Hello from month 11 of the race! I officially made it to our last month. I can’t believe it’s the final month and in less than 30 days I’ll be flying home to America! But for now, here’s a little recap of Nicaragua.
-Team Yebo worked with Rey de Reyes church in Palacuguina, Nicaragua. We lived with Pastor Leo, his wife Anna, and their two children. They treated us so well and we ended up feeling like family.
-Our main ministry was manual labor. We helped at a church in the mountains with projects, dug trenches so a local school could run pipes for water, did construction on a new school building, and level ground for a bible school. We also held youth group, played soccer with youth, and cleaned the church.
-Unveiled and Beloved were also working in Palacuguina with other churches so we worked on projects together twice a week. It was fun to spend time with them.
-Palacuguina was really small. Most of our downtime was spent at wifi, visiting Unveiled, or watching movies.
-We ate lots of rice and beans! They did try to treat us to French fries and hamburgers every so often.
-Our first off day we went “rafting” at Somoto Canyon. It was insane. We maneuvered over rocks to avoid the really big rapids, and then swam through the rest with a cliff jump thrown in there. It was so fun though!
-We got to milk cows and ride horses while working at one of the churches in the mountains.
-We also spent one off a Cerro Negro, the volcano you can sled down. The hike up was crazy with the wind. After sledding down, some of us stayed in Leon overnight at a hotel. It was so nice to sleep in a bed, have AC, take a warm shower, and swim in the pool.
-Our last Monday we spent the day with a group from Pennsylvania on a 10-day mission trip. They put on events in the streets of the neighborhoods for the kids. It was really cool to see their excitement and all the hard work they put into their program.
-I spent the last 5 days of the month in bed with Dengue Fever. I don’t think I’ve ever been that sick for that long in my life. But hey, I survived!
I really enjoyed our time in Nicaragua especially working so closely with Pastor Leo and his family. I was sad that I ended it sick for sure.
Now we are in Jaco, Costa Rica for month 11! We are working with a woman named April helping with a property called La Ola. The property is owned by a Christian woman who allows different organizations to use it to further the kingdom. We are helping maintain the property in the mornings by doing different projects and then opening up the skate ramp in the afternoon so kids have a safe place to skate. We will also be helping with bible studies, youth group, kids program, and anti-trafficking programs throughout the month. It is really flexible so we will have lots of time for the beach that’s a 10-minute walk away. Not such a bad way to end out my race!
