Nicaragua:: finally home!

Back on US soil... I'll admit it was refreshing but also a little bit of a weird feeling. Especially for me since I stretched across both teams and was in Nicaragua 18 days I guess. For the first time I won't be eating gallopinto for at least one meal (I had an 18 day streak going). For those of you reading this that were on one of the teams... you'll laugh to know that I had to remember to actually flush the toilet paper when I got home.

We had a pretty easy day for our travel day home... other than waking up at 4 in the morning. That's never fun. But we made it out of the Managua Airport half asleep and without breakfast, then we landed in Miami and it was lunch time. Fortunately this year, we had enough of a layover not to have to run through immigrations and customs trying to catch our next flight. Some took the opportunity to catch up on some sleep and we all had tough decisions to make about what was going to be our first taste of US food... most chose pizza. One other thing we noticed was how cold we all were in the Miami Airport... from this strange phenomenon called air conditioning. A hot shower will also probably be an adjustment.

I know I leave a little piece of my heart in Nicaragua every time I leave (this year was number 5). I suspect after going on enough missions there I won't have any heart left to bring home and I'll just have to stay and minister there! God has and continues to grow inside me a heart for the nations... so that the world can hear, know and experience the good news of the Gospel of grace.

God deserves all the praise and glory for what He did through both of our teams in Nicaragua. We train and prepare as best we can, but ultimately it is God who chooses to work through us. We don't have anything to offer other than our availability. And God likewise deserves all the praise and glory for what He did in our lives. I can honestly say that everyone on both teams was powerfully impacted by our time in Nicaragua - the time we spent with God everyday and also what God showed us and taught us about Himself.

We had an opportunity to live out Jesus' mission. In Luke 4, he reads a prophesy about Himself from Isaiah that says, "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

Our worship of Almighty God must propel us forward with Jesus' mission at heart. I'm so grateful to Wildwood for being a "sending" church and being a church that not only supports, but values student mission trips. And I wait with anxious expectation for the opportunity to return next year!

Nicaragua:: Day 15

It is going to be difficult to summarize all the happenings from today. We started our morning by visiting the city dump - home to about 1200 residents (800 or so being children). The dump is a working dump and the residents that live their make their living sorting through the trash - looking for food, things to reuse or even sell. They make their homes out of whatever they can find to construct with. I am always overwhelmed with emotion just thinking about these peoples lives and God's grace to me in the fact that I wasn't born there. It is difficult to understand and wrap my arms around for sure. I always pray that God would allow me to see the world (and the people there) through His eyes. I was reminded of the verse where Jesus looks out and has compassion on the crowd as they looked like helpless, scattered sheep without a Shepherd.

After the dump we visited Sister Ruby for a time of prayer. Time with Ruby (see previous post from the construction team) is always a powerful time of ministry. It was so refreshing to just spend time in God's presence, hearing from Him and praying for one another.

We returned to the compound for lunch and then had a special time down by the pool. God put in on Ginger's heart to be baptized, so I had the privilege of baptizing her in the Buzbee's pool. It was a joy to celebrate in the sacrament of baptism here in Nicaragua.

We then loaded up the buses and headed out to the market and then out to dinner. This seems to always be a highlight of the trip. It was fun to just end the trip together celebrating what God has done here in Nicaragua.

Unfortunately our time here on this mission is over, but we know God's mission always continues. We do have to be up early - 4:30 am to be exact to head back to Tally. Please pray for our safety as we travel!

Nicaragua:: Day 14

Today the campo team transformed into the construction team. We started early with our breakfast and team devotional time and then headed out to Los Cedros to work on the house that our construction team started. It was awesome to arrive to see everything completed... almost! The house had all the walls up, the roof on and just lacking a door, 3 windows and the concrete floor for the main house and the porch.

We got right to work on making sure the interior was level and ready for the concrete. The main home was pretty ready, but the porch required about 40+ wheelbarrows full of dirt. It was a lot of hard work digging more of the trench (for water runoff) to give us dirt for the porch. After the level was set came the mixing of the concrete. We got a good start on the concrete before heading to Louisa's house for lunch. Going to Louisa's is always a treat - a break from PB&J and having a hot meal for lunch. What a blessing and it was delicious!

God gave us another blessing at lunch when we rounded the corner and saw about 15 kids from camp on the way to school. Their faces lit up when they saw us coming. It was a sweet reunion in the streets of Los Cedros. It was an awesome addition to our day. Many of the kids came to the worksite after school to hang out with us.

After lunch we had loads of concrete to make and bucket lines to form! But everyone worked really hard and by God's grace we were able to complete the flooring in one day! Majoure and one of her sons came to the house to see the completion as well. It was a treat for me to talk with her and even though we had already dedicated the house - to encourage her to use her new home for God's glory.

On the way out we stopped by Collegio Christiano to say goodbye to Pastor Manuel and his wife, Pastora. They presented us with a letter, which they read, thanking us for our investment of time and energy into the camp and the construction of the home. It was a touching time to spend together. I have had the privilege to get to know Pastor Manuel over the past 5 years and it was a God moment for me to realize that I have a brother in Christ and in ministry - though thousands of miles apart - we are connected in friendship and the desire to see people come to know Christ and see His Kingdom come!

Tomorrow is our last full day here in Nicaragua. I know that we are all anxious to be home, but at the same time it is always hard to leave. God is doing a great work in our hearts, but I know He has more in store for us tomorrow!

Nicaragua:: Day 13

This morning we had to load the bus and say goodbye to Campo Allegria. We were all feeling the exhaustion of running a camp and the emotions of having to say goodbye to the kids yesterday. So today became a day of rest for us. It was great to be able to sleep beyond 5 am without a Nicaraguan camper waking us up today!

We loaded up the bus for our journey back. The bus ride back to Managua is a little over 2 hours so we made it back to the compound for lunch.

The afternoon was spent relaxing in the hammocks, swimming in the pool, reading, having some quiet time and even catching a nap if needed. It was good to have the down time after giving so much over the last few days.

We had dinner here and then had to tackle the project of re-sorting and bagging all the clothes that we brought. Thank you Wildwood for the donations of clothing. We brought 17 huge 50-pound duffle bags full of donated clothes. This clothes will be sold by the teachers of Collegio de Esperanza (School of Hope) that is in the dump. So not only will the clothes go to needy children and families, but the school & teachers will make some added income to continue their work in La Trudecca.

The sorting wouldn't have been complete without the annual Mission Nicaragua fashion show. Fortunately, (for those involved) I didn't take any pictures of that!

Tomorrow we start bright and early as this team transforms from the camp team to the construction team for a day. We are going back into Los Cedros to complete the house that was begun last week. The construction team was able to totally build the house from the ground up - but didn't have the time to pour the concrete floor. So tomorrow will be a day of hard work and mixing loads of concrete!

Please continue to lift this team up in your prayers. We do have some team members with a stomach bug that makes for some additional time spent talking to John - if you know what I mean. Please pray that God would heal them quickly and that He would continue to work in and through us!

Nicaragua:: Day 12

Camp is finished. Those are hard words to type. Even though we are all pretty exhausted from days that started way to early, fun in the sun, swimming, serving meals, facilitating stations, carrying kids around, to just trying to love like Christ - it was very difficult to say goodbye to the kids today.

We ran a normal day's schedule except we introduced the "polar bear" swim to those brave enough (only the boys were) to go for a dip around 6:00 am this morning. We do polar bear swims at MS Camp where the spring is cold, but really cold in the morning hours. Here it wasn't the water temp, but the lack of sun and heat! But it was a blast.

We wrapped up our time before lunch with a special movie of all the pictures we had taken of the kids all week. They were so excited to see themselves up on the big screen. Then we gave the kids a chance to speak about anything they had learned. A few got up to thank us and God and even the food - just for a great camp this week. I had the opportunity to thank them for coming and to challenge them to continue to grow in what that had heard and learned this week.

Before they were ready to go to the bus, we pulled out our surprise of the week. Thanks to the Wildwood VBS, we had a brand new backpack full of school supplies and a new pair of flip flops for every child at camp. I can't even describe with words how excited they were... their eyes lit up as they received the backpacks and looked at he contents. It was truly a greater joy to give than receive.

Although we have received. We have been so blessed to have been a part of these kids lives and to spend this time with them. Who would have guessed how attached you can get in just a few days. It was also heartbreaking to think about some of the family situations and living conditions they will face when they depart the bus. We laughed, hugged and cried one last time and then chased the bus down the road in true Nicaragua fashion.

We spent the afternoon relaxing, swimming some and then had a nice team dinner and debriefing time. God has truly been doing a good work in our hearts and we pray He will continue to do so. PS - we also caught a really big tarantula tonight!

Nicaragua:: Day 11

It's hard to believe that camp is almost over for us and the children. God has really blessed our time here - not only in through the activities, lessons and fun, but in the relationships we've been able to build. We ran our last full day of camp today. Tomorrow the children will leave after lunch.

We had a pretty routine morning with the stations, dance time and then swimming time in the lake. However our evening worship time was a little different. In fact, it started with a pretty spectacular showing from Volcan Concepcion. From what we could tell (we're on the other side of the lake) a steam pocket exploded. You'll see in the picture a steam cloud going up into the sky. It seemed pretty ominous and it did send ash sailing our way, but from what we hear, it is a fairly regular occurrence.

Tonight during our worship time, both the ballet girls and hip hop boys got to showcase what they've been learning and rehearsing. It was truly a God moment to see the beauty and joy on the faces of the girls in their outfits performing their dance. Likewise, the boys had a smile ear to ear when they were up front strutting their stuff. Knowing that most have never experienced an opportunity like that before made it even more special.

We capped off our night by throwing a surprise party for Debbie. This is her second year in a row to celebrate her birthday here in Nicaragua. We had a Nicaraguan cake and a time to sing to her and celebrate.

Tomorrow is our last day at camp... please pray that God continue to reveal Himself to these children and that He would use us in a powerful way!

Nicaragua:: Day 10

5:10 AM. Why is that significant? That would happen to be the time that the Nica boys at camp decided to wake up today. Apparently they get up when the sun does. Me, not so much. But anyhow, that is when our day started today... and from the looks of things, when it will start tomorrow.

Today was our first full day at camp and I think it is safe to say that we are all exhausted. Everything went very well - from the team leaders, art, music, dancing, Bible story, sports to our evening time.

God is blessing us with the ability to gain trust and build relationships quickly despite the language barrier (most of our attempts at "Spanglish" isn't all that great). But just loving these kids with the love of Christ is proving to be good communication!

I am pretty familiar with the community they come from and their way of life, but we are starting to learn more of their stories, which can be hard to process. A brother & sister that are here were abandoned by their mom which forced them to live on the streets. Later an aunt took them in, but couldn't handle it and tried to give them to Pastor Manuel and his wife. A few others only have an older sibling to take care of them. It is pretty heartbreaking, but it reminds us that we - in and of ourselves - don't have much to offer them, but the love of Christ and His healing is powerful.

Please join us in praying for the children that don't know Christ - that God would open their eyes to see their sin and need for a Savior. Pray that we would represent Jesus well and see them through His eyes!

Nicaragua:: Day 9

Today was an early start for me and the construction team. We were up by 4am and I took a moment to pray with them before they headed off to the airport. From what I've heard, they've made it back safely and are probably suffering from a long day in airports and on airplanes.

After seeing the construction team off, I boarded the bus to Los Cedros to pick up the children that were coming to camp. It was a neat God moment to see the joy on their faces as the bus pulled up. It was also somewhat heartbreaking to see many kids just waiting on their own without a parent to say goodbye to. Things aren't much different here in Nicaragua as they asked "How much longer?" and "Are we there yet?" most of the 2 1/2 hour trip!

We arrived to meet the camp team who was already in place here at Campo Allegria. The camp is on Lake Nicaragua which is in the top ten of largest freshwater lakes in the world. Sitting right in the middle of the lake is Volcan Conception - one of a few active volcanoes here in Nicaragua. This camp is a great place to enjoy the beauty of God's creation and for these children is like going to Disneyworld.

After lunch, the team was off and running with swimming time, tie-dying shirts, arts & crafts and more! Then came a great dinner and our evening time of worship. I had the opportunity to preach - which I don't do much to kids younger than middle school, much less those that don't understand English. It was somewhat challenging, but I praise God for the opportunity.

Some of these kids come from Christian homes, but many come from abject poverty, broken relationships with parents or even worse abusive homes. It's such a privilege to simply try to love them with the love of Christ and to be His hands and feet here at camp. We covet your prayers for this team and for the children God has brought here!