Team Has Arrived

The team's plane just touched down in D.C.  around 10:50pm.  Everyone is safe and healthy.  Thank you to all the faithful blog readers for your prayers for this trip and the team.

It will take some time for the team to clear customs and then many of them will head back to Williamsburg while others stay in Northern Virginia for the remaining day of spring break. 

The estimated arrival time back at the Williamsburg Community Chapel is 3am.

Team Arrival Info

The team has had an amazing trip to Nicaragua.  They are currently debriefing their experience on the grounds of the Casa Bernabe orphanage.  The debrief serves to provide an opportunity for team members to reflect on their experience in Nicaragua and cement the lessons they learned into their hearts and minds.

The WCC College Mission's team will arrive back in the United States at Washington's Dulles airport around 11pm Saturday night.  

Growing Relationships and a Day of LIGHT

Wednesday's attempts to give the orphanage workers a rest by hosting a vacation bible school for the kids, making them dinner, and tucking them into bed were a huge success. Both the children and the orphanage workers felt cared for, while the spring break team got a small glimpse of what it must be like to care for these children day in and day out as the dedicated staff does.

On Thursday morning, the team finished up their work project at the orphanage, creating a wonderful retaining wall to keep the orphanage buildings nice and dry. In the afternoon, the group spent more time with the students at the orphanage, playing games like tag and volleyball, as well as making crafts together. One huge theme that is emerging from this week is just the simple joy of giving hope and building relationships with all the children and staff at the Casa Bernabe Orphanage.

Today (Friday), the group plans to go into the little town of Vera Cruz and spend some time with the local people there. The rest of the day will be spent at La Chureca, the city dump, enjoying the "Day of Light" with the people who live there. "Day of Light" is a concert put on IN the dump to give hope to its residents. In years past, this has been a huge highlight of the trip, and the team is excited to return for such a meaningful event and to build relationships with the people who live in La Chureca.
In the evening, the team plans to return to the orphanage to throw a goodbye party with all the kids and to celebrate the fun they've had and the relationships that have been grown all week. After the party, the team will spend time de-briefing as a group, discussing their experiences and reflecting on all that God has done IN and THROUGH them.

The team is scheduled to depart tomorrow (Saturday), and we will update the blog once again when they land (which should be around 11pm) in DC. The entire group would like to thank you for all of your support and prayers. Continue to pray for these final days, that God would meet them in a big way, and for safe travels as they return home.

Work Projects, Parties, and Compassion

The college spring break mission team has already done so much in such a short amount of time! On Tuesday, team members continued their work project at the orphanage in the morning. Later in the day, the group threw a party at Verbo Church for prostitute women and their children, feeding and loving dozens of people. In the evening, the team returned to the orphanage to play and spend time with the kids there.

Today (Wednesday) has been called the Day of Compassion. In order to sympathize with the lives of many Nicaraguan people, the team has been eating a simple diet of rice and beans for all their daily meals. The group also split up into smaller units to take part in an activity at the marketplace. For the activity, each "family" unit was given only a small amount of money and several different scenarios for what food and goods they could purchase to care for their "family." Everyone on the team also participated in a food distribution, delivering the food purchased at the market to local families in need. Tonight, our spring break crew will be taking care of all the kids at the orphanage and running a youth program there, which will allow the dedicated orphanage workers to enjoy an evening off to rest easy, knowing that the children are well cared for.

The team thanks you for your prayers and asks that you continue to pray for supernatural energy and love as they embark on the last few days of the trip.

Update on First Two Days

What an action-filled few days it has been! The team has done a really great job entering the world of the Nicaraguan kids and really building relationships with them and with each other. On Sunday, the team, along with the kids from the orphanage, attended a great service at Verbo Church. After church, our college kids and the orphans got to hang out together and build their own teddy bears! The group's work project for the next few days will be to build a retention wall outside of the orphanage rooms to keep water out. When we spoke to the team last night, they were having fun hanging out by Lake Nicaragua. Continue to pray for the relationships that are growing and for success for the work project!

ALL team members have arrived

Since there were multiple flights and several team members coming from different locations, we just wanted to clarify that ALL members of the team have arrived safely and that they are all together now at the Orphanage. Continue to pray that there week goes well, that they stay safe and healthy, and that their relationships with each other and with the Nicaraguan people are strengthened.

Safe Arrival

The WCC College Spring Break Mission Team has arrived safely in Nicaragua and has settled in to Casa Bernabe. They are all feeling well and are excited to get started with the week's activities. More updates to come soon.