You want me to eat what????!

I have been invited by our church to assist them with new nutrition classes for the community. It's a wonderful program designed to teach low-income families how to feed their children better on their small budget. We visited a "family" (which was more like a village, consisting of grandpa and grandma and all of their children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren in the surrounding houses on the farm).

This farm is almost next door to our church and where several of our preschoolers live. The people we employ to help on our farm are also part of this family.

Bilma, the matriarch,  in her kitchen.

When I asked her how many grandchildren she has, she just replied with "too many". She cares for her bedridden husband of 60 years and works hard to hold the family together. I love her quick wit and sassy attitude.

Even though the red beans they eat are nutritious, they are costly. So they also eat a lot of oil and sugar to help them to feel "full". There are a lot of overweight people with diabetes and many children who eat 3 meals a day, but still suffer from malnutrition.

Trigo is a type of raw bulgar wheat and it's a new product available in Nicaragua. It is full of vitamins and costs only 75 cents a pound. The problem is that the people don't know how to use it or even if they will like it. They cook rice, beans, tortillas, and plantains every day and have for as long as they can remember. 

Pastor Emilio attended an instructional course for several days on how to use this new grain. He taught his wife, Mayra, and now she is teaching the others in the community. They begin by soaking the grain for 40 minutes.  Then she presses all of the liquid out through a sieve. The liquid is saved to use in a beverage later. The remaining dough resembles ground up meat. 

They add onions, garlic, peppers, amd lime juice to the mixture and make patties out of it. Then they are fried in oil over the open fire,

Paola is a 20 year old university student who attends the church. She is studying to be a nutritionist. While the food cooked, she spoke to the women about the importance of eating whole grains (a crazy idea here) and choosing foods with vitamins in them. 

17 year old Mayouri, who is like my adopted daughter, with her husband's niece and nephew.

Pastor Emilio walked over and joined us while the food was cooking. He used the opportunity to give a message from the Bible to the group. Most of this family is not Christian so the church used this time as an outreach.

They were nervous to try the first bite.

We served it up on a corn tortilla with cucumber, tomato, and vinegar on top. Who needs plates when you have banana leaves?

Even the kids ate it which means it passed the test!

They were surprised that I was willing to try it too.It was actually really good! It reminded me of a falafel. I'll be making more in the future.

 They took the leftover wheat liquid and heated it on the stove with sugar, milk, and fresh cinnamon bark. The kids loved the drink too! It was a great success and we were invited back next month to teach about something else. We also plan to visit other family farms and spread the word about trigo.

Remove far from me falsehood and lying;

    give me neither poverty nor riches;

    feed me with the food that is needful for me,

⁹ 

lest I be full and deny you

    and say, “Who is the Lord?”

or lest I be poor and steal

    and profane the name of my God.

Proverbs 30:8-9

Prayer items for this month:

• Bethania Iglesia is beginning a new senior care program, especially for those who don't have family to help them. We want to support them as they support others.
• We are going to attempt chicken/egg farming to support the above mentioned program. Our biggest concern is not producing eggs, but dealing with the smell.
• Stacy's dad has been diagnosed with cancer, please pray that he is healed.
• We are in the process of raising enough money to fly back the US to be with family and friends this fall.
• Amelie is fighting off a stomach infection.
• Gavin is going to go on a real "survivor" adventure for his birthday for 3 days, to a small island in Lake Nicaragua. In addition to finding their own food and shelter, they will spend the final day helping the local island children. Please pray for the safety of the whole group.
• Kimberly is a 14 year old from the girls' home who is staying with us for few months. Her guardian is having surgery in the states. Please pray for us as we mentor her spiritually and educationally ALL in Spanish. It is interesting to read through the New Testament with her for the first time and hear her reaction to the stories.

• Catalina, our sweet friend, is having surgery on her arm on the 13th of September. She has bravely waited months in pain for this procedure.