know how to teach the subjects the people have a need for, patience to wait on the Lord.

questions

We had an exciting week.  One filled with new adventure and making new friends and connections.  This week we were invited to spend time with some students who are learning english as a second language.  They ranged in age from 17 to maybe 35.  We were able to spend 3 hours with them talking about religion, politics, food, culture and many other things.  Several students asked repeatedly why we were here and why we would choose to move to Nicaragua when most Nicaraguans are trying to move to the states or else where.  I found myself really digging deep to explain to them the calling I feel God has on my life.  I really had to work at explaining it in such a way that they would be able to see our decision make sense.  Many years ago I read a book called the Upside Down Kingdom.  As we continue on this journey the information in that book becomes alive.  The students are right, it doesn't make sense why we would want so much to live down here and help the children.  The culture and economic situation does not allow the people here to reach worldly goals.  They have to constantly struggle to survive.  In North America, living the "dream" of worldly goals is much easier and the culture and economic situation are much improved.  However, as John and I continually wrestle and listen to God and what He wants for our lives, staying here and reaching the children of Nicaragua just makes sense.  Being a follower of Christ is not comfortable, relaxing and easy.  God has asked us all to get out of our comfort zone and challenge ourselves and those around us to be more than just living in the world.  God asks us to be a light on a hill.  We are the ones to make a difference for others only with God's help.  He gives us the strength to endure, the power to win and the patience to survive.  Living for God is different than anything I ever thought it would be. He has called us to help the children in Nicaragua, and following that call is one thing but living it out is a process that we are only at the beginning of.  I am thankful my Lord and Savior is with me.  I could not do this alone.  Thank you Heavenly Father for promising to be by my side through it all.  To God be the glory!

up and coming

It looks like we will be starting the sports camp next week.  Somehow I think there will be more kids interested than we can teach.  Let's all pray God will provide all the leaders we need for the camp so as many children as possible can start.  The vision for this camp is huge.  The leaders of the school are very excited about what is going to happen with the sports teams and have big ideas for the future.  Let's also pray God's will to be done and that their plans will come to fruition.  I should be starting teacher training next week which will be a new adventure for me but one I am up for the challenge on.  Please pray that I will find the right resources to educate and train the leaders of the school so they can do what God has called them to do.  Thanks for all your prayers and support, we know and understand without it this would never work out.  May God receive all the glory and may God provide funding for us to stay down here for many, many years.  The work here I think I could happily spend the rest of my life doing so I really would like to be here.  I hope God's will is the same.  I will continue to pray God's will for my life, our families life and for the leaders and children of Nicaragua.  Please join me in praying 2 Timothy 3:16-17 for us.

our daily schedule

We have enjoyed an interruption to our daily schedule.  We are only doing two days of school this week because they celebrated the day of the dead on Monday.  I have enjoyed being a teacher's helper for the last few weeks.  I think if I could start my life over again I would probably have become a teacher.  It is neat to see the faces on the kids learning and enjoying school.  Looking forward to bible study with my Savior and Lord today.  I continue to pray that God will lead us to the right people so that we can lay the ground work for a children's home.  I am not completely giving up on the idea yet even though the government says no.  God is bigger and if it is His will we will be able to help take care of many children down here.  Praying God will open our eyes to see His vision.  May God receive all the glory!!!

Quiet time

It has been a quiet weekend.  We have watched the last few days of rain fall continually.  It has been not only refreshing from the heat but a constant reminder of God's enduring love and control.  Without the rain nothing grows and without God we don't either.  Our time here on earth is so limited and I have begun to understand that every waking moment should be spent living for God.  He is our sustainer, our life giver, our passion.  I want to do so much down here but unless I keep my eyes on Him nothing will get done.  My dreams need to be like the soil when it rains.  Soil is full of germs(selfishness), worms(sin), and nutrients(influence of others).  When it rains God washes away the germs and worms and replaces it with fresh clean water(living water).  If we focus on God the influence of others will be positive and not negative, our nutrients will be helpful not harmful.  Rain is a beautiful thing and an excellent reminder of what God is willing to do for us, if we let Him.