For month four on the race, my teammates and I have the pleasure of partnering with a ministry called Casa De Gozo in El Crucero, Nicaragua. It is essentially the coolest youth center ever. You see, our ministry host Mrs. Kaye was given a vision 10 years ago to provide a place for young people to come to know God and to experience the joy that only comes from Him. Originally from Texas, she dropped everything and moved to Nicaragua to answer the Holy Spirit’s call to action.
El Crucero is a very rural town about a half hour from the outskirts of Managua, Nicaragua (the country’s capital city.) It boasts beautifully lush rolling hills of green grass and wild flowers along with the most breathtaking sunsets. Casa De Gozo, stands out like a landmark with its large turquoise and white walls spanning the perimeter of the property. The doors of the house are always open welcoming the youth inside to play games, relax on the hammock, or play pick up fútbol in the yard.
As I write this post, my team has been at Casa De Gozo for less than 48 hours. One of my personal goals for this month was to hit the ground running with relationships in our new ministry. We only technically have seventeen days in this town before we head back to Granada for a debrief. When we have had four weeks at a ministry, it has taken half a week or more to get accustomed to the newness of each month and dive in with confidence. It’s a shame that the final week of each month has been when we really feel connected relationally to our ministry partners, only to leave soon after. Therefore, since we have even less time than normal at this location, my goal and prayer was to dive in deep right off the bat.
Diving in has looked like a couple of things. It has looked like joining in on a “Vida Joven” (international Young Life) club our first night, running around the yard getting sweaty with new little friends on girl’s day, daily Bible study with Kaye, and having sing alongs while we chip off all of the old paint in the building. There seems to always be something exciting going on around here, and I look forward to seeing how God uses our team in big ways despite a short time frame.
Over and out,
Julia
