Nicaraguan Touchstone

October 2009

Greetings from Leon Nicaragua. We want to thank all of our

friends, family and supporters who have been praying for us on
our journey. For the past few years we have heard God calling us
Come, you to be more for Him. We have answered the call by selling our
who are home, our possessions and said “until Later” to friends and family
blessed by and moved to Leon, Nicaragua. God has laid it on our hearts to
help the children of Nicaragua. Our plans include a children's
my Father: home and supporting Voice of Hope Ministries in their spreading
take your in- of the gospel of Christ. We rely daily on the grace of God. Fol-
heritance, the low us on our journey to where God leads us
Kingdom.
Prepared for From John
What a time it has been. In the past 6 weeks I have become home-
you since the less and unemployed. This is something that several years ago
creation of would have defeated me. But God is in control. He has sent a buyer
the world. for our home, given me a sense of peace about changing vocation,
in effect relying on God to provide instead of relying on my own
For I was abilities. I could not be here on my own. God has laid the path ahead of us and Contact info.
hungry and will open doors and close doors. I just pray for the wisdom to know what to do.
I am relying on “God qualifying the called” . Email: [email protected]
you gave me The past month has found us travelling many miles seeing family and
something to friends, living out of suitcases. It is good to finally unpack and have a home to Blog:
rest and relax. I enjoy every minute of every day I get to spend with Vanessa and speigle6onmissions.blogspot.com
eat, I was
our children.
thirsty and We have great adventures everyday, from discovering a sea anemone in Skype: jdspeigle
you gave me a rock battered by waves, to watching the joy on the kids faces as the waves john.speigle
crash around us. From riding a crowded “bus” into Leon, learning what is avail- vkspeigle
something to able to cooking and preparing meals together as a family, there are many discov-
drink, I was a eries to be made. I cherish these times and look forward to many more. I am Address:
stranger and enjoying the slower pace after many years of running the rat race of American
life. I am feeling the internal push to do more. Much is to be done and the days Will be added on later newsletter
you invited are short. I do not know what lies on the road ahead. I do not know how the
me in, I support comes. I do know that God has led us here, He is faithful, gracious and
generous. He will guide and empower. He is supportive and gracious. He is the Do you want to partner with the
needed reason that any of us has hope in life. He is greatly to be praised and is worthy of Speigles on their mission work?
clothes and that praise. All that I know is that for most of my life I have served myself. Now Contribution can be sent via:
you clothed I want to serve God and I want my family to serve Him.
Voice of Hope Ministries,
me, I was attn Katie Hulsey
From Vanessa:
sick and you We are two weeks into school and our regular teaching time is
P.O. Box 1780
Rogers, AR 72757.
looked after during the afternoon because that is when the neighbor kids go to Re: John & Vanessa Speigle
me, I was in school. A bit different than North America but since it is hotter in
prison and the afternoon it is a good way to spend the time. Our mornings
are cool and beautiful. We wake up refreshed and ready for another day of The front of our new house
you came to
sweating. God brings me comfort each day via my children. Each one of them
visit me. will bring me a smile that warms my heart and lets me know that God is with us
and leading us as we make this journey for Him. Our progress is much slower
Matthew than what I had hoped for as far as meeting people and getting to know other
25: 34—36 children. Perhaps it is the language barrier which will soon be remedied. We
are planning on hiring a language teacher to come to our house everyday for 3
hours. That should solve the language problem in a hurry.
(continued on back)
From The Kids

From Sierra From Caleb. Prayer Needs of the

When we go into town, we ride It’s hot but we play outside a Speigles :
the bus. Sometimes it gets really lot. We play more sports. We made a
crowded. When we are done shopping couple of new friends. We have lots of *Making contact with the
we take a taxi back. Once we had all 6 fun. Government and the Ministry
squish in the back. Sydney on of Families to establish resi-
mommy’s lap, Kyle on my lap and Caleb on daddy’s dency and foster parent
lap. I like it in Nicaragua. status.
From Kyle. From Sydney. *Making contact with right
It’s fun here in Nicaragua. It’s I want to find pepperoni to eat people to help us get started.
very hot. I miss our friends back in the pizza. It’s fun in Nicaragua. I’m hav-
states. But it’s fun here in Nicaragua. ing a good time. *Language development

*Need of a vehicle and the

Looking to the future: funds to purchase.
We have many plans in store but to name a few:
Our first order of business will be to get our application to the government for permanent residency *Health and safety as we
started. That requires a trip to Managua which is 2 hours away. Not a difficult task to accomplish but acclimate to new environ-
a few road blocks in the way. We need to get our paper work translated into Spanish, we need to find ment.
a ride to the big city. Second order of business will be to talk with the Ministry of families. This gov- *God’s continued guidance
ernment organization is in charge of the children and women in the community. They are the group
that will either allow us to keep children in Nicaragua or not. This meeting will need to go very *Patience and understanding
smoothly and we must have a positive impression for them to allow us to do this. We have found out
the government is no longer allowing 24 hour children’s homes to start. Basically they are allowing
day cares to start but the children will need to go somewhere else for the evenings. Not real sure how
this will all work out but praying God will lead us to the right people. There are several different chil-
dren’s homes in the area that have been established for some time now and we are hoping to meet the
people in charge and maybe even help them a bit while we wait to start our own. God will have to
work it out because everyone is very busy with their ministry. We are just praying God will place
people in our lives to guide us to the right places where we can serve.
From the Kitchen:
We have been trying many different foods down here in Nicaragua. Most of the meals include rice, of
course. So far our favorite dish is simply rice with canned peas, salt and pepper. We are able to find regular
vegetables such as carrots, celery and peppers. Some of the more exotic vegetables and fruits we have not
On September 23rd Sierra
tried yet but are planning to soon and we will let you know which ones are our favorites. Our most adven-
celebrated her 11th Birth-
turesome dish has been using green bananas and mangos as a suitable replacement for applesauce, lots of day. Celebration included
flavor but a very different texture. cake, hats, horns and a trip
to the beach. A trip to
Masaya Volcano is
(From Vanessa cont.) planned.
I am excited to have a cook coming to our house daily Happy Birthday Sierra
to teach me how to cook with
Nicaraguan foods. I will be
learning how to use the tropi-
cal fruits and vegetables as
well as other ways to cook
rice and beans. God contin-
ues to provide for us in every
way and I know because of
all the prayers being said on
our behave God is in control.
We will wait patiently for
His direction so we are al-
ways in His will.