All 55 of us on M Squad are staying in a little town in the Nicaraguan mountains called Palacaguina (prnounced Pal-la-ka-gween-nuh). It's pretty much in the middle of nowhere – there isn't an ATM or even a grocery store in this town, so you know it's small.
This month we are staying in a church, so we have pitched our tents and called this place home for the month of February.
We are so blessed to have 2 working toilets and 2 showers. Sometimes you have to wait a while to take a shower, but it's totally worth it after a long day in the sun!
Another blessing has been the food. Four women from the church have cooked ALL of our meals for us – breakfast, lunch and dinner. Meals often consist of beans, rice, and plantains. I haven't gotten tired of the food yet because each meal seems to get better and better.
All 8 of our teams are split up and we are helping various pastors around Palaciguina. My group, team Intentional Vagabonds, is partnered with an all girls team, Koinonia. For the past two weeks, both teams have been walking to a nearby church about 10-15 minutes away to help do construction. The church is adding on several classrooms for the purpose of teaching the children more about God. Our teams have come together and helped move 2,200 bricks, a bunch of sand and rock, and mixed concrete by hand! It's no easy task, but the fruits of our labor will hopefully bring more children to God.
Below is a picture of the front of the church we are working at. (I haven't been brining my camera to the worksite, so I don't have any more "on the job" pictures.)
The first week in Palacaguina, I had the opportunity to help teach at a local preschool. It was definitely challenging because there were about 30 kids and 2 teachers in the classroom… and I don't know enough Spanish to fully communicate with these kids. But the kids are sweet and are eager to play with you.
This past Sunday I had the opportunity to preach for the first time in my life. I spoke on the topic of suffering in relation to being a Christian and how we are called to suffer for the name of Christ. I spoke to the youth group at thr church and had an interpreter, Luis, help translate it for me.
God is working a lot in my life this month, as well as in the lives of my teammates and the rest of the Squad. Thank you so much for all your support and prayers — they really mean a lot! And speaking of prayers… I have a few requests:
- M Squad has been hit hard with sickness this month. The most common sickness is diarrhea and upset stomachs. Yours truly just had a bout of the runs earlier this week, and it is NOT fun. Please pray for our health and healing whilst we finish out our month here in Nicaragua.
- Another thing to pray for is fundraising. There are about 10 or 12 people on M Squad who still have yet to make the third deadline of $11,000 by April 1st. Two of them are my own teammates, Pamela Gessler and Gabe Bedford. Please pray for their fundraising to go well. And if you feel compelled to do more than just pray, you can make a donation to them online by clicking the "Support Me" link in the left navigation of each of their blog sites.
Thank you!!
