The first, and not the last post on Nicaragua

As I turn over this new leaf of decision making, one of the first decisions I made was to go to Nicaragua on the missions trip with church. After a lot of time of prayer and planning I realized that I can put together a plan and use my finances toward the glory of God and help his kingdom in another country.

Some of you know that I went on a missions trip to Argentina in 2005, and that this experience changed my life in many ways. However, I don't think I did my research beforehand as I'm doing this time. As I am still awake, past my 9:30pm bedtime (and yes, I'm still getting up at 6am to go workout!) I decided to surf the internet to see what is going on politically and economically right now in Nicaragua. This is what I found:

Gunman slightly wounds Nicaragua attorney general

Mon Apr 6, 2009 7:21pm EDT

MANAGUA, April 6 (Reuters) - A gunman shot and lightly wounded Nicaragua's attorney general while he was exercising near his home in the capital on Monday, police said.

Hernan Estrada, a close ally of leftist President Daniel Ortega, was grazed by bullets when a man on a motorcycle fired at him, said Nicaragua's police chief Aminta Granera.

"This was a criminal act," Granera told a news conference, flanked by Estrada, who was taken to a hospital by his neighbors and discharged after being treated for a light neck wound.

Granera declined to give a motive for the attack, but Estrada said it was politically motivated.

He blamed "some religious leaders" and "some media outlets" who he said had been inciting violence against Ortega, a former foe of the United States who has struck up a close friendship with Venezuela's socialist president Hugo Chavez since returning to power in 2007.

Opponents of Ortega accuse him of trying to install a dictatorship after disputed municipal elections last year, in which his ruling Sandinistas won 105 of the 146 races.

Last month Ortega said the country's ban prohibiting presidents from serving a second term was unjust, suggesting he might try to amend the constitution to allow him to run again. (Reporting by Ivan Castro)

!Que lastima! It seems as though there is never political rest in this country. And yet, I have no fear that the Lord will keep us safe and that our hands will be guided by His hand. In my QT today I read a verse that was much of my gymnastics career in my childhood. . "For the Lord has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind." (2 Timothy 1:7)

I pray for these people, for their rulers, and for those who fear their lives daily in this land.