Nicaragua Team Update - Sunday, 6/24/12

Sunday morning brought a special chance to rejoice in God's work around the world as each of our teams got to join a spanish-speaking congregation for worship today.  

Serving Group 1 (All Seniors: Led by Craig) were given the opportunity to lead the children's ministry portion at —not one—but two churches in the Leon region. The team led a VBS lesson that involved crafts, games, and a short message from one of the seniors. After the first service, the team ate lunch with the pastor who leads both of these churches. This pastor later told them that God provided the Chapel group for him at just the right time because he had recently been feeling exhausted and overwhelmed. The seniors' ministry and fellowship with this man provided much-needed encouragement and refreshment, motivating him to keep serving the Lord with all his heart as he ministers to two congregations. In the evening, the seniors wrapped up their Senior Experience with their own porch time. In addition to to the usual time of remembering what God did throughout the day and worship songs, the porch time "talk" was given by all of the seniors that have been to Nicaragua at least three times.  Each of these seniors had the opportunity to share the most powerful lesson that God has taught them during their time in Nicaragua. The Chapel staff was thrilled to hear all of the amazing stories of transformation and growth the seniors have experienced as a result of their encounters with Christ in this country.

Serving Group 2 (Quinn/Dante's Junior Boys Small Group, Lindsey's Junior Girls Small Group, All Sophomore Girls: Led by Luke) had the exciting experience of attending Verbo church today, bringing the orphans at Casa Bernabe and sitting with them for the service. The team experienced a vibrant and upbeat worship service (all in Spanish!) that moved them as they thought about the reality that neither language nor culture changes the God we worship. Sharing the experience with the kids from Casa was an exciting time for everyone. Later that day, the team got to take the orphans to a sports/recreation center where they played a variety of games including soccer, ping-pong, foosball, bicycling and—most popular—roller-blading. We continue to see bonds form between the children and the team as the language barrier disintegrates and relationships deepen. 

Serving Group 3 (Watt's Junior Boys Small Group, Christine's Junior Girls Small Group, All Sophomore Boys: Led by Lex) began their day by attending the worship service at Verbo Sur, the church that houses the feeding center where this part of the team has served several times this week. The pastor of the church gave an inspirational message, and the team was grateful for their translator, Josiah, as he did a great job translating the entire sermon. After lunch, Lex's group met up with the children from El Canyon at the local movie theater, where they treated the orphans to soda and popcorn while enjoying the movie Madagascar 3. Some of the children had never been to the movie theater before, and it was a privilege for this group to see the joy on the children's faces. The entire day was an incredible reminder that ministry is not our gift to God, but God's gift to us!

Porch time for the non-seniors tonight was similar to the previous nights in that there was a time of fellowship/re-capping the day, worship songs, and a talk from Luke. Luke spoke on Ephesians 6:10-18.  His discussion on the reality of a spiritual dimension and the need for the armor of God came to life with incredible relevance as the teams reflected on the importance of being sensitive to not only what goes on in our lives physically, but spiritually as well. Illustrations became much more vivid and relatable as the unique environment of Nicaragua turned the light away from material comforts and illuminated the ways in which God moves in people's hearts. There could not have been a better time for this kind of reflection, as the trip approaches the three-day home stretch: tomorrow marks the last full day of service, and the teams are committed more than ever to make this day count in children's lives, caretakers' lives, and our own lives.

Again, please remember to join Wrenn Holland, Deacon for Student Ministries, on Tuesday night for a time of corporate prayer. The prayer time will begin at 7pm in Moog Hall. We will post final details about the event in tomorrow's blog update.

While we will be sad to leave the incredible relationships we have developed over the last week, we are excited to return home to share even more about what God has done.

¡Dios te bendiga!

The SM Staff Team

Nicaragua Team Update - Saturday, 6/23/12

Saturday has quickly come and gone with another full day of exciting opportunities for service and fellowship.

Serving Group 1 (All Seniors: Led by Craig) took kids from Nueva Vida to the zoo in the morning.  This outing gave the group another great shared experience and allowed our Senior team to continue loving the kids whom they have been serving lunch to at the feeding centers. These children rarely get to leave the neighborhoods where they live, so the opportunity to see live animals at the zoo was a special treat for them.  After eating lunch back at the Casa Bernabe orphanage, the group embarked on their "Senior Experience," an overnight excursion that allows our new high school graduates to reflect deeply on their experiences in Nicaragua and how to apply these lessons in the next stage of life. This year's seniors will be serving another church partner in the region of Leon. Tonight they took the church's pastor out to eat, which gave them an opportunity to hear his story and the vision God has placed on his heart for that community. For the past two years, the Senior Experience has been a tremendous highlight for our oldest serving group, and we know that God is going to continue to show up (as He already has) to make this year no exception.

Serving Group 2 (Quinn/Dante's Junior Boys Small Group, Lindsey's Junior Girls Small Group, All Sophomore Girls: Led by Luke) started off their day by jumping in the pool together with around 60 kids from the Casa Bernabe orphanage. The team played water games and helped the small children increase their confidence in swimming as the joyful exchange continued between the orphans and your children. After a tasty lunch back at the Team Center, the group headed out to Chiquilistagua sports complex to rendevous with the children from the Ciudad Sandino community. As soon as the group arrived at the sports complex, the Nicaraguan kids ran towards us screaming with excitement.  It was very obvious that God had begun to create a strong bond of friendship and love between these two groups of people who come from very different worlds. In addition to games like soccer, basketball, and tag, the Nicaraguans got the special treat of dousing some of the Americans in an epic water balloon relay. Group 2 continues to relish the wonderful opportunity to be able to focus their love and attention on these two groups of children: orphans at Casa Bernabe and the extremely poor kids in Ciudad Sandino. 

Serving Group 3 (Watt's Junior Boys Small Group, Christine's Junior Girls Small Group, All Sophomore Boys: Led by Lex) had an incredible adventure as they picked up the orphans from El Canyon and headed to the beach for a day of fun in the sun! Most of the Nicaraguan children do not know how to swim, so the team had to stay focused on not just providing good times, but also on keeping the kids safe in the ocean. Your children rose to the challenge and did a wonderful job serving as care takers for their Nicaraguan brothers and sisters in Christ. True bonds of friendship are being formed between Lex's serving group and the children at the El Canyon Orphanage which can only be explained by the power of the resurrected Christ. After a full day at the beach, Group 3 returned to the team center, tired but filled with joy from the day's experiences.

Instead of our normal Porch Time at Casa Bernabe, each serving group stayed at their individual housing sites to provide plenty of time for small group discussion this evening. All small groups were given a chance to have their own time of processing everything that has happened so far on the trip. After small group time, many leaders talked about the incredible responses your children had to some tough questions and the encouragement it was to see high school students take serving God and getting to know Him better so seriously in their lives. It truly has been a day filled to the brim with people putting themselves between God's love and the hurt of the world to be conduits of His grace and mercy. It's hard to believe we only have two and a half more days of serving before we head to our debrief site! Please continue to pray for safety, for relationships, and for God to cement these lessons into our hearts. 

¡Dios te bendiga!

The SM Staff Team

Nicaragua Update- Friday 6/22/12

Greetings, los compañeros de Estado Unidos! It's hard to believe we've already been here for three full days. We've seen the Lord move in so many powerful ways and are excited for the many opportunities to serve and encounter Christ still on the horizon.

Serving Group 1 (All Seniors: Led by Craig) continued building relationships with their friends in Nueva Vida while finishing up the painting projects and church construction. After they finished their work there, the seniors had the unique opportunity of being the first group of Americans to help at a brand new feeding center within the Nueva Vida community. These feeding centers represent a great hope for the community. By providing one meal a day, a parent's ability to send their kids to school, rather than to the streets to beg, grows dramatically. A fun-filled afternoon followed their special encounter with Jesus while serving these children lunch.  The group then boarded the bus to go the pool.  This is an experience the children rarely have.  The relational foundations laid serving lunch went a long way toward the group connecting at the pool in even deeper ways.

Serving Group 2 (Quinn/Dante's Junior Guys Small Group, Lindsey's Junior Girls Small Group, All Sophomore Girls: Led by Luke) spent a full day with the children at the Ciudad Sandino feeding center. It was a blessing to reunite with the same group of kids they had met two days earlier. Part of the group finished digging a waterline for a section of the community that currently lacks running water. Another portion of the group worked on the support beams for the new building at the feeding center. Finally, others went out into the community to meet local families and invite their children to play and participate in a VBS lesson later that day. The VBS consisted of a craft, a game and one of the kids from the Chapel giving a powerful testimony regarding the power of forgiveness. The ability to spend a significantly longer period of time with the Ciudad Sandino kids today has had a big impact on the team and they look forward to seeing them all again on Saturday. 

Serving Group 3 (Watt's Junior Guys Small Group, Christine's Junior Girls Small Group, All Sophomore Guys: Led by Lex) enjoyed a day focused at El Canyon orphanage. They painted walls a vibrant "bonita" shade of purple. It may sound odd to American ears, but paint is an important part of Nicaraguan culture. People with the means update the paint colors often as a symbol of taking responsibility for  caring for what they own. A fresh coat of paint helps the children at the orphanages have greater levels of self respect and confidence. After the painting project was complete, the team played soccer and made jewelry with the children. The team was also invited to join the local church for a time of worship and fellowship that evening. At this service, the kids from the orphanage demonstrated their deep faith in God's goodness in the midst of difficult circumstances. It was a privilege for the team to be a part of such a service.

All three groups met back at the Casa Bernabe Team Center for a youth worship service with children from the orphanage. Together we all experienced lively games, worship and a message delivered by a Chapel student about what mature faith in the Lord looks like. Williamsburg students and Nicaraguan kids danced and clapped joyously together singing songs in both English and Spanish. It was a moving  time for all of us as we saw the passion and happiness in the faces of all as we worshipped the Lord.

Travis spoke at Porch time on Mark 3:1-6. He challenged us to avoid distractions and see the people right in front of us as the most important ministry opportunity in which we can be engaged. Afterward there was a new and unified energy and sense of passion for the work being done here in Central America.

¡Dios Te bendiga!

The SM Staff

Nicaragua Team Update- Thursday 6/21/12

Hola from Nicaragua! We are really getting into the swing of things down here, and God is showing up in some amazing ways. Here are a few updates from our second full day of ministry:

Serving Group 1 (All Seniors; Led by Craig) returned to Nueva Vida to continue building relationships with the children there. After serving lunch to the kids at the feeding center, the Chapel students led a VBS about the importance of kindness. Along with songs, games, and a message, the children each drew a picture of what kindness looked like in their own lives. The team was touched by the pictures the kids created and saw several representations of Jesus (both overt and subtle) in the artwork.  After sharing hugs and goodbyes, Craig's team returned to Casa Bernabe later in the afternoon to meet up with Serving Group 2, where they continued to pour out God's love by playing soccer and making bracelets with the kids from the orphanage.

Serving Group 2 (Quinn/Dante’s Junior Boys Small Group, Lindsey’s Junior Girls Small Group, All Sophomore Girls; Led by Luke) had an eventful day doing a variety of work projects at the Casa Bernabe orphanage. The team banned together to paint the kitchen and outer walls of the orphanage, clean the ceiling tiles, and tidy up various facilities. While on the surface this may sound like a relatively easy task, the heat from the day combined with the heat from the cooking fires in the kitchen made it truly a labor of love (and sweat!). In the afternoon, the team split up into four different groups to help with the Casa Bernabe English classes. They had a blast helping the children improve their English vocabulary and conversational skills! This group saw Jesus in Reagan, the English teacher at Casa, as he sacrifices other possible careers, most of which would be much higher paying, to use his gifts at Casa and empower others through education.

Serving Group 3 (Watts’ Junior Boys Small Group, Christine’s Junior Girls Small Group, All Sophomore Boys; Led by Lex) divided and conquered at both the Verbo Sur feeding center and El Canyon orphanage. While many children in the community attend the Verbo Sur church on Sunday mornings, their parents often do not. Your children worked with their church on an outreach lunch to the parents of these kids. Our team loved this opportunity to serve not just the children but their extended families in such a tangible way. All of the kids and their parents received a well-prepared meal, followed by a brief word from the youth director of the church. We are praying that these families are receptive of not just the church's hospitality, but of Christ Himself! The other part of the team was at El Canyon helping the children improve their English in a morning class; but, when class was over, an exciting game of soccer between the Nicaraguans and Americans took place! The team reunited in the afternoon to bring some of the Verbo Sur children to a local pool to continue investing in those relationships begun at the feeding program. After saying goodbye to the kids and grabbing dinner, Lex's group went straight to ‘Porch Time’ at the Casa Bernabe Team Center.

Craig presented a powerful message tonight, teaching us how to recognize Jesus alive in the world today. He used 2 Corinthians 4 as his passage to illustrate the idea that our bodies are merely containers designed to hold God’s presence. He concluded by challenging us to take Jesus’ words seriously, that we must die to ourselves in order to allow Him to live through us.

Please continue to pray for good health, for safety, and for Christ to reveal Himself over and over again in the coming days. Because we really believe in the incredible power of prayer, we wanted to make you all aware of an opportunity coming up next week. Deacon of Student Ministries, Wrenn Holland, will be leading parents, family, and friends in a time of corporate prayer for the trip on Tuesday, June 26th at 7pm in Moog Hall. We will continue to send reminders via the blog and text messaging, but please put this date on your calendars. We are truly grateful for all of your support!

¡Dios te bendiga!

The SM Staff Team

Nicaragua Team Update- Wednesday 6/20/12

Hello, family and friends! Our first day in Nicaragua has been a great success, and we are thrilled to say that God has already shown up in some powerful ways. Here are a few details on some of the activities each of our three serving groups were involved in today:

Serving Group 1 (All Seniors--led by Craig)

Craig's group began their day by heading out to start a work project at Nueva Vida, a feeding center located north of Managua. After hearing the vision of the church from Pastor Alfredo, our students served lunch to over 150 children and then taught a VBS lesson complete with games, songs, and a message about joy. When one of the translators asked all the kids, "Who is going to come back tomorrow to hang out with the Chapel team?," all the children cheered and shouted "me!" (Only they said it in Spanish, of course!). It was clearly God working through the members of this group to create such a joyful environment that all the Nicaraguan kids wanted to experience it again. After VBS, Craig's group returned to the Team Center in the afternoon and joined Group 2 for fellowship with the children at the Casa Bernabe orphanage (where groups #1 and #2 are staying).

Serving Group 2 (Quinn/Dante's Junior Boys Small Group, Lindsey's Junior Girls Small Group, and all Sophomore Girls--led by Luke)

Luke's serving group also started their day by visiting a new feeding program in Ciudad Sandino, a community located just outside Managua. The team worked together to complete a variety of projects, from placing an underground drainage line, to painting roof support beams, to serving lunch to around 100 children, and finally playing games with them until it was time to leave in the afternoon. Although the day was hot, the team amazed their leaders with their boundless energy and their eagerness to serve no matter what the task at hand. Luke's group is excited to continue building new relationships when they head back to Ciudad Sandino this coming Friday. 

Serving Group 3 (Watt's Junior Boys Small Group, Christine's Junior Girls Small Group, and all Sophomore Boys--led by Lex)

Lex's serving group began their day in similar fashion, getting to focus on the kids at a feeding center at Verbo Sur, also north of the capital city. While some students helped out in the kitchen or served by completing some yardwork projects to beautify the church grounds, others engaged children with crafts and games. By the end of lunch, your children had formed instant connections with the kids at the Verbo Sur feeding center, and they are excited to continue to invest in these relationships throughout the week. On the way to porch time at Team Center in Casa Bernabe, the group stopped at the El Canyon orphanage to meet the kids they will spend time with later in the week. (Lex's group is being housed at the Quinta Arien team center, where many members of this serving group stayed last year.)

All three groups reunited at night for the traditional "porch time," a reflective experience with teaching and worship that closes each day we serve during our time in Nicaragua. We opened our Bibles to 1 Kings 19:19-21 and heard Travis speak on the concept of calling, and how Nicaragua helps us examine our lives and identify what we are holding onto that God has asked us to give up.

The entire team is looking forward to encountering God tomorrow in the children we will serve and in each other. Thank you so much for your continued prayers. We really do feel covered in love and prayer as we all step out in faith to grow closer to Christ through serving, and we look forward to sharing more stories with you tomorrow!

¡Dios te bendiga!

The SM Staff Team

Nicaragua Travel Update #3 Final Travel Update

Group 3 led by Alexis (Watts' junior small group and Christine's junior small group) has arrived safely in Nicaragua!

All three travel groups, the entire student ministries Nicaragua team, has now arrived safely.  We had an extremely smooth day of travel.  No issue with any flights.  All went as planned.  Thank you for your prayers.

We have a chicken dinner waiting for the final group and then off to their team center.

The entire team seems excited and ready to embrace all that God has planned for us in Nicaragua.  Our work begins shortly after breakfast when each serving group will head to the site where they will be working throughout the week.  Projects range from leading VBS to digging water lines for sections of the village that have no running water.  The task is great, but our God is greater, and we look forward to what HE will accomplish this week.

Our pre trip Bible study focused on Judges 6-8, the story of Gideon.  We discussed the idea that God's strength can be most clearly seen in our weakness.  As we head out into the midst of great need tomorrow, our prayer is that we would rely on Jesus' strength, as we engage the world with his love.

Dios Te Bendiga,
SM Staff Tream

P.S. We try to send a text update during each work day and a text when the blog is updated each night. If you would like to subscribe to these text updates text nicaparent to 41411

Nicaragua Travel Update #2

Travel group 2 led by Luke (Quinn's junior small group, Lindsey's junior small group and all sophomores) has landed safely in Nicaragua.  The group has cleared customs and is currently boarding the bus to head to the Casa Bernabe Team Center where they will eat dinner and head to bed.

The Sophomore boys will wait in the airport with Travis for about 30 minutes for our final group to arrive.  We will leave promptly and get group 3 fed and to bed.

Everything has been very smooth all day long.  Thank you for your prayers.

Dios Te Bendiga,

SM Staff Team