Week 3 on the Island

Hello all!

This week has been a very good one. I worked on the farm which is different then what I am used to. The farm is covered in trees with the view of the lake. It has lots of different produce trees and it is just a new experience for me. I also worked around the CICRIN campus and other odds and ends jobs. This past week I started to feel that my body is getting somewhat used to the humidity and it made working a tad bit easier. I also was sick and have a bad cough but nothing a little sleep and medicine can’t fix.

On Thursday night we were told that in the morning we were headed to a ministry on the main land. How exciting that I will be getting off the island for 2 days and get to help out in another place. The ministry was a program that feeds children of the town. Not only do they feed them they use it as a chance to tell them about Jesus and having manners. There is also a youth program that is for the teenagers of the community. On Friday we leave early in the morning, once we get of the ferry we are met by a lady named Sara(I will tell you more about her later). My team got to the building for the program, which would also be our sleeping quarters for the night. This building is just a concrete place with the bare minimum which was okay because there was so much love residing there. At lunch time we fed about 50 children from the area and played most of the afternoon with them. I loved seeing the children eat and how after they each had a toothbrush and got to brush their teeth. These kids are so young and have so much going on in their lives. It was an eye opening day as I got to see first hand the struggle they go through. After the morning feeding program we then took some kids to the lake beach and we had so much fun when we were there.

In the evening they had a youth group of sorts. The youth came and we just danced for awhile and then we started where we had to sit next to someone that we didn’t come with. Then we just praised Jesus in both languages and did some fun games. The youth group had two main rules: 1 that you don’t sit next to someone you came with and 2 that while sitting you don’t cross your legs or ankles. This was a struggle that was hard for me and my team as we tried to respect what they have set into place. This place is trying to help bring young people into the community that have manners and respect for people. Instead of just youth that don’t care about anyone, just about themselves.

After the youth group was done one of the leaders asked if we wanted to go to the store to get snacks (never say no to snacks). So we started to follow him down some streets and we finally get to where we are going at 8pm. We realize that it is a ice cream shop and my heart was so happy to have something frozen and yummy. So that was a nice way to end the night. In the morning we work up in the concrete building and I was actually chilled. On Saturday we spent in San Jaun Del Sur which we got to go to the beach of the ocean. This was a nice but busy day as at the end of it I was just ready to get home. My little volcano island that had my kids and was where I was comfortable. That was the first time that I saw those volcanos and was excited that my house was there. Even though this is only for another two months, it is exciting to me that I am so comfortable and happy here.

So here is a little about Sara the lady I was talking about. This lady had a very tough life here in Nicaragua. She was a starving child and went through abuse throughout her life. This lady went through a lot of bad time and when she met the Lord her life was changed. When she told us her story it was beautiful to see what parts made her cry. It was not the hard and bad times but it was the times where the Lord was blessing her and showing her how much he loves her and her family. This lady started the feeding/youth program as a way to help kids that are going through the things that she did. I loved a lot about this week and I have lots more stories to tell. 

Blessings and Love
Christina