This morning I went to sit out on the patio to catch up on the blog, but before I could get started Eliezel and Tyson came through the gate from their morning run (can you believe these guys?). The thought had just crossed my mind when Eliezel suggested we retrieve a coconut from the palm tree right in front of the house. So Tyson climbed up the tree and twisted off a large green coconut. Then Eliezel got a machete from the kitchen and began chipping away at the green shell encasing the fruit. Pretty soon the meat of the coconut was exposed and Eliezel made a nice hole so that we could pour out the coconut water. Coconut water has a very unique taste, not at all like sweet coconut milk, but a very natural semi-bitter flavor. After collecting all of the water, Eleizel took two whacks with the machete and split the coconut open. Because it was fresh off the tree and not very ripe the coconut meat was not very hard (according to Tyson it was like Jell-O) and thus was easily scooped out to eat. The whole experience was pretty thrilling for me! Could Central American get any better than this?
Each team had another hard and rewarding day of work. In the afternoon we went to a park in the same neighborhood we had the VBS in on Sunday to play baseball with the kids and show the JESUS film again. I had my first experience riding in the back of Eliezel’s truck on the way to the park, something that the jail project team has become very accustomed to. What an incredible way to see Jinotega! The view from the back of the truck and the breeze as Eliezel speeds down the dirt roads in town is so refreshing –much better than sitting in the van! We drove through what seemed like a very poor side of town and stopped at a corner to pick up over a dozen kids. Riding through the beautiful city of Jinotega in the back of Eliezel’s small pick up loaded down with smiling children has got to be the best ride of my life! In total there were over 20 kids and young adults piled on the back of the pickup (check one off the “Nicaragua Bingo” list!). Needless to say the bottom of the truck bed was dragging when we arrived at the baseball field park. At the park there were over forty kids eager to have us join them in a game of baseball. As most of our team took on the many kids in a game, a few of us were drawing pictures with the other kids. The teacher was definitely coming out in Amy as she would draw a picture, tell the kids what it was in English, and then ask what it was in Spanish.
Sitting in the grass watching the evening unfold I could not help but feel that this was what a young adult mission trip should look like—going with the flow, taking every opportunity to be with the people, moving beyond all of our differences and discovering what we all share. Seeing the smiles on the kids’ faces and hearing their laughter makes it evident that we all share in the ability to have joy and bring others joy. Smiles and laughs can transcend any language barrier. A young adult mission trip is seeing each member of our team willing to live in the moment of what God is calling us to do and moving in that freedom to just be who God created us to be.
Attempting to add to the blog, I was missing out on all of the fun, thus I put it down and was quickly welcomed by a group of girls. They were quite intrigued with teaching me a little more Spanish and giving me many beautiful drawings. From one drawing I learned that Jinotega is the “city of mist and green mountains”, a very true description of Jinotega. One of the kids told me “I love you,” something I am assuming that Amy had taught them to say. Then they taught me how to say “I love you” in Spanish, “te amo”. It was so much fun getting to love all of these kids! One boy, Nolan, was very happy and latched on to me. As we walked to the alley where we would show the JESUS film he held my hand and my jacket the entire way! I think that tonight the kids have taught me a lot of Spanish it was all that I spoke in for three hours! That does not mean it is good Spanish though…
In what I would have considered to be an alley, we showed the JESUS film to around a hundred kids and a few families. The kids that I was with were very happy to sit and watch the film, however other kids were very talkative and moving around during the film. Later we found out that for many of them it was not the first time they had seen the film. Afterwards the pastor spoke and Amanda lead the salvation prayer with a large group of kids! Awesome!
It was so hard to leave the kids that night. For starters it was difficult for Kenton to leave because so many kids were crowding around the van as we tried to drive away. More challenging though was dealing with the feelings of knowing that we would not have another chance to make a difference in the lives of these kids and wondering if it was enough to show them a film on the life of Jesus. In so many ways we just have to trust that God will provide for these kids and use the seeds that we planted tonight.
Ah meetings! So much fun! Janna begins with giving us devotions—short and sweet and to the point. Another great addition that Janna has made to our evening meetings is having us go around and share our high and low of the day. It is great to hear what everyone has to share about their day and how different things that they see are influencing them. It is incredible to see the unity of this group. Although we come from different backgrounds, are at different places in life, don’t all go to the same churches, and are working on different projects here, our hearts are all in the same place for our reasons of being in Jinotega. It has also been so awesome that we have all been getting along so well. There has been no drama on our trip and our relationships with each other are growing. After highs and lows, the project leaders, Tyson, Mike, and Zac, gave a recap of the project work for the day.
Tonight Tyson began by reporting how thankful he was for the “woman folk” that have been such a blessing in helping them at the hospital. Today part of the group entertained the kids and mothers with a puppet show in one room while the rest of the hospital group cleaned and painted in another room. Amy shared how she had painted a “deformed girl” on the wall, (oh Amy I’m sure that she looks great!). For the prison team, Mike reported that they had a productive day of scrubbing and painting walls inside of the jail and fixing broken cell doors. They brought meals for the prisoners again today. The prison team has been really blessed with guys from the church who are eager to help them and be a part of their project, and today they even received a lot of help from the guards as well. Zac gave a recap of the Celebrate Recovery project saying the team accomplished teaching the volunteers about the Celebrate Recovery elements of share groups and step studies. It was really encouraging for our team to talk to the pastor and discover how much he is behind this project with support.
After project recaps Kenton usually gives a short run down of what we are doing the next day and then Nikki shares some thoughts to help us process the trip. Tonight Nikki led us in a little discussion of what it would look like for us to be able to take some of the things we are doing here back home with us and finding ways to continue our work here when we go back home.
We then conclude our meetings, and our days, with prayer. We either pray as a large group or in individual project groups, but either way we are bringing our service to the Lord. It is one of the best parts of the day because we are communicating with the One who brought us here in the first place, and we are keeping our perspective eternal and personal. Something we are all really learning this week is the power of prayer in bringing us closer to Him, to each other, and to His purposes for us.
Overall meetings have become a very essential part of our trip. We have a moment to share with each other and support one another, get a little recap of the day and what to expect tomorrow, and have some time to pray and reflect on the trip and what God is doing in and through us.
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