Lush green foliage, sandy beaches, towering volcanoes, and waving palm trees make Nicaragua an amazing sight to behold. In the two weeks I have been here, I have discovered that the beautiful people that live here are what make Nicaragua a truly amazing place, however.
This month my team is working alongside another team from our squad with the organization, Vision Nicaragua. Vision Nicaragua does a lot of medical and educational ministry. A clinic staffed by Dr. Michael is located here on the compound. The clinic serves the local community from nearby villages. Many of the people who come here would never be able to afford to go to the doctor or hospital in town. Dr. Michael works a lot with sick men from the villages that have been working in the sugarcane fields. There is a pesticide that is sprayed on the fields here that builds up in the systems of the workers and over time causes renal failure. The clinic provides treatment which prolongs life a short while in some instances. Once the men become ill, they are no longer able to work, so Vision Nicaragua has a sponsorship program for them. They also have a sponsorship program for the widows of these men that have become ill and passed away.
Vision Nicaragua is involved in education in the area as well. They have a sponsorship program which provides supplies and the opportunity for older students go to school. Check out Vision Nicaragua's site to learn more what they are doing here- www.visionnicaragua.org
Because Vision Nicaragua has so many outreaches that they are involved in, we have had the opportunity to do many types of ministry in our time here already. Many days ministry looks like a game of stickball with the children in the nearby village of Bethel. Stickball is a version of baseball played with a stick and an old bottle for the ball.
Today was a stickball ministry day. I played first base which should have been a pretty simple position. Not so. To start with, first base was a fence post attached to a piece of rusty barbed wire marking the corner of someone’s yard. The wire kept grabbing my shirt, eventually ripping a little hole in it. When the ball sailed my way it would usually fly over the fence into the yard and under the feet of the pig tied to the tree who was snorting about. Dashing in to get it involved distracting the pig and darting around the rooster which was tied by it’s foot to another tree. 
After all of this, I then had to throw the ball to my waiting teammates hoping that it was not to late to tag someone out. All this to say, I did not make an excellent first baseman. 🙂
We have spent lots of time in the villages around the area just hanging out with the people and getting to know them. Aside from the afore mentioned stickball, we also spend time doing impromptu English lessons with our new friends, playing kickball, soccer, and volleyball with the youth, and visiting with the locals the best that we can with our limited Spanish.
In other ministry, we have done a couple of clean-up projects for Vision Nicaragua and the village of Bethel. In the evenings we do Bible studies with local youth. We have also had the opportunity to go to some villages with a local pastor and some of the youth to share about Jesus and pray for people. Yesterday when we went out, we split into small groups to walk around and talk to people. Due to the language barrier, we often do not know exactly what is going on until it happens. Our pastor did not speak English and when we would get to a house, he would introduce us as missionaries and ask us to share. We didn't have any idea that we would be doing this until that moment and none of us really speak Spanish. God was faithful and we were able to share a few words about God's love in our broken Spanish, however. It is amazing to see how God reaches across the language barrier with His love.
On a different note, some of the more interesting things about Nicaragua are….
-There are huge tarantulas here!!! We often find them in our room, in the bathroom, in the kitchen, ect (I showered with one the other day…I am getting used to their presence and they don't bother me if they stay off my bed)
-It is rainy season in Nicaragua…October is one of their rainiest months of the year so everyday we have a downpour
-We eat rice, beans, and tortillas for pretty much every meal
-It is HOT and HUMID here…we are usually up in the 90's everyday
-Banana and coconut trees sway in the breeze in our yard and make a pretty spectacular place to sling a hammock
-There are big scary looking scorpions here and also some stealthy rats that pop out in the most inopportune moments (like when you are about to win a game of Dutch Blitz…when they pop out everyone's cards go flying hense no winner!)
-Nicaragua is home to several active volcanoes, one of these is right in our backyard!
The people of Nicaragua are incredible and I am so looking forward to the remainder of our time here with them.
