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!

><>

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.

><>

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.

><>

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.

><>

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.

><>

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.

><>

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.