After a rejuvenating night's sleep we had a delicious breakfast buffet to start our full day at our debrief site, Apoyo Resort. We ate breakfast halfway up the side of the mountain which gave us a gorgeous view of the lagoon while we ate. Following breakfast we split up into our small groups where we had our first small group of the day. During our debrief small groups we return to the character Jacob who we had studied before the trip as a model to help us process our experiences in Nicaragua. Jacob wrestled with God in Genesis 32 and that idea of wrestling has been a great image to describe our own encounters with God because we have all had to wrestle with the realities of poverty and faith. Then we took some time before lunch to be alone with God. We have found that it is important to learn how to not only worship God together in a group, but also by yourself through His Word, the Bible, and nature.
At lunch we all enjoyed a tasty quesadilla and then had the entire afternoon to spend some free time in and around the lagoon. We jumped off the dock, swam, played pool volleyball, kayaked and had a great afternoon together as a team. It has been a beautiful picture of God's community as we all gathered with the same faith having fun together. People have made new friends and the entire team has developed a wonderful spirit of unity that has transcended school and background. After our free time we ate dinner and headed to our final porch time.
Porch time tonight was held overlooking the lagoon, with the stars as clear as could be. Admiring the sky, listening to the water, and feeling the wind, it was a wonderful environment to sing praise and examine God's Word. Luke spoke about the things we try to put in the throne of our lives. Is it popularity? Success in school? Sports? Do we put ourselves in the throne, and do whatever we want whenever we want? Luke asked us three questions: 1) What are we doing? What are sinful choices or behaviors in our lives that are based on what we want, and not what God wants? 2) Where are we building a temple for God when we need to realize God lives in us? We cannot confine him. 3) Who are we? What, or who, is our identity in?
We concluded that fear is a powerful motive in causing us to put anything besides God on the throne of our lives, and after the message, students had an opportunity to reflect on an assignment they had worked on prior to the trip. They wrote on a card some of the fears and uncertainty in their lives, and slowly, one by one, they made their way to a small fire to symbolically burn those fears and doubts. In closing, we all sang "No Longer Slaves," reinforcing again that we not slaves to fear, but are children of God. Small groups are discussing more of Jacob's story and his encounter with God in Genesis. We hope that after wrestling this week, God's blessing is made clear in our lives.
We'll get a few hours of rest before making our way home very early tomorrow morning! Our flight is set to depart Nicaragua at 6:15am on flight TACA 314. We will text you with our travel progress.
