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