protest nearing

I wrote an update about two days ago...only to lose about 75% of it after it was finished but before I posted it. I haven't had the time to retype it. I was going to do it today, but as usual, I have had a busy schedule and it's gotten squeezed out. However, I thought it would be worth spending a bit of time to ask for your prayers on behalf of Nicaragua.

Some of you probably know pretty well that there has been quite a bit of political tension in Nicaragua since Daniel Ortega entered office. Since that time there has been a general movement away from transparency in the government and an innumerable number of questionable events, including the last municipal elections, in which about 95 percent of the mayors elected were Sandinistas (Daniel's political party). The government has been accused of hiring gangs to stir up trouble, violence, and fear. They have been accused of rigging elections. They have been accused of preventing police protection for protesters. They've been accused of destroying or sabotaging media critical of the government (burning a radio station, scrambling the signal, sabotaging the newspaper presses). They've replaced entire departments of the government with yes men, and they've been accused of knocking off people that have gotten in their way. And most recently they have done what Costa Rica did (and in general what other left-leaning countries have done) which is to remove the limit on the number of consecutive terms a president can serve. Something interesting is that every time the opposition organizes an event, or a march, it just so happens that the ruling party also plans a "celebration" for the same day and the same place. This is exactly what is set to happen tomorrow (Saturday). A large scale march has been organized by the opposition for tomorrow, and a celebration of the victory won in the municipal mayoral elections is also scheduled for the same route. The threat for violence is large. The police have urged the opposition to change their route, which they agreed to do if they get police protection (something they have not gotten in the past).

I realize that the media is always biased. Lies are flying on both sides. It seems that the divisions between the left and the right are so great that neither can recognize any good in the other. I know that some good things have happened during the years since Daniel took office, but I also know a lot of questionable things have happened.

I ask that you take the time to pray for the march tomorrow. A close friend of mine is planning on marching. The potential for violence is pretty great. Please pray for peace in the march, and that everyone will see the value of peace, honesty, and love. It sounds cliche, but when anger, hatred, and selfishness grip peoples hearts, those things are thrown aside or trampled on, and brokenness rules. I encourage you to take a few minutes to breeze through some articles about the situation. Click here to automatically search google news for nicaragua. There you should find a bunch of articles (biased, don't forget) about our situation.