Marvelous Monday

July 2
Today was a marvelous Monday!  We started off the day with our individual devotion time with the Lord concentrating on Performance from our PATHS acronym.  1 John 2 teaches us about Jesus, how he walked, and how he instructs us to live our lives.  "...the one who says he remains in Him should walk just as He walked." 1 John 2:6 Our challenge this week, and for our lives, is to walk as Jesus walked and to perform as He did and continues to instruct us to do.
The morning quickly turned into planning, preparing, and practicing for our time at the orphanage and schools throughout the rest of the week.  Our translators taught us a few worship songs in Spanish, the drama team practiced their pantomime depicting the salvation story, and students practiced sharing their testimonies through the use of the translators.
After lunch (which was amazing, as all the meals are---thank you, Martha!) we headed off to the orphanage to set up for volleyball, basketball, soccer, bible story, and crafts for over 120 kids.  They arrived with smiles, sweet "hi's", and "holas", and excitement to play and be loved on.
Robin and Colby led the assembly with silly songs  and "the wave" followed by our students leading the kids in "Open the Eyes of My Heart" and "I've Got the Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy down in my heart" in Spanish.
The highlights mentioned from our day was a "tickle fight" with Brandon and the kids, children motioning for Jackson to get on all fours so they could jump on him, communication through the common language of drawing pictures, playing "dog, dog, cat" in lieu of "duck, duck, goose", and children saluting, marching, and coming to attention illustrating the story of the Centurion Soldier.  "No Matter Who You Are- Trust God!"
Looking forward to tomorrow--we head off to our first school to share testimonies, drama, songs and games with more beautiful Nicaraguan children!

Passport update.  We have spoken with the Embassy and are working on the correct documentation.  Angie has a few items to gather from the parents and then overnight to us.  Rosa at the Embassy assures us that when we bring in our information we will have our travel documents on the same day.  Thanks for your prayers and continue to pray for the remainder of the process.  We are looking forward to a great day at the sports camp as we kick off our week of ministry to students!

To the cross

To the cross, a set on Flickr.

Sunday in Jinotega. A trip to the cross, Giving out tickets to the sports camp in the Las Cruses community,Church,and hanging at the house

WE MADE IT! We left the church this morning with 16 students and 2 adults at 4AM. From there we flew to Miami and then from Miami to Managua! Honestly, it was so easy keeping (herding) 18 people through two separate airports including customs. God really watched over us as we travelled all day today.
As soon as we landed in Managua, we knew Satan was trying to put a damper on our mission here this week. Our baggage with our crafts and supplies was left in Miami and would only be able to be delivered to us in Jinotega by, hopefully, Monday. When we left the airport, we stopped to grab a quick bite to eat and one of our vans we are traveling in was broken into. 5 backpacks were taken which all included 5 different student's passports.

Most of you are probably thinking that at that point we would want to turn around and come back home. But, instead of having a negative reaction to our obstacles, the students kept a positive attitude and couldn't wait to get to work! They got to see first hand that we live in a world that is in need and seems to grow more into a place that is absent of all hope. The students understand their mission this week, to plant a seed to bring some sense of hope back into this world by showing the love of God and sharing the gospel.
READY TO WORK & SERVE!

June 29, 2012

We had a great week of preparation at the orphanage. God has blessed us with good weather, a great team, and unity of purpose. Thanks to God for providing all that we needed to accomplish all that He had for us to do. Joy came out this afternoon to inspect our work and was very appreciative of our efforts. She was convinced that the court was beyond hope. I want to say thank you to Alex, Richard, Rod, Michael, Eliud, and Robin for working hard to accomplish our goals.  We are anxious to see all God has in store for our team of youth and adults next week. Though we had our own task, we have been hopeful for what God is preparing for the team coming in on Saturday. We are thankful to have had a part in preparing the way for the Spirit of God to use our youth to shine like stars in a dark world, to bring hope and a future through the gospel of Jesus Christ to some of the students of Jinotega. The facilities are prepared, Greg and Ashley have been preparing our students. Join us in praying for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit and a prosperous harvest for the Kingdom of Christ next week.