Monday was an amazing day. The team split into three groups as we set out to serve the poorest of the poor here in Nicaragua. Here is what each team accomplished through their service. We built a wall at a church in the local village of Veracruz which will help fence in a play area they are preparing for their Children's ministry. The play area will serve as an evangelistic tool for the church. Neighbors inviting neighbors to church can assure their friends that the church really wants to minister to their whole family.
As we built the wall many people from the community came out to help us. This gave the team the chance to continue to engage in the lives of people living in Nicaragua as they walked for one day in the shoes of some of Nicaragua's poorest people.
Another group went to the Managua city dump to serve the families that call the dump home because their livelihood revolves around scavenging for recyclables and valuables in the trash. The people living in the dump are subject to deplorable conditions. Their houses are often not water proof and the rainy season is just beginning here in Nicaragua. The team, armed with plastic tarps and nails, began water proofing the house for the upcoming season of storms. Their work for these families living in such desperate conditions was amazing and beautiful. God's light seemed to shine a little brighter in the dump as our team reflected Jesus' light to the families they were serving.
The final group went to a hurricane refuge camp call Nueva Vida. The camp lies just outside Managua and serves as a make shift Village for the tens of thousands of people who lost their homes when Hurricane Mitch struck Nicaragua. At the camp the team participated in a feeding program which serves lunch to 350 kids Monday through Friday. The team was exposed to the commitment necessary in order to help people who live in such terrible conditions. The kids that participate in the program come from very poor families who do not have the means to feed their own children on a regular basis. The team's presence offered hope to the pastor who struggles to maintain the feeding regiment.
The day ended with our Porch Time. This allowed kids the time needed to process through all they had learned and experienced during the day.
Tuesday has been a great day as well. I will write Tuesday's update when we finish our time with the orphans and head to the debrief site. Thank you for your prayers.
More to come...
