Arrival

It was a beautiful day to fly, although I did not know that when I rolled out of bed at 3:00 AM. It had been a fitful night of sleep, waking every half hour or so, checking to make sure I was not going to oversleep. In hindsight, there certainly was no chance of that happening.

By 4:30 the entire group was at the airport checking bags and printing boarding passes. Even the security check went without a hitch if you don't mind getting partially undressed in front of a crowd of strangers.

Once we lifted off the ground it was as if God was pushing us all the way to Nicaragua with a tail wind. We arrived in Atlanta 10 minutes ahead of schedule and about the same amount of time in Managua. After customs and payment of entry fees we found 
ourselves outside of the airport waiting for our van.

It was a chaotic scene for a while. There were gaily painted old school buses with luggage being loaded on top. Two of them were filled with about 60 Baptist medical and dental missionaries who flew down with us from Atlanta and were headed 5 hours deep into 
the mountains to minister to the people's bodies and souls.

There were several other large vans and open body trucks being loaded up with luggage and college students headed who knows where. It was not until our van arrived that I realized how much stuff we had brought with us. Everyone in our group had packed to the limit. We had bags filled not only with our personal belongings but with clothes, tools, dental supplies, children's toys and school uniforms, all gifts for the people of San Ramon. If there ever was a van that needed a roof rack it was ours. Whatever did not fit in the luggage compartment in the back flowed over to the inside with us. Most of us had a bag either on our laps or under our legs. Two people even sat on suitcases in the aisle. It's a good thing that it was only a "short" two hour trip to San Ramon. We had come this far, there was no stopping us now.

It was about 5:00 PM when we pulled up to our guest houses. When the doors opened it reminded me of how the dough pops out of the Flaky Pillsbury biscuit containers. There was not much time to unpack before dinner. We each eat with our host families and I for one was ready to eat. Beans and rice, diced potatoes, and vegetables in tomato sauce never tasted so good.

After dinner I walked around the community to take pictures, located the closest internet cafe and was blessed by God with a glorious sunset with all the shades of pinks and oranges God could think of.

At 6:30 we were all headed to a Pentecostal church for evening worship. On the way I managed to stick my head into a little Roman Catholic church to get my fix of statues and incense. The service we attended was … well, lively. I did not understand what the preacher was saying but without a doubt he was on fire with the love of the Lord, and he wanted everyone else in the whole world to feel and experience that Love as well. A few in the group challenged me to preach that way when we get back but I said that I would only do it if the whole choir and congregation would raise their hands above their shoulders and sway in unison like everyone in that church. It was a good place to be and a wonderful way to end our first day. One of the pleasant surprises was learning that we worshiped with Ricardo and his children for whom we are building the house.

On the way home we had to check out the local convenience store.
   

Then it was time to get to bed and rest for our first day of construction in the morning.

Nite, nite, and God bless all of you.

—Pastor Larry (San Ramon, Nicaragua)