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Here are some details of James' Mission Trip to Nicaragua. James felt the call of the Lord to travel with a group of men and women from Northeast Florida in order to build a church in a very remote part of Nicaragua. He left Tallahassee, Florida on September 9th, 2005 and returned September 18th, 2005. The Trip We arrived by plane in Managua (1), which is the capital city of Nicaragua. We then flew to Waspam (2), where we landed on a bumpy clay runway. We had to zoom over the runway in order to get the cows off of it (I'm not kidding). They left us "presents" on the runway to thank us for visiting their town. We then worked in Waspam at the Baptist Mission loading lumber that was recently milled by another mission team that worked the previous week. Early the next morning, we loaded two 50' long x 5' wide canoes that were hewn from large Mahogany trees. We then began a 12 1/2 hour trip up river while sitting on plastic 5-gallon buckets which also served as "suit cases" for the week. We only stopped twice during this trip up to a small village (not shown on map) named Kitaski (3). We worked 4 long hard days building the church (and making repairs to the bridge and pastor's house) prior to traveling back to Waspam. We left before dawn and saw some amazing scenery as the sun came up. Due to the river current, it only took us about 5 hours to get back down river to Waspam (4). We then took a 4 hour ride in the back of a dump truck filled with all of our equipment. This road was unpaved and almost impassable in some areas. A couple of our men didn't go to Kitaski; however, they worked large road graders to improve this road. This trip used to take 9-10 hours just a few years back. The people were greatly appreciative of these men and the equipment (paid for by the Southern Baptist Cooperative Program). We stayed the night at a bunkhouse in Puerto Cabezas (5) and then flew back to Managua. 
The People of Kitaski The people of Kitaski were pretty young. I saw only one person in the village who was possibly in her 70s. There is no health care and, as a result, the death rate is high. Many of the young girls (I would guess they were about 12 or 13) had one or two children. The children were generally happy, but they worked hard. Boys as young as 7 or 8 were busy cutting the grass in the fields with machetes. The young girls watched their younger siblings or handing other chores such as washing clothes at the nearby creek, preparing rice into a meal for bread, or fetching water for meals. The children seemed cautious of us at first. We were outsiders, didn't speak their language and we were, on average, much larger in stature than the adults in the village. Although they might have been suspicious of us, they would light up with a smile or a simple greeting. The teenage boys and adult men watched us work closely and were eager to help when we were able to communicate what we needed. The Work The people of Kitaski had already laid a block foundation for the church. We built the walls and the ceiling trusses and set them into place. We then put on the wooden siding and the tin roof. The working conditions were less than ideal due to the clay soil and the rain we would get 2 or 3 times a day. We trod through this mud until our boots were soaked and our feet were pruned. After a few days of this, our feet started feeling the effects of being wet for such long periods of time. On our last day there, we were able to build some steps going from the ground up towards the pastor's house (about 14' x 20'). We also finished the construction of the pastor's house. The Village The village of Kitaski had about 150 people in it. This count is based on the crowd of people that watched the Jesus film we showed. The people watched this video at their small schoolhouse in the schoolyard. This film was about 2 hours long and the people were completely silent and still during it's showing. They stood up and watched the film while the children sat down up front. The film was translated in their own language. It was basically the story of Jesus: His life, His death, and His resurrection. See pictures of this trip by viewing this page. I would like to thank the following who helped finance this trip:
There were many others who were also willing to give; however, when my expenses were covered, there was no longer a need to accept contributions. I would like to thank everyone who prayed for me while I was on my trip. God gave me strength to persevere through some difficult situations. He also protected my family while I was away serving Him. Glory to God for all He has done!
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