1 plant, 1 pound
1 child, 1 day
Looking at all the ministry sites L-squad is serving at this month, I can honestly say that FIRE STARTERS has the coolest ministry. We are working at Vida Joven (Young Life Camp) in the middle of no where!! Coming into the race I would have told you, hands down my favorite ministry would be the months of orphanage work (and secretly I prayed every month would be at an orphanage). When we found out our ministry for the month I was excited, but at the same time I was bummed because we wouldn't be working with kids.
The camp is in the mountains, and has some of the most amazing views I've ever seen. We are literally in the middle of nowhere. The closest town is 3k walk and an hour bus ride away. And it is WONDERFUL!! We have been at our ministry site for 3 working days so far and it has been the BEST, hardest, longest days of the race yet!!
On Tuesday we planted 180 coffee plants!! It was the first day that our team has worked side by side since the race started. It was great…we laughed, joked, and accomplished so much!
On Wednesday morning we dug up 85 dead coffee plants and replanted new ones in their place. At one point I was picking some weeds around one of the plants when William (the Young Life employee we are working with) stabbed something with his shovel. I stood up quickly only to see a snake about 3 feet from where I was. I screamed and ran in the opposite direction!!! (I HATE SNAKES!!) After lunch we painted the top of fence posts with black oil to protect them against the rain. Oh and did I mention that the posts went straight up the side of a mountain?!?!? We were absolutely exhausted but as we turned around to head back down the mountain our view was breath taking!! Completely worth the climb and the work! We took a break at the top and just take it all in! After painting the posts we were trusted with MACHETES!!!!, and we began weeding around the coffee plants.
On Thursday they once again trusted us with the machetes to finish weeding the field we started on Wednesday!! At one point we were completely unchaperoned as we worked; we figured 1) they were crazy for trusting us with machetes to begin with and 2) they either trusted us or had completely lost their minds for leaving us unchaperoned with their fragile coffee plants!! After lunch we got to play with worms! We built 3 new boxes for compost, and moved compost into the boxes. That was probably the most disgusting thing I have ever done!!
As I was shoveling worms and dirt and only God knows what else, I was amazed at the joy in my heart while doing this job. Never in a million years would I enjoy shoveling smelly garbage and worms in the states, but that's the sense of humor of God. Before coming on the race I prayed that God would help me to always choose joy in whatever I was doing. No matter what the job assigned to me was, I just prayed that I would shine God's love and His joy to people working around me and those who would be affected by what I was doing. I'm not sure how many people I have affected in the past 3 months if any, but it has done wonders for my attitude and outlook on life.
The coffee plants take 5 years to produce a harvest from the time they are planted. 1lb of coffee will send 1 child to camp for 1 day. The children that come to camp have never heard the gospel, and never heard there is a God who created them and knows them by name!! If you are a coffee drinker (I think the whole world is except for me) please visit their website and consider ordering some coffee!!
http://beyondbeanscoffee.com/young-life
One of the coolest parts about the camp…there is ALONE time!! There are acres and acres in which to have a quiet time with God, to just get away from the team for some peace and quiet, and just go on a walk by yourself!!! It is possible to get away from it all….IF you are on a Young Life campus!
Nicaragua is the second poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. The children that come to camp are the poorest of the poor in the country. They've never seen indoor plumbing, most of them do not receive 3 meals a day to eat, and don't receive the love and attention they long for and deserve.
I can't wait to see what the rest of the month holds. God has huge things in store for Vida Joven, and for Fire Starters this month!! What a mighty God we serve!!
