Different

Different

Being in a different culture is challenging at times. The American way is not always the way that everyone else does it. Anyway, there are 3 Americas: North, Central, and South. We live down in Central America here in Nueva Guinea. Coming from the states you come to Nicaragua expecting certain things as normal. Things like power, water, and your local burger joint are seen as normal in the states. In Nicaragua there isn’t always power, or water, and there are no burger joints. There is no home depot. So you need to go to the hardware store, order things from Managua, then go to the lumber yard, or maybe even a farm to get your wood. Fabricated doors are not so common; most things are done by local carpenters. The way of life is different and simpler. Most people here go to bed at 9 pm and then are up at 4 am. They do their washing in the morning by hand and then put up their clothes on the line and when the rain comes they run out side to pull down their clothes before everything gets soaked. Most people here don’t really eat much meat perhaps because it is so expensive for them and they take care of their own chickens and livestock.

Going to the country here is like going to the Wild West. In the states you go to visit a farm in the country. Here you start in a farm and then go to the country, which is a place where everything works of wells possibly no electricity and pretty much everyone has  a horse and works with animals, an environment much different from the states.

Knowing there are so many differences makes ministering to people more challenging but also more exciting. Jesus, however calls us to change what we do normally so that some might be saved. Be in prayer for us and for the finances as we minister to the Nicaraguan people and that God would help us to equip the Nicaraguans to make and be disciples.