Last Week in Nicaragua

“Ometepe, tierra prometida
Ometepe, oasis de paz!”
[clap clap clap!]

That is the chorus from what seems to be the theme song for Ometepe Island, and one which the girls at Cicrin learned a traditional dance to. Ometepe – the “promised land” and an “oasis of peace” – seems pretty accurate to me. We left it a few days ago for our debrief here in the city of Jinotepe, but it will occupy a place in my heart for a while to come, I am certain.

 

You know, I’m starting to think that the best part of the World Race is also maybe the worst – the fact that we go to eleven countries in eleven months. What I mean by that is that yes, we are getting to see 11 different countries, cultures, and ministries, but sadly that also means having to LEAVE those same 11 ministries. It means we have the opportunity and the blessing to pour our hearts and lives into the people and children we meet and spend a month with…and it means we deal with heartbreak once every few weeks. This past Wednesday we left the Cicrin Orphanage and all those beautiful, wonderful, and occasionally-infuriating niños. As hard as it is for me though, I have to wonder…what do the kiddos think when we come into their lives for a few weeks and love them unconditionally, but then as quickly as we came, we leave again? Lord have mercy on all our hearts.

 

Before we left Cicrin though, we were able to have a couple awesome days there on the island. On Monday some of us hiked up one of the two volcanoes on the island, Maderas. There were seven of us plus five of the boys from the orphanage, and we were all incredibly excited because there is a LAKE inside the crater of the volcano!!! How mind-blowing is that!! (well, for me at least!) It was a four hour hike up the side of the volcano, and while it was definitely NOT an easy climb, it was beautiful and exhilarating! We were up in the clouds, the moisture in the air was palpable, and as we made our way up through the amazing jungle vegetation the monkeys yelled at us angrily! Awesome! Finally we made it down to the lake, which was not at all what I was expecting, but still incredible! It was so hard to believe I was actually standing inside the crater of a [now-inactive] volcano, with my feet in the water of the lake!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next day (our last day there) they had a big fiesta in our honor, and it was so fun! There was face painting (by the little girls), a piñata, and the kids put on quite a show for us! Afterwards they had ice cream and coke for everybody too! It was such a great way to spend our last night with the kids there, just having fun and being silly and loving on them some more.

 

 

 

The past few days here at debrief have been really good too, a time of relaxing and rejuvenating and just hanging out with the rest of my squad-mates! This really is such an amazing group of men and women, and I am so lucky to share this year with them. And man, let me tell you, the people here in leadership are true men and women of God! Holy cow! Our coaches Mike and Patti Paschall, and our squad leaders Sean and Andi have a vision and a love for us that is unmatched!