Nica News 2/6

After 2 long days of travel to Nicaragua, our team arrived in Somotillo just in time for a hot dinner on Sunday evening!  After a good night sleep we were ready to get to work Monday morning! We have a big team from Virginia! We have a group from Portico Church in Charlottesville and from Bedrock Church in Bedford! It is so exciting to see that almost half of the team is here on their very first mission trip! So awesome to see their excitement and enthusiasm to serve the people of Nicaragua!

What an awesome day on the mission field today! Starting with a 6 am wake up call that was surprisingly quiet compared to Donald’s normal banging on the door! Pastor Bill and Pastor Chris headed out to Honduras for pastor training for 2 days. We continue to pray for their time in Honduras. We have received word that they have 20 pastors that have showed up for training! That is an incredible testimony to God’s grace! After a yummy breakfast, a group of team members headed off to the radio station to share their testimonies! The rest of us stayed at the Casa and listened as they shared their testimonies! We even got to hear part of the team sing Revelation Song over the radio! One of the younger team members shared her testimony for the first time as a first time missionary! It was a precious moment! Donald mentioned that she was no longer one of the 90% of Christians that have never shared their faith! Many firsts were happening today! I always love to hear Donald’s “Hallelujah” after each person shares on the radio! I believe it echoes what each of us are feeling as we listen!

After the radio ministry we got to work on The Training Center! With such a large team we were able to accomplish a lot today! The ladies got to work chopping the veggies for the stew, while other team members worked hard on the office building, and worked cleaning up sticks and rocks from around the property! Most of the team was covered in layer of dirt by late morning! After a quick cleanup, we ate lunch and got everything ready for the village ministry!

We headed out for Villa Esperanza this afternoon! With the trucks packed full of clothes, toys, food, candy and missionaries, we headed out with hearts full of anticipation! The whole team immediately began to light up as we threw out clothes and toys to the people standing by! The joy on their faces as they saw how much it meant to the people here was incredible. When we arrived in the village, everyone began to work together to engage the villagers! From water balloons to soccer and nail painting and coloring, we worked hard to share Jesus with the people! The doctor was able to give out medication to the sick! As always, there was our super fun watermelon eating contest! The crowd cheered as they laughed and watched the kids eat! We ended our time in the village with feeding the people a hot stew. They lined up with their bowls or pots or whatever they could find to put their stew in! We left knowing that those precious people would go to bed tonight with a full stomach, but more importantly that they had been given the opportunity to know Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior and that several people prayed to receive Christ!

As we left today and as I write this I am reminded of Ephesians 2:10 that says “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do!” God has a plan for each of us and that plan includes good works! Whether that plan includes work in North America, Nicaragua or another part of the world, we must do what God created us to do, no matter what that is! Blessings to you as you follow Christ in whatever HE has planned for you!