Friday, June 12, 2009
Thursday, June 11, 2009
La Casa de Gozo
We’re over half way done with our trip, and coming to the end of our time in Nicaragua. Only two more ministry days left (and a fun day...which is tomorrow). Today was a lot of fun, but nothing too new. We helped out at La Quinta in the morning and went to La Casa de Gozo (The House of Joy) in the afternoon.
In the morning at La Quinta the guys did some heavy lifting for the construction project. We were in charge of moving about 40 blocks from where they were stacked to where the building was going up. The tough part was that each block weighed roughly 120lbs! We teamed up and got it done. The girls hung out with the little kids in the classroom, doing some coloring and English homework. Then toward the end of the morning we started planning and preparing for our big day coming up this Saturday. We are going to do a huge party for TONS of kids and it is going to take a lot of preparation. We practice some of the stations that we are going to be leading Saturday. The stations involve a fun game and a lesson about God at the end. We’re all very excited for it.
In the afternoon we went to a youth center in the hill country of Nicaragua (the House of Joy). We saw some amazing new scenery, and got to love on a new group of kids from that community. They have a baseball program there and so of course the American guys took on the Nicaraguans. We tied 7-7! They were pretty good...but we were pretty bad! It was fun, and we shared testimonies with the guys at the end of the game. Jake shared from our team and did a great job once again. The girls didn’t have as much to do, but had fun hanging out with the little girls that were there. I believe some nails were painted again!
At the end of the night we ate dinner at a pizza place. Nothing like some goat cheese pizza! We actually couldn’t tell a difference. Then we had another great time of debriefing from the day. We all went around and shared a high and low point from the trip so far. My highlight of the day was here when Paige shared that she doesn't want to leave Nicaragua. Not a highlight for those of you who want her to come home! But it's great to hear how significant this experience is for her. I think as a team we are really taking hold of God's heart for the nations.
Tomorrow is our free/fun day! It is going to be sweet. Stay tuned for details!
Most of all, pray all the more for us. It looks like God is setting up our two heaviest ministry days for the two last days of the trip (this Saturday and Sunday). They are both going to be the fullest days we have seen, and they are going to be packed with incredible ministry opportunities. Thanks prayer warriors for staying behind us!
In the morning at La Quinta the guys did some heavy lifting for the construction project. We were in charge of moving about 40 blocks from where they were stacked to where the building was going up. The tough part was that each block weighed roughly 120lbs! We teamed up and got it done. The girls hung out with the little kids in the classroom, doing some coloring and English homework. Then toward the end of the morning we started planning and preparing for our big day coming up this Saturday. We are going to do a huge party for TONS of kids and it is going to take a lot of preparation. We practice some of the stations that we are going to be leading Saturday. The stations involve a fun game and a lesson about God at the end. We’re all very excited for it.
In the afternoon we went to a youth center in the hill country of Nicaragua (the House of Joy). We saw some amazing new scenery, and got to love on a new group of kids from that community. They have a baseball program there and so of course the American guys took on the Nicaraguans. We tied 7-7! They were pretty good...but we were pretty bad! It was fun, and we shared testimonies with the guys at the end of the game. Jake shared from our team and did a great job once again. The girls didn’t have as much to do, but had fun hanging out with the little girls that were there. I believe some nails were painted again!
At the end of the night we ate dinner at a pizza place. Nothing like some goat cheese pizza! We actually couldn’t tell a difference. Then we had another great time of debriefing from the day. We all went around and shared a high and low point from the trip so far. My highlight of the day was here when Paige shared that she doesn't want to leave Nicaragua. Not a highlight for those of you who want her to come home! But it's great to hear how significant this experience is for her. I think as a team we are really taking hold of God's heart for the nations.
Tomorrow is our free/fun day! It is going to be sweet. Stay tuned for details!
Most of all, pray all the more for us. It looks like God is setting up our two heaviest ministry days for the two last days of the trip (this Saturday and Sunday). They are both going to be the fullest days we have seen, and they are going to be packed with incredible ministry opportunities. Thanks prayer warriors for staying behind us!
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Ministry by a Dump
We covered some new territory in Day 4. It has really been one of the best days since we’ve been here, and definitely one of the most challenging days. In the morning we went to a different area than we had been to before. It was the dump. And as in many poor countries there is a whole community living on the edge of the dump. That was our focus for ministry. We tried to expand our strategy this morning as well which made things more interesting.
We started by just walking through the dump, which was a challenge in and of itself. Then we walked down this like 50 foot cliff and jumped over a river to get to the community. Once there, we (us and the group from Colorado) split into 3 teams. One team made peanut butter sandwiches to give away and focused on using soccer and the sandwiches to reach out to the people. Drew was on that team. They ended up playing soccer with several teenage guys who were likely a part of the local gangs (not dangerous gangs...but sometimes cause trouble and definitely not Christians). They gave away sandwiches and water at the end and struck up some conversations about Jesus.
The second team focused specifically on reaching out to little girls...primarily through painting nails and manicure-ish stuff. Paige and Donna were on that team. Paige became renowned for her finger nail painting skills! The goal was to paint nails and then through a translator just strike up a relaxed conversation with them...then maybe to talk about Jesus if God led it that way...but mostly just to love on them and build relationships with them. Lots of girls came, lots of nails were painted, and from what I hear God really used it!
The third team was the team I led. Our goal was to walk around the community and pray for people and specifically to pray for their needs. Jake and Kevin were with me along with two Colorado guys. We had some significant encounters; many very heart wrenching. Kevin prayed for a 3 year old boy who still couldn’t walk because of something that happened at Childbirth. I prayed for another young boy with a cyst who couldn’t get treatment. Jake prayed with a few people...one lady specifically who hadn’t gone to church in a while who we felt God wanted to reach out to. Almost everyone we prayed for invited us into their homes, and we were in some of the worst living conditions I personally have ever seen.
After lunch we went to our Wednesday church service. Jake shared his testimony and did a great job. He’s got some serious natural abilities when it comes to public speaking, and he was quite humorous.
In the evening we worshiped as a group again and Drew and Paige shared their testimonies with everyone. They both did great. Drew was hesitant to share hers but everyone was openly telling her how amazing her story is and that she really needs to share it more.
One of the things that God lead me to pray for this morning was for us to develop deeper compassion for the people of Nicaragua, and I really believe that’s what today was about. It was eye opening in a lot of ways. But most of all how humbling is it to realize that a group of people living literally in a pile of garbage are just as treasured to God as anyone else in the world. He wants them to know His love, he wants to heal them, and he wants to reclaim the relationship he has always desired to have with them. What a privilege to pray for healing and show Christ’s love to these people. The privilege was really ours today. I wish everyone could experience ministry in this setting.
“How deep the father’s love for THEM. How vast beyond all measure. That He would send His only Son, to make a wretch his treasure. How great the pain of searing loss. The father turns his face away. As wounds which mare the Chosen One, bring many sons to glory.”
We started by just walking through the dump, which was a challenge in and of itself. Then we walked down this like 50 foot cliff and jumped over a river to get to the community. Once there, we (us and the group from Colorado) split into 3 teams. One team made peanut butter sandwiches to give away and focused on using soccer and the sandwiches to reach out to the people. Drew was on that team. They ended up playing soccer with several teenage guys who were likely a part of the local gangs (not dangerous gangs...but sometimes cause trouble and definitely not Christians). They gave away sandwiches and water at the end and struck up some conversations about Jesus.
The second team focused specifically on reaching out to little girls...primarily through painting nails and manicure-ish stuff. Paige and Donna were on that team. Paige became renowned for her finger nail painting skills! The goal was to paint nails and then through a translator just strike up a relaxed conversation with them...then maybe to talk about Jesus if God led it that way...but mostly just to love on them and build relationships with them. Lots of girls came, lots of nails were painted, and from what I hear God really used it!
The third team was the team I led. Our goal was to walk around the community and pray for people and specifically to pray for their needs. Jake and Kevin were with me along with two Colorado guys. We had some significant encounters; many very heart wrenching. Kevin prayed for a 3 year old boy who still couldn’t walk because of something that happened at Childbirth. I prayed for another young boy with a cyst who couldn’t get treatment. Jake prayed with a few people...one lady specifically who hadn’t gone to church in a while who we felt God wanted to reach out to. Almost everyone we prayed for invited us into their homes, and we were in some of the worst living conditions I personally have ever seen.
After lunch we went to our Wednesday church service. Jake shared his testimony and did a great job. He’s got some serious natural abilities when it comes to public speaking, and he was quite humorous.
In the evening we worshiped as a group again and Drew and Paige shared their testimonies with everyone. They both did great. Drew was hesitant to share hers but everyone was openly telling her how amazing her story is and that she really needs to share it more.
One of the things that God lead me to pray for this morning was for us to develop deeper compassion for the people of Nicaragua, and I really believe that’s what today was about. It was eye opening in a lot of ways. But most of all how humbling is it to realize that a group of people living literally in a pile of garbage are just as treasured to God as anyone else in the world. He wants them to know His love, he wants to heal them, and he wants to reclaim the relationship he has always desired to have with them. What a privilege to pray for healing and show Christ’s love to these people. The privilege was really ours today. I wish everyone could experience ministry in this setting.
“How deep the father’s love for THEM. How vast beyond all measure. That He would send His only Son, to make a wretch his treasure. How great the pain of searing loss. The father turns his face away. As wounds which mare the Chosen One, bring many sons to glory.”
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
The Day of the Spider
Day 3 has come and gone. Still 5 days left in Nicaragua. Everything is still going great, and we’re really building some deep relationships with each other and with those we are ministering to in Nicaragua. We started this morning by serving the local ministry we have been helping out with. We went to a place called “La Quinta” (Keen -ta) which could be best described as half orphanage half ministry and life training. They teach several skills including English, minister to the community, and they take in less fortunate kids. We didn’t do anything major there this morning. They are trying to build wooden platforms that could function as a stage for their different outreach events, so most of us from NLF helped sand those and make the top surface smooth. Others also helped some of the students with their English homework and they are starting to build another building where they can house girls so we helped dig the foundation for that.
Toward the beginning of the morning we found a huge spider with huge fangs (kinda hairy like a tarantula...maybe 4 or 5 inches in diameter). Then there were spiders all over the wooden platforms we were sanding. So of course we had some fun with Jake (if you didn’t know, Jake is DEATHLY afraid of spiders). Up to this point Jake kept saying God was keeping the spiders away (we literally hadn’t seen ONE spider before today). Don’t worry Janet/Scott, he is not scarred for life and is doing just fine. Donna would like you to know that she tried to protect Jake from us. haha But today was officially dubbed the day of the Spider!
In the afternoon we went deeper into the country side to play with some kids in an area where they are trying to build a church. We definitely had fun and got to love on more kids who really needed it. But it was fairly similar to last night. I posted a video below with a little of that. I don’t think I’ll be posting more videos since it took me like an hour to upload it.
My highlight for the day was definitely our worship time tonight. Each evening we (us and the group form Colorado) have been going up on the roof of the hotel and worshiping and sharing together. Tonight we shared testimonies. I was deeply touched by many of the stories that were shared. I almost balled my eyes out during Donna’s testimony. Powerful stuff. It never ceases to amaze me that even in a country (and a town) where we’d like to think we’ve got it all together our lives can still be so messed up. So full of pain. So on the edge of utter despair. And in hearing these stories I realize we’re not that different at all from those in Nicaragua. We’re all SO in need of a Savior.
“What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:24- 25)
I’m praying that God will do even greater things through us in the coming days, but most of all that God will draw us closer to him than we have ever been. Will you join me?
Toward the beginning of the morning we found a huge spider with huge fangs (kinda hairy like a tarantula...maybe 4 or 5 inches in diameter). Then there were spiders all over the wooden platforms we were sanding. So of course we had some fun with Jake (if you didn’t know, Jake is DEATHLY afraid of spiders). Up to this point Jake kept saying God was keeping the spiders away (we literally hadn’t seen ONE spider before today). Don’t worry Janet/Scott, he is not scarred for life and is doing just fine. Donna would like you to know that she tried to protect Jake from us. haha But today was officially dubbed the day of the Spider!
In the afternoon we went deeper into the country side to play with some kids in an area where they are trying to build a church. We definitely had fun and got to love on more kids who really needed it. But it was fairly similar to last night. I posted a video below with a little of that. I don’t think I’ll be posting more videos since it took me like an hour to upload it.
My highlight for the day was definitely our worship time tonight. Each evening we (us and the group form Colorado) have been going up on the roof of the hotel and worshiping and sharing together. Tonight we shared testimonies. I was deeply touched by many of the stories that were shared. I almost balled my eyes out during Donna’s testimony. Powerful stuff. It never ceases to amaze me that even in a country (and a town) where we’d like to think we’ve got it all together our lives can still be so messed up. So full of pain. So on the edge of utter despair. And in hearing these stories I realize we’re not that different at all from those in Nicaragua. We’re all SO in need of a Savior.
“What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:24- 25)
I’m praying that God will do even greater things through us in the coming days, but most of all that God will draw us closer to him than we have ever been. Will you join me?
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