A bit more than a year ago, I first entertained the idea of MAYBE going to Nicaragua.....but I was scared. That's when a very wise friend of mine gave me some of the best advice I've ever gotten, "It scares you? You know what that means, right? It means you HAVE to do it."
When applications for the trip came out this year, I wanted nothing more than to return to the place that I had so grown to love, the place that I'd thought and prayed about almost daily since I first left it.
And thanks to God placing in my life some amazing churches and individuals who partnered with me, I was able to end 2013 the same way I began it; watching fireworks and burning scarecrows through the gate of Pequeño Benjamin. And I wouldn't have it any other way.
Our first day at Pequeño Benjamin didn't go quite as planned. Seeing as it was New Year's day and it poured down rain that morning, we had no kids around. So Alexandra, the director of the school, told us she had some classrooms that could use painting. We set to work right away by taking everything off the walls, spraying them with water, and scrubbing them down to get them ready for fresh paint. After all of this we got the chance to sit down and talk with Marcus, the missionary we work with in Nicaragua, and hear about his vision and why he does what he does. He's a really cool guy and he's doing lots of big things for God!
After listening to Marcus, some of the older kids ( ages11-15 or so) from the school came to start work on a drama that Blake had written for them. Being that age of kids, I think we were all worried they would hate it...but they really got into, even on the first day, which was so fun to see.
After everyone had gotten to experience their first bucket showers, our team spent the evening eating dinner, worshiping, and talking together. All in all, it was a great start to the trip!
Day 2 was much like the first with the exception that the kids actually showed up :). We kicked off with some fun VBS type songs and a short devo before the boys took off for the soccer field. Those of us not playing soccer spent the morning coloring, making bracelets, playing jump rope, and just generally hanging out with the kiddos. After our lunch break it was back to work on the classrooms that we now had paint for. I, and some others, spent the rest of the day painting away while some people worked on the drama and others went with Pedro to help out with moving some stuff at the farm. We wrapped up our day in our usual style, dinner as a team and later some worship and a devo...my devo, which I was kind of freaking out about before hand. But I think it went well.
I don't want to bore you with repetition so let's just say ditto for day 3. That night was different because we got to do home stays. Courtney and I were welcomed into the home of a single mother and her two kids.They shared their photo albums with us and told us all about their lives then took us on a short walk around Tipitapa before heading back to the house. Their home was literally just one big room for everything and still they welcomed us, complete strangers, in and shared all they had with us. That kind of thing really gets to you, let me tell ya.
Saturday was our 4th day in the country and our first time to venture past the walls of the school. We headed out to Marcus' farm to clean up the storage area and get it ready for the next shipment that he was waiting on from the states. We also cleaned up all the trash that was around the farm while we were there. That day we finally finished up the painting work! And those classrooms looked totally new and amazing, if I do say so myself. That evening, the kids in the drama met us at school to walk to church for the youth service. As we set out, I noticed that the boys from the school spread out and were walking in a sort of circle around us. Alexandra told me that the boys had said they were going to protect us as we walked. The kids did their drama and it was amazing! We got to worship in Spanish which was also so great. When the time came to head back to the school, the boys again volunteered to walk with us. They led the way and stood on each side, making sure we were safe. Seeing them do that really touched my heart.
Sunday we got up bright and early to head off to Granada for the day. We got to go to a church service that was in both English and Spanish. We walked around Granada and went to a burger joint for lunch, which really made the team happy. Later that day we went to Masaya for shopping at the market and to see the volcano. We didn't get too close to the volcano because there was too much activity, it was still cool though. We finished off our day with what else but Papa John's for dinner before heading back to school.
On Monday, we got to head to San Benito to the school where Valerie worked for 6 months. It was way different than Tipitapa. The houses are smaller and look more like shacks. The school is newer so it's still small and being developed. The kids, we were told, spend most of their days fending for themselves because their parents often get on the bus really early to go to work in Managua. Monday is also the day I began feeling ill. It was terrible because I felt totally useless all day, which I really hated. Still, I enjoyed seeing a new place and meeting new kids as well as the teachers at the school in San Benito.
Tuesday was also spent in San Benito, where we were hosting a soccer tournament. We also played jump rope and things with the kids who weren't playing soccer. Our afternoon work projects in San Benito consisted of the boys helping put up a concrete fence and us girls working on scraping walls so they could be repainted. I was still not feeling great on Tuesday and spent some of the morning napping in the truck before we could get medicine in town at lunch time. I was so worn out from not feeling good that I slept straight through our evening devo time and didn't wake up until the next day.
Wednesday was much the same. We wrapped up the soccer tourney and then headed out to the farm to help Marcus with one last project. The project was bringing big bundles of cornstalks in from the field. We even got to ride on top of the cornstalks after they were piled up on the trailer.
And that was it. We cleaned up Pequeño Benjamin and headed off to Managua to stay the night before leaving the next morning. While in Managua we got to eat dinner at the house where Valerie lived and we got to here stories from many of our Nicaraguan brothers and sisters. It was a wonderful night filled with laughter and love like you'd find at your typical family dinner.
Despite the fact that my stomach started hating me halfway through this trip, it was a truly amazing experience. I'm still in awe of the fact that God has let me go love on these amazing people 2 times now. My eyes have been opened up wide to this great big family we have in Christ. My heart longs to meet my brothers and sisters all over the world and get the chance to love on them and spend time with them and hear their stories. I want all of my days to feel like my days in Nicaragua, like I'm waking up with purpose and have a job to get done that is about more than me. I've realized that I wasn't born into the richest country in the world by pure luck. God wants me to do something with that blessing. And looking into the future, I can see it. I can see myself all over the world helping my brothers and sisters and loving them because God loves them and we're family in the grand scheme of things. And that makes me so ready to go, so ready to chaseafter these dreams, so ready to be His hands and feet in this world.
If you've read all the way to here, thanks! Sorry it was long...I tried to condense, but there's lots of greatness to share :) If you want to hear more or have questions about my trip, hit me up some time.
