Serving Group 1 (All Seniors: Led by Craig) took kids from Nueva Vida to the zoo in the morning. This outing gave the group another great shared experience and allowed our Senior team to continue loving the kids whom they have been serving lunch to at the feeding centers. These children rarely get to leave the neighborhoods where they live, so the opportunity to see live animals at the zoo was a special treat for them. After eating lunch back at the Casa Bernabe orphanage, the group embarked on their "Senior Experience," an overnight excursion that allows our new high school graduates to reflect deeply on their experiences in Nicaragua and how to apply these lessons in the next stage of life. This year's seniors will be serving another church partner in the region of Leon. Tonight they took the church's pastor out to eat, which gave them an opportunity to hear his story and the vision God has placed on his heart for that community. For the past two years, the Senior Experience has been a tremendous highlight for our oldest serving group, and we know that God is going to continue to show up (as He already has) to make this year no exception.
Serving Group 2 (Quinn/Dante's Junior Boys Small Group, Lindsey's Junior Girls Small Group, All Sophomore Girls: Led by Luke) started off their day by jumping in the pool together with around 60 kids from the Casa Bernabe orphanage. The team played water games and helped the small children increase their confidence in swimming as the joyful exchange continued between the orphans and your children. After a tasty lunch back at the Team Center, the group headed out to Chiquilistagua sports complex to rendevous with the children from the Ciudad Sandino community. As soon as the group arrived at the sports complex, the Nicaraguan kids ran towards us screaming with excitement. It was very obvious that God had begun to create a strong bond of friendship and love between these two groups of people who come from very different worlds. In addition to games like soccer, basketball, and tag, the Nicaraguans got the special treat of dousing some of the Americans in an epic water balloon relay. Group 2 continues to relish the wonderful opportunity to be able to focus their love and attention on these two groups of children: orphans at Casa Bernabe and the extremely poor kids in Ciudad Sandino.
Serving Group 3 (Watt's Junior Boys Small Group, Christine's Junior Girls Small Group, All Sophomore Boys: Led by Lex) had an incredible adventure as they picked up the orphans from El Canyon and headed to the beach for a day of fun in the sun! Most of the Nicaraguan children do not know how to swim, so the team had to stay focused on not just providing good times, but also on keeping the kids safe in the ocean. Your children rose to the challenge and did a wonderful job serving as care takers for their Nicaraguan brothers and sisters in Christ. True bonds of friendship are being formed between Lex's serving group and the children at the El Canyon Orphanage which can only be explained by the power of the resurrected Christ. After a full day at the beach, Group 3 returned to the team center, tired but filled with joy from the day's experiences.
Instead of our normal Porch Time at Casa Bernabe, each serving group stayed at their individual housing sites to provide plenty of time for small group discussion this evening. All small groups were given a chance to have their own time of processing everything that has happened so far on the trip. After small group time, many leaders talked about the incredible responses your children had to some tough questions and the encouragement it was to see high school students take serving God and getting to know Him better so seriously in their lives. It truly has been a day filled to the brim with people putting themselves between God's love and the hurt of the world to be conduits of His grace and mercy. It's hard to believe we only have two and a half more days of serving before we head to our debrief site! Please continue to pray for safety, for relationships, and for God to cement these lessons into our hearts.
¡Dios te bendiga!
The SM Staff Team
