Wednesday, March 30, 2016

I have been MIA....

Yes it has been over a year since I have posted anything on our family blog.  My hope is to be able to share more of our daily life here in Nicaragua with you, our family and friends.  Now, I can't promise that it will be daily but at least 1-2 times a week.  I want to be able to share things that you might not read on Facebook or in our newsletters as well as some of the same things that you would read on Facebook and in our newsletters.

So, if you are new to our blog let me introduce our family to you.  My name is Laurie and I wanted to begin their blog in order to share about our life as missionaries in Nicaragua.  I am married to a wonderful man, Josh, and we have twins, Sydney and Noah, who are 9 1/2.  We moved to Managua, Nicaragua on December 31, 2013 in order to begin language school in our country of service.  We were the first missionaries with BMDMI (Baptist Medical Dental Mission International) to attend language school in their country of service.  We felt this was important to be able to learn the dialect of the people we came to serve.  We were in language school for 6 months and let me tell you that it is hard to learn a second language as an adult but we are still a work in progress.  Maybe, I should say that I am still a HUGE work in progress when it come to speaking Spanish.  Our children attended the same language school for 12 weeks and we decided to enroll them in a private, Spanish speaking school.  This helped them tremendously with their Spanish speaking skills.  It is the philosophy of amercing them in the culture and the language. They remained at that school for 1 1/2 years. They made some great friends and were able to learn so much while attending NCA-Nejapa.  One of the pros to being able to attend language school in your country of service is that you get to begin building relationships immediately with other missionaries as well as the people you came to serve and work alongside.  We were able to begin helping with existing BMDMI ministries.  But, this can be a con to coming to your country of service.  You have a desire to begin working with these ministries and you loose your focus....language school.  However, for us this was not a con but a major pro.  Josh was able to work alongside some of the men at The Emmanuel Home of Protection, a home for girls who are minors and have been abused, and build relationships while practicing his Spanish.  I was able to begin leading a bible study with the girls, since our children were enrolled at NCA-Nejapa.  At first this was a terrifying thought, leading a bible study in Spanish, when I have only completed 12 weeks of language school.  But the girls were wonderful and so patient with me.  They were my biggest cheerleaders.  They still are today!

Now, fast forward to 2016.  We are still working at the girl's home and helping with their agriculture program.  Josh has learned so much in the last 2 year about raising pigs, rabbits, chickens, cattle and tilapia. He puts a lot of time into researching different ways to help this program run more efficiently and economically. He amazes me at what he is able to put into practice.  I am now homeschooling our children and growing more and more everyday in my ability and confidence as a homeschool parent.  We tried to homeschool the kids when we first arrived in country but moving to a new country, attending language school, transitioning into a new culture and homeschool did not go together.  We don't have perfect days but God uses those not so great days to mold us into what He wants us to be.

Join us along this journey and who knows you may learn something new about us, about Nicaragua or about raising fish.  Stay Tuned....

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