Final Updates

Sunday, July 27, 2025

We were able to sleep a little later today and were ready for church at 8:30am. Regan picked us up and we went to Verbo church in Veracruz. After church, we took Jasmine, Jenny, and Angel with us to watch Regan’s son play volleyball in Managua in the National Stadium. He plays for the Veracruz men’s team, and Nestor who graduated from VEA last year, plays for them as well. Veracruz won and moves on to the regional semi-final.

Afterwards, we went to the Masaya market to make a couple purchases, and then to the Volcan Masaya to see inside the volcano after dark. The youth from Veracruz who live just 20 minutes away, had not all been there before at night. We tried to take them in March, the last time I (Dave) was in Nica, but the volcano was closed due to some unusual activity.

After the volcano experience, we went to dinner and visited over a nice meal. The young people always enjoy these outings that are extremely rare for them. We dropped off Regan and Blanca at their home, returned the kids to CasaB, and called it a night.

Monday, July 28, 2025

We were up at 7a and at VEA around 8am to begin our last day teaching at VEA for this trip. It was a great day and Regan assigned us some one on one time with some of the more advanced students. The classes throughout the day were treated to Eskimo ice cream at the end of their class, and we took some photos. After class, our team went to visit some students that missed class and picked up some pen pal letters. We met the Veracruz Verbo School Director and her husband for dinner where we talked about the upcoming youth conference in January, 2026 to be sure they were fully informed. They missed the CBS training because they were out of town for the weekend running a camp for children in another area. We were back at Verbo about 11pm and began packing up for our trip home tomorrow.

Tuesday, July 29, 2025

Dave was up at 6:30am to prepare to meet the Verbo School Director at the school so they could finalize the current business transactions for school payments for the students we sponsor, our stay, etc. He went to pick up Regan and Blanca at 8:30am so they could drop us at the airport. Regan asked Dave to say some “final” words to the students that were there to encourage them. Then, we headed toward the airport where we did some final business with Regan and Blanca before heading thru security. Our flight left at 12:30pm for Miami. We left a little late because the plan was late, so we were then rushed to make our connecting flight in Miami. We bought Cheetos and Gatorade for a gourmet lunch and jumped on our flight to Atlanta. We arrived in Atlanta at 11pm where our oldest daughter, Dani, was to pick us up. She was an hour late in arriving because there was a double fatality on I-285 and the Expressway was closed for a while. Please hold all of the family and loved ones of those involved in prayer as we are sure many lives were changed that night. We, thankfully, were home safely about 2am on Wednesday, July 30th. Dave plans to return in October so that he can take Regan and four others from Veracruz to help with a CBS Youth Conference in Jinotega so they can be more informed about how to prepare all the Veracruz volunteers for our January, 2026 conference.

Thank you very much for all the support each of you provide. We are thankful for the support of our church, Faith Presbyterian, and each person who takes the time to pray, read updates, and for those who give and for those who go with us. We are extremely grateful for the opportunity God has given us, and the heart he has given you to partner with us in this ministry. If anyone would like to travel with us in January, 2026 or anytime in the future, we would love to have you join us and be a part of what God is doing in Nicaragua!

Dave and Katy

Update #7: Friday, July 25 and Saturday, July 26

Friday, July 25, 2025

We were up at 7am, with breakfast at 8am. Carla really spoils us while we are there. She made sure Mason had pancakes and fruit every morning. We left for the airport by 10am and Regan’s son picked us up at the airport in Managua at 2pm. From there, we returned to Verbo picking up more water and other rations for the rest of our stay at CasaB on the way home. The Community Bible Study trainer met us at CasaB and we went to lunch to prepare together for the training tonight and tomorrow. The training will include 8 partner churches in the Veracruz area. We picked up pizzas to take back for the participants. We were expecting as many as 30 people and we had 27 in attendance. The training ended at 9:30pm and we returned to Casa B to debrief and discuss our future youth conference in January and future trainings. We turned in about 11:30pm.

Saturday, July 26, 2025

Today’s CBS training ran from 8am-4pm. The National Director, Saul, brought in two Nicaraguan volunteers who administered the Children and Youth training. They are a husband and wife team; she is a doctor and he runs the pharmacy in their clinic. The churches worked together to prepare a breakfast, lunch, and an afternoon snack and all-day coffee (I think I may actually be Nicaraguan). After the training we met with all the pastors and discussed the youth conference in a little more detail. The plan is for each church to study Nehemia over the next two months, and then study Daniel with their youth before the end of December to prepare for the conference in January that will focus on the book of Daniel. Our team took Saul to dinner and spent a lot more time talking about our current and future plans. Saul left for home around 9pm. He had what used to be a four-hour drive back to his home in the north near the Honduran border. Due to a new national speed limit, this is now a seven-hour drive for him. All the CBS folks are volunteers and travel as far as it takes to do the training. When we assist the churches in hosting the trainings, we provide housing, food, and a small gift for the trainers.

Update #6: Thurs, July 24

Thursday, July 24, 2025

On Thursday, Carla at Verbo prepared an awesome breakfast for our team for 7:30am. Our Driver/Host for the two days in Port was a Verbo Church deacon, financial administrator (accountant), and he also leads the worship team at the church. After breakfast, we left for the feeding program run by Verbo in the poorest of area of Port. Children from three barrios (poor neighborhoods) come to the program on Monday through Friday for lunch. It is open to anyone who can get there. Some of the children’s parents volunteer at the event and they are then able to eat as well. Verbo feeds between 300 and 500 kids every weekday at this location.

This week the young people are out of school for break, and so there were many more children than usual in attendance. We had to leave before the final count was known, but they estimated 700 children attended today. On this day, Young Life Nicaragua was volunteering, running a three-day camp around the feeding program. They ran games and sports activities for the older children and games like pin the tail on the donkey with the younger ones. Before the children ate, they heard a presentation about Jesus from two adults dressed as clowns. There was standing room only for the presentation, and the Young Life volunteers did an excellent job of keeping the kids very engaged. At one point, the presenters asked for six volunteers and a great number of kids (between 40-50) began to crowd forward and they had to stop the presentation to regain control and get folks sitting back down. I was a little tempted to run forward also, but thankfully was able to resist.

After the presentation, the children ate in shifts, from youngest to oldest, because there were not enough tables and chairs for everyone who was there. Fortunately, the eating area was covered because there was a short, hard rain that came over during the time we were there.

After the feeding program, we returned to Verbo Church property around 12pm. Some of us showered again and we all rested a bit before an amazing lunch at 2pm. After lunch, we met Pastor/Dr. Ernesto at his Orthopedic clinic. He is one of two orthopedic surgeons working for the government at the hospital in Port. One By One partnered with him four years ago, along with the Mennonites in Nicaragua, to help him open a clinic that serves the poor. As an Orthopedic doctor, he serves patients who can pay as well as those who cannot, and all of those in between, so the clinic is now self-sustaining. Every patient is a mission for him. His wife is an anesthesiologist and she runs the pharmacy. In the four years they have been open, they have already completed Phase 2 of their plan, where they added a lab and an area to see more patients. So the clinic is growing and doing extremely well. He would like to purchase an X-ray machine and add additional patient rooms so that is on his prayer list for a future phase.

Currently, the only place to obtain an X-ray in Port is at the government run hospital. Dr. E cannot successfully send patients there for X-rays. The poorest of patients are only seen for X-rays at the hospital after waiting for weeks to see a doctor, then being referred for an X-ray weeks later. He would love to be able to provide this service for the community. He has been kind to treat Blanca for knee and shoulder issues, and was able to see her while she was there.

We returned to Verbo to prepare for a service at Dr. E’s church at 6pm. At church, we had a vibrant time of worship through songs and prayer. Dave gave the message, with Regan interpreting. Dave had asked our host from Verbo to sing a song before the message and he chose, “How Great is Our God”. It was fun to sing along in English with a song we knew well. After the service the Pastor/Dr., his wife, and our host and his wife and two children went to dinner with our team. We tried four different places before we found a restaurant that would serve us at 9:30pm. As we finished dinner and were leaving after a great visit, we found that our host (and driver) had locked his key inside his car. We worked together for about an hour to get the driver side window ajar enough for our 6-year-old grandson to stick his hand in and grasp the wallet on the dash that contained the key. He had to hang onto the wallet until it cleared the window outside the car, all while being afraid his arm was going to be chopped off by the window. He was able to do so successfully and was our hero for the night! We were back at Verbo about 12am. The doctor and his wife visited a short time with us in our room and had a reluctant goodbye. They both had to be at work at the hospital at 7am, and then work at their clinic in the afternoon and evening.

Update #5: Wed, July 23

Wednesday, July 23, 2025

We were up at 7am. Finished packing and dropped our laundry off at Meyling’s house and she said she planned to clean our room and change our sheets while we are in Puerta Cabeza. I had coffee with the Verbo Director. Regan and Blanca picked us up at 9am to head to the airport. Regan and Blanca’s son David dropped us at the airport before going into work a couple hours later than usual. We took off for Port in a puddle jumper at 10:30 and arrived in Port at 11:30. Jose Louis picked us up at the airport and took us to the Verbo Church property where we will stay the next two nights. They had a fantastic lunch ready for us, and even Mason liked it, without us making him try it. Jose Louis is a deacon and a worship leader in Verbo church in Port. He also drives a taxi and took us all over Port visiting many of Regans long time friends since he grew up in Port. We visited with several of those who invested in him as he grew up and many folks who he grew up with who are in the ministry today. Regan had not seen these folks for 25 or 30 years or more. It was fun to watch their reactions as they recognized who he was. Regan was pumped up all afternoon as he visited and reminisced. We spent an especially long time at the Moravian church on the ocean side of the island, where an old friend of he and his brothers was the head pastor. They talked about all the pastors who came before him that they grew up learning from. Regan joined the Verbo church when he met an American, Bob Trolese, who was our great friend and the Director of Verbo in Nicaragua when he died in 2020 from cancer and Covid-related complications. Bob took Regan under his wing and discipled him most of his adult life. Bob was a strong partner of ours. We ended the day with a short walk at the beach and went to a pizza place nearby where our medical brigade has gone in the past. We were back at Verbo Church at 8:30pm for an earlier night.

Update #4: Tuesday, July 22

Tuesday, July 22, 2025

We were up by 7am and back at VEA by 8am to start classes for the day. We finished distributing the remaining pen pal letters to the students who were not in class yesterday. We spent more time teaching in the afternoon classes than the morning class. But Regan used us to help interact with the kids in English and played some interactive games.

During the 11:30 to 1:30 time between classes we went to Maritzas home to visit her. She attended VEA with our support for over 5 years and has since graduated HS and just finished her first semester in college. She has stopped coming to VEA over the last few months since I was there last in late March. We encouraged her to continue and finish the school and put the last 5 years of studying English to good use. She agreed and said she would come back to class on Monday. We gave her her pen pal letter, and she agreed to have her response on Monday. Maritza and her mother gave us fruit from her banana, plantain, and avocado trees. We visited for over an hour before we had to leave to get something to eat before returning to VEA for the afternoon classes. We were going to get Mason pizza, but there was an accident on the narrow winding road out of the town, so we went to a small restaurant with no air conditioning and had chicken fingers and fries (Mason’s 2nd favorite). In the afternoon, Regan had us working individually with some of the more advanced students (and I learned a lot). While the students were working independently at the end of the class, I pulled up some old photos from when those kids were brand new in the school 5 and 6 years ago (some during and before covid). They had fun picking at each other about how young they were. At the end of each class we told them no class on Wed, because were going to Puerto Cabeza and we would be back in class on Monday.

After class we went to visit with Freydeling and her husband, Joseph, and their new 3-month-old baby Ester. You may recall Freydeling grew up at CasaB and we have known her for a very long time. She married Joseph who we watched grow up in the community. His mother was part of the first church we started a relationship with. She has been with us from the beginning. Dave met with F and J and counseled them before their marriage in 2024. Joseph recalled many of the things we talked about, and expressed appreciation for how it has helped them. Dave was here in late March when Ester was born, and she is almost four years old now.

We picked up Pastor Cirilo and his wife Marta at their church and went to dinner at Fritanga. Pastor Moises David and his wife (and two kids) met us there as well. We spent the time talking about CBS and the training this weekend. Pastor Cirilo and his wife Marta needed some encouragement to continue the bible study and to begin the next book. We left it that he would send some folks to the training this weekend, and he would try to begin again with his church in the next 60 days.

Pastor Moises David sent members to the first CBS training 6 years ago before COVID, but he never started in his church. He told Regan during my last visit, that he wanted to be again be apart of the group. He said he wanted to “come back to the table”. A reference to us historically having meetings while eating a meal. He is planning to send as many as 6 of his leaders to the training this weekend. Over all, it was a successful meeting. We took Pastor Cirilo and Marta to their home, and Regan returned us to CasaB at about 10:30pm. Katy was up very late getting herself and Mason ready to travel to Puerto Cabeza (Port) in the morning.

Update #3: Monday, July 21

Monday, July 21, 2025

We arose at 7am and left for VEA, stopping by the Verbo Directors home and stopping to see folks along the way. This is the second week of the national holiday, and there is no school and many folks are not working. We arrived at VEA just after 8am and the morning class was just starting. Blanca had coffee ready and we jumped right in to class. We passed out our pen pal letters throughout the day and all the kids agreed to have their reply letters returned in class on Monday. It was great to hang out with the kids in a primarily social and fun event yesterday and we could get right to work today. The students were continuing to show progress and they wanted to show how much they have learned. There were also a few new kids that were finding their comfort zone. Regan always likes us to speak to the students; to give confidence to the new ones and encourage the others. There are always some students who are struggling to stay focused as they grow up and their lives become more demanding, and they tend to lose that small child enthusiasm. We try not to let any kids fall away, but there are always a few. What is really interesting is to see some of the kids who did not stick with it years later and find out what they are up to. Without fail, they all say they wish they had stayed with it. They always remember the words we shared. Many of them may not be able to use their English, but many of them are thankful for the godly influence and the experience as kids. During our afternoon break between 11:30 and 1:30 Regan, Katy, Mason, and Dave took Olga to lunch. She is a senior in high school and we have been supporting her in English and in her life since she was born. Her father is a bus driver for our teams. Olga is going to go to Vet School next year and she is working in a clinic now as a Tech. Her father raises cattle as well as transportation. She grew up without a mother in her life, but her father just remarried recently.

After lunch, we taught 3 afternoon classes until 5p. At 5:30p we picked up Pastor Lionel and went to visit two pasters in the community who want to join the group of churches we partner with. They are interested in beginning the CBS bible study in their churches and being a part of the team of pastors working together in the community. We met with each of the two pastors separately and learned more about their churches and we shared about the ministry. They will both be joining our CBS training this upcoming weekend (Friday evening and all day on Saturday). After meeting with the pastors, we took Lionel and his wife to dinner at Foganazo. We spent 2 hours at dinner talking mostly about the state of the US and its role in the world. We dropped Regan and Blanca back at home and were at CasaB about 11pm.

Mission Update #2

Friday, July 18, 2025

After finding that the first leg of our flight was cancelled, Dave spent a couple hours on the phone Thursday night attempting to find another way to Miami in time for the second leg of our flight to Managua, Nicaragua. He tried all the airlines from Atl to Miami and they all showed full for the times we needed to connect. The way we were rebooked, we would lose an entire day in Nicaragua.

Long story short, when we arrived at the airport we went to the ticketing desk to be sure there was not another option. The lady who helped us turned out to be the "customer service manager". She booked us on another airline to arrive in Managua the same day. After a few flight delays, etc we did make it to Managua the same day at 11:30p. And the immigration line was very short. Our friends and Nicaraguan partners in ministry, Regan and Blanca, picked us up at the airport and we were at CasaB by 1:30a. The security guard had our key.

Saturday, July 19, 2025

Dave made it for the "Men of Prayer" meeting that occurs on Saturday mornings at 5a during sunrise. It was a great time with many friends and partners. After every man prayed, each person shared what was going on in their, and their families lives. We talked about our history together and bonded over some coffee and sweet bread.

Dave dropped Regan back at his home and went back to CasaB to pick up Katy and Mason for breakfast at my favorite coffee shop/my office for breakfast and to get our plans in order. We needed to make some adjustments from missing yesterday due to travel delays. We went to the grocery store for some supplies and back to Casa B to continue getting organized. I am usually in the room alone, and we have three of us vying for space this time. We visited with our old friends Sigard and Elsie and their girls at their home. Sigard shared about his continued different ministries in which he is involved.

We returned to Regan and Blanca's house to pick them and their family up to go to their son, David's volleyball game in Masaya before going to Managua for dinner and a movie to celebrate Regan and his grandson, Elias' birthdays. We got word that David's game had started/finished early, and while en route, we got caught up in parade traffic celebrating the Sandanistan revolution (similar to our 7/4).

We went to Rostipollo for dinner and then to a movie. Katy, Mason and I went to the Smurfs, while Regan and his family saw Jurassic World. After the movie we met up and listened to live music and had dessert in an open air restaurant area. The musician was singing seventies and eighties classics and sounded quite good. We returned Regan's family home and were back at CasaB by 10:30p.

Sunday, July 20, 2025

We were up and out about 9am, stopping to pick up Sigard's girls Anna and Jazmine to spend the day with our Veracruz English School (VEA) outing. Jazzy is Bethany's age and they are friends from early on, and Anna was a 12 year old growing up in a small village where Sigard was working with a mission team. The team supported her to go to the Nicaraguan Christian Academy and she is finishing Optometry school this Nov at UNAN college in Managua.

The bus full with 50-something VEA students and 10 adults left at 10am for Lake Managua and National Palace Historic Museum. We received a 2 hour tour of the Museum and the guide was extremely knowledgeable. We have been to Lake Managua with the kids a number of times, but the Museum has always been closed for some reason. This time Blanca called in advance and set it up so we could get the full experience. After the kids ranging from 5 to 19 made it through the museum using a great deal of self control, we let loose in the park and there were soccer games, school games like "Red Rover" and volleyball. Mason and I played primarily in the soccer group of older students. They were very inclusive with him, and he had more fun than any child should be allowed to have.

Regan and Blanca's sons, David and Isaac, and I went to pick up 33 pizzas from Little Ceasar's Pizza in a food court where there was no space to walk or stand without someone bumping into you. I am not sure whose idea it was to order 33 pizzas from a food court Little Ceasars, but it did require a great deal of patience for all three of us. It was a four level open air mall, and Little Ceasars was on the top floor! I felt like I was on a Survivor episode trying to win immunity with 12 boxes of pizza managing the escalators. I think the only reason I didn't fall was it was so crowded. People were holding me steady moving on and off the escalator. We had so much pizza, 2 coolers of ice, cups, 12 3-Liter drinks, etc., there as not enough room for us in the car. Isaac had to hover over the pizzas for 5 miles in the traffic back to the park (you have to be flexible on a mission trip).

The kids and other adults were oblivious to the hurdles we had to overcome to get the food there, and they had a lot of fun and eventually ate a lot of pizza. Katy and I were able to visit with so many of the kids we have grown to love here over the years and there were also a few new students since my last trip in March.

We were back in Veracruz and dropped all the kids off by 6p. Katy, Mason, and I went back to my favorite coffee shop/office to send this update with wifi. It is 8:20pm here and they have locked the door and are cleaning up around us. They are always very gracious to me. We are very thankful for this opportunity. We are very grateful for each of you for supporting the mission here. We will be headed back to CasaB to shower and turn in. We will be working at VEA tomorrow for the four classes throughout the day and working with all the kids we were playing with today.

Until our next update,

Dave

Mission Update #1

Hello everyone,

This trip has been an adventure and we're only a couple days in! Dave, Mason, and myself left home at 3:30am on the 18th. Thank you to our oldest daughter, Daniela for dropping us at the airport!

Our original flight was cancelled late on the 17th and we were rebooked and rerouted twice, first through Charlotte to Miami and then to Houston and on to Nicaragua. Then we had a change of airlines, and more flight delays that I can remember. After thinking we wouldn't arrive until Saturday afternoon, we finally made it safely to Nicaragua on the 18th just before midnight. We arrived at the Team Center where we usually stay and all three of us were settled into bed by 2am.

More to come. Will you please join us in prayer for the time that God has us here this month? We have a field trip planned with the students at Veracruz English Academy (VEA), several days of class with the VEA students, a brief trip to Puerto Cabezas to do some ministry follow up there, and two days of Community Bible Study International (CBSI) training for a number of churches in the Veracruz community.

Thank you so much for partnering with us in ministry!

In Christ,

Katy

Prayers Requested!

Please keep Dave and Katy Crumley in your prayers as they spend time in Nicaragua from July 18-29. Check back on this website for updates from their trip!