Day 9

Dear Diary,

HOLA! Today was our last day here in Nicaragua, and it was certainly a great day...like always. My fellow teens and I (and our youth leader) awoke 20 minutes before our daily scheduled devotional after a night that we spent up way too late, reminisent of days where I would have to catch the bus in the morning. Thankfully all of us ran and caught the meeting just before it started. Ever since the arrival of the other mission team from Pasedena arrived, gone are the days of just rice and beans for every meal, which may be very delicious, but the monotomy of the flavor dulls the taste buds. So today the chef from Pasedena cooked probably the most delicious pancakes I have ever had in my life (sorry Mom).

After a hearty feast for breakfast, Sean and I were assigned to clean the LAST FAN (for the second time). If Sean has not explained this already, we were assigned to clean all the fans in the entire church, all three floors, Cal and Jess' house, and the fans in the Cafe building whose name I forget right now. I would be lying if I told that I have never dreamed of fans at night. The heavy dirt caked on the blades and under my fingernails. The smell of WD-40 penetrating every corner of my nose. But enough about my lies. With our perfect system down, my comrade and I went swiftly to work disassemblying, cleaning, oiling, and re-assemblying the final fan. It was a trumiphal day indeed for us, the nightmare of the fan final over, my friend and I parted ways. I to do some computer gobbly-gook, and he to doing what it is that Sean does. I went to the third floor of the church building and entered the domain of the computer mayhem. There were at least 5 computers out lying about, being worked on, being tested, being getting to get smashed into little bits. But within an hour, the mayhem was reduced, the computers put together and the countless cables wrapped and put away.

After this work was done, it was lunch, and back to the rice and beans. Yummy yummy. Our outreach today was at a place called Manchester. It lies on the outskirts of Managua and is one of the poorest regions in the country, and certainly the poorest I have seen. The sewage of the whole city of Managua flows from the city to Lake Managua, and Manchester is placed right on top of the stream placed by the lake. Before going we were warned to wear closed toe shoes out of fear of getting an infection from walking around, we were not to touch our face without using hand-santizer first. It smelt like sewage, there was a clear cut line of where the vegetation ends due to poor soil, and house are little more than five pieces of scrap metal stuck together in the shape of a house. Yet despite of such poverty, it was one of the best outreaches I experienced this whole trip.

We sang our usual worship songs in Spanish that were prepared (mad props to the worship team), one of the Pasedena people shared the gospel with our crowd of children, and we passed out "Plan of Salvation" friendship bracelet. Then began the games. We had brought with us extreme saucers (store brand frizbees from the local convienent store), face paint, and balloon shapes. I ended up throwing a Frisbee around with about 3 different kids and it was an awesome time. I really had fun with the kids, and at the end of the day I was able to leave the frizbee with one of the kids named Arnoldo. Although I only knew him for a couple hours, my time spent with him will be something that I carry with me for the rest of my life. Much like yesterday, our outreach was initially greeted with the warmth of the glowing sun, but ended with a torential downpour. I'm not totally sure of what to make of that, but I am sure that that is not by accident.

Now Diary, it is time to reminsce about the trip in general as I am tired. And it's late. And it's the last day. I feel extremely blessed to be given this opportunity to come to Nicaragua and serve the Lord. This experience has opened my eyes to the extent of the body in the world, and how joyful people can be, though they have almost no material goods. I will never forgot all the outreaches we did, playing with all the kids, teaching my very first Sunday School class, driving standard in Nicaragua, the late night spontaneous worship time with Sean on his guitar. Most of all I will remember that no matter the situation, our team always had a positive attitude, willing to do whatever task was placed before us

...I will also remember the cinnamon buns...they were really good.

Yours Truly,
Doug Meppelink

Day 8

Hola!

That was basically the extent of my Spanish vocabulary before we got to Nicaragua, although I have learned a few more.Before coming here I knew I was in for quite the experience, having never been on a missions trip outside of the country(a third world country at that), and not really speaking the language. I'm happy to report that my experience has been amazing. From the people that God has allowed me to minister to, to the people that have ministered to me, to the various work projects, to rediscovering my love for balloon animals! (okay well I don't really love balloon animals that much, but it's been great seeing the kid's smiles as we make "espadas", "perros", and "corazóns").

It's been a real joy to work beside the youth on the team here. As the youth pastor, I wondered if bad attitudes or conflicts were going to be an issue. To my delight the youth, as well as the adults, are all working well together and are in good spirits. Part of the reason I'm sure is that although we are all working really hard, we're having a lot of fun, too. There's been a lot of impromptu song singing. I tell you, you haven't lived until you've heard John Meneghini singing "Veggie Tales". I could go on but I'm sure y’all would like to hear what went on today.

First off, this morning after devos we had breakfast. I have to make note of this because this morning was our second opportunity to eat cinnamon buns fresh out of the oven. Last week we had cinnamon buns, but unfortunately I was far too full from breakfast to really enjoy it, although I did share half of one. This morning I ate a smaller breakfast and was able to enjoy two (that's right two!) very amazing cinnamon buns! After breakfast and a short food coma, we continued some projects from yesterday. Computer fixing, fan lubing, key finding/organizing, and other miscellaneous projects around the church.

We worked these projects until lunch time and then after lunch we prepared to leave for "Tent City". "Tent City" isn't actually a city, but a large piece of land full of, you guessed it, tents. The inhabitants of the "city" are farmers who are protesting against the use of pesticides that are being used on the farms that they and their families work on. As a result of the use of these chemicals many of these families have experienced serious side effects, from deformities to cancer. Many of these people are away from their families and living in poverty until their demands are met. Since many of these people were believers we decided to do a mini church service (worship and a short message), then we would visit each of the "houses" with bibles, shirts, gospel tracts, and candy. We were joined by another team from Pasadena (they showed up yesterday and are here to do free dental work for the locals).

We arrived at "Tent City" and were immediately confronted by the incredibly low level of poverty. Obviously, the church where we're staying isn't the Hilton, but in comparison to the living conditions in "Tent City"our conditions are very nice. There were several people right outside the "city" dumping their trash at the "city dump",while others were scavenging for their proverbial "treasures". All of this just a stone's throw away from the city. One of the things that surprised me was the smiles on many of the peoples faces. Despite their situation, the people seemed very hope filled, a testament to the goodness and grace of God despite circumstances. The youth on our team led us all in some very familiar worship songs in Spanish. As I looked around I couldn't help but smile at all the beaming faces.

After the worship, Julio started giving his message in Spanish . I couldn't understand everything he said but I know that people were getting encouraged because they were all shouting "amen" and clapping. As soon as he began sharing the weather began to change very quickly. I looked to the horizon and saw big dark clouds moving towards us very quickly. Soon after, the wind began blowing really hard, picking up lots of dust and other debris. It was almost like "someone" didn't want us to minister to the people there. Julio was able to finish his message and then we quickly headed to our vehicles right as the rain began to come down in buckets. We waited for about 5 minutes to see if the storm would pass but it didn't let up, in fact the road we were on began turning into a river, so we thought it would be wise to go back to the church, since we didn't bring any boats! We left a little disappointed, as we were all looking forward to meeting these people, and praying with them. Yet we know that God had a reason for sending the rain at just that time and we're trusting that God will/has used the worship and message to minister to the people we did come into contact with.

The rest of the evening was pretty low key. We had a another prayer service similar to the one we had when we first got here and then several of us had an awesome time of praise and worship. It's hard to believe that our time here is coming to an end so quickly and although we are sad to leave, we are all looking forward to getting home to our families.

Chris Deans

Day 7

So today was one of the more interesting days of the trip so far, for me at least. Woke up kinda late, grabbed a fairly tepid shower, dressed in my newly laundered and folded shirt(courtesy of Chris Deans) and went down for our daily, morning devotional. One of the things Joe has been encouraging us to do is for each member to give a brief version of their testimony, and so that's what I did today. It was actually one of the harder things I've done in a while because giving my testimony requires revisiting portions of my life that I'm not exactly proud of. But I guess that maybe me giving my testimony and talking about the things I've struggled with might be a blessing or an encouragement to someone in some way I may not be able to see, so I guess I'll just suck up my discomfort. Went to breakfast afterward, oh,I don't know why this is but everything down here just tastes kinda amazing, so needless to say, breakfast was mad good.

Breakfast at CC Managua

After breakfast we started on our work projects, I helped Joe out with fixing a bunch of appliances. I was actually kinda useless, Joe did all the work and I just held all of his equipment and stuff.....yeah. Whatever, as long as I'm doing something I'll be alright. We also had to smashed a bunch of old computer parts and stuff so that the drug addicts don't go rooting through the church's trash, find something they can salvage, sell it to someone who doesn't know any better and spend their profits to fuel their habits. So yeah, Sean was kinda amazing at smashing all the stuff, not that that surprised me...

Matt and Sean

For our afternoon outreach project, we selected two families from the church congregation and took them shopping for a new outfit, a new pair of shoes and stuff like that. the group split into two teams and each team accompanied one of the families. Ha ha so while the rest of the group went shopping with the families, Ben and I stayed behind and "watched" the van. The quotes are necessary because Ben decided to take an impromptu nap on the sidewalk at an outlet shopping center in a third world country....

The Mall

I literally saved his life 6 or 7 times. But it was really cool, it was a fun time, for the families and for the team. We basically went back to the church and hung out for the rest of the day. Sean and I went out back and pumped some ridiculously enormous amounts of masculine iron. Then we just chilled on the roof until dinner. the roof is actually the center for discussions of the incredible deep and stupidly immature, good place to chill. Went to dinner, Camille, in coordination with several others, decided to make me sweat a bit over a set of lost keys......thanks guys. Doug thinks he's hot stuff now cause he won the most insane game of Egyptian rat slap. Whatever, he needs something to feel good about,do to his extremely poor self-esteem. So yeah, that just about brings me to where I am now. really looking forward to finishing up a really awesome, eye-opening trip. Night' everybody :)

CC Managua Family

God Bless,

Matt Simeone

Day 6

A week ago, I had no pairs of shorts. A day before I left to come here, I went to the Gap and bought two pairs. You could say that I was unprepared, (despite numerous missions meetings), and you'd be right. Both in my wardrobe (which mostly consists of black jeans and t-shirts), but also in the mentality of coming to Nicaragua. I wasn't sure how adequate my Spanish would be, what the food was going to be like, and how hot the climate would be.

Now that I'm here, I can address these previously unknown quandaries. Firstly, my eyes have been opened as to how limited my speaking skills really are. I've been taking Spanish classes for six years, but have had little success in keeping up a conversation. The locals speak so fast, and with such a broad vocabulary that I continually have to ask "mas dispacio, por favor," at which point I generally get what they're saying. Kind of.

Just because the language barrier has been difficult doesn't mean that I haven't been able to communicate, however. Facial expressions, gestures, and the like have all been beneficial in getting simple messages across. For instance, while leading worship, the leader of the church here simply asked to see what chords I was playing as I played rather than having me talk, which was apparently harder to understand, haha. I've had a much easier time talking to the kids than the adults, partly because I feel more comfortable asking for help, and partly because their vocabulary is much more similar to mine.

Secondly, the food has been great! Even though our meals generally consist of rice and beans, I've discovered that those dishes can be varied in many different ways. Rosa, the cook who prepares our meals three times a day, gives generous portions and I leave feeling full every time. We've also gone out to several restaurants, and I've found two of them to be slightly American. Though the side dishes are more Nicaraguan, the primary dishes have been along the lines of pizza, burgers, fries, and chicken wings, which I find to be kind of funny. Tonight, we went to a local joint and my dad ordered cow heart, which tasted surprisingly like a normal steak.

Thirdly, it has been hot here. Not crazy hot, but still hot enough to make you sweat sitting still. Joe, (our fearless leader) said that this has been the coolest week he's ever been here, which is pretty surprising to me. Here, it is the rainy season (and the equivalent of winter). In the dry season, December and January, kids have their "summer" vacation. This week is also a vacation for them, so we've been able to spend a lot more time with them than we would if they had been in school.

I will post again, but for now I think this is adequate. Also, there's the fact that it's 11:17 Nica-time and I have to wake up at 7:00 tomorrow! :)

-Ben Knight

Orphanage in Jinotempe

Hola!

Today we went to visit the orphanage in Jinotempe. It was drizzling most of the time, and cooler because of the elevation. We left after breakfast. The ride was beautiful and scenic once out of the city. We brought jump ropes, soccer balls, basketballs, hula hoops, and food (a much needed gift). There were about 15 kids, ages 9-19 (approximately).

The director, Daisy, was currently not present because she had just given birth. Tina, the woman in charge, who also runs another orphanage in Mongolia, was there though. She lives in the States, so we had the pleasure of being there during one of her visits. Her gratitude shot out in beams from the smiles and tears displayed across her face.

After singing a few songs (including Father Abraham both United Sates and Nicaraguan style) we headed outside to play with the toys. It was not long before we had a lively baseball game going, United States verses Nicaragua. It was totally crazy. The national pride was contagious. One girl took great pleasure in trash-talking us gringos in rapid Spanish, little of which was understood by myself, and some of which was translated by Julio.

After 4 innings (Nicaraguans totally whooped butt with a 15-10 score) it was time to leave. Tina continually emphasized their gratitude for our visit. She said the excitement of the toys would eventually disappear but the orphans would talk of the Americans and their visit for months after. Only God could create such a simple joy in such a simple life.

In His Grace,

*michaelameneghini*

Day 4

Today was the day that we planned for VBS. In the morning we did finalizations of the VBS program and some other jobs like computer work and organizing a million keys. At VBS we had different stations with things like face painting, Bible story telling, balloon animals, and Bible braclets for the kids. All of the kids loved VBS and we made some friends with the kids.

Tonight we had youth group where Sean, Ben, and Matt played worship in Spanish and Chris and Emily taught the girls and boys group as well as playing "Steal the Bacon". Tomorrow we plan to go to an orphanage that we went to last year to play with the kids and play some songs.

Emily Corell

Yesterday at Peace Park we had spent some fun time with these children singing songs led by our wonderful team band, Ben there with the drum, Sean with the guitar. Later that evening, the band played at the worship service, while one of our team, Julio, gave the message so fine in both English and Spanish. Amazing to see and hear how Great our God is and works through us when our hearts are open. Today was our tourist day because one of our team members needs to leave on Monday and we wanted him to have this time with us.

After breakfast we went to Masaya, another city about an hour away by bus and visited a volcano museum, and tour with a guide into a bat cave, followed by lunch out and a trip to the marketplace to shop. The light rain in the morning did not deter this group from hiking up a volcano site and down into bat caves. We were blessed that there were not torrential downpours but a dry enough day to keep the temps down and the sun from burning any of us for which I am quite grateful. Please pray for us tonight as tomorrow afternoon we are having a Vacation Bible School for how many we do not know ; between 40-70 kids.

The Lord has brought this particular group of individuals together for this team and as the days unfold we have bonded nicely and it has been a joy to watch the the young adults meld together.

As you can see they are a fun and lively bunch. Two other young adults are here serving so all the more wonderful for our young adults to be encouraged by this experience and serve. Some have just come back as I write from driving around the neighborhood inviting children to VBS tomorrow.

More to come.

Blessings to all back home,

Cheryl