Our GO Team consisted of 21 people. We took off from OHare airport toward Managua, Nicaragua last Thursday, January 12. There were 6 school age kids with us, 3rd through 7th grades. Before we were even out of the U.S. we get a call from our partner Chosen Children Ministries (CCM) that a storm last night knocked the power out at the base camp where we're staying. There was a little buzz among our group about what kind of experience would be ahead of us.
As it turned out, once we reached the base camp, power was back on, and only the rooms that housed 7 of the guys was without air conditioning. It wasn't stifling hot, and it was late when we got there, so the guys reported the next morning that they all survived the night. 😏
On Friday we set out to our first location, Square 91. Our bike team did not join us - they stayed behind this day to train 5 pastors, carefully and prayerfully hand-picked by Chosen Children's Ministries to learn how to repair bikes themselves. Their mission is to then return to their barrios, serve their community with their new skills, while using those opportunities to speak the gospel of Jesus. For the rest of us, it was a 25 minute drive to Square 91, extended by a lengthy stop at the Farmacia (pharmacy) so that the doctors could pick up medications locally which saved quite a bit on overall costs. When we arrived, both Jason and I agreed that our first impression was, "Wow. We are in the middle of nowhere." It's hard to describe. Here are a couple pictures to help visualize a little bit, taken right from where we were set up:
Medical care structure to the left, intense soccer game to the right.
Pato Pato Ganso
Craft/Teaching site
Here, our medical team treated 20+ patients, and we occupied the kids with crafts - bracelets that tell the gospel message, instant camera pictures with frames saying Jesus Me Ama [Jesus loves me] that they could decorate - and we taught a Bible lesson on creation that wraps up with the message of Jesus' forgiveness and love for us. Our kids ministry team also played pato-pato-ganso (duck duck goose) with them, and had some serious rounds of futbol (soccer). One of our most challenging issues was the wind - it was constant and not gentle. However, our time there was encouraging to the local folks, many getting treated for ailments that would have gone on to worsen otherwise, and the kids had an afternoon of fun and being loved on.
On day 2, the bike team and their trainees joined us. The second day of ministry took place not too far from our first, in the same region, called El Timal. This area had a little bit more of a neighborhood feel. There was a tienda (little store) next to our site, and you could see more than one house from where we were. As we unloaded the buses, we were greeted with kids holding signs of welcome - so sweet. This is one of Jason's most memorable moments. I wish I had a picture - if someone from the team has one, I'll update this post with one later on. The doctors/nurses saw over 50 people this day and the bike team repaired several bikes, so we were quite busy with kiddos. Though another windy day, we had the privilege of a shelter available for us to headquarter in, which was very helpful during craft and teaching times. We learned from day one that our "plan" for the day was merely a list of options to choose from, and that we'd likely be coming up with other ideas on the fly based on what our site provided in terms of space, and how many kids would be coming and going or sticking around. One of our team members got injured playing a running game with the kids, so our team rallied to fill in and we simply shifted our options to complete our day of crafts and teaching (same ones as previous day since these were different kids). Fellow team members also improvised during the sports and active outdoor games - setting up a target/throwing type game with an unusable bike tire and some rope.
Making loom band bracelets in colors of the gospel story
Setting up for a game
Tire target game. That was also our craft and teaching room for the day.
Each of the kids on our team had different Nicaraguan kids that gravitated toward them. This boy and Jason played together.
Playing tag around the garbage pit.
Sunday, day 3. It was an immense privilege to return to El Timal and join some of those brothers and sisters and visitors from the neighborhood at their church service. One of our doctors gave his testimony, and one of the guys helping with bike repair was invited to preach for the morning. Both emphasized that God orchestrates who we are, what our story and His involvement in it is, and that He alone is the one who satisfies us with Himself and His purposes for us (Eph 2:8-10). We were humbled to pray together for a man who came forward at the end of the service for prayer - he had trusted Jesus and His forgiveness and made a choice to live a life of following Him 7 months ago, but continued to struggle with alcohol addiction. He was experience obvious physical signs of withdrawl. With our prayer for God's help and the encouragement of the doctors, we trust that God will provide His strength and support in the community to be able to be free and live at peace with God and his family.
That afternoon was a continuation of medical care, bike and kids ministry, but as Jason noted, it was nice to see some of the same faces and have a sense of relationship with them.
Chicken coop
Cutie
Kiddos
Water well
We had some time on our fourth day to see some of Nicaragua's beauty - Lake Nicaragua and Lake Catherine - the latter is a lake in a volcano-created crater. We ate at a local corner restaurant -a buffet of traditional fare. Our team closed out the day debriefing our experience, sharing stories and the things that struck them about what God is doing in Nicaragua.
What are the highlights of the trip that are making an impact on us (Jason and I)?
For me (Andrea):
1. I am so humbled to have the privilege of getting a peek into God's heart for each person on this globe - to see how He works in the lives of His people to care for others, to see that He will not let a single heart crying out for Him be neglected. There is no single created child, man or woman that He does not know everything about. Including their heartaches, struggles, traumas as well as their hopes, their desires. These past few days have been spent as His hands and feet, assisting in the mission of our partner in Nicaragua, Chosen Children Ministries, to physically help to represent to each person that they are not forgotten by God, ever. No matter their past or their present circumstance - whether messy or peaceful.
This actually was magnified even more by a conversation I had with a gal on the plane on our last flight home yesterday. She'd heard another team member and I chatting about our Nicaragua experience a little, and then asked about it herself. It turns out, she is an attorney who is in the process (almost finished) of setting up an NGO (non government organization) in El Salvador (a country currently rampant with violence and corruption) for incarcerated women and the kids with them. She is a woman of persistent faith in Jesus and is bringing His love to women society wants to ignore. Our God forgets no-one. No circumstance of life dwindles His desire to forgive, heal, reconcile and bring joy.
2. It was special to have some good friends on this trip. Another mom and her son Jason's age. Jas and this buddy have been friends since age 5. Experiencing God in an unfamiliar setting together, and partnering together to serve will continue to strengthen our friendships and that sense of living life together.
3. Whether we return to Nicaragua or not is unknown to us at this point. Chosen Children Ministries provides ways for us to continue to partner with them even if we were to not go there in person again. They have different sponsorship programs that help to provide education to children whose parents cannot afford to send them to school - not because of school fees, but because they can't pay for uniforms, shoes and school supplies. You can check it out here: https://chosenchildrenministries.reachapp.co/
What this brings me to is this - having served in various capacities both here at home and in different countries, there is a consistency to the fact that when Jesus-followers care for children, serving them in the power of His Spirit and love, the parents of those kids are often then open to hearing about God's love and message for themselves. Any of you who are parents - you know the affinity you feel for someone who truly enjoys your kids, or who verbalizes with sincerity a strength they see your child. There is a sense of trust and safety in that which allows you to at least consider whatever else they have to say. And though I would describe our role with kids this past week as mostly supportive to our medical and bike teams so that they could physically serve the adults there without constant distraction, I am confident that it affected the hearts of parents, in favor of God's Kingdom, to see their children cared for, hugged, played with. And that's in addition to whatever God is doing in the hearts of the kids themselves to show THEM His love and tender care.
Jason's thoughts:
This year, Nicaragua was different. With our new partner we went to villages in the middle of nowhere but it had a great impact. This year I felt that god challenged me to be a light for him to those kids. I felt that we had a great impact on the people there and that these people will grow in Jesus because of it. We would all group up at points and share the word of god to these children and we were shining a light in a dark place that needed god. One of the kids, Louis, came back the second day and he was a good friend that I hoped was impacted by our group and the things we taught him. At home this compels me to want to share the word of god to friends at school and it gives me faith in god.
