Hello again Western Hemisphere!
For the past 3 weeks, I’ve been in a charming little town called Chichigalpa, Nicaragua. We’ve been working with an organization called VIsion Nicaragua and have been so blessed to live at their facilities, which are settled right at the base of an active volcano! Our Nicaraguan home really showcases the peace and beauty of our Lord so evidently:
We’ve been involved in a bunch of different things since we first arrived. For the first few days, we painted a church nearby and got to know the children of that village. I’ve gotten to practice spanish a lot and it’s been fun! We worked with an organization called Amigos for Christ for a few days which provides business opportunities and homes to people who lost everything in the devastation of Hurricane Mitch. We got to help them by digging waist-high ditches and laying pipes to provide clean running water to a village called El Chunko.
We also got to help hand out bags of beans and rice to families who are in need of food (and toys to the kids!). For a day we worked at a medical clinic, where I took kids temperatures. It was fun trying to make spanish small talk as the thermometer sat under their armpit. We visited two different special needs schools and got to have dance parties with the kids!
And for the past few days, we’ve been going to Candelaria, another nearby village, to help out an organization called Newsong. They’ve got an awesome ministry going there with a dental clinic, Bible studies, a dance team. We got to watch the dance team practice for a performance they’re doing tomorrow. This ministry resonated with my spirit so much… what an impact something can have on an entire village to really help build community. While the dance team is fun and entertaining, it’s also bringing the people together and lifting up the name of Jesus. I have such a desire to see that happen in our cities and towns back home.
Luckily there are swings almost everywhere we went, so I got to find rest in doing one of my favorite things – swing! We have two awesome hammocks set up where we live and those are delightful. I’m actually sitting in one right now as I type this 🙂
It was neat to be able to stick our feet in so many different things this month. It really made the time seem to fly by here and it’s hard to believe we’re about to begin in our second to last country. I have so many thoughts to share before the race is over… about this journey, about Jesus, about life.
Today we are busing to El Salvador! My team will be in San Salvador, the captiol. I’m not sure what we’ll be doing there yet, but I’ll keep you posted!
