Well, we have been here in Nicaragua for almost three weeks. We have started to get into a rhythm as to what ministry looks like here. So far we have done some visitations to the following: english classes in some local schools, a nursing home, a hospital, a special needs school, etc. The team is really enjoying all of the ministry they are doing.
One of the main ministries we have though is just living life in our community. We are staying at a community center located near a couple barrios (Barrios are neighborhoods where most of the lower income families live. They are communities mostly consisting of metal siding shacks and other substandard living arrangements.). A normal day consists of us interacting with some of the youth from the barrios and the other neighborhoods around our community center. We have played soccer, basketball, and baseball with the youth and adults in the area. It is different knowing that we will be here for about 2 more months as opposed to the one month norm on the race. This time allows us to develop really strong relationships and be able to speak into some of the youth in the area. A lot of the kids and adults we interact with go to the church that is also located in the community center. It is really awesome just growing friendships and relationships that can be sustained and we get to know their needs so they can be met while we are here, and we have enough time to set up something to where their needs will be continually met after we leave.
We have really been having some great worship times as a squad. The team here is experiencing more freedom and liberty in their worship then I ever could have imagined them having after only being on the field for three weeks. We have had some really awesome encounters with the spirit, and a lot of them are exploring what it looks like to hear from the Lord and learning about their identity from the Lord instead of the world.
I got to preach yesterday afternoon in the church we are helping out with. I didn’t know who my translator was going to be until I walked up front to go to preach. A girl came to church just to attend, but she was asked to translate for me. She did really well, especially for not knowing that she was going to be translating. I preached on the spirit of adoption from Galatians 4:4-7. Pretty good stuff that I am still working through in my life.
Well I guess that’s about it for now. I have a vision of making a movie about the hospital visitations, because our team has experienced a lot of healings take place there. I don’t know what the footage will consist of. We are going to visit the hospital today, so hopefully I can get some footage when we go.
