Finally arrived in Bluefields...

After a month of traveling...Tupelo, MS...Cabot, AR...Arlington, TX...Managua, Nicaragua...we have arrived at our new home, Bluefields! It was a good trip over from Managua...front seats for the 5 hour bus ride and cloudy skies for the 2 hour boat ride. Beautiful scenery and friendly people. 

Stopping for snacks along the road

Before we left Managua, we were able to get prayed for by Margarita, Ruby's sister, to send us out to her hometown. She still has family in Bluefields...a sister and a son. We are hoping to make contact with them soon.

Dan and Donna with Miss Margarita...

So we are here! A lobster lunch was waiting for us at Ed and Ligia's home/guesthouse. And we were able to mostly unpack 5 suitcases and 2 trunks yesterday afternoon...got the rest done this morning while Dan made the rounds of the boatyards. It is so good to be back! We will keep you posted as His plans unfold for us.

Please continue to pray for:

• Finances - for the boat and our monthly support
• Boat design decisions as well as who the builder should be
• Language study
• For relationships to develop with the community here

Blessings,

Dan and Donna

Letton's Newsletter

Here is our most recent newsletter for those of you who have not received it by snail-mail. If you didn't receive it and would like to get our next one, please send your address to: dan.donna.letton@gmail.com.

We will be posting updates on this blog...so keep checking.

blessings, Dan and donna

The Up-river Trip

Ok, I know this happened a week ago and I've written about lots since, but this trip has caused us to rethink our original plan for the medical mission project ...the places we went to seemed well serviced, and we might need to re-think the design for the right boat to make trips like this.

We got back on Sunday afternoon and thought...is the need not as great as we were led to believe? But after several days, several prayer times and several conversations with other more seasoned Nicaraguan workers, we see that what God has for us to do is going to unfold as we go on these trips, meet and talk with locals, and are just patient as we get to know this country, its people and its needs.

Another thing we've realized is that we really love this area and the people living here. And we have a strong sense that God has big plans for these people. There is much to do and we trust that if we are faithful in the small things, God will open up the work He has for us here.

Right now, those small things are: trying to learn Spanish; Donna working with the feeding program at the church (they feed 180 children lunch Monday thru Friday); Dan going around with Ed to the farm, the boatyards, and meeting all kinds of people and talking about all kinds of possibilities.

But back to the trip... let us show you what it was like through pictures...

A typical house on the bank of the river...the village is usually along the river and up into the higher land. Most families have farmland even higher up that they call "the plantations".

Mothers and children waiting for the clinic to begin.

Pastor Adrian, part of the Moravian church and who organized this trip, always begins each clinic with a devotional time.

One of the moms...really enjoying the worship time.

Dr. Sosa looking at a little girl's club feet. The surgery in Bluefields would be free, but the cost of the trip and lodging while she is in hospital is more than the family can afford.

The doctors meet with the patients in family groupings...usually several in a family will have some medical need.

Everyone wanted their picture taken...

These 4 little boys were "the band"...the first had made a bass out of a bucket, branch, and a piece of string, the second boy's drum was a turtle shell and the last two used castanets. Their rhythm was amazing!

They were hollowing out a dugout at this home.

This is how the dugouts are used...even the smallest child knows how to handle himself in one of these.

Dan and his "tres caballeros" (3 cowboys)...before this was taken they were riding around on their "horses" (long branches)...while their older brothers really were riding their horses.

Look at the care taken to make this porch railing...

Donna in front of their "radio shack"...each village has one for its ham radio...the only form of communication with anyone outside of their village.

One of the larger houses...

Going down the river, this is what you see... 

I hope this gives you a better idea of what we are doing and what life looks like for most of the Nicaraguans on the east coast. Next week I want to give you a photographic tour of Bluefields.

Thank you for your continued prayers as we seek to know and to do God's will...

Declaration!

Our group heading out from the dock at 6 a.m. ... 11 pastors, representing a total of 22 pastors from different churches in Bluefields. The churches ranged from Baptist to Catholic and all in-between. We were going to be going 1 1/2 hours down the river to the small town of Orinoco. We each had such a sense of expectation...

Early morning on the river...

Donna being introduced to the president of the region. She is of African decent and proudly wears the beautiful outfits and fabrics. She is a strong believer and has done much for the region since she was elected.

The students and guests marched from the school to the field where the celebration was to take place. 

They had drums and majorettes and marching groups...

After the cultural performances ... poems, songs, dances, marches ... we marched around the entire town and many of us took it as an opportunity for prayer for them and the whole region.

We got back into the seating area and they had set up for a governmental session meeting. They called the roll of all the delegates and then shared that the purpose of this session was to declare that Jesus Christ was the Lord over their lives, their families and the whole South Atlantic Autonomous Region of Nicaragua.

After this declaration one of the pastors lead us in a song of worship...here are all the delegates singing and raising their hands in praise to God. 

Bishop Paul lead us in a closing prayer. He has been in Nicaragua and mostly on the east coast for 47 years. He started out in Orinoco but hadn't been back for 35 years. It was so sweet to see so many older people remember him and hug his neck.

Here we are with the president...what a time we had...to think that an area of a country would make such a public declaration that Jesus is Lord has to be a first...at least in modern history. We felt so honored to be there and to witness this historic event.

Jesus is Lord!!

I know I haven't posted pix from our up-river trip yet, but I have to tell you about this first. 

Tomorrow morning...5 a.m. again...Dan and I are traveling about 1 1/2 hours up the river to a town called Orinoco with Ed, the pastor we are working with and several other pastors and government officials.

The purpose of this trip is to declare that "Jesus is Lord over the South Atlantic Autonomous Region of Nicaragua". Tomorrow is the 26th anniversary of the establishment of their Autonomous Region and this is one of the official events to celebrate the day.

Ed's wife, Ligia, said tonight that it is very interesting that they would choose this town for this ceremony because there is a lot of witchcraft in the area.

Can you believe that a government in our day and age is willing to make such a declaration? We are so excited and blessed to be able to be a part of this and are looking forward to the days to come...certainly this will make waves in the heavenlies.

Ed and Dan at the docks this morning...checking out the local boats.

Just down from the docks...

an up-river trip planned...

After 3 days of hard rain, we are hoping for some clearer weather for the weekend... A tremendous opportunity has opened up for us to go up-river with a group of local medical people. This is a work of the Moravian Church in Bluefields...they have been here since the 1800's. They go every other month and God had us here and got us connected to them just in time for this trip...

We need to be at the dock at 5:00 a.m. Friday to board a panga... a 24' long, 5' wide open speed boat that can carry 20 people. We will be going to several villages up the Matagalpa River. It will take 5 hours to get to the first village. We were told to bring water and food for 3 days and to be prepared to sleep on the floor, hopefully in a building...plus mosquito repellant, mosquito nets, and rubber boots, and of course there will be no bathrooms. I think this will be the Nicaraguan version of primitive camping.

We have some specific prayer requests:

• for good weather (the weather station says 60% rain through Monday)
• Donna has a bad cold and Dan has some intestinal problems...please pray we will both be feeling great by Friday a.m. 
• that we will be able to really be a help

I'm putting a couple of pictures in from a friend of ours to help give you an idea of what we will probably be seeing and the type of boat we will be taking. We will be gone from Friday morning through Sunday afternoon.

Thanks so much for lifting us up... Dan and donna

after a only a week in Bluefields...

It is hard to believe that we have only been in Bluefields a week... we feel so at home.
In case you haven't seen our facebook posts, let me fill you in on what we are doing...

Managua is directly west of Bluefields 

We are locating in Bluefields, Nicaragua , to establish a medical missions project using a sailboat to travel along the coast and up the rivers where there are no roads connecting the people. In fact, the "roads" are rivers...many small and several of good size that run into the Carribean. We will use these waterways as a means to reach many who live in isolated villages with little or no medical care.

Bluefields is the main town on the southern half of Nicaragua's east coast. We are living with a local pastor and his wife in their guesthouse. It is a great situation for us...we have an instant connection with the community and are hoping that our project will be under the covering his church, Verbo Bluefields.

• We have been able to meet with the director of the Ministry of Health and he seems very willing to work with us.

• Dan has met with local boatbuilders and has been given several options for procuring a boat:

•  build one out of fiberglass
• build one with plywood brought in from the States (the plywood here is not good for long term use)
• and not last or least...it seems they have a catamaran that someone left here several years ago. We just need to find it and check it out.

• Dan is meeting today with a doctor who does go out to villages. She told a friend that her husband is going out this weekend and we can go with him if we want. This is a really important part of our research...to find out just what is needed and where is the greatest need.

Thank you for your prayers...we really need and value them, especially in this beginning stage.

Sunset out our window...