Our second month in Nicaragua has come and gone! We’ve officially settled in, now thinking it is normal for chickens to run around during activities. I thought it would be nice to explain more about why we moved to Granada, and what we plan to do here. Think of this as an insider’s guide to our life.

First up, El Puente aka The Bridge. This is our home base in Granada and the vision of Charles and Sarah Kaye. It’s a big complex dedicated to disciple making. Everything from Vida Joven (Young Life) to Men’s Bible Study (that women attend) is held there. Frank has fondly named the base “El Peezy.” The base is the center of all of our activities, from the dump feedings to literacy programs.

Much of our life is lived on one street, Santa Lucia. The base, our house, and the houses of the people we know are all within five blocks of each other. This has made us very familiar with the neighborhood. After two months, we can carry on stilted conversations with several of our neighbors. Which is our purpose in coming to Granada. To experience another culture, to equip Nicaraguans to make disciples, and to reproduce what we’ve learned in this beautiful colonial city.

So what do we do here? Here’s a list of programs and activities:

• Literacy Program – Frank and I are in charge of a children’s program geared towards increasing literacy in children ages 2-12. That’s the official line. Unofficially, we get to run around with kids for a couple hours each week, teaching them to read, singing songs and building relationships with little rug rats all over our neighborhood.
• Small Groups – I started a Nica women’s small group. We are going through Discipleship Essentials and I am praying that God would reproduce what I’ve learned in these women. I also co-lead an AIM team small group with a fellow AIM missionary. I am once again seeing the effectiveness of these groups, as we grow closer together. Frank is in the process of starting a small group for recovering addicts.
• Jicaro Crafts – Twice a week, I go down to El Puente and spend a few hours varnishing jicaro pods. What is jicaro? A tree that grows incredibly hard fruit. We dry out the fruit, sand it down, cut it into bangles, bread bowls, knick knacks, earrings, ornaments and candle holders, sand it again, varnish it with three coats, and then stamp and tag the product. All proceeds go to Vida Joven and ministry support. I’ll have an entire post dedicated to the work we do there.
• One on One Discipling – Frank meets with recovering addicts each week, teaching them about God, empowering them to stay sober, and sharing his life and story with them.
• Rehab Sponsorship – Frank is in charge of meeting and interviewing men interested in being sponsored by El Puente for rehab. This begins the process of plugging them in to our ministry, getting them familiar with our faces, so that when they leave rehab we are the people they turn to for training and support.

This list is continually evolving as there are more opportunities for involvement. One area that we will be spending the next few weeks on is developing a small group program for El Puente. Thankfully, Brookhills has done all of the hard work for us, we just need to implement everything we know here.

So what is community like here in Granada? In a lot of posts you’ll hear us mentioning our “friends.” One of the most unexpected benefits of living in Granada is the close Christian community we have here. It is truly a picture of Acts 2:42, and I am really enjoying the friendships we have built. For the first time, we have a group of friends with the same purpose and similar interests. Ministry is our first priority here, and a love of travel and adventure is second. We have made friends with people who just show up. At least that’s what it looks like to us, but God had it all planned out. We have two newlyweds here for two months, and another couple that decided to join this adventurous life with their three young children until January. We’ll post more on that later!

Keep checking into the blog as we’ll be posting some of our ministry work and a recent trip to the beautiful island of Ometepe!  If you have any questions about our ministry or life you’d like answered, leave a comment below! Each comment encourages us, and connects us to people we love.

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Love, Rebekah and Frank