You guys, I totally fell in love with Nicaragua. Every now and then on the race, you come across a culture, a ministry, or a town that for whatever reason captures your heart. There may not even be a reason. It may just be the purely simplistic way of living that you experience in the short month you are there. It may be the way it smells after it rains, or the food cooked over fire in the evening. It may be the way the stars are big and brilliant against the blackness of the rest of the world. For me, Palacaguina, Nicaragua is a new home. It is a place where, I swear, resides the Hidden Valley of Ranch dressing or something. I have never seen mountains more beautiful in my entire life. When it rains, you can see it coming for miles and miles in the distance, making the green and yellow shades turn in the soft mist. The coke is only 35 cents, and the mangos are fresh and perfect. At night, everyone goes out into the town on their bikes to visit, watch soccer games or walk in the park.
This past month, my team stayed with a local pastor named Leo and his beautiful wife Ana. They had two teenagers named little Leo and Estrelita. Now usually, we would have tented in the church, but Pastor was adamant that we stay in the house with them in order to feel more “normal”. This made a huge difference. Yes, we were all in each other’s space, but it forced intimacy, and ultimately, friendship.
There was only one problem…no one spoke English.
This month was awesome and challenging when it came to communication. We take communication with others for granted all the time, and in a place like this you learn to appreciate it even more. Needless to say, we all picked up Spanish pretty quickly but I definitely would say the Lord opened our minds and gave all of us understanding and patience for this (small) set back…
We did a wide variety of things thins month for our ministry. We did A LOT of manual labor in the first two weeks, but it was nice to be working alongside two other isquad teams who were also placed with neighboring churches this month. We helped build a school in a community who had lost several children over the past year as they walked alongside the highway to a much further school. All of the children who were killed by the passing cars were not even five.
Later in the month, we helped around our church, picking up trash and leveling the dirt in the back to prepare for an additional building. My team, “YEBO” has a joke now that since we are always placed in a place with manual labor, we are now “LABO”. Clever, I know. We also had the opportunity to work with a church group from Pennsylvania. We visited several villages and were able to have fun, perform dances and skits, pass out candy, and most importantly share the gospel with them.
I fell in love with the people of Nicaragua. I fell in love with the language. I love the way everyone kisses me on the cheek when they say hello, or goodbye. I love that kids are content to play soccer and drink cola and just enjoy the presence of each other’s company. I love the passion. I love the colors. I even love the rain that comes every afternoon. I love the boys of the youth group and the fact they call themselves “Los Chicos Sexys” in a certain juvenile way, yet are unashamed and unafraid to preach the gospel as if they were 50 years old. I am so thankful for this small blessing I received last month by serving there, and tonight I send all my love and prayers and “I miss you’s” to the people who live deep in the mountains of Palacuguina, Nicaragua.
(Above: Some of the Los Chicos Sexys haha)
(Below: Beautiful Mountains of Palacaguina)
