• Carla spoke of their past as something of a descent into worldly shallowness - she and Nicolas had great jobs, plenty of money, and beautiful house - but at the cost of their family.  He would work late, she would work late, the boys would never be home - they were drifting irrevocably apart.  So they realized that their life was poisoning them.
• They sacrificed their careers and moved to the country - which was unbelievably hard - they had now deliberately chosen to enter a third-world existence.  Yet they still had dreams for building their dream house - except, as they laid the foundation beside their temporary two-room shack, they noticed a steady stream of kids slipping through their yard, heading from the town into the orchards beyond their property.  These were five year olds and seven year olds who were scavenging fruit so that they could have something to eat and something to sell.  Carla hurt for them, so she started slipping them little meals - just rice and beans.
• As more and more kids came, finding the money to feed them began to mean tangible sacrifice - big windows for the new house, or several months of food...a roof for the new house, or several months of food...cement floors for the new house, or several months of food...they also ended up taking several kids in essentially full-time - generally the worst of the neglected and abused.  And they also picked up three American "daughters" -- Marnie, Erin, and "our" Lisa -- who would come down whenever they could and help out.  All three were in town this week, which was very exciting.
• Now that they've lived in the town for two and a half years, construction as largely ground to a halt - when they receive direct donations, they'll work a little, but upon our arrival the had only two bedrooms and a bathroom finished, and a dirt-floored space as a third bedroom - we but the first layer of cement down for the third bedroom, worked on the plumbing for its bathroom, and finally completed the roof (allowing for work to begin on the rest of the house).

• Josuel is the middle child - Emerson his older brother, Hazel his younger sister; after his testimony Eric came about as the youngest brother; plus those who have become, for all intents and purpose, part of the family (Harry and Maritza come to mind most of all).
• Josuel started out a believer - praying at a young age; all the typical things.  As he grew older, though, he became more and more withdrawn and angry.  He especially points to the books he found in the library, titled something like "The Way of Darkness," which, the more he read them, the more embittered he became.
• By the time he was 13, he had been caught up in a street gang.  He was one of the youngest members, and felt especially compelled to impress the older ones (often up to 25) - meaning matching them toe-to-toe in drug use, vandalism and knife fighting; he actually succeeded, and reveled in the feeling of power being feared gave him.
• He was expelled that year, when he drew his knife on a teacher who dismissed the the street gangs as kids who didn't know what life was really about.
• He especially remembers one day when he woke up convinced it was time for him to kill someone, and, upon further thought, that that someone was Hazel, his sister.  So he drew his knife and walked over to her room.  Fortunately their housekeeper [fact check - was she the housekeeper??] saw him, and she and Emerson [??] physically restrained him and threw him out.
• He remembers with anguish Hazel once looking him in his eyes and telling him that, though he cut her into tiny pieces, even those pieces would still love him. 
• Emerson invited him to church one day; he doesn't really know why, but he went along, and sat there laughing at the silly antics of the Christians (dancing and singing) and the earnestness of the pastor.  But then the pastor suddenly started talking about people who were meaninglessly filled with hatred and anger; Josuel was surprised, and remembers thinking "is he talking to me?"  Reminiscent of Jesus answering questions the Pharisees had merely thought, the pastor called out to the congregation "Yes!  I am talking to you!"  Coincidence?  Perhaps.  But for the next several minutes the "conversation" continued - with Josuel asking how he could possibly be freed from his darkness, and mulling through the what it would mean to be free - each time, having the pastor's next words being what God would have said.  When the altar call came, he wanted to rise, but couldn't - he couldn't move any of his muscles, and sat there paralyzed.   As the pastor continued to preach, however, on leaving the darkness, he was able to stand, and then to take his first halting steps -- and then to walk to the front, where he recommitted his life to Christ.
• Josuel, along with Emerson, now works as an interpreter for missionary groups that come through Managua.  He is working to complete his Civil Engineering degree, but feels especially called by God into music ministry, "like David," he says.  He is already a first-rate guitarist, from what we got to hear, and is reputed to be an even better drummer and pianist.  

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