10 days in Nicaragua

After all day Sunday on planes we are tired but come home with great memories and new ways God is challenging each of us to seek and glorify Him. We are so grateful for such a great team -- willing to work, to laugh, to cry, to share and to hear God's voice. We are amazed at the work God is doing in Nica and in each of our lives and are resolved to seek God more and more.

Words are not sufficient to tell you our experiences. We saw two, very different sides, of an amazing country. It is amazing how God is working in people's lives in Nica despite the poverty and struggles. We love these people's stories, these people who are connected to us, across land and ocean, by our united love for Christ. We are all sinners, saved by the grace of God, and we all struggle in the same ways. These people are our people and despite language barriers and culture differences we love that we will see these people surrounding the throne of God together with us, singing praises to the almighty God. What a great future!

We break for those who don't know God's power to bring joy and peace into the darkness they live in. Pray for those who don't know Christ's healing and for those who continue to work to shine light into the darkness -- Forward Edge, Pastor Earl, John, Verbo church, Susie, Jeff and Chris, Wilbert and Gloria and so many others

More Pictures

The aquaponics project we have been working and getting sunburned for. Hopefully the food grown in this system will help pay for the expenses of the Villa to keep the girls. It is a work in progress but we have high hopes.

Chris painting panels for the aquaponics

Rick ziplining

Larissa ziplining

Georgia being Georgia

Chris with Naomi, Gloria and Wilbert's daughter

Perla, the oldest girl at the Villa, posing for the camera. She and Rick shared their testimony last night and the team had a wonderful time of prayer and worship for what God has done to save us all from "the dump" in our lives.

More aquaponics

The aquaponics cement pond was constructed before we got here which helped greatly. We are still working fast to get projects done before we go to the East Coast. It is so wondeful that we have such a great team of hard workers.

Relaxing at the Villa

Are we dirty yet?

Playing with babies at the dump


Tonight is our last night at the Villa. We plan to see the orphanage this afternoon and then have dinner with the girls and kitchen staff. We are deeply grateful for their time and energy they have put into feed us. Tonight we hope to give back to them. Tomorrow we leave for the East Coast. Suzie is coming with us. She has never been so it will be great fun for all of us to have this experience together. Our team has been fairly healthy and we hope to stay that way on our way to the East Coast. We don't know if we will have internet so we may post pictures when we get back into the States. Sunday we return to "real" life but we know that Nicaragua will stay in our hearts. We have cried and laughed together and we are so grateful for our time here and thankful to God for his power to continue to move here and connect this country to us in so many different ways. We leave friends here, friends that we will pray for and long to see again.

Pictures

The team just before we ziplined.

A view from a home in the dump. We met a man who is a leader of a home group in his house within the dump. The church has a microfinance program that has also loaned him money to buy a freezer with which he sells ice, ice cream and other frozen goods. He also sells skirts. It was a moving experience to see this slice of hope in his life. We were privileged to pray for him and his family.

At the Rancho in the Villa

Georgia is ready for a water landing.

We are here

We are here and having a great time. The internet has been down for a while at the Villa but it looks like they have fixed it. In a few more days we will be headed to Puerta Cabezas and we don't know if we will have internet access. Our team has been working hard and been having a good time with the girls. We will try to post pictures if possible otherwise we will post when we get back. Adios for now.

A New Team A New Adventure

Today we leave for a 10 day trip to Nica. We will be flying out tonight to Managua and then in six days moving on to the East Coast of Nica to spend four days there. Our goal at the Villa in Managua is to put in a aquaponics system that will help bring income and food to the Villa. It's been challenging to get this project organized and all the system parts placed in luggage so it's been hard to remember that God has it all worked out.

Please be praying for the team as we leave on a new adventure. While many of us have been to Nica before it still can be stressful to prepare for and every journey is different. We desire to do God's will and pray that we will be flexible enough to do whatever He throws our way.