Friday

Well here we are. We are beginning a day that tells us that we are at the end of our trip. I’m not sure that I’ve done a trip like this without drama, discipline, and complaints. It has to be because God is honoring the prayers of the righteous! Gloria a Dios! (Glory to God).


The crews got right to work after quiet times and breakfast. Paint! Cliff! Baseball! Break!

I took Timothy and Taylor Kolker to go visit 3 of the kids the Kolker family collectively sponsors here in Managua. They live within 10 minutes of the center, so it was a great opportunity for them to connect. We spent about a total of about 30 minutes them. It was neat to be able to share the experience with the guys. The 3 kids are precious. I am thankful that it worked out.

We returned and allowed Dave and Jenna Jackson to go and visit a family as well. Earlier in the week they had set up with Bruce the opportunity to purchase 2 chickens, beans and rice for a family in need. They got to go and deliver all of the items (including the live chickens) to the family. From what they shared, it was a great experience.

As our teams began to wrap up their projects, they began to prepare for our last VBS time. We ate lunch and then we were off again.

We arrived at the church with smiling faces and laughter greeting us. It is such a great feeling to have little ones hanging all over you. I can just envision the little children climbing all over Jesus. I know why He chastised the disciples for telling the kids to stop. Not only do you have an opportunity to show love to the kids, but they show it back. I’m sure Jesus loved it as much as we did!

The teaching and music team brainstormed how to make things work better. Rather than have 4 rotations, we did 3. The music and teaching teams formed an alliance and did their rotations together. First music, then the story. It seemed to go much better.

As we were nearing the end of our time, I noticed students beginning to latch on to certain kids. Kids that they had found a strong bond with. We all came together at the end and we presented gifts to all of the leaders of the church who came out to help and learn from us. Then there was an older lady from the church that had made each of us a bookmark. She had spent the night before making this gift for us. It was so sweet. The pastor recognized each of us by name and they all gave us physical and spiritual hugs.

They then brought out a snack for us. Ham sandwiches and tea. We were about to go to dinner at a nice restaurant, but did not want to be rude, so we ate them… well most did. It was a kind gesture of their gratitude for coming to share with them.

We left church to go to place called La Finca. It was the place we were supposed to go on Sunday. It actually really nice to go last night. The evening was cool and beautiful. We ate out on the covered balcony and enjoyed our time together. There was a lot of laughter, a lot of eating, and all in all a great way to end an awesome day.

We arrived at the center and went straight to debrief. There were some very sad faces in the room. We have some students who feel called by God to go on mission and many of them were asking whether Nicaragua was the place. Others were talking about wanting to come back next year to serve. I love to see God move in the hearts of students. It is one of the things that brings me great joy.

I am so thankful for your prayers and contributions to get us here. Your sacrifice to give means that some of these students may surrender to full-time Christian ministry/missions. It also means that there are children here who may have heard the good news of Jesus for the very first time. God bless you for sending us to Nicaragua.

Pressing On,

Dale