The home stretch

Dec. 25-27, 2016

Team Nicaragua - Days 4, 5, 6 — Christmas Retreat and Beach Day

Merry Christmas (a few days late), I’m sorry it’s been a busy few days. 

Tonight our team sat down for some reflection over the past 3 days.  On Christmas, we hosted a retreat for 5 Nicaraguan families from Iglesia Nueva Jersusalem for one night and then today joined them on their church bus to travel to Pochomil Beach.  This is the beach where Jeff and Cesar (Jeff’s FCA surfing helper) conduct their FCA Surf Ministry, and it was great to see how these guys are ministering to the local kids that come out to learn about God and surfing. 

Wow!!  It was awesome to listen to everybody share this evening about their experiences over the past several days.  I think we all agreed that it was such a great opportunity for us to be able to reach out and share with these families; that were from a different culture, with different backgrounds, and that speak a different language.  We like to say that with God, all things are possible.  Over the past 3 days, we were able to break down those barriers and share some amazing times with these families that I think we can all now call our new extended Nicaraguan family.

We laughed together (a lot), we shared things about our faith and families, we played games, shared meals, among lots of other things.  We had a schedule of activities that kept everybody busy, and one of those was a game of pictionary.  We used a white board to draw on, and split up into 2 teams, guys vs girls. To say that it got loud and rowdy would be a spot on description; it was super cool to see the competitive nature between our guests as they all cheered each other on and laughed and harassed the other team, you would have thought it was a match for the pictionary championship.

 

I think one of the coolest things for us adults, we had about 20 adults and about 20 kids in total, was watching all of our children play together during free time. They had a chance to just be kids, leaving behind any expectations, and join together across that cultural boundary to run, swim, laugh, and interact in such a thrilling and carefree way.  Although we had several people that could interpret for us, the kids really didn’t need it all; their smiles and joy left no need for interpretation.  They also had time for a water balloon fight, and to take down a Santa Claus piñata.

I think the most powerful and expressive times that we shared was when we all came together as a group. We did this several times during our time together, and it was a great experience of giving and receiving among our group. Everybody was more than willing to share a story, share a scripture, share in song and worship, and really open themselves up in order for each of our families to delve a little bit into each others lives.  When you do this, sometimes you become vulnerable and can experience different emotions on many different levels. We also split up and had quiet time with our own personal families, and we agreed that we don’t do this often enough in our normal daily routines.

Our team girls (and Mammie) put a lot of effort into crafts for the ladies to do while they were here.  From cards, to “Dios es Amor” (God is Love) magnets, and picture frames (each family took home a family portrait), they all had a chance to sit down and share in some very creative time. And Frank and our super talented interpreter Rebecca, along with Nate Izzo on the hand drum, lead us in some awesome worship that we sang in Spanish. I truly enjoyed listening to the beautiful music as our new friends were not shy to praise their Lord by song, it really sounded great!

It was joy to have these folks take time out of their lives and be willing to come and spend a few days with people they didn’t know.  I’m sure it was a step out of their comfort zones, just as it was for us.  But in the end, friendships were built, relationships are blooming, and the Lord is given all the glory.  Amen.

We ended our 3 days of time together by a visit to the beach.  Jeff and Cesar go here usually once a week and minister to some local boys who come out to surf.  They use this time through FCA Surf to share the Gospel with these boys, and also build relationships with them, and our team lead the devotion today. I know that God has a plan for this ministry, and it was great to witness it in person today.  Again, our kids had a great time playing together, as well as the parents enjoying some quality family time.

So many memories were made for our families over the past several days, it was most certainly a genuine blessing for All of us.  There is just no way that I can include every story, or every experience that we have encountered on this trip, this blog is just a tool that will hopefully allow us to share some of what we are doing on our trip while in Nicaragua.  We really do hope that we get a chance to share our stories with each and every one of you.  What we have seen is just a testament of what God can and is doing, all around us, each and every day.  We just have to put ourselves into a position that we can receive his Gifts, see His blessings, and hear His callings. 

Please pray for our friends here in Nicaragua. I would love to share some of these prayers with you, let’s start with our friend Aldo.  He just finished high school and is in a math class studying to prepare for an entrance exam for university.  He has to pass this test in order to attend this school, he would like to study to become an engineer.  His test is in the beginning of January.

As for us, we have 2 more days here in Managua, and then we are traveling home.  Please keep us in prayer as we travel on Thursday.

Buenas Noches.