Farewell

A final day photo with the local workers. They can work hard in this temperature.

Some of the beautiful children enjoying a balloon and friendship.

Here's Pete sharing, cheerfully giving of what we have.

Rene (3rd from right) loved to march around with as many friends as

could hang on to each other.

On Thursday after we were packed and ready to go we went back to the El Jordan School for a farewell gathering with the staff and students. We were presented with an english friendship poster, a traditional Nicaraguan dinner and many hugs and kisses. Christian friends forever!

John and Judy say goodbye.

Everyone wanted to be in the group photo.

The existing El Jordan School on the left and the partially built new 3 classrooms that we helped start on the right. Concrete was mixed on the ground in the center of photo. May God bless the next Hands teams that continue and finish the new classrooms.

Last Full Work Day

• Today was the last full working day for the team. We continued to work on reinforcing rods and cages which were added to the walls. These were tied to the columns to integrate the entire structure. Concrete beams were poured halfway up the walls on which the windows will be set. The local workers have set a steady pace and have made Hank one of their family members, Their Grandpa!

Michelle with a couple of her many new friends after she lost out in a game of musical chairs.

The teachers encouraged us to play with the students and Yolanda showed them how to hop-scotch.

After the end of the school day the teachers helped the team with the installation of the steel cages and here we are after finishing our part of the new school classrooms. The next team is in for a real treat and will really be blessed by being part of a WWSC HANDS team.

Up go the Walls

The heat today was oppressive, in the high 30's, but the walls of the new building addition at the El Jordan School have started to rise up from the hard clay earth.

John way very effective in keeping pace with the locals laying block for block.

At the end of the work day we visited the Pastor and the Young Peoples group of the local El Jordan Evangelical Church who provided us with some music and a presentation of their ambitious program to fund a speaker along with a movie night to kick off a youth evangelism program.

Nicaragua Christian Academy

Monday, March 1. The work of our Kitchener HANDS team is more than just a "bricks and mortar" kind of experience. We've been busy with starting construction at a new school site in a rural school outside of Managua. We're also doing finishing work at a previous HANDS built school in the city. Today, the work of our HANDS team was to endorse and represent HANDS teams to local schools.

We enjoyed a time of worship with staff and workers here at Nehemiah centre, Monday morning devotions. Staff from different Christian organizations, with offices here in the centre gather for devotions and prayer. After that, Mark VanderWeis (Thunder Bay boy!) of CRWRC gave us an overview of Nicaraguan history and CRWRC's work here. He commented on the presence on campus of some Mesquito agriculture specialists who were getting training in better soil management. After Mark's presentation, Steve Holtrop of Christian Reformed World Missions gave us more in-depth history of Nicaragua's political-religious history and the work that he does. The Nehemiah Centre is a catalyst for awakening the Christian world view among mission organizations, business people, etc. The staff network with local organizations to get the message out that Jesus is Lord of all of life. All-in-all it was very informative morning.
Before lunch, we toured the Nicaragua Christian Academy, a Christian School that has approximately 230 students being taught in English. 60% of the student body is made up of local Nicaraguan students seeking to learn English, the other 40% is made up of missionary kids and some South Koreans. This school is an English counterpart to the Christian Academy on the grounds of the Nehemiah Centre (where we are housed). The academy on the premises here teaches in Spanish and has approximately 230 students as well. It was important for us to note how Christian education is in great demand here in this country. Class size in local public schools is about 60 students per class on average, yet parents seek quality education and will sacrifice a great deal to receive it for their kids.
From lunch we moved to a school built by Missionary Ventures (based in Guelph, Ont.) which had a building on campus that housed a metal working shop created by the passion and vision of Mike.........., from Sandusky, Ohio. He had training as a teacher, and a hobby as a creative metal work artist. So, he combined these passions into a vocational classroom for metal
working, etc. He's training teachers to teach welding and design to students who can graduate to work opportunities in a much needed occupation. We were so impressed with his passion and dedication. From small beginnings, great things are harvested.....anyone can count the seeds in an apple, but God only knows how many apple trees can grow from a single seed!
With these dedicated committed teachers and leaders we caught a glimpse of what can be created with the "bricks and mortar" we bring. As they appreciate our work, we began to realize in a powerful way, that truly we are servants, with others in building up the walls that give refuge to God's people.
Our day was completed with a short tour of a local market where we could purchase the creative handcrafts and other products locals offered for sale - leather craft, hammocks, etc.
Tomorrow, it's back to cement mixer and electrical panel. We can imagine the sparks flying!