After a heartbreaking goodbye to one of my favorite places on earth, Cape Town, I find myself sitting here, sweating on the tile floor, writing to you, in a dorm room on Ometepe Island, Nicaragua. To sum up the past 15 days of my life:
We said our emotional farewells at Cape Town international airport on the morning of March 3rd. Afterwards we hopped on a double decker Emirates airplane to embark on a ten-hour flight to Dubai. Shortly after landing, we were boarding another 14-hour flight to JFK international airport in New York. Hitting the ground in America for the first time in six months was something else y’all! Although my feet were swollen, ears popping, and having a sore throat and head from nearly 25 hours in the sky, I was SO ecstatic to be in my home country. I never thought just being in an American airport could make me miss home so much… We even got to go have some fun in the snow out side (first bit of winter in about 10 ½ months)! You bet I enjoyed my fair share of Dunkin’ Doughnuts, coffee, and the God blessed Buffalo Wild Wings! Not to mention the fact that my phone actually worked so it was so nice to make an actual phone call without having to search for wifi and catch up with some friends and family. But after a great six hours it was time to head off on our last two flights; five more hours to Panama and then two more to finally land in Managua, Nicaragua where we got to hop on an hour long van ride to Granada, Nicaragua…. We very grumpily and sleepily arrived at our lovely hostel at 1AM March 5th… (Considering the 8 hour time gain) Gotta love World Race travel days…
In the snow in NYC
Although the next few days were exhausting trying to catch up with the time zone and getting situated in a whole new country and culture, I had something very exciting to look forward to! Majority of the squads parents, including my own, were headed to Granada to spend a week serving along side of us and finally getting to catch up and spend quality time together after a long and far six months apart. My parents came into town a day early and it was the best surprise ever to literally run into them on a busy street corner. I was just walking back from lunch with some friends when I heard my day yell “Hey ladies!” I turned around and got the biggest and best hug from my parents in way too long! It was a hug from my two favorite people that I will never forget.
Overall PVT (parent vision trip) was a very special time for my parents and I. We had the opportunity to work alongside REAP Granada with various ministries in the community, like helping with a feeding program at the Dump which is the end of the line garbage plot for the city where workers separate and dig through trash by hand all day long. It was admirable to see people working so hard for their families even in the most undesirable job field. We also helped clear out some farm land that is going to be used to help employ unemployed men in the city that need real work to support their families. However, in Nicaragua you don’t just use weed eaters and lawn mowers… we got down to business with machetes! That was a sight to see my mom attempting to whack down bushes. Not sure if we ended up helping or just making a bigger mess but we tried our best and wrapped things up with joining the raking team where we much more skilled! On our last day together, we got to walk through a local village and just meet and talk to locals though our translator. I ended up loving this day so much. I always feel that getting to pray for and love on some of the people and families that you could consider poorest of the poor or the least of these, is really the core of what God wants our life ministry to be. It was also really neat to finally get to experience this kind of life and ministry with my parents because it has been something that I have been seeing for months now, but it is not an environment that you can really put into words. Seeing my dad hold and little, sweaty, Nicaraguan girl in his arms was a special sight. It made me realize that I am so blessed to have been raised by such an amazing set of parents and family! This was such a memorable day for us to share together and yet it is a sad and in need part of the world that many Americans never have the chance to go and see. Overall, I think my family came out of this with a mindset that we are immensely blessed. Not only did my parents start to realize that developing countries wifi, air conditioning, hotel rooms, food service, and much more are not quite up to speed with America. But we also get to live such an easier life. Yes, we have to work hard to make money and take care of each other, but there is not a day that we go to bed hungry, or wake up and not have clothes or shoes to put on, or have to beg the government to give our children an education. We are just so blessed!
After ministry, we also had some relaxing and fun time to be tourists in the city, going to the top of bell towers, attempting to speak Spanish, exploring cathedrals, lounging at pretty pools, eating new food together, buying souvenirs, going on horse carriage rides, and even exploring a beautiful volcanic lagoon together!
And now, all the way to update you on life today! As I mentioned earlier, my new team, Team Be, is partnered with Cicrin Children’s Home, on a previous 7 wonders of the world wonder, Ometepe Island, in the middle of the third largest lake in the world, Lake Nicaragua. We are living in between two giant volcanoes, one of which is active! Our main goal here is to help with the school on the Cicrin campus and a local school as well. We also have time to set aside to spend time and minister to all of the children here. I am very excited to spend the last two months of my race here, becoming immersed in yet another culture and community, and striving to finish out this mission and journey God has called me to and on. I have no complaints living the island life and I know God has big things in store for everyone here.
I appreciate all of the prayers! God Bless.
