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A Whirlwind of a Week So Far!

What an incredible trip it has been so far!  I'm sitting in the outdoor lobby of our hotel this morning, processing all of the things the group has said over the past few evenings in our debriefing sessions.  We haven't had a lot of time for blogging because our evening meetings have gone long due to very good discussion!  As I sit here, I am trying to process all of the things the team shared as well as my own emotions from this trip.   As team leader, my first responsibility is to for the safety of the team and the administrative tasks of the trip.  But every trip I go on brings new waves of emotion as I interact with the people we come to serve.  This team has been incredible as well.  Our evening debrief sessions have been full of raw, honest thoughts and reactions, both joys and sorrows, as we work with the same group of adults and children each day and go into their homes to install water filters. Today is our last day on the project and our last day with these people.  W
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First Day in The Field!

God blessed us with a beautiful day in the mission field!  We started with community mapping, where Pastor Josh facilitated a beautiful discussion with the adults of the community.  In small groups they made maps of their community, highlighting what they are proud of and what needs they have.  It was striking that many put the church in the center, or at least noted that it was the most important part of their community.  That raised a question among our group.  What would our map have as the center?  Most of us admitted that our center would be our home, stores, places that we have activities with our families.  It was a bit embarrassing to admit that the church would be on the edge of our map.   Our chidren's lessons were lively!  I was amazed at how well behaved the children were throughout the program.  They were so excited to meet us and talk with us.  They were very well educated already on germs and hand washing, we had a great discussion to fine tune their skills and knowl

Monday

Our first day teaching the Health and Hygiene curriculum was a great success for the whole team!  The Rusert family started off the morning leading the adults (mostly women since the men were working) in a community mapping exercise.  The point of this lesson was to split them up into small groups and have them show and tell us about what their local neighborhood is like.  They did this by drawing a map and also listing things they loved about their community and what they saw as their biggest needs.  Here is a look at the finished drawings:   Then they talked about diarrhea, what it is, what causes it and how you can treat it.  Tomorrow, we will be talking about rehydration as a follow-up to this discussion. After the adult lesson, Josh R, Sammy, Keith and Carolyn went out with 2 translators and some church workers to install water filters in 10 homes.  The experience of being invited into their homes is both extremely humbling and inspiring.  It is humbling to see how they

Our Sunday Experience!

Sunday was a relaxing day for our team.  We attended the church service at the church we are serving and then drove to the beach (about a 45 minute drive) and had a nice lunch while watching the waves splash against the beach.  It rained on and off most of the day, providing us with some incredible storms to watch. Back at our hotel, we met as a team to plan our first project day and go over a recap of our Sunday experience.   Enjoying lunch at the beach.   Watching some fun rain storms while we met as a team.

Pictures from Saturday

We already posted, but here are a few photos from our day for your viewing pleasure!          

Day One in Nicaragua

So this morning we woke up in the hotel in Managua, had a delicious buffet breakfast full of food choices, and then packed in the van and headed northwest to Chinandega, the city where we will stay and serve from now through Thursday. We were picked up in Managua by some of our Nicaraguan missionaries and translators, and it was a pleasure to meet them!  We had a nice 3 hour drive to Chinandega in a roomy and AIR CONDITIONED bus!!! Yes! By the way, it is WINTER here, and is still in the 80's... with 93% humidity! How about that for winter my fellow Wisconsinites? Anyway, it is all good. We are here to serve. Speaking of serving, after dropping off our stuff at our AIR CONDITIONED hotel rooms in Chinandega, we headed a few miles away to the church where we will serve, and there was a big crowd of local church members there waiting to greet us! What an experience! I am definitely NOT a celebrity, but I felt like one then!  So we introduced ourselves, and shared that we are very happy

At the Airport

Nine of us met in Milwaukee at the airport at 8am this morning and headed out.  Our first stop was Chicago OHare where we met up with our other team member, before boarding a 2.5 hour flight to Houston.  We are now breaking for dinner before we catch our 6:25pm flight to Managua, Nicaragua, set to arrive at 8:40pm local time (9:40pm CDT as they don't do daylight savings time).  We will make our way through Immigration, pick up our bags and get through Customs before meeting our host and heading to the hotel for the night.  Early tomorrow we will take a van up to Chinandega where we will spend the next week!  The team is excited and ready to roll!  Pray for continued energy and patience as we get in late tonight.