The Nicaragua Project

Hello there!

Exciting things are happening right now in Nicaragua, particularly in the English field. I'm sure that most of you are familiar with the current Manhattan Project going on in New York City. The brothers have set up mobile displays of Bible literature throughout Manhattan easy for the public to see. They have had incredible success with it (you can read more on the society's website http://www.jw.org/en/news/by-region/americas/united-states/special-campaign-manhattan/)

The brothers here have started trying a similar approach for the English territory. They have been setting up literature tables or mobile displays at different high-traffic areas throughout the city, including local supermarkets, parks, or schools. This is part of an effort not only to reach people who are hard to find at home, but also to find more foreigners who speak English. Chinandega isn't the only congregation trying this approach - every English congregation has been involved in this project! Has it been successful? I'll let you decide. Here are some pictures of various displays along with experiences from some of the congregations.

This the table from the Leon English congregation. At first, they made arrangements with a local supermarket, called La Union, to set up a table outside the store building. During the first week of the project, they started four Bible studies. One man that approached them spoke English fluently, accepted literature along with a study, and came to the meeting the next day! Even so, they knew that they could still reach more people, so they relocated the table from the supermarket to across the street from a church in town. The new location has been a lot more effective than the former. In one morning, three studies were started! While the majority of the interest they find comes from locals, they have had more and more foreigners stop by, since the new location has much more foot traffic. They receive a lot of interested Spanish-speaking people as well, and have been able to turn those new calls over to the nearest Spanish congregation to that person.

Here we have the display from Granada English. They have tables at La Colonia as well as at a nearby school. Granada is a hot spot for tourism, so it's no surprise that they have had a big response with the literature display. Tourists and other foreigners frequent La Colonia a lot, and a quite a few studies have been started.

Last but not least, we have the Chinandega table. Originally, the brothers made arrangements with another supermarket, La Colonia, to set up the table outside the store. The owners agreed to allow the table be set up only on Wednesday mornings from 9:00 to 11:00. However, because it has been so successful, the owners have now allowed the congregation to set up the table on Wednesday as well as Saturday mornings, now from 9:00 to 12:00! They have had some awesome experiences with it - I would say, on average, ten books have been placed each morning (the highest I heard was thirteen in one morning). In one morning, 30 magazines were placed. Many of the people who have come up to the table have been thankful to find the literature because they are usually not home during the day. Some have even said, "What days are you guys here?" and have arranged to come back to the table themselves! (How often does the householder arrange to make a return visit on us?) The city of Chinandega has also recently given the congregation permission to set up another table in the town's central park!

Of course, even though I'm not in the English hall, I had to sneak my way in to work the table one morning. ;) Since they have Spanish literature on the table as well, they need someone who speaks Spanish to work the table too. Not knowing what I was getting myself into, I volunteered to help out in that department. Elkie and I had an awesome morning. We placed seven books, seven brochures, I think five or six magazines, and multiple tracts. One man came up and requested a visit in Spanish. Also, a mother and daughter came up to the table. The daughter spoke English very well, and took some literature for her family. The mother was also very happy to receive literature. Apart from all that, it was exciting enough just to see people take a look at the table as they walked by!

Would you say that this approach has been successful? I definitely think so! Like with everything else here, it involves taking a step out of your comfort zone, but it's worth it. We did something similar to this in my home congregation back in Maine, and it had great results as well. I'm sure that this arrangement will continue to be a big help to the English congregations.

Also, don't let anyone tell you that it is pointless to join an English congregation in a foreign land! We just learned at our English Circuit Assembly this past weekend that Central America is a hot spot for English territory - even moreso than Mexico! Why is that? It is because a lot of American companies have set up call centers down here, where English-speaking skills are required. In the English district under the Mexico branch, there are 220 congregations (five in Nicaragua, and one group), three new circuits as of September (with 53 pioneers in ours), and 5,780 Bible studies being conducted (over 200 in this circuit)! Even though I'm in a Spanish congregation, I will still admit that there is just as much of a need in the English territory. So if you hold back from moving to a place like this out of fear of learning Spanish, you can definitely still be a big help in English, and the need is great. Give it a try!

Hope everyone is doing well. Stay in touch!

Sam

P.S. - Thank you to everyone who sent in pictures from other congregations! Here are links to some really good blogs on Nica who contributed photos:

www.asifweknow.com/jw - Rob & Anne Watcher, Leon English

www.los-poldens.blogspot.com - Pat & Debbie Polden, Leon English

Estudios Biblicos

Hello all,

Just a quick update on some of our Bible studies. They are all going very well! I'm currently conducting five studies, three in Spanish and two in English. Here are some of the particularly encouraging experiences we've had.

One of my English studies, Jorge, lived in California for over ten years, and speaks English very well. He currently lives in Chinandega with his wife and son, and they run a shop in the downtown market. I met him while doing censusing work with the English congregation and was able to start a study with him very quickly. We study out of the Good New From God brochure. He is such a nice guy, and always makes time for the study. He can read in English, but needs glasses, something he cannot afford. Thankfully, the lettering in the brochure is big enough for him to read on his own - he reads it every night before he goes to bed! Thus, he is always prepared well for our study. I also brought him a copy of the Bible in English. However, since the lettering is too small for him to read and his wife cannot read or speak English, I brought him a Spanish copy instead. They were really happy to receive it. Now, his wife reads it with him every night at dinner! He expects me there for the study every Friday, and looks forward to it. So do I!

Here is Simon conducting a Spanish study with a man named Alberto. They study out of the Listen to God brochure, due to the fact that Alberto can't read. Sadly, that is the case with many, many people in Ojo de Agua. Thankfully, most of my Spanish studies read fairly well, but not fluently. It is difficult to conduct a study out of this brochure because you basically have to describe every little thing. However, Simon does a great job with it, and Alberto loves when we come by. He may be chasing ducks around his yard when we get there, but he loves the brochure and the information we share. (SIDENOTE: Do you have any idea how awkward it is to try to take a picture during a Bible study without being noticed? With a huge iPad? It may not be the smartest thing to do, but I do it anyway. That's how dedicated I am to keeping you guys informed. That's how much I love you.)

A couple of weeks ago, Simon was in Costa Rica meeting up with his parents for a mini-vacation. One day while he was gone, nobody was out in the afternoon, and I had a study to conduct. I was really nervous to do it by myself, especially since the man talks very fast and can be hard to understand at times. It got even worse when his wife decided to start sitting in on the study! Obviously, I was happy that she wants to study with us now, but you can imagine that it was a pretty daunting task for me (The picture above was taken while my friend Amy was telling a scary story about spiders, but that is basically the same face I made when this situation arose)! However, it went very well. He actually does better with his wife there. I think it will work out well studying with both of them together. They always expect me there Wednesdays at 4:00. It's nice to have people ask you, "When are we gonna have our study??" You definitely don't get that back home! 

This week, we're getting ready to attend the "Safeguard Your Mind" Circuit Assembly in English. I'm looking forward to it! Also, I'll be blogging soon about something very exciting happening in the English field here. Are you on the edge of your seat with suspense? You should be. You should be...

Take care!

Sam

The Harvest is Great

Hi there!

Has your Kingdom Hall ever needed to have some work done? Perhaps it needed some new paint or bathroom fixtures? Usually, when work needs to be done, it is announced to the congregation, and the work is able to be financed by means of donations from the brothers and sisters. It's a fairly simple process.

Here in Ojo de Agua, however, the brothers and sisters simply do not have the financial circumstances to fund the major work that our Kingdom Hall needs to have done. The hall needs to be repainted and retiled. Our bathrooms also need some serious work - I haven't even dared to set foot in them after hearing some of the horror stories. So the brothers have thought of a very creative way to finance the renovation.

Domingo, a servant who lives right in Ojo, owns a large piece of property on which the congregation can harvest Jamaica. What is Jamaica, you may ask? Well, first of all, it isn't pronounced like Jamaica, the country. It's pronounced "ha-my'-ica." It is a type of hibiscus plant that can be used to make very flavorful tea, or wine. It's highly valuable here, and therefore, the congregation has been growing enough to sell and use the money to fund the renovation!

This is a very big project. When we arrived here in September, we went out one day and helped clean up the fields from plants that the congregation had sold just to purchase the Jamaica seeds alone! Now, the Jamaica has been planted and grown. It is time to harvest and sell. The entire congregation has been invited to help out whenever they can. It isn't just a one-day project. It will be going on for at least a few weeks. However, earlier this week, we were able to get a big group from the English and Sign Language congregations to go out to the fields and help!

You can't see us all, but there are SEVENTEEN of us squished in (and out of) this truck. It was a bumpy ride, to say the least, but since the congregation only has a few people helping in the fields each day, you can imagine how happy they were to have a big group coming along.

This is Maddie & Stephan, a married pioneer couple in our hall, from England & France, respectively. They were instrumental in organizing the group to come help. Look at her ride that motorcycle like it's nobody's business!

Here's how the process works:

1 - The brothers (and some tough sisters!) were stationed out in the fields (for four hours, mind you), cutting off the individual full-grown Jamaica flowers from the plants. As you can see, it is a HUGE field, and difficult to do in the hot sun, but it has to be done. You can see me in the background, working very hard as usual.

2 - The sisters were then using broken umbrellas handles (?) to extract the seeds of the Jamaica flower. Don't let the fact that they were in the nice shade fool you - their hands ended up dirtier than ours!

3 - The extracted seeds can now either be sold or replanted. The rest of the flower can be dried out to make tea, so the flowers are sold as well. 

Blue hands, anyone?

Like I said before, this is a very different means of financing renovation work than we would back home, but it will be well worth the reward. The goal is to have the renovation work done in time for the Memorial. I'm sure the brothers and sisters are going to be beaming with pride and joy upon seeing how beautiful the hall turns out!

It was definitely time for a frappe and some junk food after the long day.

But wait...this was just one afternoon! The brothers have been doing this EVERY afternoon for the past two weeks! Will we be going out to help again? ...I'll have to wait and see if I can fully wash my hands of the blue flower stains first. :)

Hope you all are well and are enjoying your December!

Sam

 

Ojo de Agua Baptisms

Hi All,

I am happy to say that I decided to go down to Managua for the convention! I only went on Saturday morning to see people from Ojo de Agua get baptized. It was definitely worth it. The journey there and back, however was long as always. I went along with the congregation on the bus arranged for 5:00 in the morning, which involved getting up at 4:00 to get ready. You can imagine how much fun that was...

Hooray for 4 AM!

Roberto & I excited for the three-hour journey.

There is an official Assembly Hall in Managua, right near where the old branch is located in Tincuantepe. I was looking forward to finally being able to see the Assembly Hall, since I had only seen pictures of it up til then. It is beautiful there!

And yes, the e is missing from Jehova.

The inside of the stadium is really nice as well. I think it can hold around 1,000 people.

You may be able to see my friends Nicole & Hannah toward the right of this picture, trying to be serious...

Although it was kind of tiring hearing everything for a THIRD time, even in another language, it was still entertaining to see some of the demonstrations!

At last, it was time for the Baptism talk. We had four people from Ojo de Agua getting baptized - and that's not even the most from a single congregation; Centenario had six candidates! In total, about 40 people were baptized that day. Those were definitely the loudest "Si!"s I have ever heard!

The candidates from Ojo.

It was a mad dash to the baptism pool. One good thing about being tall is that your ability to take pictures isn't hindered by a crowd!

The first one up from Ojo was Esperanza. Her daughter, Yorleni, is the only Nicaraguan pioneer in the congregation. She has done a great job supporting Yorleni, and is very warm & friendly.

Next up were two siblings, José-Louis and his sister, Arlen. He is 13, and she is 12. They have both done so well in the truth considering their parents are inactive. They both make sure they get out in service often. It meant a lot for me to see them get baptized - it made me think of how my sister Kayla & I got baptized on the same day as well.

Arlen was so nervous! She's adorable though - she reminds me of my niece Jaylin.

Finally, it was Paula's turn. Although I don't know her very well, it was easy to see how much this day meant to her. She couldn't stop smiling!

After lunch, it was time to make the journey back to Managua. Although it was an exhausting day, I am so glad I was able to go. I approached José-Luis & Arlen and told them, "I want you to know that I've attended this convention twice - once in the States and once in El Salvador. The only reason I came today was to see you two get baptized!" That made them both really happy. They're great kids.

The four new brothers and sisters of Ojo de Agua!

Hope everyone is well. Have a great weekend!

Sam

Convention Invite Campaign

Hello my friends,

Can you believe we're halfway through November already? It's coming up on three months that I've been here now. Time seems to be moving very quickly, which I have mixed feelings about. In the meantime, though, things have been busy as usual here in Chinandega, especially in Ojo de Agua.

Group picture from last week. Left to right: Joel, Robin, Rene, Esperanza, Chloe, Simon, and myself. Chloe, originally from Australia, has been here for six months in the English congregation and is now heading home to Australia for a while. We figured we'd help her make the most of her last week here by making sure she got to come out in Ojo one more time!

Yeah...this horse got in my way as I was walking to the river. I wasn't too happy about it.

This weekend is the "Protejamos El Corazon" (Safeguard Your Heart) convention in Managua. Although we won't be attending the convention (we've already attended this convention twice), we've been participating in the big invite campaign for the people in Ojo de Agua. Because of limited resources, we only just got our invitations printed last week - normally they start campaigning three weeks before the convention! However, that hasn't hindered the zealous spirit out in the ministry.

Simon & Janixia ready to do some inviting!

Chinandega is about three hours from Managua. You may be wondering, "How are all these people in such a rural territory gonna be able to afford traveling that far for three days?" I have an answer for you! A couple in our congregation has arranged for a bus to leave from Ojo de Agua's territory to Managua each day of the convention, at about 5:00 each morning. Everybody in the territory is welcome to hop aboard, along with the brothers and sisters. It will be returning each night for those who can't afford to stay at a hotel. Here's the awesome part: Although it would normally cost about 120 cordobas (about $5 U.S.) per person each day, those taking the bus are not being charged - they can make a voluntary donation depending on their circumstances! Definitely a loving provision.

It's nearly brought tears to my eyes to see people's faces light up when they see the invitation! This is a very exciting event for the people in this territory - many of them have nothing to look forward to. I'm sure that the bus is going to be filled to capacity!

Joel and Simon walking down one of my favorite parts of our territory. It's a road that leads to this...

...a perfect view of San Cristobal volcano. 

At the same spot last week.

Today was the last official day of invite work. Simon and I stayed out until 5:00 inviting people...well, at least til we both ran out of invites!

This woman is so sweet. We've talked to her before, but today, I think she knew that we were inviting people to the convention. She stood outside her house until we finally made it over to give her an invitation, which she was very happy to receive.

I'm sure that everybody in Ojo de Agua is going to benefit greatly from this convention. It's a very exciting time of year. I may still try to make it down there on Saturday to see those from our hall who are getting baptized. We'll see how it goes. :)

Thanks for staying in touch, everyone! Everyone's comments, messages, and e-mails have been a great source of encouragement to me. I'm loving it down here and will continue to make the most of it!

Take care,

Sam