Que tal, amigos y familia!? (How's it going friends and family?) Sadly, today was our last day in Leon. We began our morning by touring the Basilica Catedral de la Asuncion, which is the oldest church in Nicaragua, founded in 1747. It was really cool to be able to walk about the streets of Leon and tour the church!
We then headed over to Verbo Leon for the last time. We sat in a circle with some pregnant women and teenagers from the church and encouraged them with a seminar about our worth as children of God and the beauty inside of each of us, despite what we may think sometimes. In accordance with Ephesians 2:10, the women then created works of art by painting picture frames and making beaded bracelets because God made us all His masterpieces. During the seminar, Gena and Mackenzie were holding infants so the mothers could have some space. Heather also encouraged a sweet 17 year old named Carla and they spoke about pregnancy.
After lunch, the children who attended the nutrition seminar yesterday attended a "graduation" in which they all excitedly received t-shirts and refreshments. All the boys were very excited to take pictures with Jerome and Dewey. Next, we all spent our last hour with the kids by playing games and running around with them. At one point, Tommy was chasing about 20 kids around the church! Evan was surrounded by little boys whom he picked up as they laughed hysterically while he tickled them. Kristina's little buddy, Gabriella, was very sad for her to leave, but was comforted by a note Kristina gave her, along with her cross necklace. Right before we had to leave, all of the children played Red Rover with the gringos which was a perfect way to end our time with the kids- everyone together and laughing.
It was sad to tell the children that we don't know when we'll see each other again, but I hope we've impacted their lives as much as they've impacted our lives. Tomorrow, we'll be heading back to Managua and visiting a larger feeding center with the other college teams (JMU, Virginia Tech, UVA).
Thanks for checking our our blog site and following along with the mission trip. Please continue to be praying for our team, the pregnant women we met today, and the children at Verbo Leon church! Adios!
