The stirke ended

Well, I just read online that the transportation strike ended this weekend as our guys were on their way home. God was so faithful to work in spite of this obstacle and we give him the glory for what He did a the bible institute this week.

Here is a little info about the resolution of the strike from www.ticotimes.net:

A nationwide transportation strike that had shut down Nicaragua for 12 days came to an end Saturday morning following an announcement by President Daniel Ortega that the government would offer a $1.30 subsidy for every gallon of diesel fuel sold to taxis and buses.

With the new subsidy, which is being applied at 60 participating Petronic and Shell gas stations across the country, Nicaragua went from having the most expensive diesel in Central America to having the cheapest, now at $3.15 for taxi and bus drivers. Some 75 percent of Nicaragua's transportation sector uses diesel fuel.

Stateside

The rest of the team got in to LR last night. It sounds like they had a really good trip. Thanks for all of your support and prayers. We'll be posting some more pictures soon.

Winding down...

Well Zach made it back to the States last night and the other guys just got back to Managua tonight and will fly home tomorrow. Here is an update from Seth with a few pictures.

We are in Managua - safe and sound. we didn't go on the jungle canopy tour because, as it turns out, Jeff is allergic to the jungle and Jake is afraid of heights so we just relaxed and spent some more time on the beach -Seth

The team is in San Juan del Sur

The team is in San Juan del Sur. They had a good week in Rivas. God did some good things at the Bible Institute in spite of the strike. They ended up with 35-40 people attending, but the most important thing was that those people seemed to really get it. Praise the Lord that 40 brothers and sisters in Christ learned some solid methodology for reading God's Word!

Everyone is doing well. Zach made his flight out of Managua and got to Houston safe and sound and should be in LR tonight. The others guys are catching their breaths in the peaceful beach town of San Juan del Sur. They are pretty tired and are going to forgo the jungle tour tomorrow and just relax a little more.

Thank you for your prayers and support. So far the trip has been a great success even in the face of the near shut down of most of the country. Please continue to pray for the guys as they wrap up and journey home.

Wednesday Update from Rivas

1. Things are going well. We just finished the second day of the institute. Numbers are low because of the strike, but there are some who are still faithful to be there. We had 16 the first day and a little of 30 today. They really seem to enjoy the information - especially the time they spend making observations on their own. They are definitely understanding the material and seem engaged in learning. Even with low numbers, the Spirit still moves and works in the lives of these people.

2. It is very hot down here

3. Jake got stopped by the Nicaraguan police on the way to Rivas (it is normal for the police to stop cars on the highway as they pass through certain checkpoints, kinda like weigh stations in the US) It was funny. Jake gets really tense when we drive by police now.

4. The hotel isn't as nice as the old one and a little inconvenient, but it is nice. We get a place to sleep and that is what counts. The gringo that owns the place is a nice guy and we have made friends.

5. It is hot

6. Prayer requests - continue to pray for the strike - things are still serious and getting worse.

Praise that we still have good health

7. We miss Chris Kear

8. i was going to send you pictures, but it is taking too long. i'll try later.
-Seth

The team is in Rivas

The team made it to Rivas (the site of the bible institute) just fine. Praise the Lord! They met with the pastors and even got to speak on a radio station to promote the bible institute.

• Please lift up the Nicaraguans traveling to get to the bible institute.
  
• Please lift up the teachers (Jeff, Zach, Jake, and Seth) as they prepare to teach tomorrow.
  
• Please lift up the translators (Cairo, Hector, and Melvin).
  

More info on the Transportation Strike

Here is a little more detail about the transportation strike that I found...

May 5th marked the beginning of an intended thirty day strike, with more than 1.5 million public transport workers and truckers in Nicaragua protesting rising fuel costs and the lack of government impetus to do anything about it. With road blockades in several places in Managua and almost no public intercity transport allowed whatsoever, Nicaragua is at an effective standstill. Containers full of goods sit stalled on the sides of highways, and even sports teams have canceled weekend matches. When baseball is put on hold in Nicaragua, you know it is serious.

The focus of the strike centers on three unions’ demands for government subsidization at the fuel pump. The Federation of Taxi Drivers, National Transportation Coordinator and the Interurban Transportation Directorate demand that gas prices, currently at about US$4.70 per gallon, be reduced by more than US$2.00 per gallon and frozen. However, the government remains firm that such a policy would bankrupt them, and the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure has offered to reduce the price of gasoline by only US$0.30 cents a gallon.

Transportation Strike

It seems like the transportation strike is causing a lot of problems and most people are fed-up with the government - including Cairo, our main translator/coordinator. One of the problems with the strike is that people are stopping traffic for hours at a time to demonstrate the seriousness of their protest. This means that there is a chance we (or Cairo on his way back with Melvin) could get stopped on our way somewhere.

• Pray that we are able to travel freely and that the Spirit would be our guide - as he was for Paul and his companions on the way through Asia Minor.
• Pray for health.
• Pray for our words, that they would not be our own. I think we are all a little nervous, so may we rely on the Spirit and not on our own effort.

They made it to Managua

The guys made it to Managua just fine. They were met by Cairo and his brother Hector at the airport. They got a truck rented and spent the night at the Las Mercedes hotel across the street from the airport. Cairo and Hector left at 5am this morning to go pick up Melvin since he can't take the public bus from Corinto to Managua like he normally does since the public transportation strike is in full force. Cairo says that it doesn't look like there is an end in sight to this strike.

Please continue to pray that this transportation strike will not be an obstacle to the work of the Bible Institute!

Transportation Prayer Request

I just received this prayer request for Nicaragua Bible Institute from Cairo. Please lift it up to our Father and pass it along.

"I just write to ask you to pray for a situation we are having in all the country with public transportation service. They are having a strike, asking the government to stop the increase on fuel cost. If this still goes on next week we will have some difficulties in Rivas with the pastor's transportation especially those who come from towns around Rivas. We ask you to pray for this and that this won't be an obstacle next week."

Trip Schedule for May 11-18, 2008