Memorial in Esteli

As we all know, our most important meeting of the year, the Commemoration of Jesus' Death, passed over a week ago.  It was my first time taking part in a Memorial in a different country and in a different language than English.  April has been one of the most exciting months of service here in Esteli.  The campaign was great, and once the Memorial date arrived, on the 17th, we had a really nice amount in attendance.

We had 236 in attendance.  The entire hall and both back rooms were filled up, and we had about twenty late-comers that sat outside and looked in through the windows... Our sister congregation, Centenario, had 230... making the entire hall between the two congregations, 466... This was one of the big reasons for staying in Nicaragua throughout April.  

Forgive the horrible, blurry pictures... my camera decided to not work that night, and almost every picture came out horrendous... Here we have, The Vaquedanos, The Manzenares, and the Provchys.  The brother that gave our talk, Jaime Provchy, was in Bethel, and now he is serving in a Mosquito language congregation in Managua.

Our congregation, Esteli Central, waiting patiently outside for Centenario to finish their Memorial.  Everyone came super early, so it got crowded outside really fast.

Fidencio... whom I've started to call padre.  It isn't uncommon for a younger individual to address a patriarch or matriarch figure as padre or madre... haha...

Took a picture of these two punksters in our hall... on the left is little Edgar Arauz, and the other is Abrahan.

Another stupid, blurry picture... but it's all I've got... after the memorial, there's Abrahan, me, Reinaldo Lagos, Felix Espinoza, Clint Cherepa, and Bismark Rojas...

That wraps it up for the Memorial, and basically the rest of the month of April... I have a few more ideas for posts and some other things to talk about, but there won't be a whole lot more... it's hard to imagine I only have 3 weeks left... it's a strange feeling.  

What's there to look forward to for these next three weeks?... well, right now I'm awaiting the arrival of the Three M's, which will be revealed later... and we have the CO visit starting in the first week in May, the last one felt like an eternity ago, which was only back in November...

That's all for now...

Recent Theocratic Activities: Congregation Miraflor Day

As it is the case with many congregations this month, we have had a nice long list of auxiliary pioneers as well as the regular pioneers.  As of now, we have twenty auxiliaries and twelve regulars, to support the special campaign for the Memorial.  One special day, our second Sunday of the month, we dedicated to going up into the mountains, one and a half to two hours away, in a region called miraflor, to invite people, and also find those who scarcely get preached to.

This was our group.  An astounding thirty brothers and sisters, all going up into the rural territory together... most rural territory groups only range from about eight to ten people.  But this month was special.

Back to Miraflor...

This particular day in Miraflor was extra-special... two brothers and one sister (Jorim, Carlos Arauz, and Bridget, to give you names) volunteered to use their trucks for this trip... usually we take the bus, and then walk to our territory... but with the trucks, we were able to places we usually wouldn't have to time to do.  Three red pick-ups all traveling in a caravan, each with ten people... we looked profesh!

Preaching in one little community we found...

Took a picture of this quaint, little house that we preached at after driving deep into the bowels of Miraflor.

That's it for this excerpt about our congregation Miraflor day, which has been the most exciting Miraflor experience so far, mostly because we took the trucks, which was a whole different, and more effective, way to get around the mountains, and find those who are willing to listen about the good news of God's Kingdom.

kbye

Esteli Balcony Covers Series - Part 13: As The Footsteps Die Out Forever

http://www.mediafire.com/?xwjtjluk2bfikot

To download the mp3... if you would like... (better quality)

Here's another one.  A song originally found on the 1998 ska-punk album called, "Keasbey Nights," by Catch-22.  The song's got an interesting contrast between the happy, major progression of the instrumentals and the super depressing lyrics.  It's always been one of my favorites from that album... Anyway, here's my simplified acoustic version of the song...

enjoy it