Nicaragua Update #5
Monday, July 20, 2026
Dave was up at 6:45am and arrived at Regan and Blanca’s home at 7:45am. Blanca made breakfast for Dave, and the students began arriving before 8am for class at Veracruz English Academy (VEA). Dave taught at VEA all day, four different classes, until a little after 5pm. See below picture of VEA students testing and a small group working on classwork, with Reddy (the red van) in the background.
During the lunch break in between classes, the guys went to see Edgar to give him money to buy the materials needed to fix Pastora’s bathroom. His wife and children were home. His oldest daughter, Abril (April) is 9 years old now and after some discussion, they invited her to attend VEA. The family is going to talk it over and let them know. Attending VEA requires more work for the students outside of their regular school and additionally, transportation plans to and from class have to be considered. Abril is a bright little girl and would likely do well. They all prayed about it together. On the way back to class the guys crossed paths with Lucero. Lucero is an 8 year old little girl Dave had never met who lives near Rudolpho and Amelia (Dave's new neighbors on this trip). Dave said she smiled as she rode her bicycle past him. He asked the neighbors about her and they told him who she was and said that she was brilliant. They introduced Regan and Dave to her mother. Long story short, she is starting at VEA on Tuesday!
Immediately after classes ended, the team left for Managua. They met with Dr. Bayardo and his wife and three children for dinner. It had only been a few months since they had last seen one another, but they still had a little catching up to do. They spent most of their time working out the details of our medical clinics planned for March, 2027 in Bluefields. Tentative dates were set for March 19-28, 2027. They plan to meet again on Sunday for church at Verbo in Managua and go to lunch afterwards to discuss more. Both Dave and Dr. Bayardo needed to look into some things to prepare. Dr. Bayardo's oldest daughter, Karen, should finish medical school in early March and may be able to go with the team before she reports to her first assignment. Will you please join us in prayer over that timing?
Regan, Blanca, and Dave stopped at Casa De Cafe for coffee to debrief what Dr. Bayardo and Dave discussed. They made plans to invite our partner church members to team up with us on this mission trip to Bluefields next March. Dave will announce that at the CBS training on Saturday. Dave dropped the Downs at their home and was back at his place by 10:30pm. Amelia and Rudolpho were still up and told Dave their daughter Elena, who lives in Miami, wanted to talk to him. She owns the home where Dave is staying on this trip. Amelia called Elena but it was 12:30am in Miami and she must have been asleep because they missed her. They will try her again tomorrow.