How do you feel about Nicaragua?

I went into this year with a lot of expectations. Some big, some small, some acknowledge, some unacknowledged. Nevertheless, I expected it to be a year of surprises, changes and growth. It looks like I’m not going to be disappointed.

Last Wednesday, MCC called everyone to the office, including Christa who is working 8 hours away and has to take an overnight train to get back to Santa Cruz, to tell us that our year long visa has been denied.  There are a myriad of reasons the government isn’t going to let us stay, none of them have much to do with us.

That means that as long as our 30 day extension is approved (which is should be), we have until November 19^th to be in Bolivia. We were informed that MCC would try to find another placement for us, preferable in a Latin American country. Since then, they have been in a frenzy of activity, finding potential placements for the 6 people (5 Americans and 1 Honduran) who will soon have to leave. They have 30 days to find us a new country, new jobs and new families to live with.

Yesterday I received word that they may have a placement for me in Nicaragua. I don’t have any details yet about what the job would entail or even what city I would be in. As Zulma, the SALT coordinator here, was telling me about it, she asked me, quite seriously, “How do you feel about Nicaragua?”

I don’t know how I feel about Nicaragua, but I’m trusting that this is part of God’s plan for my year. I will be sad to leave Talita Cumi, the children and my family here, but I’m excited to get to see and know another country.

Prayer Requests:

Please keep me and the other 5 SALT and YAMANers in your prayers as we live our last three weeks in Bolivia and prepare to move to another country.

Please also pray for MCC in Bolivia and the other Christian organizations here. They seem to be under a lot of scrutiny from the government.

Thank you all for your love and support!

Alyson Buschena