We experienced a few setbacks in the health department with our team. I can put it this way - Immodium AD is the drug of choice right now. It pretty much hit everyone (except for about 6) yesterday in varying degrees. Three of our team members, Samantha, Lizzie and Bob stayed behind today to rest. Praise God everyone was alive and well (or better) at dinner tonight. Please pray, though, for the health of our team and that this is just a small stomach issue a not a contagious bug or something!
But the work had to continue and we stayed divided up by gender today. The girls returned to the rescue home to continue painting, while the guys returned to our home in La Trudeca. The girls were able to get alot accomplished and it is working well to have our team divided even though we would all love to be together. The worksite is just too small. However, the girls joined us at lunchtime - and even blessed us guys by making our sandwiches for us!
The project of the day for us guys was to move loads of la tierra (dirt). We had to trench the right side and back side of the house to prepare for the foundation. This sounds easy, but the dirt is like concrete here and requires a pick axe to bust up. We even had to go through some layers of concrete and rock. We are trenching down about 3 feet and then going about 4 for the posts. So today was lots of sweat and dirt! Then in the afternoon we mixed 2 batches of concreto for the post holes. Everyone has worked really well together and managed to get alot of work done. We put in a full day today to try to catch up some. Tomorrow we will pour the foundation and start on the walls.
One of the neatest experience of today (besides the scorpion we caught in the guys dorm and tarantula we caught at the jobsite) was to see Diamaris and her children really open up to us. She was trying to communicate with us as best as possible and we all had a great time giving the children little gifts and playing with them. It is awesome to see how the love of Christ penetrates barriors of culture, economics and even language. You really start to understand the why Christ called the little children to come to Him and why He said the faith required is a childlike faith. It blows my mind to see kids that live in filth and have so little enjoy life so much. Thank you for your prayer support! We are really walking by faith and trying to minister the gospel of grace through our words and deeds here in Nicaragua.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Monday, July 30, 2007
Mission Nicaragua :: Day 3
It's Sunday and for us that meant an awesome opportunity to experience worship "outside our box." This morning we went to the Buzbee's church, Iglesia Christo Verbo. It is a modern church with full worship team, video screens and even A/C! What a treat. Of course, it is all in spanish, but that just made for part of the experience of joining in worship to the God of all nations, cultures and languages! Those of us that can read spanish were at least able to sing the songs and then Elizabeth translated for us into wireless receivers with earphones. It was really cool to think that while we were worshipping in spanish in another country, worship was happening at Wildwood and all over the world.
The afternoon was always a highlight of this mission... a trip to the market. It is hard to really describe the market since they have everything from clothing, to trinkets, hammocks to food. And by food I mean live iguanas, cow tongue and plenty of raw meat lying out in the open. Quite a sight (and smell) to behold. I'll just give you parents the heads up that your student has probably spent all the money you gave them by this point in the trip!
This evening was special for our alumni as we returned to the Los Cedros community (where we worked last year) to return to Pastor Mauel's church. It is a very different experience than Verbo. It is a small building with metal or plastic chairs, no A/C, no words, but filled with passionate people who love to worship the Lord! It was a joy to join them in singing the songs we knew (like Trading My Sorrows, Come, Now is the Time to Worship, Open the Eyes and others) in english while they sang in spanish.
After we returned we did our normal debriefing and I was excited to hear the responses to worship today. It was good to hear that some boxes were broken and that we could appreciate and join in with worship that is different than our tradition. Best of all, God was exalted and rocks didn't have to praise Him! After that we moved to our small group time - and just finished. What a powerful time of ministry as our students really laid their souls bare before the Lord and each other. God is doing a good work - please continue to pray that He will work in all of our hearts to make us more like Him!
Sorry - I didn't have time to upload pics... I didn't really take many today.
The afternoon was always a highlight of this mission... a trip to the market. It is hard to really describe the market since they have everything from clothing, to trinkets, hammocks to food. And by food I mean live iguanas, cow tongue and plenty of raw meat lying out in the open. Quite a sight (and smell) to behold. I'll just give you parents the heads up that your student has probably spent all the money you gave them by this point in the trip!
This evening was special for our alumni as we returned to the Los Cedros community (where we worked last year) to return to Pastor Mauel's church. It is a very different experience than Verbo. It is a small building with metal or plastic chairs, no A/C, no words, but filled with passionate people who love to worship the Lord! It was a joy to join them in singing the songs we knew (like Trading My Sorrows, Come, Now is the Time to Worship, Open the Eyes and others) in english while they sang in spanish.
After we returned we did our normal debriefing and I was excited to hear the responses to worship today. It was good to hear that some boxes were broken and that we could appreciate and join in with worship that is different than our tradition. Best of all, God was exalted and rocks didn't have to praise Him! After that we moved to our small group time - and just finished. What a powerful time of ministry as our students really laid their souls bare before the Lord and each other. God is doing a good work - please continue to pray that He will work in all of our hearts to make us more like Him!
Sorry - I didn't have time to upload pics... I didn't really take many today.
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Mission Nicaragua :: Day 2
We had another beautiful day here in Nicaragua. We divided our team by gender today to be able to get more hands working. The girls went with Melissa to the new Rescue House, which the Buzbees just purchased and are in the process of coverting it to a home that will be used for girls who need to flee the conditions of an abusive family or the dump in general. This, of course, will be overwhelming, but much needed for those they are able to take in. Our girls became the painting team for today and were able to get alot of the interior painted. They got the chance to interact with Vilma and her daughters who were rescued from a life in the dump and are living in the home currently. Her twin babies required round the clock care and feeding when we were here last summer to get them to a stable condition after birth. Now they are quite healthy and are even walking around!
The guys and I went back to work at the home in La Trudeca. We had some professional help in preparing the rebar and then we were off to making concrete. 10 buckets of sand, 4 buckets of rock, 2 bags of concrete and add water. This was "old school" Nicaragua style concrete making right on the ground. So it was lots of hands mixing by shovel to get the right consistency. And then we repeated that process for two more big batches. But we got the foundation poured so we can start building the walls on Monday.
Since it was Saturday, we were able to work only a half day - until about 2 pm. So after making a pit stop for the best fruit popsicles you've ever tasted, we headed back to the compound to relax and swim some in the pool. Our workdays won't be like this next week, so I hope we don't get used to the pool too much! Thanks for your prayer support. Pray for a meaningful Sabbath for us as we experience church in a different culture and language. If you want to leave a message for a team member, you can leave a comment (below) or email todd@wildwoodstudents.com. Pics from today below.
The guys and I went back to work at the home in La Trudeca. We had some professional help in preparing the rebar and then we were off to making concrete. 10 buckets of sand, 4 buckets of rock, 2 bags of concrete and add water. This was "old school" Nicaragua style concrete making right on the ground. So it was lots of hands mixing by shovel to get the right consistency. And then we repeated that process for two more big batches. But we got the foundation poured so we can start building the walls on Monday.
Since it was Saturday, we were able to work only a half day - until about 2 pm. So after making a pit stop for the best fruit popsicles you've ever tasted, we headed back to the compound to relax and swim some in the pool. Our workdays won't be like this next week, so I hope we don't get used to the pool too much! Thanks for your prayer support. Pray for a meaningful Sabbath for us as we experience church in a different culture and language. If you want to leave a message for a team member, you can leave a comment (below) or email todd@wildwoodstudents.com. Pics from today below.
Mission Nicaragua :: Day 1
Our first day here in Nicaragua and we hit the ground... not rolling, but with sholves and pic axes! We loaded up early and headed out to work for our first day on the jobsite in the outskirts of La Trudeca (the city dump). On the way in, we did make a stop inside the dump to visit Collegia de Esperanza (School of Hope) that the Buzbees run inside the dump. It has about 350 students. The school could best be compared to a inner city, poverty-stricken school filled with troubled kids. But a powerful work is going on there as they try to give these kids a way out from the lifestyle they were born into. We got to see the medical team from Miami that is here as they were doing a one day clinic of dental and medical check-ups, procedures and giving out supplies.
From there we met (I'll skip her name since I can't spell it) the mother we are working for. She has 6 boys and 1 baby girl and they are living in a home the size of my office at church. Her husband walked out on her 3 1/2 years ago. She broke down crying when I walked in to meet her. She was just overwhelmed that we would come to help her.
We are going to be building a new home for her around her current home and then in the process demolishing her current home made of scraps of tin and materials from the dump. Her "job" is collecting large plastic bags from the dump and washing them. Some of our team joined in to help her. They braved some horrific conditions (nasty water, flies, etc) to minister to her in love. The rest of the team started digging la tierra (the dirt) to prepare for the foundation and walls.
We took off early from the job to head to the airport and by the grace and provision of God, all 32 of our bags made it in! We were very excited - especially the girls who were sharing shampoo, deodarant and other toiletries! We got a little down time before dinner to swim and relax and we just finished our nightly team debriefing and prayer time. I would ask that you would pray for us to be seeing this week through the eyes of Christ. Many were already overwhelmed by the sights and
smells of today. Here's some pics so you can see what we are up to!
From there we met (I'll skip her name since I can't spell it) the mother we are working for. She has 6 boys and 1 baby girl and they are living in a home the size of my office at church. Her husband walked out on her 3 1/2 years ago. She broke down crying when I walked in to meet her. She was just overwhelmed that we would come to help her.
We are going to be building a new home for her around her current home and then in the process demolishing her current home made of scraps of tin and materials from the dump. Her "job" is collecting large plastic bags from the dump and washing them. Some of our team joined in to help her. They braved some horrific conditions (nasty water, flies, etc) to minister to her in love. The rest of the team started digging la tierra (the dirt) to prepare for the foundation and walls.
We took off early from the job to head to the airport and by the grace and provision of God, all 32 of our bags made it in! We were very excited - especially the girls who were sharing shampoo, deodarant and other toiletries! We got a little down time before dinner to swim and relax and we just finished our nightly team debriefing and prayer time. I would ask that you would pray for us to be seeing this week through the eyes of Christ. Many were already overwhelmed by the sights and
smells of today. Here's some pics so you can see what we are up to!
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