Since we last wrote, rainy season has well and truly started - which has led to some interesting driving scenarios! It's funny how here people talk about us being in invierno (winter) despite it still being about 30oC everyday!
EMI projects
Rob has been busy working on the 2 projects mentioned in the last newsletter. The Arbol de Vida project has been completed and handed over to the ministry. It was a great privilege to work with the Arbol de Vida ministry in Costa Rica and provide them with the designs for the development of their beautiful site; we are praying it will become a thriving ministry to share the good news of Jesus, train pastors, provide marriage counselling and offer sanctuary for those fleeing abuse and human trafficking. The video provides an overview of the work completed on that project.
Rob has also just returned from leading the project trip to Cochabamba, Bolivia for the design of a children’s home with Talita Cumi which is a home for orphaned, abused and abandoned children of Cochabamba. It was an incredible opportunity to be able to work alongside this inspirational ministry and to be able to help out in the existing children’s home; the video provides insight into the project trip so be sure to take a look! Our thanks to Arbol de Vida and Talita Cumi for giving us permission to share photos and videos of these projects.
The EMI and Talita Cumi teams in Cochabamba
Helen's updates:
Helen continues to complete her TEFL course and hopes to get that finished in the next month. She has started to teach English to the Nicaraguan members of staff in the EMI office and has enjoyed putting the theory into practice. She enjoyed a Women's Retreat on the coast that she attended in May with other female missionaries working here in Nicaragua and for the opportunity to make some good connections. She continues to be on hand to help the children in their transition but is starting to narrow down ideas for what other activities she may get involved with from July onwards.
The children:
The children are continuing to settle in and are making good friends at school. We enjoyed a small celebration (complete with a rabbit piñata!) to celebrate Chloe's 8th birthday in April. Their Spanish is improving and they are gaining confidence in using it. They have enjoyed attending a 6-week gymnastics course after school on Tuesdays and Josh is quite the master of the handstand. Chloe is enjoying making loombands and is showing entrepreneurial skills selling them for 5 Cordobas (about 10p) to her friends at school! She plans to be well-stocked for our return visit to the UK later this year.
Chloe's birthday party back in April
Other news:
We have been attending a church called Iglesia Elevate on Sunday mornings. The children have been enjoying the children's group and we hope to be able to find more ways to get involved there.
We really enjoyed having Jaz Lambert from EMI UK come to stay with us at the end of May, it was lovely to receive our first visitor and a great encouragement for us all. Like some kind of summertime Santa, she came with a big sack of goodies which she dragged through customs, including Cadbury's chocolate and Heinz tomato soup- amazing! Her Royal Family face masks were also a brilliant addition to the Nicaragua/UK pre-jubilee garden party we hosted here! It was great to get all the EMI team together including our newest team member Micah, an architect who arrived from Chicago a few weeks ago, and a chance to celebrate a variety of things including Jaz’s visit, Micah’s arrival, the platinum jubilee and the best of Nica and UK baking!
Jaz, Chloe, Josh and Maya at Laguna de Apoyo
We added a new member to our family - Maya, our chocolate Labrador/Border Collie cross. We have been advised that having a dog is a good security measure but she is of course providing us with much more than that and we are (mainly) enjoying her fun and frolics!
We have booked tickets for our first Home Assignment and will be in the UK from late November to mid-January. We're hoping to see as many of our friends and family as possible. We will require a vehicle for the time we are back in the UK and can hire one if needed but if any of you has any other ideas or leads on one we could borrow, please get in touch. We're looking forward to catching up with many of you!
For those who pray, we would value you holding these things in prayer.
Give thanks for:
The completion of the work on the Arbol de Vida project.
The settling in that has taken place in terms of finding a church, starting to make friends and the children adjusting well at school.
The recent visit from Jaz Lambert and the encouragement it provided.
The successful project trip to Bolivia with the Talita Cumi children’s home and Rob's safe arrival home after a fairly epic journey resulting from covid protocol complications!
The incredibly generous fundraising gifts coordinated by our London church St Paul’s Old Ford which will cover our funding deficit for the rest of the year – PTL!
Things to pray for:
The ongoing design work for the Talita Cumi project.
The residency process - our first attempt at residency was unsuccessful as we were missing a required document which is proving tricky to get. We’ve been able to extend our tourist visa for now and are currently reviewing different Visa options for the rest of the year.
Plans for our Home Assignment – we’ve booked our flights; we’ll be back in the UK for 7 weeks from late November!
Preparations to reach out to several UK churches about the prospect of partnering with us (let us know if you think your church might interested!)
Good health.
As ever, we love getting your news so please get in touch to tell us how you're doing!
