Today was our final day in Leon and so we were able to go do a little sight-seeing in the morning after breakfast. We visited the local cathedral in Leon to get a little taste of the history of the city. It is a huge stone building that is open for tours inside and on the roof. We chose to go up on the roof so that we could see out over the whole city and get a top-down view of the surrounding area. It was a gorgeous view with the mountains in the background as we looked out over the city. After the tour, our group visited the market located right in front of the cathedral to look for some local souvenirs and experience a little taste of Nicaragua culture in these open air market shops.
After our quick tour, the team loaded up the bus with all of our stuff, said goodbye to our hotel, and headed to the church in Leon for one last chance to help at the feeding center. It was inspiring to watch our team just jump immediately into all of the duties needed to feed the kids: washing hands, serving plates, scooping rice, washing dishes, and drying dishes. It is hard to believe that a group of teenagers are joyfully washing dishes! Only God could instill that in them. After we finished serving it was time to say our goodbyes and load up the bus. It was hard to say goodbye to these kids that we had developed relationships with over the past week knowing that we may never get to see them again, but we will be forever grateful for how they have changed our lives.
Next, we had a long bus ride to our debrief site located at Laguna de Apoyo, which is south of Managua. It is a local resort that we use as an opportunity to take a lot of intentional time to ask questions, remember moments, and wrestle with the lessons God has been teaching us. Once we arrived it was time for dinner and our first debrief small group time. We re-visited the character we studied leading up to the trip, Paul, as a guide to think through the change in perspective that our time here has brought to us. It is wonderful to watch everyone talk about not just what they gave to Nicaragua, but also what Nicaragua gave to them.
Please continue to pray for our time here over the next day as we continue to process our experience!
