Boat Progress Photos

Aaron begins cutting out the interior

Interior before cut-out

Removing a bulkhead

A well deserved break...

Clean-out complete!

Exterior all sanded and cleaned up...

Ready to use as a mould 

Aaron, one of our experienced boat builders

Dan with Santiago, the Project Manager

The plan for our 37' "Pangamaran"

GREAT NEWS !!

We just found out yesterday that an individual has given a very generous donation to our ministry! This will allow us to start construction on the boat we have been wanting to build and will probably cover most of the costs.

Dan checking out a local panga.

Several aspects of this donation illustrate the Lord's sovereignty and faithfulness:

1.) TIMING:
For several months, I had been studying various designs, trying to discern which one would be the best. JUST LAST WEEK, I was able to meet again with the boss (Frank) of the largest boatyard in Bluefields. I began describing the idea I had of building two 30' fiberglas dugouts from their mould, then joining them together to build a catamaran. Frank said that he had a different idea that he wanted to show me. He went on to describe the process of cutting an existing Panga in half lengthwise, then building these two halves into the catamaran hulls and adding a cabin. This is an idea that I had toyed with some weeks earlier, but did not think it would be feasible. Frank believes that it IS feasible, and the cost would be much less because we would be building it out of an existing boat.

A Panga...

...And more Pangas.

So.......IF we had gotten the funds earlier, I might have started to build a different kind of boat which would probably have ended up costing more and taking longer to build.

2.) TIME OF YEAR:
Usually the rains do not start until June; this will give us several weeks of construction time to get the boat finished before summer!

3.) SAIL/POWER
This design and building process will allow us to build a boat that can be powered by sails AND/OR outboard motors, something I had hoped for all along. With gasoline costing around $6.00 USD per gallon, it would be good to have a way to conserve fuel.

Needless to say, we are VERY excited to see the Lord working in all these ways! Thanks to you all for your continued prayers and financial support.

May the Lord bless you all as we celebrate His resurrection and eternal victory on our behalf!!

Dan and Donna

Dan's Trip to Tasbapauni

This past week, I did some work in a smaller town (village) 60 miles up the coast from Bluefields. Tasbapauni is home to some very interesting people. They are a mixture of African descendants, Misquito indigenous people, Creole-speaking Caribbean people and the Spanish.

Typical transportation for people living up-river

There are no streets in Tasbapauni, only sidewalks, because there are no cars-- only bicycles, cows, horses, pigs, chickens, dogs, birds, the resident parrot, and lots of boats!

I went there with a friend from Cayman, Eddie, to help him with a project. A few months ago, he had the boat builders make him a 30' dugout canoe from a single large log. The landing place for his boat and the other boats in the village had become overgrown with weeds and filled in with what flows down from the village in the rainy season. It was the blackest, foulest mud you can imagine! The project was to dig out (by hand) this canal so that the boats could get to the landing.

The first day...sludge!

Pulling out all the water plants that have clogged the canal...

Each day after work, we would take a 200- yard walk from the lagoon side to the Caribbean side and plunge ourselves into the salty waves, cleansing ourselves of the black, sticky mud. By day three, we had successfully deepened and widened the canal all the way out to the lagoon.

After a hard day's work...

We stayed with a local pastor and his family. They graciously fed us and housed us for those three days. Our fare consisted mainly of turtle meat, rice, cassava, and beans. There were no fresh vegetables.

During this trip, the Lord reminded me of several things:

1.) It is not the PROJECT that is most important; it is developing relationships with the local folks during the PROCESS that is most important.

2.)  I need to walk in the Spirit every minute of every day, so that I can be more aware of what is happening around me in the lives of those we touch.

3.) All our resources, talents and experience need to be made available to the Lord and His Kingdom work. We need to "hold on loosely" to our possessions, money, and reputations.

4.) Often, the Lord puts us in a position of weakness and dependency that is humbling and challenging, but the lessons learned are worth it.

My hope and prayer is that I can apply these reminders to my life and my involvement in the communities in and around Bluefields.

I am planning another "exploratory" trip up-river for later this spring. The Turtoguero district (north and west of Tasbapauni)  has very little medical infrastructure, so I want to do a survey of several villages in that area and then we may be ready for our first medical team. If anyone is interested in going on this trip, please let me know...it will probably be in the fall.

We want to thank you again for your support through prayer and financial giving. You are all such a blessing to us.

Prayer needs:
- The resources needed to make the exploratory trips...the logistics of open doors, transportation, translators, etc.
- Finances for the boat/boats we feel are needed for the ministry here.
- For Donna's English class...resources, creativity, and the relationships that she will make.

First week...

It feels like a lot longer than a week! But we arrived here a week ago yesterday afternoon...and I must say, we are feeling pretty settled in. (for all of you who are still battling winter...it is so lovely and warm here, with constant breeze blowing off the water.)

BICU Campus
Donna has a job! She had contacted a local university last fall about teaching, but it was hard to make plans when we weren't sure exactly when we would get back. So she emailed on Monday and went in on Wednesday and came home with a job: teaching a new course on English Literature to those working on Saturdays to get a bachelor's degree. It will be a 4-hr. a day course, so a challenge, but an interesting challenge. She'll have about 20 students from 20+ to 30+ years of age. It all starts April 12th!

The next item of news is a trip Dan is going on...

These are the people they will be working with..

...and the types of villages they will be visitig...

Tomorrow he and a friend from Cayman Islands who works here are heading up-river for 10 days. They plan to do some work on Eddie's dugout canoe and then visit some villages where Eddie has been working. The people are extremely poor in this area so there is much to be done.

Please pray:
- that Dan and Eddie will have a safe and fruitful trip.
- that Donna can gather all the materials she needs off the internet and that she can organize the course so that it will be interesting and enjoyable.
- we are submitting a grant application to Samaritan's Purse for the boat we want to build or buy. Pray that we have a favorable response from them.

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...