Hola de
Nicaragua! (Hi from Nicaragua)
Senior Group 1
& 2
Senior Group 1 (Craig, Dante & Tim’s small group,
Christa’s small group)
Senior Group 2 (Alexis, Steven & Andrew’s small group,
Christine’s small group)
The
senior groups had the opportunity to come together this Sunday morning and
worship in Leon. They attended the church that is connected to the feeding
center that our Chapel family sponsors. It was a beautiful experience to see
the ways in which God transcends language barriers and how all people, of all
nations, praise Him. Pastor Jose gave the morning message with a strong focus
in Ephesians 3. As Pastor Jose described the necessity for unity in one body
and in one mind, it reminded the team of the importance of spelling JESUS in
all capital letters and remembering that all people are united under Him. The
seniors also had the privilege to go to another one of the churches that Pastor
Jose leads in the Posoltega community. After experiencing a second church
service, the team was excited to tour the community of Posoltega and view a
little bit of what the people of the community do on a daily basis. As they
took a walk around the Posoltega community, they visited a baseball game and were
able to witness a community engaging in a fun activity that brought them all
together. Before porch time, senior group 1 left Leon and traveled back to Casa
Bernabe, where they would be serving for the remainder of their stay in
Managua. Senior group 2 stayed in Leon and one of the ORPHANetwork translators
was thankful to give the porch-time talk as she shared more about her testimony
and her life as a citizen of Nicaragua. Both senior groups enjoyed extended
small group time in the evening. Today was a marvelous example of God’s omnipresence
in this world and how people of all cultures and different languages can
worship the same God.
Junior Group
The
junior group departed for a morning at the same church in Leon that the seniors
had been serving at. The juniors were thankful to worship together with both senior
groups and alongside the Leon community. They also felt connected through the
message that was spoken about being united in Christ and how all truth is in
God’s word. After spending lunch and a few hours playing with niños, the junior
team continued their travels to a community called Somoto. Somoto is in the
Northernmost part of Nicaragua and this is the first time that a group from the
Chapel has visited this community. The juniors will be engaging with the local
church initiative that feeds hungry niños and shared the love of God. The team
was thankful for the opportunity to continue to serve in a variety of
communities throughout Nicaragua. The junior group ate dinner and had
porch-time, where their ORPHANetwork leader shared their testimony and told the
group about different ways that they can stay involved in the lives of the
niños when they return to Williamsburg. It was exciting for the junior group to
see God work among the multiple communities that they were blessed to visit.
Sophomore Group
The sophomore group spent their
Sunday getting one final day with the niños at the El Canyon orphanage. The team joined the niños for their
Sunday morning service at the church right across the street from the
orphanage. Students from the
orphanage led the entire congregation in worship songs, which was such a
beautiful picture of the holistic goals of the orphanage to not only provide
for the niños physical needs but their spiritual needs as well. The church provided a translator for
the team so that they could learn from the morning message of the pastor, which
was a huge gift. The pastor gave a
wonderful message that spoke to the responsibilities of both the Nicaraguans
and Americans for the world. After
church the team ate lunch with the niños and then everyone gathered for a fun
and competitive volleyball tournament.
The sophomore team had brought a volleyball net from Williamsburg
because the El Canyon net had ripped and so it was exciting to see the
immediate fruit of the gift. One
of the most powerful moments for the team was when the niños came out to play
volleyball dressed in Jamestown High School jerseys that had been brought down
the previous year. The jerseys not
only provided matching uniforms, but also provided a clear sense of self-worth
that would have been absent without them.
This was the final time that the sophomore team was going to see the El
Canyon orphanage and so leaving was a mix of sadness from the separation and
hope as the team knew that God was in control.
Porch Time
Every
group had an ORPHANetwork leader give their testimony and share about the
mission of ORPHANetwork. Following their testimony, each team split into their
small groups for an extended period of time to process their experiences so
far. One of the Chapel’s beliefs is “A short-term mission trip not examined is
a short-term mission trip not worth taking.” The extended small group time is
vital to help soften our hearts and open our minds to the work that the Lord is
doing.
Reminder: There
will be a Prayer Night for the Nicaragua team in Moog hall, next Tuesday, June
25th at 7:30 p.m.
