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
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