"I'm blessed."

So there are those times when I feel this nagging that it's time to pray, or time to stop and listen, or time to write...and this is one of those times. I cannot believe that it has been almost 3 months since I have updated my blog. What a slacker I am! I've stopped and thought, "hmmm...maybe I should update my blog and talk about how my summer ended or how things have changed after my trip", but just never had that nagging like I do now. Can I just say that I am so amazed at how many people actually read my blog...I mean, wow. I began this blog with the intention of having another way to express myself creatively, emotionally, and spiritually, and when I returned home to those "Jenny I read your blog"'s from SO many people in my community, I was absolutely blown away. I cannot express my gratitude to those who tuned in to see what God had in store for me, the mission teams, and the Nicaraguans who were on a mission to serve Him...and my utmost gratitude goes to the Lord, the Master of it all. Oh what a mighty God we serve!
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I've had my ups and downs since leaving Nicaragua. The spiritual tension has been challenging. I feel homesick at times, and I just want to talk about what I did there, even though I've already repeated myself time and time again -- I truly feel like there will be no end to my, in all honesty, love affair with my missions experiences. I just find it so much harder here because there aren't tons of people willing to listen. It makes my day when I have someone tell me that they would love to spend the day hearing about my experiences, and I would love to spend hours upon hours giving God all the glory He deserves...but it seems like those who I want to listen don't really want to hear what I have to say. I think that has been one of the most difficult things to cope with. However, I will share one experience with y'all...I've found that prayer does work wonders. Increased prayer over someone or something has kind of guided them in the direction I believe God wants them to go. It is such a pleasant surprise when God goes ahead and paves the way for a situation so that when the time is right, we can sit down and talk about Jesus (after all the prayers).

Do not be anxious about anything, but pray and ask God for everything you need, always giving thanks. Philippians 4: 4-6

One thing I have noticed is how my faith has been strengthened and how I have been humbled. This summer gave me real perspective on life. There are so many times in the past where I've been so selfish..it has brought out the worst in me. I've found that it is so easy to get caught up in my life and not look out amongst the living. Have you ever been to a soup kitchen or experienced helping out those at a homeless shelter? If you have or haven't, I challenge you to. One thing you'll find out is that the majority of those men and women have positive outlooks on life. If you ask "How are you today?" they will usually simply respond with "I'm blessed." How humbling that is...two words that put me in my place and really make me realize just how blessed I am -- to have so much and still complain about how I don't like this or I don't want that. Praise the Lord for the stress in my life, school really is not that bad. I have a roof over my head and a pantry full of food. After 22 years of living, I know that I too have been SO AMAZINGLY blessed and no matter how much I try, no amount of gratitude will be able to express my gratitude for what He has given me. It's by grace, I have been saved, and His grace is sufficient.
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One of my favorite things is sitting here thinking about how the Lord never ceases to keep me in line...that little humbling factor that teaches me I'm not in charge, He is; I'm not perfect, He is; I'm a servant, not a ruler; I'm here to make disciples and show the fruits of the spirit to everyone, not to bring my brother or sister down.

When you talk, do not say harmful things, but say what people need--words that will help others become stronger. Ephesians 4:29

I will try to update my blog more than once every 3 months...hopefully more like 1 or 2 times a week. Again, if no one reads this, I don't mind...I'm just here to express myself and discuss how the Lord has impacted my life for the better. He is awesome! Amen.

Let's Pray Y'all

Our past week we went with a team from Charleston, South Carolina to Ciudad Dario to distribute the gospel of Luke, the Story of Jesus. We were so surprised when we pulled into ACIBEN (the guest house for the Christian Association of Baptist Churches of Nicaragua...where we stayed for the week) and a group of Nicaraguans from the neighbor town came in. Why were we surprised? Because they had worked with this very Charleston group last year. So it was like a family reunion, and it was so awesome to see. Rachel, Lauren, and I were relieved when we saw that the house we were staying in had an overhead shower (with AMAZING water pressure) and a flushable toilet...not bucket showers and outhouses. What a great/easy way to end our bathroom experiences in Nicaragua :)
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After prayer walking the first day, Ciudad Dario was very receptive to the gospel. We even had a lady come up to us asking if we were there to talk about Jesus even before we had begun to hand out any books of Luke. One of the days I was blessed with having the opportunity to pray for an old man on the street. Rachel had constantly been telling us that we don't have enough books to hand out to everyone on the street because they would all be getting books in their homes as well, BUT if we felt like we should take that opportunity to stop someone and give them a book, we should. So I did. I stopped the old man, gave him a book, and asked him if we could pray for him. As we started praying, he began to cry. He was so thankful for our prayer, and I was so grateful that the Lord made me feel like I should turn around and give this man a book and pray for him. I don't know what was plaguing him...whether he was sick or just tired in his old age, but in that one moment, our hearts were lifted up to Jesus, asking him to bless this man (which we are constantly reminded in the Bible that the Lord has already blessed us). What an opportunity. Thank you Jesus. Later on that day, I went into a house on the street and started rattling off the Spanish I know to 4 older men. One of them asked me where I was from and what state. When I told him around Houston, TX, he smiled..then I noticed that he was wearing an Astros cap, and he started speaking perfect English. We discussed the purpose of me being in Nicaragua and our ministry and he told me that it's great to see that we have traveled so far A. because we have a heart for telling Nicaragua about Jesus and B. because Americans need to get away from all of the comforts and experience what it's like beyond our borders. Eventually I came to find out that he works at Continental Airlines in Houston..so honestly, I hope to see him when I go home on August 2...how cool would that be?

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Overall we were blessed with the help from the church members from San Isidro who helped us work Ciudad Dario and we ended up handing out about 5,000 gospels of Luke. We showed the Jesus film twice and during the second night's movie, Sergio (our driver/the Godly Nicaraguan man who is the missions director for the Nicaraguan convention/Loren's successor in taking over Operation Go) led 3 people to accepting Christ as their Savior. Crazy how the Lord works. One of the women had received the book in her home while she wasn't there, read it, heard we were showing the movie, came to ask about the book, and then accepted Jesus. I don't know about y'all, but I'm clappin' for and praisin' the Big Man upstairs.
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During the week we had a despedida at ACIBEN for Loren and Karen. It was basically a despedida from the Nicaraguan Baptist Convention for them, so pastors from around the country of Nicaragua came to show their appreciation for the Dickeys.
I was happy because I was able to see Pastor Hector from Esquipulas, where FBC Schulenburg was last year, Pastor Juan from San Lucas, and my favorite, Pastor Francisco from Los Encinos/Las Sabanas, all in one place. They gave Karen and Loren a pinata and 3 cakes as part of their going away party.

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It's all kind of a blur, but I wanted to talk about the other fun things we did while we were at ACIBEN in the afternoons. We played NINJA, climbed trees, played SCUM (a card game), ate food (yes, FUN), and I TRIED to play baseball and soccer and realize now that I should never do that again...mainly because I was a sad excuse of an athlete.

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I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed this group from Charleston BC. I felt like they were more of a family than a team..and they looked out for us just as much as we looked out for them. They were very giving, accepting, and loving to us, to the Nicas, and to the Lord. I'm glad we were blessed with the opportunity to meet and share a week with them, and they were a great last team to have. I also really liked the fact that they were so Southern in their accents. It's always fun having a group of people who speak the same way you do (with heavier accents) :)

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When it came time for us to leave ACIBEN and Ciudad Dario, it was kinda weird. Rachel, Lauren, and I had finished our last days of distribution with our last team, and it didn't feel like it at all. Even today, 2 days after they have been gone from Nicaragua, it still doesn't seem like our summer is over. Now we have to trust in these verses that I have written and talked about so often:

I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.
1 Corinthians 3:6

and

My Word, which comes from my mouth will not return to me void. It will accomplish what I have sent it out to do.
Isaiah 55:11

let all of creation sing to Him now

Today is our last day of preparation for a team. They are from Charleston, South Carolina and we will be going to Ciudad Dario, birthplace of the Latin poet Ruben Dario. It's amazing how quickly this week came...considering the fact that it seems like a few days ago we were sitting around a table planning out the hectic summer ahead. I feel so humbled by my experiences from this summer. We are not here because we are "good people" as I have been told. We are here to serve the Lord. We are here to make disciples, but we still strive to do this because even Jesus only had 120 disciples when He died. I'm here in Nicaragua because of these verses:

The Great Commission
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Matthew 28:19

and

I expect and hope that I will not fail Christ in anything, but that I will have the courage now, as always, to show the greatness of Christ in my life, here on Earth, whether I live or die
Philippians 1:20

It's these verses that have changed my life. I strive to be the woman of God that I am commanded to be. The fact that I'm here serving Him has had such an impact on my life. I only hope that those of you who read my blog and those people whom I encounter and have the opportunity to share my testimony with will feel compelled to take part in missions. It is unlike any experience, and if you let it be, it will be an extremely JoYfUl and lifeCHANGING and FAiTH impacting experience. We can give money all we want, but until we go, whether it is in our own home towns, in the States, or in foreign lands, you will miss out on the journey.

Abre la Puerta a Tu Corazon

So this week was kinda different. If I would have known the blessings that were in store for us this week, I don't know if I would have believed it.
First off, it was a hike team of 9 men. Secondly, they were from Harrison, Arkansas...the same church my team was from a few weeks ago. I thought it was cool how we got to have two different teams on two completely different missions from the same church, all serving Jesus. Loren initially told us that we could be hiking for 2 hours from where we parked our vehicles in order to get to Tipilma, so Lauren and I made sure we didn't pack anything but the essentials (more me than Lauren, since I seem to bring wayyy too much stuff all of the time). On that Saturday we were supposed to pick up the team, Karen noticed a conflict in the flights...we thought they were coming in on the 11 am flight, but their flight number was for the 8 pm flight...luckily after calling around the state of Arkansas we found out that they were coming in at night. Going to the airport at the wrong time would have probably led to an aggravated Loren, Lauren, and Jenny. So we picked up the team at night and headed out to the hotel--a hot springs. Now, you may say "how awesome!"..and yes it is awesome, unless of course your intestines have been invaded by a parasite. This was me. I'm not sure how I got the parasite, but I know I felt poopy sick (I know, I know, but it's true and people have been asking me all summer if I have gotten sick, so now I can say "Yes and here's how I felt..."). So I don't recommend getting a parasite, but I took an Abendizol and within 2 days, my tummy was cleared. Anywho, we ended up driving through Camoapa, picking up Pastor Ishmael and Raul (who we later learned was actually named Nahum...oopsie), and drove the 2 1/2 hours down the bumpy muddy road to our parking spot near Tipilma. When we arrived at the little hilltop spot, men met us with horses and mules so that they could carry some of our packs, including all of mine and Lauren's stuff..and then we were told it was a 15 minute hike...what a surprise! 15 minutes, not 2 hours, YAY! So we hiked up and down for about 15 minutes and when we came up the last hill, we saw the church and its counterparts.

Not the little wooden shack we thought it would be. The church had tile floors, painted walls, a separate building for cooking, teaching, storing, and sleeping, and there was a quite nice latrina and a good shower (still needed a bucket of water to bathe, but this shower had 4 sides to it and a place to put my soap). That first day we had such a nice welcoming and we even showed one of the Jesus films to the people of the church that first night.
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That night, as I was laying in my hammock, I woke up around 2..I felt something crawling on my head. It left..but then a few minutes later, it crawled down my face. I panicked and in my imagination I think I threw it off of me..? Then I settled down and tried to go back to sleep...however, another very large critter decided to crawl across my hair and freak me out again. I don't think I slept anymore that night. Welcome to the country, where the ceilings and the walls don't connect or have caulking to keep the cracks from letting wind, rain, or BUGS from getting in.
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The next day was the first day of our distribution adventure. That morning Lauren and I found out that we were gonna get to ride horses...I was super excited but the last time I rode a horse, I was in Costa Rica, my horse was stubborn, and I cried...so this was an adventure. Lucky for me, good old Cayote was nice. His owner, Mercedes was kind enough to let me borrow him..but she led the way in front of me, on her own horse. We trudged up the hills, I tried not to fall off, and when we arrived at a house, I would make my way off of Cayote and we would go inside to share the Gospel. One thing I saw over the past week that inspired me was the fact that Mercedes, and the other Nicas of Tipilma were adamant about preaching to their family members who weren't Christians. I think talking to family about Jesus and getting them to see the light is probably the most difficult thing to do -- family doesn't like to listen to you because you're you and of course you have no idea what you're talking about, right? I know the feeling, and I find it unfortunate to those family members. Mercedes set a great example for me..that's something she will probably never know.
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The next morning...I'll tell the truth...my butt hurt. The saddle on Cayote did me in, and I felt it for days. The next two days we ended up going to two different communities because we had finished our predetermined Tipilma area of about 30 houses the first day. I enjoyed being able to go in different groups with the FBC Harrison men so that I could get to know them all in different ways. Of course when one of them asked me what my name was on the 3rd day, I figured I should talk to him more and more so that he could remember me the next day...or hour. By the third day we had a surprise waiting for us: the women of the church wanted to cook us a meal, and the day they did this was also the same day that John (one of the Harrison men) was celebrating his 54th birthday, so it turned into a birthday party :) They cooked us a feast of fried chicken, yucca, baby corn, chicken meat balls, chicken broth, and rice. It was so good! I love trying Nica food.

That night was our last night in Tipilma, and as the sun began to set, the church service began to commence. I was amazed at how many people were there - at least 100 were piling into the little church to see the Jesus movie we were showing that night. They had trekked through mud and muck to get there, but they were interested. It's amazing how God's power moves through communities and inspires them.
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We kind of had our despedida (closing ceremony) that night, and when it was all said and done, Lauren, Loren and I settled down into a discussion mode. Loren wanted us to read some scripture to him, so I decided to read from Romans. I chose Romans 5 because that morning I had decided to memorize Romans 5:1-5

Therefore we are justified by faith and have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, rejoicing in hope of the glory of God. And not only this but we glory in tribulations, for the knowledge that tribulations create perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

I read through the chapter, and we began discussing the first few verses. We have been justified by Christ's death and are given faith, grace, perseverance, character, and hope. We primarily discussed character: how had we been impacted by this summer when it came to our character. We told Loren how we thought we had, and he told us what he saw in us. As young adult women Lauren and I have grown tremendously in our leadership, our cooperation with people, our patience, our love, and primarily, OUR FAITH. When Loren told us that he's honored to have us here, that was the end of the dry eyes for both Lauren and myself. Then we prayed...and we couldn't help but feel so humbled and blessed. Needless to say, it was one of the best nights I have had here. So real, so true, so Jesus.
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We left Tipilma the next morning with bigger smiles in our hearts than we had arrived with or felt before. We were headed back to civilization, but I couldn't help but think about that community. I pray that God continues to bless it and I pray that the people of the community know how important they are and how much they blessed us.
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So when I mentioned 'the blessings' that we received this week, I was implying that I would discuss many in my blog...but I missed many, so I would like to make a list:
9 men of God from Harrison, Arkansas going to tiny Tipilma, Nicaragua to hand out the Gospel
not too muddy of roads
a 2 hour turned 15 minute hike
a beautiful church with more amenities than we had fathomed
a giving church body
a horse named Cayote
a determined Christian woman, ready to reach out to her lost family
fellowship
discipleship
a faithful old couple who lives on the mountain side, ready and willing to trudge 20 minutes through the mud and muck to the church so that they can see us off every day and be there to tell us goodbye...and in America, we don't even want to get out of bed to go to church and have to drive that 10 minutes on paved roads...they were truly amazing examples of how I hope to be when I'm that age

open arms and open hearts ready to embrace what the movie had in store
professions of faith
a time of sharing with Loren and Lauren about this summer
Tipilma
Jesus' saving grace
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As long as we open the door to our heart, Jesus can be let in. True happiness, satisfaction, patience, strength, solace, and love comes from the Lord. Will you open the door to your heart?

For us there is one God, the Father, of whom we are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we LIVE.
1 Corinthians 8:6

OCOTAL::week two

With our second week in Ocotal came many good memories. First off, my family was there. Secondly, summer missionaries from past years were there: Lydia and Cole --they came in to help out with managing the teams (we each led a team). Thirdly, the week of crazy craziness had come upon us, and 35 Baptist gringos were at the Ocotal church ready to go out and serve the Lord. How exciting it is to live the event that has been anticipated for so long. One of the groups was from Tennessee, and they were a band called "No Other Name". Can I just say that they were amazingly talented and they sounded like angels when they sang praise and worship songs. What a blessing. Another team was from Watkinsville, Georgia. They're a group of college kids, with their fearless leader, Chris Fitzgerald, who proclaims that he is Chuck Norris' son. He really does look like he legit could be. The team I led was a group of 6 from McNeese State University in Louisiana. They are actually still here until Saturday, July 10, so I can still say that they're a joy to lead because we are all just about the same age and have the same interests. Their names are Tia, Carin, Lindsey, Dex, Clint, Silas, and Colby. And finally, the last team, aka "the kitchen crew" is the group who practically raised me: FBC Schulenburg.
Within the first day, Loren gave instruction to all those who were with us about what the week had in store for them, Nicaraguan life, surviving the week (food rules: don't eat the cheese, fruit, veggies, or drink the water), and more. Our philosophy is that we know what is best for the crazy team members who want to try every local food, but if they want to try the food anyway, they can. They will die. Not literally, but I tell them that. They sure wont like having the water parasite in them that prohibits them from keeping any food or liquid in them. In this case (even now after 4 people in the past 3 weeks have gotten sick), listen to the missionary or summer missionaries...It's just a thought. :).
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It was cool to be able to lead a group who was my age. We began every morning with a devotional, and I started it for my team the first day. I wanted to talk about the aspect of planting the seed. When we come here, we hand out books of Luke, or radio program books, but we don't always get to see the next steps that God takes in these people's lives. Some people get discouraged and feel like their work here was done in vain, but what I wanted to instill in my groups mind is exactly what 1 Corinthians 3:6 says:

I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.

Not everyone will see a person get saved, but it's because God works behind the scenes. Everything is in His time, and we have to be patient..He will give the increase. That's one thing I've learned after coming to Nicaragua on mission twice and being here this summer. I know that prayer is an essential element of life, so I am encouraged by 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and in everything give thanks; this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

So with this I tried to encourage my group to pray about the people and about them receiving and accepting Jesus into their lives. I think it was a good precursor to prepare them for what would follow in the week.

Our journey of the week began in a town called Macuelizo. Macuelizo is north of Ocotal, and about an hour from the Honduras border (an hour only because the roads are so bad...distance wise..about 50 kilometers). We covered that town quickly and moved on to a little community in the mountains. Here I ran into a young girl, maybe about 16 who was willing to take the folleto, but when we asked her if she was a Christian/attended a church, she said no. My Nicaraguan partner asked her what she was waiting for, and she said "Well aren't we all Christians? I don't need a relationship because we are all born Christians." It was hard for us to grasp this concept. I pray that she realizes that a relationship with Christ is walking with Him and proclaiming His name...not living a life of sin and thinking she is saved. It was an eye opener for me. We completed handing out books to these communities and made it to more communities surrounding Macuelizo, handing out more folletos, and growing closer in our fellowship together for Christ with every step we took.

Our week continued and every day we went out to different areas, sometimes with only our team, sometimes with the other groups. One of the days we visited Palacaguina, a larger community, and we took it by storm, at one point we were standing on a look out, where Sam, Destiny, Rami, and I took a picture

and below we could see Cole and Clint witnessing to a man. They talked to him for quite a while, and after realizing how important Jesus Christ was for his life, he invited them into his home and he got saved. Amen. How awesome.


Again, there are so many memories that I could write about for hours, but my time is limited, so I'll just list some.
Hardcore Parkour - Colby is a monkey
Colby hates hand sanitizer
Rami is addicted to hand sanitizer
Getting to know my team and their testimonies
Bonding with my Mom and Dad
Being a leader
Hiking with Dad
Getting to know Lydia
Catching up with Cole
writing songs
long talks with Mom :)
Cole and Clint making disciples
playing Mafia
Making friends in Ocotal: Carlos, Felix, Ada, Jairo, Alex, David, Israel, Axel
Praise and Worship - Nicaraguan style
Prayer.
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One of our last days was a great day. It was also sad because it was the day that Lydia and Cole, along with team Erlanson, left Ocotal. That morning we all sat in a huge circle and listened to the No Other Name group sing worship songs. However we were in for a treat: they had written a song about Operation GO.
Lyrics:
Wakin' up at the crack of dawn
Showerin with my sandals on
I got my bag of milk with my Captain Crunch,
It's gonna have to last me all the way to lunch.
I've got my sandwiches in my paper sack,
The big blue books weighing down my back.
Where are we goin?
No one knows
Welcome to Operation GO
Chorus:
Singin OH oH oh OH don't you wanna go, don't you wanna go
x2
25 people in a big white van,
Feelin like sardines in a can,
Step on the gas and we start to fly,
We've gotta STOP...and let the cows go by
Practicin my Espanol,
Tryin to get my r's to roll
Playin futbol with a small nino,
Welcome to Operaion GOOOOOOOO.
Chorus x2
Get some looks goin' door to door
Have they ever seen a Gringo before?
I say "BUENAS!" with a great big smile,
I've only gotta do this for 8 more miles
Chorus x4


After No Other Name sang this awesome song, Loren talked to the entire group. He said "Can I get my kids to come up here?" I was truly touched that he referred to us as "his kids". It was Cole, Rami, me, Lauren, Rachel, and Lydia. He talked about how hard we work, how dedicated we are to serving the Lord, and how some of us will be missionaries some day. Then everyone prayed for us...of course I cried, I always do when people pray for me/over me. I feel blessed when people take the time and the heart to pray for me.

It was so sad having to say goodbye to Lydia and Cole. I was so excited to get to bond with Lydia after hearing so much about her from FBC Schulenburg mission teams who had been in Nicaragua with her when she was a summer missionary. I hugged her about 20 times before she left. Even after a week, it felt like we had been friends for so long. They left and we continued our days of working for Jesus. The next day it was time for Schulenburg to leave. I was sad, but it's hard to be sad that they're leaving when I'll be seeing them in 3 weeks. I'm taking advantage of my time here on the mission field, instead of being sad for those whom I know I will see soon.
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We had one more day of working for Jesus, and this final day, we decided it would be awesome to take part in the Nicaragua public transportation system...aka school buses. So we took the chance and rode 45 minutes from Ocotal to Somoto, on a packed school bus, with around 80 books per person. Distribution went fast that day, and before we knew it, we were back at the guest house in Ocotal, vegged out, ready to sleep for days. We had planned for Loren to come back on Sunday morning to pick up McNeese and myself to go back to Managua, but at the last moment plans changed (as they always do) and McNeese decided to go where Rachel was headed with her team for the next week. Two of our Nica helpers, David and Felix hung around that night..they can both speak some English...and we bonded with them. It's awesome to see how they were impacted by working with us throughout the weeks, but I pray that they know that they impacted us equally as much as we worked with them. That night was a great time of fellowship for all of us, as we hugged and said our goodbyes.
The next day, Loren came and picked me up from Ocotal, while the other teams moved on to stay out the next week with Rachel. I was busy planning a surprise for my family - they would get to see me again, since they didn't leave until a day later. So we showed up and they were confused/excited, and it was great because not only did I get to pick them up at the airport, but I ended up spending more time with them and getting to drop them off at the airport the next afternoon...mom cried, but that's typical..and I teared up too.
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We spent this past week preparing for the next - last - two teams we have for the summer. Our next team is from Harrison, Arkansas, like the team in Ocotal, except it is a hiking team (we get to carry all of our food for the week in our backpacks, and hike to our base camp for the week since there is not a road to drive on). We also worked on helping Loren and Karen take apart the shed outside since they're moving to Santiago, Chile in 3 weeks. It was a bummer to have to prepare for them to leave Nicaragua, but it's time, and someone has to do it.
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So far I have had the best summer I could ever ask for. What better way is there to spend my summer than serving Jesus Christ and growing in Him? None. Thank you Lord for blessing me and giving me the opportunity to fulfill the Great Commission:

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. Matthew 28:19-20

OCOTAL::week one

So...I haven't posted anything in quite some time, but the past two and a half (actually more like 4) weeks have been crazy hectic, and I still haven't recovered even though I've been home for about 4 days. I don't even know where to start when describing my past two and a half weeks of teams and work for the Lord. Ok, preparations.
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We had been preparing food and money wise for about 2 or 3 weeks, knowing that we had to buy for 4 teams at the same time, then 2 more. We prayed daily so that we would be spiritually ready to lead teams without having Loren around to help us. He would be in a town about 20 minutes away from Ocotal (where Rachel and I stayed with our teams). He gave us this verse:

Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise. Which, having no leader, overseer, or ruler, provides her supplies in the summer and gathers her food in the harvest.
Proverbs 6:6

It means that for us, we were our own leaders...Loren would not be around to answer all 500 billion questions our teams asked or what we wanted to ask. What a great verse to prepare us. He told us that once these three weeks of craziness started, they would fly by.

Ok, airport.
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For our first week we had FBC Harrison and FBC Gainesville crammed into our guest house behind the Ocotal Iglesia Bautista. After unpacking and setting up the kitchen, our rooms, our bathroom, and our showers, we met and tried to prepare them for the work they would be doing. These two weeks were different. Although we usually hand out little tracts of the Book of Luke, we were handing out folletos (work booklets) for a radio program that one of the missionaries is starting. We explained the system of prayer walking and praying for the houses and people in the towns and then handing out the book and saying things like, "Buenas."(Is anyone home?) , "Traigo un regalo para su familia" (I bring a gift for your family), and "Dios le bendiga" (God bless you). Also, we tried to prepare them for the terrain, telling them that it would probably be flat and in or around a city. Everyone was pumped. We set out the next day with God on our minds. We were on a mission and as Isaiah 55:11 promises, the Word of God will not return to Him void, it will fulfill it's purpose for which it has been sent out. After typical confusion among the Nicas, we split up and went our different ways to deliver the word to the people in our paths. I went with Jordan and Stephanie, two newlyweds who were full of spark and ready to roll. We hiked up and we hiked down. We prayed, we handed out folletos, we prayed some more, we hiked some more, we attempted Spanish, we drank lots of water, we handed out more folletos.
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When we returned (after dragging ourselves up the mountain), half of our group was still missing. The guys who were with us decided to play hopscotch, and after an hour and a half, the other group arrived where we were waiting. They looked exhausted. The first thing one of them said to me was, "Everything you told us yesterday was a lie." I was scared for my life and out of fear said, "What did I say?" It turns out that they had one of the hardest hikes and pretty much went up and down and around then down and back around and up the mountain, instead of them being in a city, like Rachel and I had explained the night before. After a while, they were rejuvenated and I knew they weren't mad, but I felt bad for them for not being prepared.
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That night we returned back to the guest house and Rachel wasn't there. One of the girls from her group told me that she was still out and that the kitchen was open for me to start cooking supper...WHAT?! I immediately went into shock mode. Cook? Me? I don't cook...so, body language is obviously an easily readable aspect when it comes to me because the women of the groups jumped in and took the rains. It was amazing. I was so grateful to have the awesome help I received. The Lord was looking out for me on that one.
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I enjoyed talking with different people from both FBC Gainesville and FBC Harrison about their relationships with Christ, how they got to Nicaragua, how they study their Bibles, what they've thought about their trip and experiences in Nicaragua, and just being able to fellowship with them and praise the name of Jesus. I find it amazing that we were able to come up with so many stories and memories in such a short amount of time. I could make a list of everything I remember, but that would take forever...okay....I'll do it anyway:

Hopscotch - I never knew how to play until this team showed me
Me "lying" to them about the terrain
Mark not carrying books
Jenny and Sarah show reports
Mark and the goats
Rami eating Mark's sandwich

Bat's pooping on us
Rami playing the guitarJohn going to India
Eskimo ice cream
Me abandoning the team to go to the airport with Loren
FBC Harrison group as "role models"
Internet Cafe
Mark's suitcase - hot pink duct tape
Stephanie and Sergio's 3 am charade game
Speaking Spanglish - Stephanie asking a woman on the side of the road if anyone was home
Kitchen duty
drawing on Mark's suitcase
Making t-shirts
...and more, much more.
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Before we knew it, our week had flown by, and it was time to go back to Managua, but first, Loren called me late Friday night and asked if I wanted him to pick me up so that I could go back to Managua with him and go to the airport to surprise FBC Schulenburg and my parents. Of course I wanted to go! At the airport I was ecstatic and excited and happy and giddy. I wanted to surprise them and while I watched them waiting for their luggage, I was oddly nervous. In the weeks before they came, I told her that I wouldn't be able to meet them at the airport. When they finally came through, I think my mom was more in shock than anything. Eventually she ended up crying, which was actually great because I bet Loren $10 that she would cry. Of course he forgot that bet as soon as I won, but hey, it was funny :)
><>Eventually that day the FBC Harrison and FBC Gainesville groups showed up in Managua at the guest house, and I was back to being their leader/summer missionary in charge. We were able to wind down from the week's events. The next morning we had our debriefing and Loren told us all one thing that we were awestruck by...within the week of us handing out the booklets, the offices in charge of the radio program had received numerous phone calls about the program and about being able to learn about Jesus. I guess within the hustle and bustle, we forgot about the response the folletos would receive. Again, as Isaiah 55:11 says:

"My word, which comes from my mouth, is like the rain and snow. It will not come back to me without results. It will accomplish whatever I want and achieve whatever I send it to do."

Praise Jesus for the work He has done in Nicaragua over the past 2 weeks, and over the past 11 years since Loren and Karen have been here. That day we did the typical shopping/eating out. It was crazy because our time together suddenly came to an end, amidst all the chaos of the busy week. That night we had to say goodbye, which was so sad. Rachel and I are planning a road trip one weekend to Harrison, Arkansas so that we can reunite with the group.

1,250 Gospels

This past week was a great adventure. Our team was from Crawford, GA and there were 11 of them. Also, we were privileged to be able to bring Nicaraguan church members from Loren and Karen's home Baptist church in Managua to work with us during the week. We went to the town Comalapa, Nicaragua. The exception with this town is that there really are no churches in it. People in Nicaragua consider themselves Catholic if their family before them was Catholic, not because they actually attend the Catholic church. So this was a town Karen had been praying about for months, and she said that no one from their church in Managua had ever wanted to go to Comalapa, but a few weeks ago the pastor of the Baptist church said that he had had Comalapa on his heart, and Karen's prayers were answered when 6 members of the church came with us to help distribute the Book of Luke this past week.
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We began our journey with 1,250 books to give to the locals. In Comalapa, we handed out around 500 of those books and finished quickly, leaving us to go to another community to hand out the Gospel. We ended up in Cuapa, a community about 45 minutes from Comalapa. This place was one where we were not sure what to expect, as far as the people being receptive to the Gospel. This town apparently had a "Virgin sighting" of the Virgin Mary, so their root beliefs and future beliefs are set in thinking that Mary sacrificed her life for us, instead of Jesus being sent from God to save us. We prayed over the town, and prayed some more. They have erected a huge shrine to Mary in one part of Cuapa, so we went there to pray that they would all come to know Jesus as their Savior.
When we handed out the Book of Luke, it was awesome because not only were they receptive, they were excited to take our gift. We did receive a few "no"s from people, but in those situations, we left gospels at the entrances to their yards, in case they changed their minds later. We were some what discouraged by the size of the town, thinking that it would be too big to have enough books for every house, but we were blind in our thinking, forgetting that God provides. We reached almost every house, and for those houses we couldn't find, we prayed that they would hear about the gospel.
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After covering Cuapa that day, we drove around country roads and handed out books that were far away from the towns. It never ceases to amaze me that those people who live wayyy out in the country are so accepting of us, what we have to say, and what we have to give. I will never forget the lady who was so grateful that, as she was on the verge of tears she told me "thank you" and "God bless you" multiple times. Nor will I forget the man and woman who invited me into their home, as if they had known me as a good friend for years. It's awesome to know that we have brothers and sisters in Christ everywhere, even way up in a little house on a hill in a small community in Nicaragua. The Lord works in mysterious ways, so we will never know how those communities and people will respond to the Word, but after watching the Jesus film our last night, 6 people got saved. This may not sound like much, but 4 of them were men...and for men to commit their lives, the hope of building a Baptist church in that community becomes more of a reality. I know that we handed out all 1,250 books over the course of 2 1/2 days, and that in itself is a blessing.

"My word, which comes from my mouth, is like the rain and snow. It will not come back to me without results. It will accomplish whatever I want and achieve whatever I send it to do." Isaiah 55:11

Amidst handing out Gospel tracts, we took part in many fun things with the community of Comalapa. I was able to practice my Spanish with Claudia and Carolina, two Nica church members who were with us, and they were able to practice their English. Anddd there was a 12 year old boy named Nestor who hung out around the building we stayed in, so I tried to speak Spanish with him, and helped him with his English homework...it's his favorite subject. The boys in our group played basketball with the locals, which was really neat because that was good bonding and great incentive to the the local guys to watch the Jesus movie we showed across the street from the park. We spent our nights avoiding mosquitoes, although Lauren and a team member, Dean, were quite bit up...poor fellas. We adopted a local dog and named her "Julie", and sadly had to leave here in Comalapa when we left. We made friends and enjoyed ourselves, and in the name of Jesus we impacted at least 1,250 households, and many more people.

The Great Commission
"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."
Matthew 28:19

sightseeing galore!

Yesterday was a great day. You know when you have one of those days when you get to experience cool stuff? Well that was yesterday! We currently have a team in from Crawford, GA, and we did a reverse trip with them...by this I mean that we took them shopping yesterday, their first full day here, and they will go out on the mission field on Monday. So yesterday we all piled in the van and went to the Masaya Market, where we all invested in some goodies -- feather paintings, purses, bracelets, shirts, skirts, keepsakes, etc. Then we went to two amazing look out points: The first one was at the Lagoon, which is a body of water that is found near a volcano. It was a beautiful day and the water in the lagoon reflected the blueness of the sky, making the lagoon look even more cool. This is Lauren (one of the other summer missionaries) and myself in front of the lagoon. Soon after we saw this breathtaking view, we headed on to see the Masaya Volcano (which is not the volcano responsible for the previous lagoon). I was excited because although I have been to Nicaragua 2 times, I had not seen the volcano yet. We arrived and as we drove up to the top of the volcano, a cross on the top was visible. Apparently many years ago, the peoples of Nicaragua believed that the opening of the volcano was the entrance to Hell, so they rooted a cross right outside of the mouth of the volcano.
I love this picture. So we climbed up 160 something stairs to the look out point where the cross stands. Our view was great! And we got some really good pictures...then the sulfur from the volcano became too harsh and we had to leave.


















How majestic are His creations!

crazy preparations, amazing summer :)

One thing I have realized over the past week is that there is a lot more that goes into preparing for mission teams than meets the eye. I have been here with FBC Schulenburg two times (the past 2 years) and it all seemed like such a smooth process when we went out on our mission trips that it really never crossed my mind that it took effort -- lots of effort -- to get ready for teams like ours. Now, as a summer missionary, I have seen the element of work that goes into preparation behind the scenes. This is a picture of Loren and Karen's living room and kitchen...packed with food and supplies. Too bad I don't have a panoramic camera, because I definitely didn't get all of the stuff in the picture. The living room was packed. This summer, starting on Saturday, June 19, we will begin our ultimate busy time for the summer. At one point, there will be 5 teams here being shuffled around and dealt with. Lauren, Rachel, and myself have been assigned a team for every week, and with help from each other and Loren and Karen, we will survive. However, I know this is the time when leadership qualities will be shown and needed from myself and the others. I am on the flip-side this year, and I know God will help me to lead the teams I have been assigned. This is a good test for me personally, emotionally, and spiritually. I look forward to leading my own teams (I will have 2 different ones over the next month). I'm so excited to fellowship with them and grow in God together, as well as see what the Lord has in store for us as we follow His Word.

Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers--not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve;
1 Peter 5:2

One random thing that we got to experience with the Texas BSM team was that Loren and Karen surprised us with a beach trip when we returned back home. So, as tired as we were, we were super excited to go to the beach! We packed our bags and headed out to experience the complete opposite of hiking and sweating: lounging and swimming. However, we drove for a while and ended up seeing something really REALLLYYYY cool -- one of the Nicaraguan volcanoes. It was a perfectly clear day, and we stopped to take pictures in front of it.

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So anyway, finally we ended up at the beach: El Coco Beach...it was randomly there, at the edge of the mountain we drove through, and it was cool because we could see the beautiful sunset in the west and Costa Rica in the south.The sunset views that night were so pretty. The next day, we had our early morning devotion and without hesitation, we raced to the beach to enjoy the entire day of fun in the sun! Some of us played in the water, others of us who felt like they were getting swept away by the current stayed and played in the sand (me).
We had fun in the sun, for sure, but it was hot, and I did get sunburned even though I lathered on that SPF. But here in Nicaragua we are closer to the Equator, so the sun is more harmful and powerful. It did hurt, and I am peeling, which is a bummer cause I went through the pain...all I ask for is to keep the tan. By the end of it, we had gone from one extreme to the other in seeing God's creations -- all equally beautiful and all breathtaking.

defining awesome.

So I'm a lazy bum and a liar...I failed to update my blog from the time I landed in Nicaragua -- 3 and 1/2 weeks ago, until now. I apologize. Thank you Byron for following my bloggy blog and now you have inspired me update my blog whenever I can :) So wow, these three weeks have really flown by so fast! I have experienced so much through travels, hikes, sunsets, thunderstorms, Spanish speakers, little towns, big cities, markets, supermarkets, SAM's club-like grocery stores, food, drinks, preparation, and so so so much more!

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When our first team came in from America, I was so excited. They arrived 2 days after I did -- May 18 -- and they were stoked to be here. There were 6 of them: Jill, Sarah, Matt, Jude, Eric, and Lee and all of them were from Texas...so that makes the future easy for us if we ever wanna communicate :). We set out on our first trip knowing that we would be going to a community about 3 hours away, out of the city, but we didn't know where to. However, by the time we got to that community, the pastor, Pastor Juan Francisco, had other plans for us and decided that we were going to go to a small community somewhere up in the mountains...apparently it should have been about a 15 or so minute drive, but because it had been raining for days upon days, that lovely thing called "mud" slicked over the roads and made some dirt road ways seem impossible to climb in our vehicles. Now, when I say that the roads are made of dirt, I mean they are probably the worst dirt roads you can imagine...slick going up, and slick going down. Now, imagine that you are climbing a hill that is at a 65 degree angle and covered in rocks...difficult, huh? Nowww imagine you are driving up that. Trust me, when we decided to scale that slope with 4 tires and however many pounds, we learned that rubber and mud on slick rocks doesn't work, but praying and a good driver can help out with that. SO, after being scared out of our minds, we definitely thanked the Lord for giving our vehicle the ability to make it up these slopes and allow us to get to this community. The drive took us about an hour, but we arrived.

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Our first night in the community of Los Encinos, we learned very quickly that it was going to rain, the restroom was an outhouse, and the shower consisted of a three sided, chest high tarp and a bucket of water. Also, we realized that rain was eminent every day and night. We began our night with a church service and fellowship with the locals and enjoyed every minute of it. What an experience! They sang and prayed and welcomed us with amazing open arms. After church we had an amazing team devotional and finally decided it was time for bed...andddd time for HAMMOCKS! This was my first hammock experience and I was so stoked for it. Our sleeping area was the church, which had dirt floors, but four walls and a roof, so it was perfect. When we finished setting up bedding, the church was transformed into an obstacle course for sleeping. Our first night was a loud one, as I heard the chickens hopping on the roof, and in the back of my mind I'm thinking...umm...those are probably scorpions and they're going to fall into my hammock and I'm going to die, here, in this church, in the middle of nowhere (my mind likes to wander like that, yes, I'm weird). However, I did survive and we set out on our first hike the next morning.

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Now when we go out to communities, we, the gringos split up into groups of 2 or 3 and we have maybe 2 or 3 Nicaraguans with us because they know where houses are so that we can distribute the Gospel of Luke to the locals we come into contact with. I was in a group with Pastor Francisco, Sarah, and Jude, and our prior knowledge of Pastor was that he would go to the furthest house if he knew there was one, no matter how far it was. However, he needed some people to go with him who were "slow" because he has heart problems...so I guess us three were the lucky, slow ones, and he chose us to lead to those houses. We began with the idea that we would basically be silent because of course there is a language barrier between the Nica people and us. The funny thing is that God has a great sense of humor and places us in situations where He knows our abilities will be tested, but all prevailing, He will guide us through. So we went on this trail to these houses, and Francisco talked and talked and talked. He asked us questions like "How old are you?" and "Where in Texas do you live?", but one thing we all came away with was that he was trying to teach us, and he wanted us to teach him words. We learned a type of ant called "Son Popo". In his words, they carry mochillas (backpacks) like we do when we are hiking (they carry huge leaves on their backs), so we are like them. It was funny, once we got it. We taught him the words "heart", "hot", and "love". We reached 3 houses that day, and by the end of it, we had handed out about 6 books (which was good for that area), learned many things, conquered a barrier, and seen God amongst it all. Over the next few days we continued to hand out Gospels of Luke and we continued to learn many things. There was a time when we all hiked the entire morning and we had to climb up steep rock paths that ascended from a huge river (which we decided to bathe in one day), and we learned things such as "una puerta de gulpa" (self-closing gate), "arbol Séva" (a type of tree), "El Churo" (the other community we visited), "una enigma" (a walking stick used by elderly...but we used them every day), "soldado de Cristo" (soldier of Christ), and I'm sure there were more that I've now sadly forgotten. We hiked in the hot, we hiked in the mud, we hiked so that the community would receive the Gospel of Luke and the story of Jesus. It was awesome. One very important thing that we learned is that water does not always flow, and when it does, it's not always drinkable...so we had to purify our own water through a pump whenever we found it, so that we could stay hydrated. It's crazy how we take some of the simplest things for granted.

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Our biggest fears came when Loren realized that he had to leave our base camp and get out of the community while he could, because if the rain came, there was a possibility that he would not be able to drive out the day we planned to leave. So he left us with all of the supplies we needed, a Pastor who knew where to make us hike to to meet up with Loren the day we left, and faith that God would protect us. So on our final day, we set out to hike. Where we were hiking to, we didn't know, but we knew it was going to be an adventure. We packed up our bags and were ready to leave when the Nicaraguan people of the community decided that they wanted to help us carry our stuff. At first we were hesitant to give them our ginormous bags, but in Nicaragua, if a local offers you something, even if they offer you help, it is considered rude not to accept it. So the girls on our team gave our bags to the Nica men, who were happy to help us, and we journeyed on. As we began to hike, we knew it would be a difficult one because we basically had to go over a mountain, and we were so thankful that the men of the group had our bags on their backs. Remember that 65 degree angle we had to drive up? Yeah, I think we had to hike up 70 degree angle rock slopes fit for horses to climb. Honestly, I do not think we would have been able to make that journey as quickly as we did if God hadn't sent those men to take the weight off of our backs and give us strength to climb...climb...climb...climb...He was obviously with us. At some points we were covered in sweat and mud, but with the hand of God, the little girls who were holding our hands would be in front of us tugging us with them, as if they were limitless on their strength. It was so inspiring and awesome. I appreciate the Nicas who helped us. I don't know if they realized it, but they really were such an inspiration to me and other team members. Finally, after about a 3 hour hike, we came to the downhill destination...the town we originally thought we would be working in. How grateful we all were that we made it. We walked through the town to the house we were destined for, and there was Loren, waiting for us with food. It was cool.

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THEEEENNNNN, we packed up everything and drove to another community and another church. This community was called "San Lucas", and it wasn't in the middle of nowhere, and thankfully we could walk to the local store and buy water that was drinkable. Here we had church when we arrived on that Sunday, May 23, and we set up shop in this church to sleep and live for the next few days. Just like in Los Encinos, we prepared and prayer walked around the city the first day so that we could hand out the Gospel of Luke the second day. When we were finished with our work that first day, we decided to wash clothes, the Nica way. Yes, they use a legitimate washboard to wash and for anyone who has trouble using a washing machine...yea, consider yourself blessed to be able to let a machine do the work for you. When we began this, our Nica friend, Rami, decided that he wanted to start something called "The Jenny and Sarah Show"...basically he recorded Sarah and I doing things like washing clothes, picking mangos, speaking Spanish, handing out Gospels, and talking about our experiences in Nicaragua. It was really good entertainment for the entire team, especially since we decided to speak with British accents the entire time :). However, in San Lucas we experienced many great things, just as we had in Los Encinos. With open hearts we handed out Gospels, were invited to a man's home for a beef steak over rice lunch, met so many loving people, and saw the grace of God stirring in the community.

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One thing I learned from this trip is that language barriers are not God barriers. Friends can be made in 2 weeks. A flushable toilet, showerhead shower, soft bed, and pure water are taken for granted so often without second thought. I only hope that the communities we visited were as touched and impacted as I was through our interactions with them. It's amazing how the majority of things we experience are seen in hindsight, and after we have had time to process them, we realize that God was at work in every way in the community, in our hearts, and in every factor that added to our experience. I hope that those of you who haven't been on mission will GO. EXPERIENCE IT!! It's unlike anything you'll ever see or feel...God is love, God is amazing.