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Everyone made it safely to Managua on Saturday and half of our baggage accompanied us too! The other 23 bags arrived later that night.

This year we only had to wait one hour in San Salvador before connecting to Managua. Believe it or not most of us were disappointed that we were not going to be able to spend our normal 7 hour lay-over at the beach, but it was really great to arrive at our destination in the daylight and have a nice supper too.

We had a good opportunity to look around the property and see the changes that have taken place in the past 12 months. It was also beneficial to give an "orientation tour" to members of the team that are here for the first time.

There were lots of our local friends there to welcome us back too. Pictured here is Eric Jolin with a few of the guys!

As you might remember - last year we were involved with the construction of a warehouse on property acquired across the road from the Mission. Our team was responsible for installation of the roof trusses for half of the 200' building. Another team completed the other half and finally the roof went on.

The Bike Shop has been moved into the new facility as well as a Grinding Mill which was donated.

This year we will be making signs for both these ventures so that it will bring in more business. Vinyl cut-outs were designed and sent down with us to be assembled and installed by Penny Southworth, our resident craft leader.

Our main project - replacing the roof on the main house - seems to be coming along since Sae, Eric Jolin & Keith have come up with a plan that will see things completed by the time we leave. We were concerned that we would only get a section of it done but now it looks much more promising. I wonder if their plans include re-locating this iguana that lives in one of the holes in the roof!

We were off to church today at a location in Managua that is very poor. This area is one that started out as a feeding program for the children. There was no school for the kids and no church either. Some private funding came through for the Mission which has allowed a school to be built and church services will take place there too.

Today was their third service and we were able to participate by providing some music and a sermon. There was a Worship Team from another church that provided most of the singing - in Spanish of course! It was very loud! When it was our turn to sing our translator, Edgard, read the verses and chorus of each song before we sang. 

After lunch we went down to the newly named (as of tonight) Fairhaven Retreat Centre to see the progress there. Things are moving along quickly and we all had a dip in the Pacific Ocean! We got our Beach Day after all! We spent a few hours there and watched the sun go down.

Pictured on the left is team member Lynn Beaudry from Bethel Gospel Chapel in North Bay. After her first time swimming in an ocean she sat on the beach having some quiet time and appreciating the spectacular view. Roger, Verla and Marlene were checking out the "front porch" of the Centre - pictured right.

 

All in all we had a good day of R&R before we get down to business tomorrow. It wasn't too long before the sun started to set and it was a beautiful stunning display. Pictured left is John Campbell shooting some video and on the right is Lynn looking at the horizon.