Quiet. Peace- ("Shalom" in Hebrew). Rest. Those words describe where I‘m living in Nicaragua right now as well as the last couple weeks. I'm reminded of when God says “Be Still, and Know that I am God”.
The last 2 months, I’ve been with my entire squad of about 55 people, but this month it’s just my team of 7 and one other team of 7. But we’re living in a place designed for about 55 people. We have been blessed with a lot of luxuries this month that we haven’t had yet. Last month we had 2 showers and 3 bathrooms that were co-ed for around 60 people, but this month we have 2 showers and 4 bathrooms for just 11 women and 2 separate showers and 4 separate bathrooms for just 3 men. There are also no noises from roosters, dogs, and cars this month either. I couldn’t get over how quiet it was when we first got here. We’re living in a gated and guarded Christian compound with lots of palm trees and a volcano in the background, and we‘re living in a building with….wait for it…BEDS! We’ve been living in tents outside for the past two months. Not only are there beds, but each bed has it’s own personal fan too. It is way hotter and more humid here than our first two countries because we’re not in the mountains anymore. I did a couple workouts, and I don’t know if I’ve ever sweated more. We have all of our meals cooked for us, and they’re really yummy and varied. And our dishes and bathrooms are cleaned for us too. Last month, we had cereal for breakfast and beans and rice for every lunch, and we had to do dishes and clean the bathrooms . They also have internet here which we haven’t had on-site before. The only thing is, is that they shut it off whenever there’s a sign of a storm which has been pretty frequent so far. It’s very comfortable here, and I’m reminded of when Paul says in the Bible that in any and all circumstances he knows the secret of having plenty and in being in need- of being full and of going hungry and that he can do all things through Christ strengthens him.
The organization here/ this site hosts different ministry teams, and provides jobs for the Nicaraguan staff (cooks, cleaners, guards) to work while teams are here. Many men in this area have this chronic kidney disease that was developed from working on a sugar plantation, and many have died from it. They told us it was because the company and the government are denying that their business practices are causing this disease because they want to make money, but it is clear that the sugar plantations are the cause of it. I heard that the guards that work here have the disease, and I believe that the women who work here are widows. The organization here built a church, school, and something like 100 houses in this town where many people are affected by this disease. We got to go into the town twice so far, and the people there are very friendly and happy, and the kids there are so loving. We played some baseball with them, jump roped, and blew bubbles. One of the women there has a pet monkey, and I got to hold it! I thought that was really cool because I’ve never held a monkey before. They have a free clinic here for those patients as well as other patients. I got to work with one of my teammates in the clinic one day. My teammate just finished pre-med, and I went with because I know some Spanish. We didn’t have any patients that day that had the kidney disease though. We helped the nurse take the patients weight and blood pressure. My teammate taught me how to take blood pressure and how to listen to peoples’ hearts. We then took the doctor’s prescription and got the pills for them. It’s crazy because in the U.S., a volunteer could never be like a pharmacist. We were only helping for about 2 hours or so.
The ministry this month seems to be pretty laid-back. We did some painting of the bathrooms on-site a couple of the days. We also went to share the gospel with a pastor that this organization partners with. We went to a town for about an hour and a half and brought Bibles in Spanish and some gospel tracts. One person prayed to receive Christ which was great, but the pastor we went with seemed to be pretty pushy and forceful, and he didn’t take a chance to get to the people. My team and I agreed that we didn’t think that he was doing it in the best way, and we were talking about what we could do while still being respectful to him. Other groups went with other people from the church and not the pastor, and they told us that they didn’t have the same issue happen.
My team and I started praying for a half hour together every morning before we start our day, and it’s been really encouraging and unifying and cool seeing God answer prayers.
We kinda celebrated the Jewish New Year because one of the women on the other team comes from a Jewish family. It's really interesting to me to hear about the Jewish traditions.
We got to go to the ocean beach one afternoon which was really cool.
For Sunday, they’ve asked us to make three different classes to teach the youth at the church. My group decided to teach about hope, so I’m looking forward to that.
Quiet. Peace. Rest. After Honduras and before getting to this ministry site, we got to go to Granada, Nicaragua for a “Debrief” which was about 5 nights at a hostel in Granada to talk about how things are going and to just rest in the Lord and take a break. We got stuck at the border for like 6 hours before getting into Nicaragua because we were having issues with some peoples’ passports, and our bus broke down. Luckily it was in the day, but we didn’t get to Granada until like 3am. But other than that, it was really restful. I absolutely loved Granada. Seriously, if you’re looking for somewhere to vacation, you should go there. The town is very beautiful and peaceful and not crowded. It reminded me of a mixture between Europe and California. There’s lots of gardens in like every hotel and restaurant, exciting architecture and old churches, a lake, a beach, lots of great restaurants, hot dog and hamburger stands, horse carriages, music, a plaza, ice cream and coffee shops. I found something in Central America that is equivalent to the “Coolers” at Caribou Coffee which is nice. And everything is pretty cheap. Our squad went on a boat ride to this island and got to swim in the lake. One of our squadmates got baptized there! We drove by this other island that had monkeys on it that had been rescued. It was pretty cool. One of my teammates and I went on a horse carriage ride. It was ok. During debrief, we got to talk about how things are going, listen to some good talks, and make up some funny skits.
Overall, I'm doing very well and so is my team. I'm so thankful to be able to be experiencing all of this, and I'm really excited to keep seeking Christ and for what is in store. 
Two of my teammates still need some finances to meet the October deadline. Would you please consider donating to them and spreading the word? You can read about them and donate by clicking on "Support Me!" at jamesmuller.theworldrace.org and gracekerr.theworldrace.org
Below is a video of us visiting with a man in the town, and he's singing praise to God on his guitar
