Finally back online and pictures from break!!!

Well it’s been quite awhile since I’ve updated on here, but I will try my best to cover some of the things that have happened in the past two-three weeks. My internet has been down and still is, so that’s another reason these updates have been so sporadic. Well we just started classes back after our nearly three week trimester break. Even though it was “break” I really feel like I didn’t get much of a break. The day after the last trimester’s graduation, as you all know, we left for Nicaragua. This trip is pretty much described in the last blog entry that I wrote from Nicaragua. We first went to the capital of Managua, where we spent two days renewing Helmer’s passport and getting him a new visa, so he could enter Costa Rica again. We also got to tour the city of Granada, which is known for a famous Catholic Church as well as “islitas” (little islands) in the lake of Nicaragua that are near the city. Each island is owned by someone wealthy who builds a house on it…some have “for sale” signs up, and I guess you can buy a cheap island for around $50,000. We took a boat ride for 2 hours to see these islands, which was a lot of fun and neat to see. After leaving Managua, we headed south to Rivas, then on to San Jorge, where Helmer’s aunt and uncle and many cousins live. We visited with them a short while in the afternoon before boarding a ferry to take us to the island of Ometepe, which is located in the middle of the Lake of Nicaragua. One fact is that the Lake of Nicaragua is the biggest fresh water body of water in all of Central America. It is huge; it has waves and seems like the ocean or one of the great lakes of the states. We took a ferry 2 hours to reach the island, which was pretty primitive, especially the roads. This island contains two active volcanoes. It took us almost 1.5 hours to drive the 4km stretch of dirt road (mostly holes and rocks…big rocks!) to get to our hotel. We spent two days on the island and had the chance to go horse-back riding and see a natural spring-fed body of water that was about 8feet deep but crystal clear blue, you could see all the way to the bottom. From the island we headed north to Corinto, where Helmer’s family lives. This was the long-expected part of the trip, what we have been waiting for a long time—to finally meet his family and hopefully have the chance to share Christ with them. We arrived to find a small, cement house with three rooms. Two are bedrooms and the main front room is split by a half wall to allow another sleeping area. I can thank God repeatedly for the blessings I have…I had never seen such primitive conditions for living, or spent extended time staying with a family living in a house like this. God really opened my eyes to a different world in Nicaragua—most people there have very little, and life consists of worrying day to day about where you will even find the money to buy the next day’s food. We spent four days and three nights with Helmer’s family. His older brother Nelson and Nelson’s wife are both Christians and we got to talk to them a bit about their church and their faith. Helmer’s dad seemed to have little interest in church, God, or talking. He warmed up as the time went on, but he remained pretty closed to talking about God. His mom was very timid and shy when we first arrived, and I think she felt like she had to bend over backwards to make us feel comfortable…she assumed since we were “gringos” that we needed to have a nice place to stay, good, expensive food, and other things. I hope that one of the biggest impacts we could have had was that we were able to say it doesn’t matter to us what we eat, where we sleep, or what your house looks like. I hope this made an impression on them. By the end of our stay, she too had really warmed up to us more and was a lot more open, but still very shy and timid. We went to church with Nelson and his wife on Sunday night (church in Nicaragua is always at night, because it’s too hot to hold during the morning hours). Helmer’s mom came too, for the first time in a very long time. I am not sure how much of an effect it had, as the service was a bit radical and pretty Pentecostal. I hope in the future she and her husband could be invited to a Bible-preaching, doctrinally sound church, where they can really hear the gospel, rather than somewhere where they see “Christianity” as a radical, strange, and scary experience. It definitely shed some light as to why Helmer was so confused as to what a Christian is before he met us. Our last day in Corinto, we took Helmer’s parents to lunch and I think it was a rare experience for them to go out to eat, but they really enjoyed it. When it came time to leave, both his mom and dad were telling us to come back and visit and they hoped to spend more time with us in the future. I hope to continue to build a friendship with them, and hopefully when I go to visit my friend Shelley (an ABWE missionary to Managua) I will get to swing up to the north and spend some time with Helmer’s family.

From Corinto, we headed back towards Managua. I got the chance to swing through the ABWE ministry center outside of Managua and see the work that Larry and Bev Smith are doing there. It is an impressive facility, which will be a camp, a seminary/Bible training grounds, and a conference center when completed. Already, they have one seminary building constructed, one dormitory, a great big pool, and a welcome center. Right now they are also building the dining hall area. It is to serve Nicaraguans and for their principal use, so that was really neat to see. Helmer was really impressed to see people giving so much to his people and country.

After Managua, we headed back to San Jose again. It was a bit of “culture shock” to arrive back here. A friend Melissa at school described Nicaragua like this: “I thought I had seen poverty when I was in the states working in inner city Cleveland. Then I came to Costa Rica and said, ‘no this is real poverty.’ Then I went to Nicaragua and I couldn’t believe what I saw, and I knew that I had never seen any poverty comparable to Nicaragua.” That was what I felt, and it was a shock getting back into CR and seeing modern hotels, nice restaurants, big highways, and nice neighborhoods. We are truly so blessed.

That very same day I welcomed my best friend, Jessica Bryant, to CR as she flew in from Mexico City. God blessed us with 8 days together. We went to see Arenal volcano and the rain forest and also took along Howard and his visiting friend Charly (or Carlos) from Argentina, as well as Helmer. Both Carlos and Jess really wanted to see the rain forest and an active volcano, so Arenal is one of Central America’s most active volcanoes, completely surrounded by rain forest. Jess said it was her first real vacation in over 10 years, and was really refreshed by the time. After we got back, we spent Sunday here and got to get back to church (after being gone for 3 Sundays!). Pastor Benjamin and Adriana were really happy to see us, and we had them and Juan and Marjorie, and Helmer, Jess, and Carlos over for lunch after church to celebrate Howard’s birthday. We had a big “American” lunch. Marjorie had made this excellent steak with a mushroom sauce. I made mashed potatoes and gravy, and Jess made up a huge amazing salad. For dessert we introduced these Latinos to Angel food cake. Howard said he has always had an angel food cake with blue frosting for his birthday, so I made that and we tried to make it as close to celebrating at home as possible. Juan and Marjorie gave him a nice shirt and pen set, and Pastor Benjamin prayed for him as well.

Jess and I spent Monday going to a national park, Manual Antonio, and the beach. Unfortunate for us, and little to my knowledge, the park is closed only on Mondays! So she didn’t get to see the monkeys and wildlife I’d promised, but instead we swam in the ocean, dodged big waves, and learned how to surf…for free! A Peruvian offered to teach us how to surf, and give us a free board with the purchase of one for $8 so we spent the afternoon getting pounded into the ocean by massive waves. I still have bruises and scratches from stomach to ankles! It was a lot of fun though and I’d like to try it again and maybe stay up for more than 20 secondsJ Jess didn’t quite master it, and even had trouble staying on the board laying down, which is the first thing they teach you. She was laughing so much that the instructor said that someone who laughs so much will never be able to surf because it takes away all your balance…I think he was right!

Tuesday we celebrated Howard’s actual birthday (the 5th). Carlos left to go back to Argentina in the afternoon, and it was sad to see him go. After spending so much time with him over the past 3 weeks, he really became a pretty good friend. We went to the Argentine restaurant for dinner, and had a lot of fun there. Helmer got all dressed up in some of Howard’s nice clothes for dinner. We also started back to class Tuesday. I’m taking 2 hours, with just one translation class, and then tutoring to review the grammar book.

On Wednesday, I took Jess to get her souvenir shopping done and we spent all day going in every direction possible all over San Jose, in the midst of many rain storms. At night we met up with Helmer and Howard, so Helmer could say goodbye to Jess. We headed home shortly after to try and get to bed at a decent hour, since she had to be at the airport at 5 am, making us get up at 3:45 am!

Thursday morning (still night really) I said goodbye to Jess which was hard and sad, but hopefully we’ll get to see each other in December. She is talking about making the drive down to Mexico City with me the first week of January. I am praying God directs her there for good, of course…and I ask you to pray as well, as she tries to figure out God’s direction for her future as a missionary to Mexico. After class, I came home and crashed! First time of having no visitors or activities in over two weeks. After a three hour nap and dinner, I was already ready to go back to bed again, but had a 30 page article in Spanish to read about translation.

Today I had class again and this class is definitely going to be a LOT of work! I think it is going to stretch me though, which is what I wanted. After class, I met up with Nichole to head to the gym, she has been in all my classes so far, and is now done with language school, but staying here in CR as a missionary.

Tomorrow I’ll get back in the swing of teaching English every Saturday, and am excited to see my students again. I start teaching Cyntia and her friend English again this coming Tuesday evening, and then this Tuesday also starts the Empleada (Maid) Bible study that I will be leading at the institute. Susie Austin prayed for me and this study today and I am really getting excited but also nervous for day one. Pray as I prepare this weekend and contact the ladies, and just pray it all goes ok next Tuesday at 2:30 pm (that’s 4:30 eastern time in the US).

That’s about it…I hope you all enjoy the pictures and thanks for your prayers while we were in Nicaragua. There is still a great need for prayer for Helmer. Unfortunately, just days after returning, he decided to get back into the bad habits and relationships he left behind when we left for the trip. Our prayer had been this trip would separate him from those things, and when he returned he would not get back into those relationships. However, it seems more than ever he is choosing to not follow or seek God. Please pray that God gets a hold of his heart and that Helmer is restless and miserable until he sees that a relationship with Jesus is the only thing that will ever fill the void in his life. Pray that God would remove these relationships from his life in one way or another and that Helmer would see his need of Christ.

I’ll try to get back to writing and updating more regularly from now on!

Hasta luego,

Bethany

Below you’ll find lots of pictures, sorry they are not in any specific order. There is a caption underneath each one though!

And to close a quote that I think is very good, by missionary David Livingstone:

“Lord, send me anywhere, only go with me.
Lay any burden on me, only sustain me.
Sever any tie, but the tie that binds me to Thyself."

------------------------------PICTURES-----------------------------
















A typical Nicaraguan meal includes pices of strong, hard white cheese, some type of meat, rice, platanos (usually fried), and beans.















Us sharing a lunch with Helmer's mom and dad at a restaurant by the ocean the day we left, Corinto, Nicaragua.















Helmer with his dad, mom, and brother Nelson the day he left, Monday. In Corinto, Nicaragua.















Helmer's sister-in-law and mom showing us how to kill, defeather, and cut a chicken. We later ate this in a delicious soup of chicken, corn on the cob, potatoe, chayote, platanos, and some other veggies.














Carlos and I with Helmer and his aunt and cousins in San Jorge, Southern Nicaragua.















A typical bus in Nicaragua, very old school busses from the states I assume, decorated with flags, ribbons and streamers, painted bright colors, packed with people inside and those that can't fit inside ride on top, as you can see the top full here!














A man hanging off the back of a plentifully packed platano truck on the highway in Nicaragua...Platanos are one of the biggest crops there, they are part of the banana family, but you can't eat them raw, like a banana...you either eat them cooked or fried or in soup, either mature (platanos maduros) or green unripe (platanos verdes).















Carlos, Helmer, me and Howard eating pizza in Granada, Nicaragua.















Jess and I all geared up afte completing 10 ziplines through the canopy layer of the rainforest, with Volcano Arenal in the background.















Jess holding a turtle on the rainforest canopy tour we did near La Fortuna, (Volcano Arenal) Costa Rica.















This Pittsburgh Pirates dugout was in a baseball field on the road between Corinto and Chinandega, Nicaragua....Baseball is the biggest sport down there, but I thought this was pretty neat to see! Go Pittsburgh Pirates!















The ocean and I in Corinto, Nicaragua. Helmer's dad took us one afternoon to this photo point, amidst rocks and the pacific coastline.















A war mural I saw painted on the side of a building in Leon, Nicaragua.















Howard and Carlos in front of Helmer's house in Corinto, Nicaragua. Barrio Chorizo.















A church we drove past when we were leaving the Island of Ometepe, heading back towards the ferry.















A lady washing her clothes in the river on the island of Ometepe, Nicaragua.















Some pigs on the beach of the lake of Nicaragua, Island of Ometepe.















Howard jumping off of a rope swing on the island of Ometepe in "ojos de azul", "blue eyes" a natural spring fed pool of water.















Carlos, Howard, and Helmer checking out the most passable and feasible route on the road on the island of Ometepe. It took us 1.5 hours to go about 4 km....so it was a pretty bad road, mostly holes and rocks! Many times we had to get out to investigate the best way and to lighten the car's load!















Helmer and Howard ready to leave for Nicaragua in the San Jose airport with passport and ticket...Helmer's very first flying experience!















Carlos, Helmer, Howard, Jess, and myself and the national park at Arenal Volcano, CR.















Jess and I hiking in the high risk area at Volcano Arenal back in Costa Rica, during her visit here.















Jess drinking mate. See below for a description of what "mate" is.















Drinking Mate with Juan Jose and Marjorie...see description below if you're wondering what Mate is!















Me trying "Yerba Mate" the her drink of Argentina. You pass it around the entire group of people, each person drinking until the water is gone, then you refill it with more almost boiling water and drink again! Mmmmm!















Back in San Jose, enjoying a tico style lunch with Carlos and Jess, after taking them to a local souvinir market to get some shopping done!




















View of Nicaragua as we took off, heading back to San Jose, CR, from the airplane.















ABWE missioanry Larry Smith showing me around the new ABWE ministry center outside of Managua.















Helmer's cousin, neice, and two nephews and dad in their home in Corinto, Nicaragua.















Helmer's family, dad, Helmer, Nephews, Neices, and brother Nelson, along with Howard and me at the Pacific ocean in Corinto, Managua.















Juan Jose's sons and two of their cousins in the street in Corinto, Nicaragua.















Some kids on the island of Ometepe.















Helmer, Howard, and I on the ferry to the island of Ometepe, Lake of Nicaragua.




















A monument in Managua, of a guy holding a large machine gun...underneath it says something about the laborers living free forever....I assume this went up during their communist regime period of history. And that same communist president (Sandanista Daniel Ortega) is running again for presidency now. We need to pray for Nicaragua!















We saw this "driver's ed" vehicle roaming the streets in Managua, and I just had to get this picture up here. A very small older lady was driving, and barely stuck up above the steering wheel...looks like this learner's vehicle has had a few collisions in its days!















Howard, Helmer, Carlos, and myself at the isletas outside of Granada, Nicaragua...many small islands that you can take a boat ride to see. It was a neat excursion.















Left to right: William and Agner (youth leaders for their church in Managua, Nicaragua) and youth from their youth group having a retreat at the camp we stayed at in Tipi-Tapa, Nicaragua, right outside of Managua. They were telling "ghost stories" late at night and decided to go out to the field to look for a mysterious ghost that supposedly appears there...crazy! They were a lot of fun to get to know, and we already knew William and Agner from when they visited here in CR.















Dodging cattle in the road! Driving in Nicaragua sure is a lot different than the states.














Preparing for take-off to Nicaragua at the airport in San Jose. Charlie (from Argentina) and me with our tickets and passports.