The cool Nicaraguan air sifted around Casa de Shelly as all of us slowly drifted out of bed. As the sun began to take control of the sky, Jim chased and played hide-and-go-seek with a little girl (the daughter of our head cook) around all over the compound. How marvelous to wake up to the sound of a child’s squeals and laughter!

Emily Freese, Jordan, Emily Jensen, Brent, and Dan were all featured at the radio station today and shared their testimonies. Jordan and Daniel (Andrew was temporarily replaced!) sang “How Great is Our God” together on the radio as well. Their beautiful voices touch the hearts of many Latin American listeners. During this time, the group back at Casa de Shelly was busy chopping vegetables for the stew that would be made for the El Madrono villagers later this afternoon. Donation bags were also being stuffed to the brim for the villagers.

Once the team regrouped, the men were sent out to finish digging the trenches for the Mission Office. They also poured cement to solidify the foundations for a new building by the office.

Meanwhile, the women all headed to a special needs Elementary School to interact with the children. We all sang, danced, and shared Bible stories with the children. Grins were spread across everyone’s faces, and hugs were given generously! After visiting the special needs school, the women continued on to another public Elementary School. We danced and sang again, and brought pipe cleaners to make shapes and bracelets with. We then headed outside for recess…lots of running, frisbee, and soccer!

The men and women regrouped for lunch—why on Earth were the men so sweaty??? We proceeded to have an American lunch of hotdogs, chips, and chocolate cookies in the sunshine. Don was conducting pastor training with 36 of the local Nicaraguan pastors throughout the day. Don also had the opportunity to share the Biofuel project headed by Brent, Emily Jensen, Emily Freese, and Andrew that results in heat for cooking meals. The biofuel burns very clean compared to wood fires that the villagers use; if the project is implemented into the community it could mean a decrease in common respiratory infections caused by breathing in wood fire smoke inside of houses with poor ventilation. The Capstone team is conducting a field test on the project today!

After lunch the team was ready to go to the El Madrono village. The village is fairly secluded and nestled in a small valley. Medical care was provided to the children as balloons were inflated, bubbles were blown, baseball and soccer were played, and pictures were colored. Brent apparently has the divine ability to rap—who would have thought?! He conducted a rap for the whole village with the help of Jordan, Molly, Emily Jensen, Lily, Beau, and Daniel. The rap told the story of Jesus feeding 5,000+ people from only two fish and five loaves of bread. Oh yeah…a majority of the rap was also in Spanish, way to go Brent!

On our dry and dusty ride back to Casa de Shelly, we all had the ability to reflect on our days. If we are Christ’s body, we should always be reaching, preaching, and showing the world His love—not solely in Nicaragua. We are all on fire for the Lord in Nicaragua, and there is no reason for us to stop when we return to the United States. It is a constant passion that all Christians should have deep in their hearts—to serve God by loving His people.

P.S.—The Naval Academy group apparently wasn’t tired enough from the day and were caught doing pull-ups outside Casa de Shelly. Hooyah!