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