So anyways, a few weekends ago, I got the opportunity to go to Managua, Nicaragua and see how the churches there prosper. To set the stage, I was the only girl on this trip and I was shoved to the front while the guys languidly lay and slept in the back. My job was to keep the driver, Bill Green awake. Bill never has trouble talking.... But at least he shared his food with me :). It was a long and hot trip, but surprisingly the border was easy peasy lemon squeazy, we had someone guiding us the entire way. The thing with this border though, is that cars can go in first and they take hours or days to process any semi-trucks so, on these one way roads theres at least 2 miles of trucks. The truckers all standing and conversing or stringing up their hammocks under their trucks in the shade to take a quick nap. It was quite hilarious actually.
When we finally arrived to the church, after getting lost, a million bugs falling into my lap, hitting a bird, and a million street vendors, I felt like I was looking at the Taj Mahal compared to the housing we had just been witnessing. There is a huge and obvious gap from the rich to the poor in Nicaragua, most of the time you will see shacks built with whatever spare metal they can find or wood. Especially after this one big earthquake that hit about 30 years before. The church was located in a tiny street that had space for maybe one car and all the houses seemed to be almost connected by at least one wall. The Pastor we visited name was Isaac and his wifes name was Lilian. They were perfectly wonderful people, incredibly humble and hospitable. They have an amazing story of literally starting from the ground up. Isaac hasnt ever had any formal education in being a preacher, he doesnt need one when God is in control (not that seminary isnt bad), but their church was built soley on support and the people. No one has to be told to clean the church, there is no schedule. People just show up to clean it. The church also acts as a school, with 208 students that attend from preschool- gradeschool with tuition only being $10 a month! Completely incredible.
I was very humbled by the hospitality that was shown to us... even when these people have nothing themselves, they will make a feast for you. Almost like killing the fatted cow for the prodigal son's return. Its pretty amazing. Though I was not allowed to go outside by myself... ever. If we went somewhere I had at least 2 people with me, and they were always Nicaraguans. Im not sure if its because theres more of a chance of me getting attacked for being an american with blond hair... or if they were just preventing the possibility all together. Either way, it was a bummer, because there was no way that I could go out and explore. The one day we went to the market was a ton of fun though, I really enjoyed it. We took one of the busses downtown. They drive much rougher there or something because before I could even get into my seat he jerked to a start which made me just about fall to the floor if there wasnt and old lady there to catch me... But there was a lot more stares, and much less cat calling- which I appreciated greatly. I dont find anything in the cat calling and attention from Latin men to be flattering because theyre mostly speaking to my hair. Plus it can get quite disgusting.
In anycase, the other things I noticed was that they really like to mix mariochi type music in almost every music they play... let it be pop, rock, anything. Believe me we heard it all, they certainly love noise in that country! There seemed to be more culture there than in Costa Rica. I think its mainly because theres less of a Western culture influence. The Western culture is certainly still there... But definitely not as severe. I would love to return to Nicaragua someday to explore more when I dont have any restraints :), and I am really glad that we were able to make the trip!
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