This is Amanda Gutierrez, her husband Thomas, and her 10 month old daughter Samantha. I first met Amanda when she was in the high school youth group at Menlo Park Presbyterian Church. I heard that she was now doing mission work in Nicaragua. When I contacted her, she invited us to visit after our trip to Honduras.Amanda fell in love with mission work in high school and worked in Costa Rica after college. Wanting to work in a less-developed country, she jumped at the chance to start a project in Nicaraugua several years ago. That´s where she met Thomas, an amazing (and fun!) Nicaraguan man who showed up at a meeting of people volunteering to help on one of Amanda´s projects. They married about 4 years ago. Thomas is a teacher and computer technician at a Christian school in Managua. One of his many talents is saying Spanish tongue-twisters at about 200 words a minute, complete with Spanish rolling ¨r¨s.
This is Halle and Kathy August. They are ministry partners with Amanda. Several years ago, Halle and Kathy did a short-term mission trip to Nicaragua with their 3 teenage children. Some of the kids absolutely, positively did not want to go. But by the end of the trip, everyone had a profound experience seeing the needs of the Nicaraguan people, but also their friendship, hospitality and generosity.
When they got home to WA, Halle felt that God was asking him to give up his 22-year career with FedEx and serve the Nicaraguan people. When he approached his wife and 3 kids about they idea, they enthusiastically supported it. They decided to leave a comfortable life, friends, family, and high school in America for an unpredictable future in Managua, Nicaragua. Wow, that´s faith!
It was only later that Halle and Kathy remembered that they had attended a church conference many years ago where they had committed to God that they would be willing to be missionaries if God chose to send them somewhere. God had not forgotten their promise and now they are living an amazingly rich life full of adventure and significant relationships. Here´s a picture of the view from Halle and Kathy´s property. After they moved their family to Nicaragua, Kathy started a pre-school for local children (which is now run by Nicaraguan women). About that time, Amanda met Halle and Kathy. The 3 of them worked on several mission projects together and realized they had a similar dream. They were passionate about sports but had seen many baseball or soccer games in Managua with drunken brawls, crime, or terrible facilities. They dreamed of creating a safe, high quality sports complex for local kids and churches to use
While we were there, Halle was building a covered basketball court / indoor soccer field. He asked if we could paint. Of course! But he neglected to tell us that we´d be painting steel girders 25 feet off the ground and have to climb up and over big gaps to get there! 
We also got to join Amanda as she delivered money to schools for some of the 200 students in a scholarship program she started (supported by a church in PA). Some of the schools were little more than tin roofs over dirt floors. Others had many small classrooms packed into small buildings off busy city streets. In one school, the ¨soccer field¨ with an energetic pack of 10 year olds was an alley about 12 feet wide by about 40 feet long. Finding the schools was a challenge since Managua has no street signs. Everyone gives directions by landmarks. For example, ¨Go to the corner where the PetroNic building used to be, then left for 2 minutes to the roundabout, then right for a little while.¨ The school fees for these students is just a few dollars month (sometimes just $1-2), but what a difference those few dollars are making. Without an education, these children will be street vendors, beggars, or worse. With an education, they have a fighting chance to improve their lives and the lives of their families.
At the end of the week, Amanda and Thomas loaned us their truck so could drive 2 hours to the Pacific coast. We got to see the beautiful Nicarguan countryside.
In San Juan del Sur, we rented surfboards and boogie boards and got directions to a good beach for beginners. We drove 20 minutes down a road (you call that a road???) with ruts and potholes that only a chiropractor could love. But at the end, it was worth it. We arrived at a gorgeous and mostly deserted beach. 
The air and water temperature were perfect even though it was a bit of a challenge for novice surfers like us. It felt like we were living a chapter in the movie Endless Summer. Were we really surfing a remote beach in Nicaragua? Amazing.
When we got back to Managua, Amanda´s parents - John and Denny Van Deman - had arrived for a visit. It was great to spend time with them and see that grandparents love to spoil grandchildren no matter where they live.
Finally, we had to say goodbye to our Nicaraguan friends. We´ll miss the fun times, generosity, and hospitality of the Gutierrez and August families (and the late-night games of Speed Scrabble!). I´m convinced that Joe found a way to put one of the Rotweiler puppies in his backpack. We pray for God´s blessings on their ministries and know that they will have a profound impact on many people in Nicaragua.After a fantastic week in Nicaragua, Amanda drove us to the airport and we were on our way to Lima, Peru so that David can buy an Alpaca sweater...
- Steve
