Joe Carter- Update

We had a surprise phone call from Joe a few minutes ago. It was great to hear his voice! It was full of enthusiasm and very positive. Here's a summary of what's going on...

• First off, Internet access has not been that frequent, so he hasn't been able to update his blogs. He was planning once a week, but he wasn't able to this past weekend. This weekend may be doubtful too, because...
• He's been chosen to participate on a basketball team that will travel to several places in Nicaragua. It's primarily made up of native Nicaraguans and coached by a Christian. I'm assuming the team is made up of all Christians. The purpose is to play other teams and then minister- get to know the other players, hear their story, and then share the gospel with them. On Friday, he goes on his first trip to Matagalpa, a city in the mountainous highlands. This is the coffee capital of Nicaragua and is much cooler than Managua. Here's a bit about the city: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matagalpa Joe is really excited about this and said "It's going to be CRAZY- jungle and monkeys and mountains!" He said this was a two day trip, so I'm not sure if he'll be back to update his blog.
• Joe's mornings are quite structured. He has Bible classes, prayer time, and then another class in which they are reading a book on spiritual warfare. He describes it this way "We're ready the Bible like crazy, very powerful... and it's WILD." That's a good thing!
• Afternoon's are ministering as part of the local church. In typical Joe Carter fashion, he's made quite an impression on the local youth- he's raced them, arm-wrestled them, and played them at soccer and basketball. All this is used as a way to get to know them and he's been able to share his faith with them. He then brings them to Youth Group. He and the other guys in his group have also visited a local rehab facility. He didn't give details, other than it's a chance to talk to the people, hear their story, and then share the gospel. Note this common theme... There's a planned visit to an orphanage next week.
• Joe seems really happy and excited about what he's doing. He's very much appreciated all the comments to his first blog.

That's about it...the call was over way too soon. It's hard to believe he's so far away!

Eric