We are officially halfway through the month and I am finally bringing myself to write a blog… or two. I want to begin with what this month has looked like so far.
The first four days were spent in Granada for our very first debrief. Our Squad Parents, Tim and Lisa, joined us and poured into us by teaching us and speaking life into us in an effort to refresh us before we continued on with our 3rd month on the Race. The Squad Leaders also took the time to teach us and meet with us one on one, if we so desired, and speak truth and life over us. In addition, the Squad Leaders and Parents met with us as teams to process the past two months and help us find a focus and set goals as we move forward.
The time was intended to be restful and refreshing. The city was beautiful and I fell in love with Nicaragua the day we arrived. However, debrief did not serve its purpose for me at no one's fault but my own. I allowed myself to give into negativity and struggled with the thought of continuing on with my team and even with having what it takes to finish the race. There were things going on at home that consumed my attentions and I was far more discouraged than I care to admit. I foolishly talked myself out of having one on ones and started off this month of ministry feeling completely defeated and unsure of how to move forward.
After the four days of debrief, my team was finally on our own. For the first time, we were sent off to a ministry site with our team alone. I was excited for the possibilities, yet absolutely terrified of the possibility of everything falling apart. Our team was in a very tender spot and could have gone in either direction.
We met our ministry contacts, who were both previous World Racers, in Leon where we spent the following day before heading off to the ministry site, New Song. I was immediately excited to discover all New Song was about and meet all the staff involved. This month was going to be different, I could sense it. I had an excited anticipation in my soul for what was ahead.
New Song is multi-faceted and continually growing and expanding with the dreams of the staff God brings. They strive to empower the community by providing jobs. They run a Cafetin/Paneria, which is a bakery and small convenience store that sells sodas and juices, chips, sandwiches, bread and a variety of flavored frozen pops. The ministry provides medical and dental care to the community, which is free of charge for sponsored school aged children. They provide health classes to teach the community to make better dietary choices. There is a huge need here as most of the men are dying of kidney failure. I have yet to meet a local man who does not have this disease. The ministry has 4 churches and support the Sunday School classes for the kids especially. New Song strives to sponsor all of the school aged children in the communities so the children have the opportunity to go to school and finish school. So many families only have work for maybe 6 months out of the year and often struggle to put food on the table. There is no extra money for school supplies, uniforms or mandatory field trips and other outings so children often drop out of school. The goal is to teach these youth to dream and give them hope for their future. The ministry runs a youth program on Wednesdays and every other Friday. English classes are offered to anyone who wants to learn and the staff help tutor the youth who have been sponsored.
The ministry sends out teams to pray with a woman of the community known as Praying Rosa, who continually goes from house to house praying for the community. She has seen God raise the dead back to life through her diligence in prayer. Our team gets to join her twice a week to pray for people in the community.
Three mornings a week we work in the garden planting trees. We participate in the weekly staff worship/prayer times and worship/devotional times. We participate in the Sunday church services and in the youth events that are held on Wednesdays and every other Friday. We also aim to disciple the youth.
I do not think there is anything I dislike about Nicaragua or our ministry this month. The climate is absolutely wonderful. It feels a bit more like home with the outrageous humidity and heat. We are in the hottest part of Nicaragua, which makes me so very happy. When you can find it, Nicaragua actually makes some pretty delicious chocolate. Pineapples, coconuts, bananas and plantains are staple foods here and we have fresh squeezed juice every day for lunch! The landscape is gorgeous, the beach is near and the coffee is good. There are volcanoes and rainforests, dirt roads and lots of warm rain. The people are beautiful and love to spend time with us. They give more than they have to give and open their hearts and homes to us without reserve. I love having the opportunity to pour into this community by praying for people and investing in them. I also love all God is teaching me through everyone here. This is by far my favorite month to date.
