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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
Ok, airport.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.
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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.><>
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."
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