Month 10 was a great month too. We continued working on our muscles and tans as well as our Spanish.
Country: Nicaragua
City: Palacuguina
Ministry: While in Nicaragua, we worked with Rey de Reyes church. Most of our ministry was manual labor. We dug trenches for a school, did construction on a new school, leveled ground for a bible school and helped with a church in the mountains. We also held youth group, played soccer with the youth, and cleaned the church.
Contact: Team Yebo worked with Pastor Leo and his family this month. They spoke very little English so we got to learn a lot of Spanish.
Living Arrangements: We expected to be tenting inside the church but Pastor Leo and his family invited us into their home to live with them for the month. They wanted a close more family like setting. It was tight with all of us but we enjoyed being close to the family.
Teams We Served With: Unveiled and Beloved were also serving with local churches in Palacuguina. About 2 days a week we would all work together on different construction projects.
Currency & Exchange Rate: Cordoba (25 Cordoba= 1 US dollar)
Language: Spanish
Off Day Fun: For being in such a small town last month, we ended up having some pretty fun off days. We had a blast “rafting” at the Somoto Canyon. We sled down Cerro Negro and spoiled ourselves with a night in a hotel.
Great Things From the Month:
-I absolutely loved the family we lived with. Anna loved to surprise us with American food and wanted us to learn Spanish so badly.
-We had a lot of downtime this month. We mainly did manual labor in the morning. It was nice to have the freedom to get Internet in the afternoons or rest.
-I loved being so close to Unveiled and Beloved and serving a few days a week with them. All of Redeeming DUST was in the same city this month so that was really fun too.
-I loved the little kids from church. I made friends with a girl day one and she sat with me every Sunday. I taught her English and she taught me Spanish.
Hard Things From the Month:
-The month seemed to drag by for some reason. I enjoyed it though.
-I ended my time in Nicaragua with Dengue Fever. It was awful but I had some pretty awesome people taking care of me. 4 of our 6 team members ended up getting it.
Memories:
-One Sunday afternoon I helped Anna and some of the girls from church make a piñata!
-Caitlin and I made frequent trips to see Jillian and Team Unveiled across town.
-I’ll never forget “rafting”. We walked in thinking we would be floating lazy river style and maybe cliff jumping. It ended up being crazy but I loved it.
-We helped at a church up in the mountains several times a week. While serving there, Pastor and Anna took us to do fun things like horseback riding and milking cows.
-I got to eat dinner with Angela while we were in Leon. She served about 20 minutes from Leon and was staying the night there too. It was so nice to get to catch up with her and hear how her month was going.
-I loved playing Chinese checkers and Rummy-O with Anna and Pastor Leo.
-Our first Sunday we got to go to baptisms in the river. It was so cool to see and be a part of.
-We spent a lot of evenings sitting around the kitchen table with Pastor and Anna sharing stories and laughing.
Lessons Learned:
-More self-discipline.
-Turn to God before people.
-Evaluate myself before pointing out flaws in others.
-Endurance.
-Don’t judge others.
My favorite part of last month was feeling such a part of Pastor Leo’s family. I loved them so much. Only 2 days until debrief. A week from tomorrow I Squad will be boarding the flight home and the world race will be over! Crazy. Check back tomorrow for a re-cap of what this month has looked like.
