A letter from Carl Agsten and Leslie Clay in Nicaragua
April 2010
Greetings from our home in southwest Managua!
Leslie and I, and our daughters, Kai and Ella, continue to djust and learn from the people of our new home. In a week or two we will complete the residency process, and officially change our identity from “tourist” to “resident.” We will continue to carry copies of our U.S. passports, but we will also have our residency papers to explain that we’re not going anywhere for a long while. When we leave to travel to the States or elsewhere, we’ll need exit visas to show that we’re coming back soon.
In Nicaragua, April is the beginning of summer, and it is the hottest month of the year. The sun’s appearance at 5:30 each morning starts a warming trend that makes us sweat while getting the girls ready for preschool. On lucky days the clouds gather in the afternoon as if there will be a rainstorm, and the wind blows a relieving air. The rain won’t come yet, though. We haven’t seen rain here since October.
I’m still learning the mysterious and hard-earned ways that help Nicaraguans get through the dry season with enough water and food to survive. One seasonal miracle I’ve observed in our yard is that mango trees bear fruit and several plants bloom at the end of the long dry months, amazing me that it happens with no water and too much sunlight.
We missed one of the hottest weeks in Nicaragua when we traveled to the States over Semana Santa (Holy Week). We visited four churches in southern California, three of which are partners in CEPAD Nehemiah’s Partnership Program. The partners are groups that have long-term relationships with individual communities in Nicaragua. There are 16 active partnerships, 13 of which are Presbyterian churches or presbyteries. Leslie serves as the facilitator of this program, a role she relishes because of her love for community building and spiritual interdependence.
I also took advantage of our time in the United States to return briefly to our hometown of Charleston, West Virginia, and put our house on the market. Somehow we managed to stall and avoid this issue before we left for Nicaragua, but now it’s clear that we were holding on when the time called for letting go.
Leslie and I are now in a position to celebrate our transition from tourist to resident. We see the world with the fresh eyes of a traveler, but we truly feel like we can call this place home. When asked, our daughter Ella says she lives in Nicaragua. Her older sister, Kai, hesitates to answer. After all she’s lived in China, West Virginia, Hawaii, and Nicaragua in her four short years. She has no doubt who her family is, though. Every night she names her Mom and Dad, sister and brother, four aunts, three uncles, five cousins, grandma and grandpa in her bedtime prayers.
So we’re home in Managua, third house on the left, Callejón Los Guanacastes, km. 11 Carretera Sur (Panamerican Highway). Come by and see us some time! Surprisingly many people do, from many churches in the States (though most stay at the Nehemia Conference Center, not our house). We’re always glad to serve as guides, and introduce you to this amazing place called Nicaragua.
The 2010 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 282
