We've only been down here for three days and already it's incredible to see the many ways in which God has shown up.
Today the sophomore group served in two different locations. Half the 10th grade team (Steven, Andrew, and Mark's guys plus Christine's girls) spent the day at the El Canyon Orphanage. In the morning, the ladies began painting the inside of the boys' dormitory, while the guys moved furniture and assembled several bunk beds in the facility's brand new dorm. After getting the new rooms in order, some of the guys assisted in completing the painting project, while others played basketball with a few kids from the orphanage. After lunch at the site, the group took a tour of the local village, and returned to the orphanage to play with some of the kids after they got out of school. Meanwhile, the second half of the sophomores (Quinn and John Mark's guys and Lindsey's girls) returned to a church in the refugee community of Nueva Vida to assist with a feeding center, complete a few work projects (such as sanding rust off of bed frames), and host a VBS for tons of kids. Today's VBS topic was about kindness and giving, and the team (along with the Nicaraguan children) made bracelets to give to others to illustrate the concept. After serving all day, the sophomores all returned to their housing sites to clean up, before coming together again for a delicious meal at Pastor Ricardo's house.
The junior class had another exciting day (without even stepping foot outside the Casa Bernabe Orphanage walls!). In the morning, the juniors completed several work projects around the orphanage grounds, including deep cleaning the entire kitchen area. After morning projects, the juniors taught English classes for the students at Casa Bernabe. Knowing English is a huge indicator of success for people in Nicaragua, so we are praying that their efforts to help these kids grow in their language skills will help give them a bright future. In the early evening, the juniors also led a devotional for the kids at Casa.
The senior class's day was filled with adventure. They began the day at Nueva Vida, helping at a local church and preparing to serve food at the lunch-time feeding center. After serving all the children and grabbing a quick bite to eat, the seniors got to take a group of kids from that community on an incredible field trip to the zoo! Amazing animals were seen and, more importantly, loving relationships were developed between our team members and the kids from Nueva Vida. The seniors returned to Casa to have dinner with the junior class.
To end the evening, the sophomore class joined the juniors and seniors at Casa Bernabe for a joint porch time. It was an incredible sight to see more than 120 people joined in a circle under the rancho, preparing to worship God and hear a message from his Word. After some funny memories from our "remember that time . . ." portion of the evening (a way for us to share all the comical moments that might have occurred during the day at the various locations), and a great round of "I saw Jesus . . ." (a more serious time for us to share moments from our days where we encountered the risen Savior), we had a meaningful time of worship, singing praises to God for all He's already done and will continue to do. Finally, Craig brought us a message from the book of James, and urged us to already be thinking about how we can apply some of the lessons we're learning down here to our lives back home. After some fun hang out time all together, the sophomores headed back to their housing sites, and everyone prepared to get some rest in preparation for another full day of serving tomorrow. Even with such a large team, logistics continue to run smoothly. We thank you all for your prayer support, and continue to solicit your prayers for sustained health, safety, and relationship building (with each other, with the Nicaraguan kids/people, and with Jesus Christ).
