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 to be here. We then had some conversations through our translators with the church pastor and leaders, communicating the plans for the week, especially finding out what they wanted us to do when. We planned to do some teaching today, but they said they wanted us to wait til Monday, so we will do just that.
Monday with the parents we will do an exercise called "community mapping" where we will listen to them by letting them first draw and then tell us about their neighborhood. I am very excited to do this, because listening first is the best way to teach, and because we can find out what their strengths and weaknesses are when it comes to issues like diet, health, water hygiene, washing hands, dehydration, etc... Those are the things we plan to teach them this week, and by listening first we can affirm their strengths, and help teach them the things they may still have to learn. We of course are very excited to teach them more about Jesus! And we will also have the privilege to install about 40 water filters in homes, bringing access to clean water to 40 families! What a privilege! Praise God!
Also, have I mentioned how good the food is here? Just today we have had a delicious breakfast, lunch, and dinner! We have eaten things like delicious red beans and rice, plantains, plantain chips, beef, chicken, and very fresh fruit; and the orange juice here is better than any I have had in America! When most people think "mission trip," they don't usually think great food, but as Josh Hunholz and I say, neither of us have ever been on a foreign country mission trip with bad food! And here it is extra good!
So I am excited, and am very glad to be here! Josh Hunholz had a devotion yesterday where he read from and challenged us to take more seriously than ever before the words of Joshua 1:9, my confirmation verse, which says, "Be strong & courageous, do not be terrified, do not be discouraged; for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go." Being in a foreign country where they speak a foreign language, we have no choice but to depend on God and to take more seriously than ever the words of Joshua 1:9. We are fully dependent on Him, and that is right where we need to be, right where He wants us. We like to think when living in our comfort zones that we don't need God. But here it is impossible to deny. And it has reminded me that I need Him not just here, but ALL THE TIME. Fully dependent on Him is right where He wants us to be, ALL THE TIME! And He is always here with us. Praise God!
Thank you all for your support and prayers! Keep it up!
-Pastor Josh
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