DAY 4

Purchasing 250 care packages at the local market

Today was our last day in Tipitapa.  On the way their, we took a side trip to the Oriental Market to pick up the bags of food for our food distribution.  In addition, we bought a month's worth of rice, sugar, "Mateca" (corn meal), and oil to feed the kids at the El Faro feeding center where they serve lunch to about 200 kids a day.

Fun with the kids at the feeding center.  Iglesia El Faro

After arriving at in Tipitapa, a few of us jumped back in on construction of a couple more houses that needed finishing while the rest of us went to visit with the families who we prayed with the day prior.  Then, come lunch time, we jumped in to serve kids food at the El Faro Church/feeding center.  It was a great time of laughs with the kids.  These kids love playing games, having their pictures taken, and just having your attention.  In addition to the fun and games, as volunteers, we served drinks and plates of food to all of the kids.  It was a joy to be around them.  


After serving the kids their lunch, we were off to Iglesia Buatista Familiar... the church where we would be distributing the food bags.  This church works out great because it is made of cement block and has secure doors.  This helps with making the food distribution more orderly and safe for everyone.  Everything went well with the food distribution, and 250 families left with a 15 lb bag of rice, beans, oil, sugar, salt, soap, etc...

Distributing bags of food

We ended our day as we did yesterday... but this time visiting with the 3 other families we built homes for.  For one of the families, they were living with two other families in one home before having this new home.  For another woman and her husband, they did not have enough room where they were living to have their children with them, so the kids lived far away with their grandmother.  This new home will allow the kids to come and be with them.

Praying with family in their soon-to-be new home.

Thank you to all of you who supported this trip with prayer and finances.  

Grace and Peace to you in Christ,

Lyle & the team

DAY 3

Today we had a great day connecting with people while continuing build their homes for them.  There seemed to be more of a comfort level overall between everyone.  More smiles, more conversations had, more sharing.  We are also able to connect with people as we handed out tickets to people for the food distribution that will be taking place tomorrow.  It was actually a nice change of pace of doing construction.  Five of us form the team walked three long streets of houses, and we were able to walk up to people's front doors and engage in conversation with them.  For the group I was with, the experience at first house we went to was actually pretty heavy.  We walked up to the front porch of a woman who was lying in a hammock.  She was sick from what I think were gall stones.  You could see anxiety and concern on her face as she shared this news with us, so I asked her if we could pray for her... and we did.  We prayed for healing... and for God's peace and comfort for her.  Reflecting on that experience, I couldn't help but think about how blessed I am.  If this woman were my mom, or wife or daughter, I would be sure they would have the best of care to ease any pain... and to take care of the problem.  For this woman... I'm pretty sure she was on some sort of waiting list that hopefully she would make it to the top of before her condition became grave.  After we prayed for her, she was moved to tears.  And the local community leader we were with, Carolina, embraced her as she lay in the hammock... silently whispering words of comfort and encouragement.  I was moved to tears.

 

We visited over 200 homes and had a few other opportunities to visit with people... handing out tickets and letting them know that we'd be giving out bags of food at the baptist church at 2pm tomorrow.

We ended our day in Tipitapa by meeting with two of the families that we had completed houses for.  We prayed with them and prayed over their homes.  We prayed for God's continued provision and protection upon them, and that God would continue to work in their lives reminding them of his love for them in Christ.

Tonight, during our group processing/sharing time, there was a great spirit among the group.  Everyone had such positive experiences to share about their time with their families and with each other.  And it was repeated several times, "You come here thinking you're going to give and serve, but you it seems you get way more out of serving here than you give."  I'm glad that everyone was having this sort of experience.  It's an awesome thing to be able to share the love of God with others, and to find yourself filled with the joy and love of Christ as a result.  We worshipped from our hearts tonight.  Our God is good.  We are blessed.  It's joy and privilege to be used by God to let others know that He sees them and he loves them.

DAY 2

We were on the road this morning headed for Tipitapa at about 8am.  When we arrived we were met by the the pastor of El Faro church who gave us a tour of the four sites where we'd be building houses.  Since there are nine of us on the team, we split up into three teams to work on three separate houses simultaneously.... while a fourth we left to be completed by some local workers.  

From 9am on... we worked under the hot, blazing sun... digging post holes, laying 60lb slabs of cut rock, digging post holes, and moving dirt.  And it was in the midst of our working that we also had the privilege of getting to know the families who would soon be living in these homes, and the local workers who were guiding us through the construction.  

The day ended with us heading home at about 4:45, arriving back at the mission housing at 6:00.  And it was after dinner that we had our nightly debrief of the day behind us. We all had the opportunity to share our experiences from the day.  What I appreciated most  about our time of sharing was the diversity of responses that came from the group.  I should mention at this point that- for six of the nine people on our team- this is their first mission trip ever.  Responses from the group ranged from having very enriching relational experiences with the family they were building a home for... to others being very humbled by the obvious brokenness of the family they were with.  For me, one thing that surprised me was how young the couple was that my  was building a house for.  They honestly look to me as if they are in their mid teens, and they have a newboarn baby that is only 20 something days old.  The husband, Julio, works in a rice factory about an hour away... and his wife, Arma stays at home to tend to Wilmar... their newborn son.  One of the fun parts of building a home is that you sometimes get to know extended family members who are there to share the excitement of the new home being built.  Looking on were Arma's younger sisters. Beautiful kids.... watching, smiling, and wanting us to take pictures with and of them.  Arma's mom was there too... I think she was there more for quality control on our construction than anything else.  It's been great getting to know them.

So that is a basic snapshot of what our teams experienced throughout the day.  Tomorrow our plan is to finish one of the homes that we didn't get quite finished today, and to build one more home with the excess funds we received from donors.  Additionally, we will be handing out tickets to 250 families that can turn in to receive a $8 bag of food basics that we will be distributing on Thursday afternoon. 

Lastly, one person join our group was actually able to pray with a woman to receive Christ as her Savior.  She said the only thing that was holding her back was that she didn't feel holy enough... that her problems with her husband somehow disqualified her from being able to make that commitment.  She was reassured that none of us are "holy enough".  All of us are sinners, and that what makes us holy is not our good works, but what Jesus has done for us on the cross.  This was a freeing reality for her, and that afternoon, she prayed to receive Christ.  Awesome....

Please keep us in prayer... for safety of everyone in our group, and for fruitfulness in our ministry with the people we meet.  We pray that somehow we might play a role in being an encouragement to their faith in Him.  

DAY 1

Thanks be to God... everything went smoothly today with travels to Managua.  Seven of us took a bus from Liberia, CR at 8am this morning that took us to Managua.  While we were bussing it, two friends of Tamarindo Church flew in from the United States.  All went off without a hitch.  No troubles with customs at the Nicaragua border with us bringing 17 bags of clothes, shoes, blankets, etc. with us into Nicaragua.  Upon arriving at the bus station in Managua were met by our missions "chaperone" Alvaro.... a veteran at hosting these kinds of trips.  Along with him were our two friends Kevin and Randy who flew in earlier in the day.  It was great to see their faces and to know that all went well with travels for them.  After arriving at Quintaprimavera (our missions housing), we took some time get oriented with settling in and with our schedule for the next day.  Tomorrow we will be starting on the foundations of all four houses.  We'll be sure to post some pics tomorrow night with the next post.  Please pray for us as it's going to be a lot of lifting... so prayers for extra strength and protection of our lower backs in particular would be great!!  Following dinner (which was awesome) our group gathered for a time of worship and meditation on scripture together.  


John 3:16-1816 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. 17 If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.

We talked about the differences between love as mere sentiment, and love as action.  We talked about the joy that comes from serving sacrificially in love.  We reflected on how we, as God's children, are to bear a family resemblance of the love of our Father in heaven.  God's love can be present in us and through us only when we create room for his love by doing acts of sacrificial love and service to others.  It was a great night of sharing and getting to know one another through reflection on God's word.We are looking forward to an awesome day tomorrow of loving and serving the people of Tipitapa, Nicaragua.  Many of them our brothers and sisters in Christ, and so we are seeing it more as a family reunion than a "mission trip".  We are helping our brothers and sisters in need.  Please join us in prayer this week as we serve.  Please pray that God would be glorified in the lives of those we serve.  And that when we leave Nicaragua on Friday... that the people we have served would be encouraged in their faith... and that they would more thankful and more devoted to Him.

Peace,

Pastor Lyle

Nicaragua Mission Trip- April 2013