Well, the first leg of this adventure is complete. After a long layover in ATL, all 38 of us got on Delta Flight 69 and made the shortish flight to Managua, Nicaragua. The layover, in fact, was two hours longer than our flight. But we survived and were quickly introduced to how things are done here. After paying a $5 fee for a visa, our 70+ bags our team brought were loaded onto baggage carts and pushed right out to the bus. No inspection. Half of us didn’t complete customs declarations forms, and I didn’t get a chance to sign mine. I wanted to ask a few questions before completing it, but the offficer quickly grabbed ours and showed us the door.

After that, we had a two hour ride on an old school bus. It was late at night and cool, and as long as we were moving, the breeze was cooling. Finally we arrived at the compound, unloaded and headed to bed. Jamie had warned me before about the cold showers that would be awaiting me this week, but after being hot, nothing felt better. Soon I was in bed reflecting on the day.

This morning we all woke up early due to the two hour time difference. But I wasn’t tired, and enjoyed my breakfast of ham sandwiches and fresh fruit. After a trip to the store for supplies and prepaid cards for our cell phones, it was time to head to church.

 

At more or less 9:30 church started. I think it took longer than usual with sermon and other reading being done in English and Spanish. But it was an interesting time. I was happy that I have been able to pick out enough Spanish words to follow along with the songs. Half of the songs were tunes I knew, just not the words in Spanish. But the pastor did a great job of bringing the word and including all these visitors into the service. Jamie went with the children’s team to do the lesson for them and play with the soccer balls they brought. Being a sound and tech guy it was a little difficult. The church is beautiful with this nice tile floor, but it makes for horrible acoustics. Our team leader was smart enough to remind us all before we arrived that we don’t have all the answers, and the locals know how to do things. But we are also here to help and bring knowledge and experience. So afterwards I tried to talk to the music leader, and he showed me his gear, but I didn’t try to ‘fix’ it or change his whole setup. We walk a fine line here. We see so many things we can fix, but it doesn’t mean we know it all.

After church we had a great lunch with a beef and rice dish, and I experimented with the local hot sauce. It comes in a quart bottle, and with how hot it was, that bottle would help my future grandchildren experience this trip. My jaw dropped watching some of our team using it like I would mild picante at home. Wow.

So far so good. We’ll be busy but not overbooked. We’ll be overloaded with the things we see, but also allowed time to reflect and process what we’re going to do with this after we return home. I know that this won’t be my last mission trip, as Jamie and I talked long before we married about the place that missions, local and international, would have in our future lives. But some of the team are already planning future trips here and I’m pretty sure I’ll know by the end of this week if I’m going to want to be a part of them.