Hola amigos y familiares del equipo de Nicaragua!
(translation: Hello friends and family of team Nicaragua! …yes, you're welcome! )
Just a quick update – Team Nicaragua is on the ground and doing great!
Today they will be gettling settled into their new location ("home" for the next 4 weeks), and resting from travel.
Stay tuned in the next couple of days for some exciting updates from this team as they serve and love on the Nicaraguan people!
We are so excited to see all the incredible things God does in and through these students!
Here we are rising up as mighty woman and men of God!
And here is a little video of the skit we learned to do when we are over in country. God is so good and shaking this team. There is a fire shut up in our bones!
We are so excited to finally meet you tomorrow! God has been doing some awesome things already here at leader training. He is already speaking a lot to us about you guys and what this trip has in store and what He is going to do with you! Prepare to be shaken and to come alive! You are so loved, honored, and equipped. Know that Jessie and I are praying over you as you close a season and start this crazy adventure in Nicaragua! The Lord is completely proud of each and every one of you! Know that YOU specifically are on this team with each other for a big reason! We love you! See you tomorrow!
Hello family, friends, and prayer supporters. We have had a wonderful month here in Granada and are finishing up our last week of ministry. We will be flying back to the States on Thursday. We will not have the opportunity to communicate again until we have landed stateside. So, before we leave, we would like to share with you some of the highlights from our last week of ministry:
Today we were able to visit one of the local nursing homes. We had a wonderful time interacting with the patients and helping them with their daily exercises.
Yesterday was our day off. We were able to visit the lagoon (which was created by an imploded volcano). We enjoyed the afternoon swimming in the lagoon, kayaking, and taking a 12-mile bike ride through the muddy Nicaraguan streets. It was quite the adventure!
On Saturday we had a true Nicaraguan experience visiting the local market, learning to barter with the merchants, and seeing all the traditional hand-crafted items.
On Friday we were able to return to the orphanage for girls to spend some more time hanging out with the girls before we had to say goodbye. We have loved building relationships with them, showing them the love of God and just enjoying one another. We were able to laugh and enjoy our last day together dancing to Justin Bieber (yes, he is popular in Nicaragua too!)
On Thursday we returned to the church were we have been doing the feeding program and vacation Bible school. It was wonderful to spend more time with the precious people in the congregation.
The Lord has blessed our time and ministry here in Granada so much! We have enjoyed the warmth of the Nicaraguan people and are sad to say goodbye. We will look forward to sharing more stories with you once we return home. Thank you for your prayers while we have been here.
Tuesday we spent our afternoon doing VBS at a church called Luz del Mundo. The building is a mere tin shack with a bumpy dirt floor and half of a flimsy metal wall in the back half of the church. We finished our VBS, which consisted of a prayer, songs, the story of Jonah and the whale acted out by willing kids, and games. Amidst playing hot potatoe, Jesse (our translator/protector/father-figure that we call Padre) noticed an infected gash on the big toe of a little boy named Michael. His one toe was twice the size of his other. Concern washed over Padre's face and he brought it to mine and Jessie's (our leader) attention. I grimaced as Michael limped away to join a marble game after showing us his toe. Jessie looked at me and suggested I pray over him. I glanced at the boy and felt a tug on my heart. I walked over and asked what had happened. After he told me an animal had bitten him, I told him I was going to pray over him in English. I knelt down, took his hand, and prayed for this little boy, no more than 8 years old, with an untreated wound that he should not be bearing. Turns out, God used me to answer my own prayer. I ended up running back to our hostel (for the sanity of my family, I was not alone) to get the medical supplies I had brought for myself. Who knew I would use them for something like this? God. Returning to Luz del Mundo, I called Michael over and sat him down on a plastic chair across from me. Padre appeared by my side and immediately began looking through what I had brought. He started washing the toe with water and wiping away layers of grime. Assisting him during that time became one of the longest five minutes of my life. We had to pin Michael's leg down and hold his hands while Padre cleaned around the puncture wounds. He worked at it until the raw wounds were visible, the infection was squeezed out, and the bacteria killed with rubbing alcohol. My own body was sweating and I could barely handle hearing Michael's wails, gasps, and screaming, let alone look at his face twisted from pain. His body shaking and wimpers escaping his trembling lips, this little boy sat exhausted after we had bandaged his foot. I wrapped his sweat-soaked body in a big hug before giving him the remaining bandages. He hobbled out of the building down the street, followed by a string of children giving him support with compassion etched across their faces. Helping this little boy in such a small way made my heart about to explode. When we go back to the church next week, I will bring more supplies and treat his toe again. I know if we had not been there to help him, he would have lost his toe, if not his whole foot. I hurt to think of all the other children in need of medical attention but I must remember that God is still God. He will guide our team to the right people so that we can become a piece in the broken puzzle of their lives. To Him be the glory.
Getting sick was not only a struggle for me to do my ministry, but also a target of attack from Satan is what I was told.
For two whole days, I sat in Granada, Nicaragua away from my teammates who were back in El Guayabo. Two of the longest days of my life. Without my bible or my devotion book, I sat there until my stomach healed itself or until the medicine kicked in for those hours of pain.Slowly but surely, I felt a little better as time had passed. Getting to see my team on Monday, the 27th was amazing and I had the thought of; ´´It's going to be all better not.´´ Sad to say..it wasn't all better after seeing them. The rest of the day I would have to clentch my stomach and bend over with a discusted face of discomfort. I didn't understand why I had to feel so weak and broken down.
The next morning, I woke up the same. Every morning we start our day with worshiping and singing to praise God, and I couldn't even get through worship time without holding my stomach. After worship, as we broke off into our own devotion locations, I sat on the edge of a flower bed right outside the prayer house.Before I did anything, I set my bible, devotion books, and notebooks aside to take a couple minutes to pray. I prayed for healing in my stomach and strengeth to worship. I thought that that is what God would have wanted me to do, but I guess not. I still felt as terrible as I did wakeing up. I continued on with my studies thinking there was nothing else I could do.
The last couple minutes of my devotion time I sat there and sighed. Then, I closed my eyes and bowed my head one more time. I told God; ´´ I give up. Take me as I'm sick. If you want me to be sick, then I will be sick. If you want me to healthy, I will be healthy. I'm leaving this in your hands and I give my body up to you to do with what you want . I love you so much and I trust in you with all my heart. Amen. ´´
Two seconds had gone by after my prayer and one of my teammates called me to come to breakfast. I got up slowly and ran to put my stuff away. I ran? I actually got up and ran to go to breakfast. I just ran when I was feeling so weak less than a minute ago and not being able to do anything at all for the past three days. Then, it got even better. I ate a whole breakfast without feeling sickness. I went about my whole day without being sick. That sickness then was gone for the week. And today on July 6th I am stll that healthy child that God wants me to be. I layed down my everything and put my full trust in him to show me who he wants me to be.
