A few Things About Leon
Last Sunday, Stephen and I left our casita in Granada and hopped on an express bus for Managua with the final destination of Leon. After several stops, I began to question the definition of “express”. The bus from Managua to Leon was equally interesting. We went out of Managua on the road past the Villa Esperanza, where I was last summer. It was great to see the familiar sights. The next twenty-five miles were similar to driving in a dry river bed with a driver who had too much coffee. My thoughts were that if the road is this difficult to Leon, why do people go there? After looking at a map on arrival in Leon, I found that we were on the old highway. It is still a mystery to me why anyone would take the old highway. 🙂
This week of training has been great! Our classmates were from Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Haiti. We thought that we were just going to be just in learn-mode. What we found out was that we were living out the motto, “Watch one, do one, teach one”. For the first few days we learned the Biblical stories, and then the last two days we had about 50 people come from the community, and it was our opportunity to teach them. This is a great way to learn. My head is spinning now with the stories, as well as all of the Spanish we have heard. We are slowly learning!
It was precious to get to know the Nicaraguans in Leon, and hear their hearts for God. I wish I could pick each of you up and plop you down into a church service in Nicaragua! It is hard to describe the fun, worshipful atmosphere- clapping, moving, singing! In heaven we will likely get some lessons in praising God from the Latinos. Rhythm is not needed, but a genuine love to Jesus is encouraged!
Soon we sadly leave our air conditioned hotel room and return to Granada (hopefully on the new highway). I will miss the youthful and historical city of Leon (the restaurant next door to our hotel is the site of the beginning of the revolution, the murder of seventeen students protesting Somoza), but look forward to returning to Granada to get started in moving forward in many acts of service. I find myself overwhelmed with the poverty of this country right now, but I was reminded in my Perspectives reading that missions had to come out of a joy for Jesus, not the sadness of humanity. Please pray for us in this- it is one thing to say, but another thing to live!