Nicaragua Sabado y Domingo

Our day off yesterday was a lot of fun. We enjoyed our shopping experience, and our time at the beach was heavenly. We really had a great time playing in the waves, playing football on the beach, and sitting in the water as we shared stories. Lots and lots and lots of fun! Worship in Potosi this morning was great too. Our opening hymn was "Stand up stand up for Jesus" we didn't understand much, but our translator did translate the sermon. He also translated as Tyler and I had an opportunity to share God's Word of encouragement with the people. All week long we met the women and children at the churches but not the men because they were working. We fully expected to see them in church this morning, but they didn't come. Pastor explained that they are working hard to bring the men in. We are packing up and getting ready to drive to Managua. Now that we've said our goodbyes, my guess is that we're getting closer to being ready to head for home! We're looking forward to seeing our families at the airport. Lisa On behalf of Team Nicaragua

Nicaragua Friday

God gave us a great day for our last work day in Potosi! This morning the kids in Potosi were late to arrive so we got to work on painting right away. After painting for an hour the women of the church showed up with a mid morning snack. They called it an appetizer. We called it a full meal. They made fresh fish, chicken, rice, tortillas, and salad (more like cole slaw). Check out my twitter account for pictures. The guys found a tree branch which would serve as the site for their pull ups competition. Even Pastor Angel got in on the act. Levi won with 19.5 pull ups! We had a great time in our VBS groups reenacting the story of Jesus feeding the 5000. We also made God's Eyes with them. They loved it! We had to stop playing ball on the road in front of the church because a heard of cattle was making their way through. I've had to get off the street to let a car pass, but this was the first time I had to move to let a cow pass through. It was very funny. I wonder what the Nicaraguans think of all the Americans getting out their cameras to take pictures of cows? Some of our students got to share their testimonies with the women and children. It was very emotional, and quite a blessing to those who were a part of it. We also had 2 very intense games of soccer against the Nicaraguans. The first game they beat us 5-4, the second game we beat them 3-2. The young men told us after the game that they considered us to be their brothers and sisters in Christ. They invited us to come back. Their home was to be considered our home. This conversation meant a lot to our soccer players. We signed the game ball and gave it to them as a gift. They were very happy to receive it. After working we drove just down the road to the ocean where kids were playing and many boats were filled with fisherman. It was a great way to end our day. Tomorrow we are letting the group sleep in a little bit before we head into the market area in Chinandega. We're planning to do a little shopping and then spend the afternoon at the beach. Our kids are already having a difficult time thinking about saying goodbye and heading for home. The people of Nicaragua will have a special place in our hearts. Lisa :) On behalf of Team Nicaragua

Nicaragua Thursday

Today's entry is going to be short, but we still wanted to keep you updated. Our day in Potosi was awesome and we're really looking forward to going back today for our final day of VBS, painting, and interacting with the great people of Potosi. For VBS we have our team broken into 5 teams. Each of our teams will take a group of students and teach them the lesson and craft, and then go play with them. In Potosi however, Pastor Angel asked us to have one of our teams lead the women as a group. That turned out to be very cool. The students and adults who spent time with the moms had great conversation around the story of Saul and the moms loved makinfpg the craft. While they were making the craft, they were able to learn a lot about each other and how life works in each of our cultures. Some of our kids also got roped in by the Nicaraguan kids to play U.S.A. vs Nicaragua in a game of soccer. We got beat pretty bad! We do have a better strategy going into today, namely making Gentri play. We should win pretty easily with our secret weapon on the field. Our students will be looking for opportunities to share their testimonies today, so be praying for God's Spirit to be alive and flowing through them. More pictures on my twitter tonight. I left my phone back at the mission campus where we are staying so was unable to post. Keep the comments coming. The team is really enjoying hearing from home. Lisa :) On behalf of Team Nicaragua

Nicaragua Wednesday Was Most Excellent

We love reading everyone's comments on the blog. Kids are enjoying messages from their parents so keep 'em coming! Today was a great day! Our students were much more comfortable with the children and therefore had an absolute blast with them. We told the story of Saul's conversion today in VBS. We also made t-shirt bags with 50 of the 150 kids who showed up. We were so excited to see more kids but then realized we didn't have enough craft supplies for everyone. We had a plan worked out for families to share a bag, but the pastor and deaconess wanted the kids who are students at the school to get a bag of their own. It actually tyrned out really well. The kids who didn't get to make a bag were very excited to go to the open field with our students to play with all the sports equipment. The other good news was that we were able to finish all of the painting with time to spare. When we left the work site yesterdAy we asked the pastor which was the higher priority--the inside or the outside of the building. Thankfully, everyone worked really hard. Before we left Crist Rey we gathered in front of the newly painted church/school and offered a prayer of blessing on that place. Please join us in praying for the fine people of Cristo Rey. Tomorrow we are leaving at 7:00am to make the long 2-hour journey to Potosi! Our evenings are being spent hanging out playing cards. Tonight we started a Spades Tornament! The competition and smack talk are heating up! More later! Lisa :) On behalf of Team Nicaragua PS Levi sends a birthday shout out to his mom, Lori. He loves you and is sorry he didn't have a chance to talk to you on your birthday. PS Claudia and Mike say love to Sarah, Brady, and Aidan and Claudia says tell Katie to go swimming or she will be in HUGE trouble! PS Katie and Tommy say como estas, we love you guys bunches and are having a blast; we miss you and we can't wait to see you and tell you all about the amazing experiences we are having! Also Tommy and I have learned how to play spades, so when we return we are expecting a game with you guys! PS Dana and Rose say hey to Grace(aka SH) and Mama! We miss you and love you! we're having a blast and see you Monday!

Nicaragua Day: 2

Hello Kansas city family and viewers! God is a BIG God! Today we spent the morning reading from Ephesians 3:14-20 and Psalms 139 about his love. The day began with fresh fruit and French(nicaragua) toast! It was tasty! We then packed up all of our supplies and began our journey to Cristo Rey (Christ the king). The journey include an drive through a creek bottom which doubles as their road. Cristo Rey is a small village just east of chinandega. The school has about 60 kids that attend and today not only were all those students there but so were their families and the whole community. We taught them the story of the feeding of the 5,000 and created God's eyes with them. Many of them had never made crafts like this before. We then spent the next hour out in a very large field playing soccer, football, baseball & painting nails! It is so amazing to see how sports unites everyone and breaks down language barriers! All the kids went home at noon which meant lunch and painting for the rest of the afternoon. We finished the first full coat of primer on the school and church today and a great start to the bright yellow final coat. Being that the road we came in on doubles as a creek- at 4 this afternoon we were hit with a pretty good thunderstorm so we had to pack up everything very quickly and get out of the village very quickly! The rains came and so did the small flow of water in the creek. The kids loved it and it made for a great end to the work day! We arrived back at our living area and a few of the guys had brought in a tv - set up an antenna in a tree and hooked up cables to get the all- star game! Talk about servant hearts! We were VERY surprised and excited! One of the questions that our guys discussed was "do we have an unrealistic or realistic view of God's power? Why or why not?" it was great to hear the life change and the realities that some of the young men are thinking through and wrestling with. It might be a great question to think about as you read the verses we read today! More to come tomorrow! You are blessed, Tyler

Nicaragua Monday

I don't think any of us really understood just how long our day of travel would be - 13 hours from the time we gathered at the Kansas City airport until we reached our destination! Everything went very smoothly, except for our tight connection in Houston giving us no time to get food. By the time we landed in Managua, the group was intent on finding food. We stopped at a fast food joint called Tip Top - very similar to KFC. The chicken and French fries were very good and were completely devoured by the crew. Getting settled in was a lot of fun. We were surprised to find sheets and pillows for everyone...and best of all a/c in each sleeping room! God is good! We were able to organize all of our supplies, eat a delicious dinner, and play cards before heading off to evening Bible study. This morning we are getting ready for breakfast and then off to Cristo Rey! If you want to get more updates in the evening you can also follow my Twiter @hellyerlisa I'm siting with Katie Overman and Alex Kolpin who both give shout outs and love to their families back home. More later. On behalf of Team Nicaragua, Lisa :)

Team Nicaragua

I'm getting so excited for our packing party on Sunday afternoon! It will be great to see how it all fits, and to be with everyone as we make our final preparations for the trip. We will be serving in two locations next week: We will be at Cristo Rey on Tuesday and Wednesday and in Potosi on Thursday and Friday. We'll have a free day to enjoy the beautiful country of Nicaragua on Saturday, and then worshiping with the people we've served alongside on Sunday. It's going to come and go very quickly.

If you want to follow our devotional journey, I've listed below our daily themes and Scripture passages.

Monday - Incarnation Ministry (John 1:24 & Colossians 1:19-27)
Tuesday - God's Love (Ephesians 3:16-21 & Psalm 139)
Wednesday - Loaves & Fishes and Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30 & Luke 9:10-17)
Thursday - God's Heart for the Orphans and Widows (James 1:27 & Matthew 19:16-21)
Friday - Secret of the Poor (Luke 12:15-31)
Saturday - Hardship & Suffering (Romans 5:1-5 & 1Thessalonians 5:16-18)
Sunday - Carrying Our Corner of the Mat (Mark 2:1-12)

Blessings on your journey! We appreciate and value the prayers you offer on our behalf!

Lisa :)