I first want to apologize to my family, friends, and supporters for not updating you on my life during this journey. There is no reason for it.
Let’s start from the beginning…
Quiche, Guatemala
Month 1
Casa De Mi Padre Orphanage
What an awesome month! Before we even arrived to our location, God had his hand of protection on us. While driving through a neighboring town on the way to Quiche our bus got stopped for a few hours and at first we really didn’t know why. It turned out one half mile ahead of us there was a landslide and a portion of the road was cast into the valley below us taking a truck with a family inside of it along with it. It was a sad rainy night, but I am thankful that had my team been 10 minutes earlier, it could have been us.
After arriving to our host location, everyone got their ministry assignment. My team and I were going to be at Casa De Mi Padre Orphanage! We all were ecstatic! In the mornings we would work around the orphanage doing things such as painting, cleaning and small construction projects, but every day at 12 p.m. there was a beep of a horn outside the gates – THE KIDS WERE HOME FROM SCHOOL! They piled off the van and rushed to give each of us a hug and kiss. They filled my heart with such love and joy! For the next three hours we played soccer, uno, got our nails painted, and just loved on the kids. Most of them came from abusive homes but are now well taken care of. It was a blessing to serve at the orphanage. If you wish to read more about the ministry there click here: http://savingkids.net/?page_id=7
Ometepe, Nicaragua
Month 2
CICRIN Orphanage
What an exhausting month. Life on an island…sounds dreamy, but we lived in seclusion, worked in scorching heat, and saw many people with closed hearts. This orphanage had a different atmosphere from the last one. The young children were welcoming but the teenagers had a wall of defense up and they didn’t want to let any one of us in. These kids came from abusive families or from families that couldn’t take care of them.
This month we worked side by side with team BFF. Every morning we were tasked with different duties such as gardening, construction projects, teaching in the school, cleaning the kitchen, and sweeping “main street” (main walkway in front of the dorms). I worked in the garden and on a few small construction projects while there. The sun beat down on me every day and it was very tiring. The first thing I planted was corn. Once the ground was ready to plant, I walked along the rows, dropped seeds in the ground, and kicked the dirt over them with my foot. Who knew planting could be so easy and fun!
Now back to the kids. Every day we had a scheduled activity with them. Monday and Friday were park days, Tuesday was swimming, Wednesday was one on ones and Thursday was game day and youth night. We spent a lot of fun times with the kids but this month we really focused on getting to know the teens. Though they appeared to have a tough exterior, we were slowly chipping away at their self-built walls. There was one night where Jimmy and Darrel were outside of our dorm playing marching band drums, so Crystal and I went out to join them. It was difficult trying to learn but we all had a great time! By then end of the month, our host told us we were the first group to ever connect with the teens! Never give up on the one who pushes you away. Everyone deserves to be loved. To find out more about CICRIN, click here: http://www.cicrinus.org/
Jaco, Costa Rica
Month 3
Christian Surfers Costa Rica
Jaco – a top destination to surf, but hidden behind this façade is prostitution, sex, and drugs. This month, ministry was very different for our team. Everything we did at the beginning was in preparation for the big fundraiser event at the end of the month. The vision for the fundraiser was to raise money for kitchen supplies to open a cooking school for women who exit rehab and enter society again after being prostituted. This gives them an opportunity to learn a skill, manage money and get themselves back on their feet. Often times woman are being prostituted against their own will. In Jaco, parents even sold their children to help get money for the family. It was a horrifying thought to think. I had not seen any of that while in Jaco, but two girls from Team Real Love were out walking and saw just that! The missionary team there is working diligently to turn Jaco around for the good.
Every morning we would comb the beach for sea glass, sea beans and drift wood. In the afternoon we would plant, trim and clean the property we were lived. I had the opportunity to use my jewelry making skills this month. I made sea glass ornaments and sea glass jewelry. The teams also put together drift wood trees and painted signs on drift wood to be sold at the fundraiser event. The last week of the month was crazy busy! The teams put together programs, menus, planned and executed all the décor for the event, and others prepped the food the day before. The event was a great success! We laid the foundation for the next phase of the ministry. Check out Ocean’s Edge Cooking School on Trip Advisor.
