San Marcos

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District 2 Seminario


On Sunday I traveled to San Marcos a small town in the highlands to the west of Managua. I went with the leaders from the church in Granada. We left at 7AM and took a bus two hours down country roads past farms and clusters of shacks. The mini bus we rode theoretically seats 15, but on both the trip there and back more than twenty persons were packed in. The “wrangler” as I call them—the one who waves passengers aboard and takes their money—had to leave the side door ajar and hang out of the van in order to accommodate the extreme number of passengers. I sat sandwiched between a young boy and his grandmother, unable to move, my legs tingling from the lack of circulation. This two-hour bus ride cost me about one dollar and several hours of discomfort. We reached the small church in San Marcos just minutes before the service began and I rushed down for a coke and a piece of bread at the corner store. It cost me 25 cents and I returned to the store under the impression they had undercharged me, but they were kind to explain that things are half the price in San Marcos compared to the tourist cities in which I had been traveling.

The leadership seminar appeared to me to be a typical Pentecostal service, loud and boisterous people sang, danced, and spoke in tongues. There were two teachers who taught on “A Better Way” and “Listening to the Spirit”. It was bible teaching in an old fashion Pentecostal sense. Calling it a Seminario seemed a bit out of place, it functioned much like any other Pentecostal rally. This service was just for leaders and almost all the pastors from around the district came in order to take part in the service. I was greeted from the pulpit between the sermons and was welcomed as a brother from the United States. I was invited afterwards to eat rice, beans, soup and chicken with the pastors in the open air dining area behind the sanctuary. They asked me questions about the UPC in the United States, about my travels and education and reason for being in Nicaragua. I was comforted by their warm welcome and I asked several questions of my own, about their politics and church organization.

After service was over I walked up the street to Aver Maria University (the most expensive in Nicaragua). Dominos owner and Catholic philanthropist Tom Monaghan founded it almost ten years ago. He has set up a number of similar Universities throughout the US and in foreign countries, voicing his commitment to traditional catholic beliefs and a desire to create an academic presence for conservative catholic faith. This well manicured campus gated off from the dirty streets of San Marcos looked like a western oasis set in an out of the way village in Western Nicaragua. I spent a few minutes poking around and I headed back towards home.