Day 5… & 6: Where Has the Time Gone?

We have a phrase in Nicaragua, which states “Nicaragua always wins.” This is a phrase we use to explain the funny smells, the changes in schedule, and simply the unknown. We also use it to explain why there was no blog yesterday but let me assure you, your students have been busy.  I know I left you with a teaser of the beach, and man did I leave you hanging… so here it goes.

We woke up Day 5 to “surprise” the team by gearing up for a beach trip with all of the children from Casa Bernabe. Being a beach lover, this is one of my favorite experiences we do here; despite the 2 hour bus ride. I not only love this trip because we get to see a beautiful beach on the west coast of the country (Oceana Pacifico Baby),  but it is really one of those trips where we connect so well with these kids. Due to that 2 hour long bus ride, we have a lot of time to attempt communication through broken English/Spanish, silly games, and singing and dancing to Nicaraguan Radio.

We arrived at a beautiful beach (and great waves… but no surfboards L) and unloaded into a small hotel right on the beach where we could keep our bags and would later eat a tasty hotdog lunch. Before you knew it, kids and your students hit the beach and the rest fell into place. A sand soccer game got off the ground in no time. Sandcastles were made, exotic looking crabs were chased, seashells were collected, and waves were body surfed. I could go on for days but it just wouldn’t do it justice. I have included a picture to help.

After taking shelter in the hotel during a brief thunderstorm, which was incredibly beautiful to watch, we packed up our belongings and headed back to the ranch for dinner and a Saturday night program (youth group-esque) for the kids 13 and up. We played some mixer type games, sang some songs, and even attempted a little bilingual “Light & Fluffy” (or Ligero y Esponjoso), an old skit of messy proportions. If you are unfamiliar with this skit, it is basically two people singing and dancing with a lot of whipped cream flying around. Natalie then continued a speaking series with the group on growing in faith by sharing about how we can keep our faith from growing stagnant. You would all be very proud of your students for pitching in and making this a fun night for all and supporting Katie Thoma and Kristen Huenerberg as they shared a little bit about how they have grown in their faith recently. It truly was a great way to end the day!

We continued moving this morning by loading back into the busses and heading into Managua with all the children for church. Many of you may remember when Spring Branch brought in the band from Nicaragua to play for our Sunday morning services and a worship event. Some of those musicians were from this church in Managua and really treated us to a great time of worship and study. This church and organization which runs orphanages and schools around the country, like Casa Bernabe, is known as Verbo Ministries and is a partner of ORPHANetwork. This was also a great experience for all of us to see how others worship the same God a little differently around the globe, but with the same message.

This afternoon we had a fair amount of free time where some stayed on the orphanage grounds to play with the kids while others took another visit into Vera Cruz to catch up with some new found friends. It truly was a relaxing afternoon and a beautiful picture of what community can look like if we take a moment to slow down and intentionally listen to other’s stories.

We finished off Day 6 with a great time discussing the days events as a team and taking communion together. This was definitely an exciting time for the group as it seemed like a celebration of our experiences her in community and faith. As I sit here listening to the quietness that surrounds us, I can’t believe we are almost heading home. I am not sure if time will permit another blog due to the day at the Market and then the farewell celebration tomorrow night but we hope to at least relay your comments back to the group.

Thank you sincerely for your love and support over this past week. You truly are a vital part of the process for all of us and I hope you all get to make it down here with us one day. You’re hearts will be changed forever!

See you soon!

Kevin