Today we started lending a hand to the people of Nicaragua. It was such a wonderful day filled with many exciting tasks. We split our group of 81 students and 17 leaders into two teams with one team comprised of the entire senior class with the sophomore girls and the other team the entire junior class with the sophomore guys.
The Seniors and Sophomore girls went to Nueva Vida this morning lend a hand in serving the children lunch. Nueva Vida is a hurricane refugee camp where people were displaced to following a hurricane in the late 1990's. It is a place where God really shows himself daily. There are 5 food distribution centers that a local church operates to feed the hungry children of the camp. Our group was turned into waiters and waitresses for this day and helped meet each and every child's needs as they served them their food. After eating lunch themselves, our group played with several of the kids from the refugee camp at the local church that hosted this morning's events. After leaving the camp, the group came back to Casa and packed up all 450 "School Pax" that our church so graciously donated. We can not thank you enough, again, for these donations as they are such a worthy cause. We are very excited about the upcoming distribution of the "School Pax" to the local children.
The Juniors and Sophomore guys had a very busy, but fulfilling day. This group was separated into three groups so that we could multi-task things that needed to be done. One group helped organize the storage center where all of the donations go. They were able to separate the clothes into different categories in the storage center so that it is much easier to pinpoint exactly what is needed when entering. This will help if a child tears his or her pants or shirt and another one is needed, and they are quickly able to locate exactly where that item is. Another group helped finish painting the computer lab where there had been some lead paint on the walls. We were able to clean it up and really make the room look nice. Greg Mills highlighted the day after painting the ceiling and coming back with paint all over himself; very funny. The last group went into VeraCruz and to the local church to help dig the foundation for the new Sunday School rooms they are planning to install in the back of the church. Also, we started setting up the re-bar that will help stabilize the walls of these new classrooms. Some of the group then went into the city and visited with the families and had a great time playing with the children in the city. It was very hot outside today and we were making sure that each person was staying properly hydrated. All in all, these three groups worked very hard.
Today was such a great day. Many wonderful things were accomplished, and through it all there was no denying the presence of Jesus in all that we did. We ask for your continued prayers as we complete this wonderful journey God has led us all on. We will be back tomorrow night for another update, but until then, God bless!
