After breakfast, the two serving groups split up again and
headed out to their Local Church Initiative partners for another great day of
serving. Once again, both groups’
serving experiences were similarly laid out as they each began their time at
Verbo Leon and Posoltega speaking with young adults from the surrounding
communities. Today the topic was faith, and members of each group shared some
of our own testimonies with the Nicaraguan students. After we had finished,
some of the youth from the community shared their stories with us. It was
awesome to see the connections that became evident as Americans and Nicaraguans
shared how God has been working in their lives.
After the morning session, both groups served lunch to the kids that
come to the feeding centers. The Leon
Feeding Center had an incredibly large turn-out of kids, serving lunch to 202
children before running out of food. Having to close the doors to a few of the
hungry kids who came too late reminded us of the desperate need in these communities
and the hope that the feeding centers offer these families.
After lunch, each group ran another day of VBS at their
respective sites, continuing to teach on obedience through the story of Jonah
and the whale. The kids who had participated in our VBS program were given
certificates and t-shirts to honor their participation over the past few days. We
hope that what we have been teaching them about God will stay with them long
after we’ve returned home. After some free time, which included rousing games
of tag, lots of piggy-back rides for the kids, and even children falling asleep
in team members’ arms, we left the serving sites and headed back to our housing
location for dinner and porch time.
Porch time tonight was filled with laughter, as we shared
funny memories from throughout the day. We were also able to recount moments
where we saw Jesus actively working through our team and all the people with
whom we have come into contact. Our
ORPHANetwork hosts shared a little with us about what exactly our impact looks
like from the Nicaraguan perspective and how their lives have been affected by
the initiatives we have been serving during out time here. Tommy followed them
with a message on our faithfulness and the faithfulness of God in the work that
we are doing, not only here in Nicaragua, but also in our day-to-day lives back
in America. Tomorrow we will have the opportunity to take the women who work
everyday at the feeding centers for a well-deserved day off. We look forward to not only getting to provide
some much needed rest and relaxation for the feeding center workers, but also to
get a chance to interact with them and learn what it’s like to serve full time
in this excellent ministry.
Finally, we hope you’ll be able to come to the Parents’
Gathering this Sunday between services. More details to come via the text
listserve. If you haven’t already signed up for that, simply text NICAPARENT to
41411.
