Mixed emotions showered the entire day.
It started with several of the teams members visiting the kids at 6:00 AM before the kids left for school. The kids ran outside with open arms, eager to see us. Anna and Todd have a special new daughter named Jenni. Jenni has stole the hearts of the Mixon's. Tanya and Stephanie have laid claim to a 13 year old girl named Mabel. Carlos has chosen Wes. Valeska has embraced Russ, and stole his heart from his chest. We've all fallen head over heals in love with the kids from campus. It was very difficult to say 'good-bye' but the kids needed to get on the bus so they wouldn't be late for school. With many tears we gave hugs and hi-fives, and said, "Adios".
We met back at the cafeteria area for breakfast. We had weiners with roasted potatoes, with pineapple and watermelon. After breakfast we packed our bags, cleaned out our suitcases of everything we could live without, and enjoyed a cool devotional led by David.
Venessa and Kate, along with Jonathan & Roger & Chico, all made us tear up as we said our good-byes. Venessa commended our group for being one which shared loved, kindness, and genuine compassion for others. She's an amazing administrator, and we're looking forward to seeing her next time.
We all boarded the school bus for the long drive to our next stop. The Canopy Tour consisted of zip lines. Getting to experience the harnesses being installed, along with bicycle helmets, was quite the thrill. Anna SCREAMED the entire way down the first zip line, but the second one was a blast. We all jumped right in (with a little hesitation from Rachel.) There were 3 zip lines. Some of the team members were bold and rode down head first or Superman. It was exhilarating to say the least.
Next we stopped by a mall in Managua for lunch. The mall was very similar to the malls in the 'States. They had McDonald's, Burger King, Subway, and several local restaurants. I (Tanya) can vouch that the Tip Top fried chicken was perhaps the best fried chicken I've ever eaten. Anna and Todd had Pizza Hut, which they say was hot and fresh. Steve and Sheri tried the McDonald's.
Next stop: city market. It was tourist trap central. All the collectibles you could ever want. We found some cool gifts for our families and friends. The market was pretty clean, and some of the vendors were able to speak English.
After the market we were dropped off at the hotel where we'll be staying tonight, our final night here in Nicaragua. It was hard to say good-bye to our bus driver who has driven safely all week. We're grateful for his amazing driving skills. The Lord has truly blessed him with an amazing talent to drive teams around the area.
We are all wiped out, both emotionally and physically. We're ready for some R&R at the hotel, which has a nice pool and HOT water!!!
Quotes for the day:
Steve: "I'm not going to take bread from a little girl."
Troy: "David, did you find your monkeys?"
Anna: "Todd, do you want to Superman with me?" Todd quickly answered, "NO!"
Russ: "These harnesses are not nearly as good as the ones I have at home."
Anonymous: "Some people are just worth a wet t-shirt."
Friday, September 21, 2012
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Thursday’s Update
Oh man, this adventure just keeps getting better and better! Seriously… So this morning we woke to a delectable breakfast of ham & cheese omelet’s, rice & beans, along with pineapple and watermelon. Once we washed our dishes, we were lead through a tour of the preschool. The preschool has various rooms including a computer room, a room for math and science tutoring, a library, a kitchen, and several others. There are 4 students who live on campus due to the dysfunctional families.
After the tour we were blessed with a cool devotion from Brett. It was his first time leading a devotion, and it was truly a blessing for the rest of us. He has a gift in this area and I’m excited to see where it leads. He was cool, calm and collected.
Then we divided our group into several groups: construction, vbs and eye exams. The construction group finished up the latrine, including building the walls and encasing it with sheet metal. They painted the new bricks, finished installing the tin roof, laid second layer of concrete on kitchen floor, and wrapped chain link fencing around upper wall area of the kitchen.
The eye team gave away more classes today than the previous days. They were lead by Steve, and assisted by David, Leslie, and Todd. Each of them came back beaming with excitement.
The VBS team traveled over the river and through the hills and drove past the volcano which erupted several weeks ago. The volcano is still emitting steam. Ok, back to the story. VBS. We arrived at the location to find many children and mothers eagerly waiting for our arrival. Troy, Tanya, Sheri, Stephanie, Rachel, and our 2 interpreters (Mario & Joe) jumped right in. We allowed the kids to teach us a game called “Headquarters”. We had a great time getting caught by the little children. Then we all sang some songs, enjoyed some coloring and face painting. The pastor, Enrique, arrived near the end of the service. It was good getting to meet him and sharing more supplies with his congregation.
We all met back at campus for lunch. The meal included chicken tenders and rice with home-made dip, curry noodle salad, with pineapple and watermelon. The food is spectacular here at campus.
After lunch we loaded up into the all terrain vehicle and drove to the barrios (neighborHOOD). We delivered 30 bags of food and supplies to families. They were so gracious and kind to us. Their homes are constructed of tree limbs and plastic sheathing. Some were made from horse feed bags, others were created out of cloth. The community today was more established than the community we delivered food to yesterday. We prayed with each of the families who received the bags of groceries. They all had specific requests for family members with sickness and for a better economic condition. It’s heart-breaking to see their deplorable living conditions. One must question what God has in store for us, to lead us to such a heart-breaking, God-seeking community. Our faith has been challenged greatly, simply by experiencing these Nicaraguan people who desperately desire to be loved.
We got back to the campus to shower before the evenings activities. It’s very humid here and we’re sweating all the time. We’re trying to drink water as much as we can, but the water/sweat ratio is about 1:1. One gallon of water to 1 soaked set of clothes. We even sweat during the night with the fans blowing on us.
Off spiffed up and clean smelling we loaded onto the school bus and headed for the Pacific Ocean. The bus ride is always an adventure: more like a video game where cars are coming directly at you, but they (or you) swerve just before the collision. We keep waiting for the “Game Over” screen to appear, but we’ve avoided it so far. Thank the Lord!!!
The ocean was about a ½ hour drive. The sand at the ocean near here is black, like volcanic ash. It’s coarse sand, different than the sand at Panama City. We were able to climb on some large rocks protruding into the waves. It was spectacular! We enjoyed a great meal at a restaurant seated on the ocean. We had some good fish, and many different dishes. After dinner several of us took a walk on the beach. It was amazing to see hear nothing but waves crashing. The stars were numerous. Reminded of the promises of God to our forefathers regarding the descendants would be as numerous as the stars.
The drive back to from the ocean was a rave! The adults were all dancing on the bus. It was so funny. Sheri was the dancing queen.
Quotes for today (and yesterday):
Anna: “I need to find a rock for my butt.”
Mark: “Don’t worry about the mountain lions, because they will eat me first.”
Anonymous: “I have to go and light up stall #4.”
Sheri: “I had the Nitty Gritty Band in my pants.”
Tanya: "If you're squeezing your cheeks, you better look for a hole."
Oh man, this adventure just keeps getting better and better! Seriously… So this morning we woke to a delectable breakfast of ham & cheese omelet’s, rice & beans, along with pineapple and watermelon. Once we washed our dishes, we were lead through a tour of the preschool. The preschool has various rooms including a computer room, a room for math and science tutoring, a library, a kitchen, and several others. There are 4 students who live on campus due to the dysfunctional families.
After the tour we were blessed with a cool devotion from Brett. It was his first time leading a devotion, and it was truly a blessing for the rest of us. He has a gift in this area and I’m excited to see where it leads. He was cool, calm and collected.
Then we divided our group into several groups: construction, vbs and eye exams. The construction group finished up the latrine, including building the walls and encasing it with sheet metal. They painted the new bricks, finished installing the tin roof, laid second layer of concrete on kitchen floor, and wrapped chain link fencing around upper wall area of the kitchen.
The eye team gave away more classes today than the previous days. They were lead by Steve, and assisted by David, Leslie, and Todd. Each of them came back beaming with excitement.
The VBS team traveled over the river and through the hills and drove past the volcano which erupted several weeks ago. The volcano is still emitting steam. Ok, back to the story. VBS. We arrived at the location to find many children and mothers eagerly waiting for our arrival. Troy, Tanya, Sheri, Stephanie, Rachel, and our 2 interpreters (Mario & Joe) jumped right in. We allowed the kids to teach us a game called “Headquarters”. We had a great time getting caught by the little children. Then we all sang some songs, enjoyed some coloring and face painting. The pastor, Enrique, arrived near the end of the service. It was good getting to meet him and sharing more supplies with his congregation.
We all met back at campus for lunch. The meal included chicken tenders and rice with home-made dip, curry noodle salad, with pineapple and watermelon. The food is spectacular here at campus.
After lunch we loaded up into the all terrain vehicle and drove to the barrios (neighborHOOD). We delivered 30 bags of food and supplies to families. They were so gracious and kind to us. Their homes are constructed of tree limbs and plastic sheathing. Some were made from horse feed bags, others were created out of cloth. The community today was more established than the community we delivered food to yesterday. We prayed with each of the families who received the bags of groceries. They all had specific requests for family members with sickness and for a better economic condition. It’s heart-breaking to see their deplorable living conditions. One must question what God has in store for us, to lead us to such a heart-breaking, God-seeking community. Our faith has been challenged greatly, simply by experiencing these Nicaraguan people who desperately desire to be loved.
We got back to the campus to shower before the evenings activities. It’s very humid here and we’re sweating all the time. We’re trying to drink water as much as we can, but the water/sweat ratio is about 1:1. One gallon of water to 1 soaked set of clothes. We even sweat during the night with the fans blowing on us.
Off spiffed up and clean smelling we loaded onto the school bus and headed for the Pacific Ocean. The bus ride is always an adventure: more like a video game where cars are coming directly at you, but they (or you) swerve just before the collision. We keep waiting for the “Game Over” screen to appear, but we’ve avoided it so far. Thank the Lord!!!
The ocean was about a ½ hour drive. The sand at the ocean near here is black, like volcanic ash. It’s coarse sand, different than the sand at Panama City. We were able to climb on some large rocks protruding into the waves. It was spectacular! We enjoyed a great meal at a restaurant seated on the ocean. We had some good fish, and many different dishes. After dinner several of us took a walk on the beach. It was amazing to see hear nothing but waves crashing. The stars were numerous. Reminded of the promises of God to our forefathers regarding the descendants would be as numerous as the stars.
The drive back to from the ocean was a rave! The adults were all dancing on the bus. It was so funny. Sheri was the dancing queen.
Quotes for today (and yesterday):
Anna: “I need to find a rock for my butt.”
Mark: “Don’t worry about the mountain lions, because they will eat me first.”
Anonymous: “I have to go and light up stall #4.”
Sheri: “I had the Nitty Gritty Band in my pants.”
Tanya: "If you're squeezing your cheeks, you better look for a hole."
Wednesday update
Wow! It is hard to believe that we are halfway through our trip! We started today with an earlier start! We started today off with a wonderful breakfast of fried eggs, bacon, and pineapple & watermelon. After breakfast we quickly got ready to depart. Most of our team went to tour Cerro Negro Volcano. We got to the volcano early and began our descent. The volcano is about 2100 feet high and the ascent to the peak takes about an hour. We braced ourselves with body boards, gloves and glasses in hand. The view from the top was breath-taking (literally). After some moments of enjoying the view, it was time for the descent. Tanya and Troy climbed onto their body boards, slid on their gloves and safety glasses. And down they went, screaming all the way. Anna nearly copped out, but she overcame her fears and went down anyway. Rachel, Mark, and Steve all wiped out. It was an amazing experience.
The other 4 on the team went back to worksite. They poured the conocrete for the kitchen, and nearly completed the latrine today.
We all met back to be treated to A fabulous lunch. We had rice and beans with meatloaf patties along with coleslaw salad, pineapple and watermelon. After a quick lunch, we all packaged the meals that we would soon be taking into the barrios (aka slums). Todd, David, Troy, Tanya, Sheri, and Mark went to deliver the food packages. They said it was like nothing they had ever seen. Score.
The other 4 on the team went back to worksite. They poured the conocrete for the kitchen, and nearly completed the latrine today.
We all met back to be treated to A fabulous lunch. We had rice and beans with meatloaf patties along with coleslaw salad, pineapple and watermelon. After a quick lunch, we all packaged the meals that we would soon be taking into the barrios (aka slums). Todd, David, Troy, Tanya, Sheri, and Mark went to deliver the food packages. They said it was like nothing they had ever seen. Score.
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Oh gosh, it’s been a crazy day. Crazy good.
We’re sitting outside under the thatched-roof open-air hut reminiscing about our great day. We’re all laughing so hard we have tears running down our faces. So here’s our attempt to recap what went down today.
The day started with a French toast breakfast with pineapple and watermelon. There’s always an assortment of tasty jellies for the toast, including from grape, guava, coconut. We’ve been blessed with coffee and orange juice each morning, also. After breakfast we had a short devotion from Tanya about committing our plans to the Lord, and He will establish them. We divided the team up, some going to perform eye exams and the rest traveled to a rural preschool to leadd Vacation Bible School. The medical group traveled about 20 miles through redlight district to get to the Quetzalquaque library. The team tested about 25 patients, giving out 17 pairs of glasses. That team had stories about one elderly woman who could barely see when she first arrived, was given a pair of glasses, and left rejoicing that she was able to see her granddaughter again. The woman gave each of the team members a hug and a kiss out of appreciation for what they had done for her. Her life has been forever changed by the works of these team members.
The other team traveled over the river and through the woods to a small pre-school named El Jardincito Preschool. The preschool’s head teacher/principal/after school worker/janitor/head cafeteria worker/maintenance worker – well, she does it all. Her name is Ramona. She’s actually a volunteer who has been loving on preschoolers for 12 years. The school was built by the El Ayudante project, to assists with training children. There were 37 kids at that school this morning who greeted us with ear-to-ear smiles and traditions hand gestures which we did not understand (but later figured out.) The kids were all very well behaved. The team performed a skit, sang some songs, helped with coloring pages, and gave away snacks. Near the end of our time together, Ramona gave us a tour of the classroom where the kids learn all kinds of letters, numbers, stories, etc.
Upon arrived back at campus, we enjoyed chicken with barbequed veggies sauce, cabbage salad, pineapple and watermelon. For drink we’ve been offered Coke Zero or Regular. Our lunch today was a short one, since the teams all had many projects planned for the afternoon.
Again, we had 2 different teams: construction and medical team. The construction team continued to dig the hole for the latrine, along with building a brick wall for the kitchen. The guys were jumping in and out of the hole, taking turns. Once the hole was deeper than the guys are tall, they began to use a bucket with a rope to remove dirt from the hole. Russ, Wes, and David were trying to out-do the locals in a digging contest. Not sure who one that contest, but by the time they left the jobsite, the hole was about 8 feet deep. Todd and Brett man-handled a “Wackypacker” (AKA Jumping jack). It’s basically a stump with 2 shovel handles attached on the sides, and it’s used for compacting dirt to pour a slab. Rachel, Leslie and Tanya helped to haul dirt and fill crevices in the brick wall.
On the medical team, they blessed the construction sites home-owners with a trip in the campus where we stay in order to have all of the family member’s eyes examined. The kids were bursting with excitement to get to ride in a vehicle for their first time ever. Some family member didn’t need glasses, but other ones did. The mom received reader glasses, and one of the children will have custom made glasses send to her from the ‘States. The medical team also performed eye examinations for 13 children from the afterschool program on campus.
The teams all returned to the campus to experience typhoon type rain. We were all drenched before dinner. Speaking of dinner, we had chicken with whole-leaf lettuce salad, pineapple and watermelon.
After dinner we received a kind word from Courtney regarding God being evident in our lives.
Quotes from the day:
Todd: “Is Troy ironing his pants?”
Tanya: “Need some Preparation H to hold you over?”
Brett: “Steve is returning a better favor than I gave to him.”
Wesley: “Russ, you have ‘man-hands’.”
Steve: “Everything is bigger in America.”
Courtney: “If you need to pee no one will know because you sweated so much.”
Anna: “Dear Lord, please give us farts, (quickly changed to) hearts to follow You.”
We’re sitting outside under the thatched-roof open-air hut reminiscing about our great day. We’re all laughing so hard we have tears running down our faces. So here’s our attempt to recap what went down today.
The day started with a French toast breakfast with pineapple and watermelon. There’s always an assortment of tasty jellies for the toast, including from grape, guava, coconut. We’ve been blessed with coffee and orange juice each morning, also. After breakfast we had a short devotion from Tanya about committing our plans to the Lord, and He will establish them. We divided the team up, some going to perform eye exams and the rest traveled to a rural preschool to leadd Vacation Bible School. The medical group traveled about 20 miles through redlight district to get to the Quetzalquaque library. The team tested about 25 patients, giving out 17 pairs of glasses. That team had stories about one elderly woman who could barely see when she first arrived, was given a pair of glasses, and left rejoicing that she was able to see her granddaughter again. The woman gave each of the team members a hug and a kiss out of appreciation for what they had done for her. Her life has been forever changed by the works of these team members.
The other team traveled over the river and through the woods to a small pre-school named El Jardincito Preschool. The preschool’s head teacher/principal/after school worker/janitor/head cafeteria worker/maintenance worker – well, she does it all. Her name is Ramona. She’s actually a volunteer who has been loving on preschoolers for 12 years. The school was built by the El Ayudante project, to assists with training children. There were 37 kids at that school this morning who greeted us with ear-to-ear smiles and traditions hand gestures which we did not understand (but later figured out.) The kids were all very well behaved. The team performed a skit, sang some songs, helped with coloring pages, and gave away snacks. Near the end of our time together, Ramona gave us a tour of the classroom where the kids learn all kinds of letters, numbers, stories, etc.
Upon arrived back at campus, we enjoyed chicken with barbequed veggies sauce, cabbage salad, pineapple and watermelon. For drink we’ve been offered Coke Zero or Regular. Our lunch today was a short one, since the teams all had many projects planned for the afternoon.
Again, we had 2 different teams: construction and medical team. The construction team continued to dig the hole for the latrine, along with building a brick wall for the kitchen. The guys were jumping in and out of the hole, taking turns. Once the hole was deeper than the guys are tall, they began to use a bucket with a rope to remove dirt from the hole. Russ, Wes, and David were trying to out-do the locals in a digging contest. Not sure who one that contest, but by the time they left the jobsite, the hole was about 8 feet deep. Todd and Brett man-handled a “Wackypacker” (AKA Jumping jack). It’s basically a stump with 2 shovel handles attached on the sides, and it’s used for compacting dirt to pour a slab. Rachel, Leslie and Tanya helped to haul dirt and fill crevices in the brick wall.
On the medical team, they blessed the construction sites home-owners with a trip in the campus where we stay in order to have all of the family member’s eyes examined. The kids were bursting with excitement to get to ride in a vehicle for their first time ever. Some family member didn’t need glasses, but other ones did. The mom received reader glasses, and one of the children will have custom made glasses send to her from the ‘States. The medical team also performed eye examinations for 13 children from the afterschool program on campus.
The teams all returned to the campus to experience typhoon type rain. We were all drenched before dinner. Speaking of dinner, we had chicken with whole-leaf lettuce salad, pineapple and watermelon.
After dinner we received a kind word from Courtney regarding God being evident in our lives.
Quotes from the day:
Todd: “Is Troy ironing his pants?”
Tanya: “Need some Preparation H to hold you over?”
Brett: “Steve is returning a better favor than I gave to him.”
Wesley: “Russ, you have ‘man-hands’.”
Steve: “Everything is bigger in America.”
Courtney: “If you need to pee no one will know because you sweated so much.”
Anna: “Dear Lord, please give us farts, (quickly changed to) hearts to follow You.”
Monday, September 17, 2012
Yawn, yawn, yawn. As we are falling asleep here in the dark, we are trying to recap our busy day. We started off again with a delicious breakfast of pancakes, papaya, pineapple and watermelon.
Off to the work site with ¾ of our crew. We began by moving over 150 blocks from one end of the property to the other..whew! Began digging the footers for the kitchen and started the latrine (bathroom for those of you that need to know). We set the cornerstones and the devotion this evening happened to be about our spiritual cornerstone. Too cool!
The other ¼ of our team went to a public clinic in the community to perform eye exams. They saw over 30 patients and were a blessing to many! The team was led by Dr. Steve Bowser and assisted by Tanya, Rachel, Sheri and Mark. Steve is going to make an optometrist assistant out of them yet! We gave out glasses to the majority of the patients and have prescriptions glasses to make for the rest of them. We all met back for lunch. We had beef surprise gravy over the rice. (did anyone see the stray dog around here?) We were blessed with pineapple and watermelon. We then repeated the mission work again. The eye team moved to the campus here at El Ayudante and began exams for the children here. We completed 13 exams and then was able to get back, scrubbed the dirt and germs off and waited for our gross construction team to return.
We all had a wonderful dinner of mystery meat, chicken and beans on fresh homemade tortillas. We also had pineapple and watermelon. After more scrubbing and clean up of our bodies, we surprised Tanya with an early birthday cake (Nicaraguan style that was AWESOME!) and then she took her swat at a tradition of piñata!! Yes, she swung at that swinging piñata for hours…well it seemed like hours she stunk!! She had a blast and was very surprised!
We are off to bed since we are deliriously tired.
Quotes for the day:
Sheri: “I am sitting over here picking my nose, cleaning out my air filter.”
Russ: “He needs some wedges.”
Joe (our interpreter) “Happy wife, happy life. From: Anna 4:15.”
Brett: “Now we know what we’ve been looking for!”
Troy: “Now that gives a new meaning to digging yourself a hole!”
Off to the work site with ¾ of our crew. We began by moving over 150 blocks from one end of the property to the other..whew! Began digging the footers for the kitchen and started the latrine (bathroom for those of you that need to know). We set the cornerstones and the devotion this evening happened to be about our spiritual cornerstone. Too cool!
The other ¼ of our team went to a public clinic in the community to perform eye exams. They saw over 30 patients and were a blessing to many! The team was led by Dr. Steve Bowser and assisted by Tanya, Rachel, Sheri and Mark. Steve is going to make an optometrist assistant out of them yet! We gave out glasses to the majority of the patients and have prescriptions glasses to make for the rest of them. We all met back for lunch. We had beef surprise gravy over the rice. (did anyone see the stray dog around here?) We were blessed with pineapple and watermelon. We then repeated the mission work again. The eye team moved to the campus here at El Ayudante and began exams for the children here. We completed 13 exams and then was able to get back, scrubbed the dirt and germs off and waited for our gross construction team to return.
We all had a wonderful dinner of mystery meat, chicken and beans on fresh homemade tortillas. We also had pineapple and watermelon. After more scrubbing and clean up of our bodies, we surprised Tanya with an early birthday cake (Nicaraguan style that was AWESOME!) and then she took her swat at a tradition of piñata!! Yes, she swung at that swinging piñata for hours…well it seemed like hours she stunk!! She had a blast and was very surprised!
We are off to bed since we are deliriously tired.
Quotes for the day:
Sheri: “I am sitting over here picking my nose, cleaning out my air filter.”
Russ: “He needs some wedges.”
Joe (our interpreter) “Happy wife, happy life. From: Anna 4:15.”
Brett: “Now we know what we’ve been looking for!”
Troy: “Now that gives a new meaning to digging yourself a hole!”
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Sunday in Nicaragua
Today has been filled with so many exciting events. The Lord is doing amazing things down here, both in the lives of the locals and in the lives our of group members.
We started the day with a fabulous breakfast of rice & beans, scrambled cheese eggs, fresh pineapple and watermelon. We are getting completely spoiled with the cooking.
After breakfast we loaded onto a Delta open-air pick-up truck. We who were dressed in our Sunday best climbed in the back of the truck, which was covered by a canvas tarp, and headed out for our hour drive up dirt roads to the church. The road was dusty, filled with ravines. So exciting!!! The driving down here is breath-taking (literally).
Upon arrival at the church, we were welcomed with open arms. We participated in worship, ministered with a skit featuring Troy Brown as Jesus in the 'Everything' skit, followed by Todd Mixon who brought a message on Jesus being the light of the world. The kids were offered VBS-style activities while Todd preached. The kids were well behaved and appreciative.
After worship we drove back to the campus, to be welcomed back with a wonderful meal of chicken and yellow rice with vegetable salad, along with pineapple and watermelon. The food really is out of this country.
Next we visited the work site where we'll be constructing a latrine and finishing an outdoor kitchen. We blessed the family with gifts donated by generous givers from the 'States. The family is looking forward to tomorrow when we will begin the work. The family consists of mom and dad, along with 4 children. We didn't have much time with the family, due to a packed schedule.
We gathered the children from the campus, and sped off to a blissful time of swimming at a local pool. The kids were so excited about the opportunity to swim and hang out with us. We highly enjoyed the time with them as well. The kids were also blessed with lunch provided by funds given from donations from the 'States.
Quotes from the day:
Steve: "Michele told me to wear white pants."
Troy: "Leslie, can you lift your legs."
Anna: "Nos vamos, porque." She said, "Let's go, why" instead of "Let's go, please."
Rachel: "Ms. Leslie, it's another roller coaster, WEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!" and "Everything is more funny when you are sleep 'defried'".
Sheri: "I make this look good."
Wes: "I make a pretty woman."
Leslie: "My dad told me I was never too old for a spankin'."
Courtney: "We are not on an island, are we?"
We started the day with a fabulous breakfast of rice & beans, scrambled cheese eggs, fresh pineapple and watermelon. We are getting completely spoiled with the cooking.
After breakfast we loaded onto a Delta open-air pick-up truck. We who were dressed in our Sunday best climbed in the back of the truck, which was covered by a canvas tarp, and headed out for our hour drive up dirt roads to the church. The road was dusty, filled with ravines. So exciting!!! The driving down here is breath-taking (literally).
Upon arrival at the church, we were welcomed with open arms. We participated in worship, ministered with a skit featuring Troy Brown as Jesus in the 'Everything' skit, followed by Todd Mixon who brought a message on Jesus being the light of the world. The kids were offered VBS-style activities while Todd preached. The kids were well behaved and appreciative.
After worship we drove back to the campus, to be welcomed back with a wonderful meal of chicken and yellow rice with vegetable salad, along with pineapple and watermelon. The food really is out of this country.
Next we visited the work site where we'll be constructing a latrine and finishing an outdoor kitchen. We blessed the family with gifts donated by generous givers from the 'States. The family is looking forward to tomorrow when we will begin the work. The family consists of mom and dad, along with 4 children. We didn't have much time with the family, due to a packed schedule.
We gathered the children from the campus, and sped off to a blissful time of swimming at a local pool. The kids were so excited about the opportunity to swim and hang out with us. We highly enjoyed the time with them as well. The kids were also blessed with lunch provided by funds given from donations from the 'States.
Quotes from the day:
Steve: "Michele told me to wear white pants."
Troy: "Leslie, can you lift your legs."
Anna: "Nos vamos, porque." She said, "Let's go, why" instead of "Let's go, please."
Rachel: "Ms. Leslie, it's another roller coaster, WEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!" and "Everything is more funny when you are sleep 'defried'".
Sheri: "I make this look good."
Wes: "I make a pretty woman."
Leslie: "My dad told me I was never too old for a spankin'."
Courtney: "We are not on an island, are we?"
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Nicaragua Blessings
WOW!!! We've arrived in the beautiful Nicaragua! It's absolutely gorgeous. The weather has be blazing hot with outrageous humidity, but what's new?!?!
Our day started off at City On A Hill Methodist Church about 4 this morning. We all met together for some prayer at the church, then were blessed with a ride in a limousine from Tophat Limousine.
Leslie's quote for the day, "We are here! We are here!"
Anna's quote, "Finally coffee and there's a bug in it!"
Wesley's quote, "You can get Subway anywhere."
Praise report: We're here safely. We saw the 3rd largest church in Latin America. Volcanos remain non-active at this time. No reported tremors.
Leslie's quote for the day, "We are here! We are here!"
Anna's quote, "Finally coffee and there's a bug in it!"
Wesley's quote, "You can get Subway anywhere."
Praise report: We're here safely. We saw the 3rd largest church in Latin America. Volcanos remain non-active at this time. No reported tremors.
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