My time in Nicaragua is flying. It is already our last week here. On April 5th, we fly to Thailand!
We have been involved in various things in the community here. Some of which are: visiting hospitals, schools, nursing homes, churches, an orphanage for mentally challenged children, and painting the house of the pastor we work with here in Jinotepe, Nicaragua. I really enjoyed the orphanage so much and am so glad we get to go back another time this week!
BUT my absolutely favorite thing that I had the opportunity to help out with this month was a health clinic. A group from the United States was here having health clinics in some small, poor communities around Jinotepe. Our group of seven went to help out in any way we could. There were so many people there needing medical care. They ended up needing me to run the vision station by myself. It was incredible! It was SO MUCH FUN!! I was able to test everyone’s eye sight and if they needed glasses, I helped them pick out the right pair. I LOVED seeing their faces when they were able to see clearly for the first time. LOVED it. Absolutely loved it! There were people of all ages at this clinic. I was able to do some translating for one of the American nurses. IT WAS SO MUCH FUN! I am really hoping that I will get to help out in a health clinic again at some point on this trip.
Here are a few pictures to show our time here in Nicaragua:
This is the health clinic I got to be a part of at the church in the small community in which we work.
Three sisters at the church we help out with in this community. So Sweet!!
Gretna, one of the girls at this church that we have ALL fallen in love with. She was so shy and quiet when we first met her, and now she is so energetic!!
Buying bananas from the banana man! 91 bananas for less than $2!!
Painting Pastor Manuel's house as a gift to him. He is the man we have been working with the entire month.
Casa Mateo. This is the hotel we are staying at and the ministry we are working with.
Visiting Mustard Seed, the orphanage for mentally challenged children. This girl was one of my favorites, but I never could understand what her name was. We walked around, laughed, danced, and here, taking a mini-nap.
On one of our days off, we were able to go to Mambacho Volcano, hike around it, and zipline in the area. Here is a view overlooking the volcano and Lake Nicaragua.
Hiking at Mambacho Volcano. So beautiful!!
We fly to Thailand on April 5th. Please pray for safety in travel. We have approximately 60 hours of travel time! It might get a little long. I remember traveling for 24 hours when I went to Taiwan 10 years ago and I am pretty sure the man sitting next to me on the plane was irritated after hour #3 when I kept disturbing him so I could get up and walk around on the plane—and that was only 24 hrs, let alone 60!
Please pray for God to continue working in me. There was a point here in Nicaragua that I did NOT want to be here, at all. I was easily irritated, annoyed at everything and everyone, so skeptical of my teammates, and feeling trapped. I miss my friends. I miss them so much. I voiced this all to my teammates and they were so great about it. They prayed for me. They listened. They shared some of their struggles. It was great. The next day I woke up and felt so much better. Nothing had changed except that I had voiced it. They cared. I had a new perspective. God was working in my heart, and still is. I want to be open to anything and everything He has for me. I want to fully give my life to God, every piece of it, and trust Him with it. I want to have peace in knowing that HIS way is the BEST way. I am still working on that.
Thank-you for all of your continued encouragement! I am so excited for this next leg of the trip! And for those of you that have been asking, I only need $2,176.15 to be fully funded! Thank-you!
