Nicaragua 2012!

We've been having only intermittent internet connections for the past few days so have been unable to update the blog. Here's a letter I sent to my prayer supporters a couple of days ago. I'm going to paste it right in here to make the most of our internet "up" time right now.

A new group of kids arrives after lunch tomorrow! So our time between now and then will be spent getting things ready for them. Thank you for your interest and prayers. Please leave a comment to let us know you're out there!

Dear praying friends,
Where to start!?!? It’s almost a week since we arrived in Nicaragua and we’re learning so very much, about the country, the region, the people, each other, and God. If you’ve checked the blog you’ve seen some pictures and read a recap of our first few days. Then we disappeared into children’s camp Friday afternoon and are just coming up for air now.

Doing camp was deeply gratifying for all of us; we are so thankful to God. The overall theme of the camp was Treasure: the bible is our treasure from God, we are His treasure, Jesus treasured us so much that he died on the cross so that we could make a decision to become part of his family. We had just under 40 kids there, some of whom clearly have already been exposed to the gospel message and others maybe not. They came from a poor part of Rivas and ranged in age from 5ish to 15, with a couple of adults who were the recruiters for the camp coming and helping out. (We’re not sure of their spiritual status, so it was good they got to hear the messages as well. They’re paid by the camp to teach English to a variety of children in their neighborhood.)

The kids were grouped into four groups, each with two or three of us as leaders and a Nicaraguan translator, without whom we’d all have been lost. The translators (Geo, Heydi, Gabby, and Yassir) not only translated our words but were able to help us shape our message so that it would be meaningful to the kids. You can only imagine how invaluable they were!

During the days we had four stations, and each group of kids visited each station three times. The stations were to teach Bible stories, science, English, and arts & crafts. Saturday morning each station taught the same lesson 4 times, once to each group, and then that afternoon a different lesson, and Sunday morning a third.

I was the teacher at the Bible stories station, which was an utter privilege beyond description. In lesson one we talked about how the Bible is our treasure, with the scripture from the Psalms “Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.” The bible story that day was the woman who lost a coin. We gave the children Bible picture storybooks, helped them memorize the verse in Spanish and discussed its meaning with them, and then gave them some pages to color.

The second lesson was on John 3:16, so we did some memorization of that verse and then read the story in Luke 15 about the one lost sheep and what it must have been like in heaven when one sinner repented. How do the angels rejoice? Is it loud? Is there dancing? Tears of joy? Hugging each other? We had a container with 99 Tic Tacs and 1 black bean. The littlest child was asked to find the black bean and we all rejoiced. Each child was given some Tic Tacs to eat, then we did a craft involving a picture of a sheep, a glue stick, and cotton balls. They labeled their sheep with their name and we hung them in a row as if they were following the Jesus at the head of the row. It was very cute. Then they ran outside for a game of hide & seek.

The third lesson was so sweet. The verse we memorized was John 14:6: “Jesus said, I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me.” We talked about Jesus saying not that he walked on the way, but that he is the way. He didn’t say he speaks the truth, but that he is the truth. He didn’t say that he has life, but that he is life. After some elaboration on that, we talked about him being the only way to become a member of God’s family. Then we worked on memorization again, and it seems to have helped them remember the verse to have talked it through. Then God allowed and enabled me to clearly explain to them that they have a choice: to trust and believe in Jesus and decide to follow him (using his Bible and knowing how much he loves each one of us) or to continue to not follow him. We showed a picture of a caterpillar and a butterfly to represent life before and after joining God’s family. And then we did a fun craft to make a butterfly, where you fold a paper towel into 16ths, dip each corner into colored water, let it dry, and then tie it in the center to make a colorful butterfly. Surprisingly, the boys were as much into each craft as the girls were.

Each of the three days we had chapel, with singing, verse memory, and a brief message, and a skit. Oh yes, the skits! I was the informal director as we created skits for each chapel: the lost coin, the lost sheep, and the prodigal son. The first two were short and easy; the second one was long and needed every team member to be in the cast. The first two we were able to do with more or less simultaneous translation: I spoke the English verses, Heydi read them in Spanish. The prodigal was too long for that, so Heydi read it in Spanish while I stood in the back of the room and tried to cue the actors. By the grace of God, it worked out so well! The kids seemed to appreciate our efforts.

Speaking of which, let me tell you what I’ve learned about Nicaraguans so far. They smile easily and broadly. They’re very easy going. They hug and shake hands and look you in the eye. Relationships are important to them, both kids and adults. They spend time talking and hanging out together. Timeliness is far less important, so it’s good we had Americanos to be the timekeepers. The children we had this weekend seemed polite and not cliquey. The boys were a bit more unruly than the girls, though, and the teens who slept in the cabin with the boys didn’t get as much sleep as they’d have liked. They appreciated our clunky efforts to speak their language and didn’t laugh at us even though I’m sure we were hilarious sometimes. They eat A LOT. These kids probably don’t get big meals at home; they ate a full adult portioned plate and took seconds on some things at each meal. There was no pickiness; they ate what was put in front of them.

Other team members can tell you more about how much fun it was to play and swim with the kids, which there was a lot of. I came down with a cold the day before the kids arrived and by the time they left it had morphed into bronchitis, so any free time I had when I didn’t need to be helping with the blog or computer stuff etc. I spent in my room napping. Today, Monday, the team is off visiting a cloud forest/volcano/coffee plantation, and I’ve stayed behind to try to catch up on my rest.

There’s more I could tell you but this is probably already longer than you’d bargained for so I won’t try to direct your prayers but will trust the Spirit to lead you. The team is working together beautifully, that’s a blessing, and the camp staff have said we’ve been on of the better teams they’ve had come so that’s good too. The kids slated to come to camp next week are probably even poorer than the ones this weekend, and also probably less familiar with the gospel. Our desire is to represent our Lord well, in hot sunny weather and mild rainy weather and in all our activities. May our efforts be a sweet love offering to Him.

We all appreciate your prayers so very much!
Love,
PatL

P.S. Further quick impressions:
·      Snowy egrets wading the water’s edge
·      Cows coming down once a day to walk right into the lake and drink their fill
·      The occasional loose horses; once one was tethered right outside the girls’ bunk, not sure why!
·      The region’s typical horse carts with automobile wheels & tires.
·      Horses as a normal means of transport, either on horseback or carts
·      Also bicycle taxis
· Bright colorful buses chockfull of people
·      Honkin’ big toads!
·      Lean dogs everywhere, family pets but not always very friendly or interested in strangers, much to my dismay (although there are health reasons to avoid them, sigh.)
·      Interbred goats & sheep, no wool but looking more like sheep than goats.
·      Chickens everywhere.
·      The volcano opposite changing its aspect every few minutes, as clouds hover directly over it or lower down its sides like snowcaps.
·      Waves in the lake just like the ocean, but no smell of salt
·      Smooth soft sand, grey in color, that goes out as far as you can walk in the lake without all the stones we’re used to in New England.
·      People using the beach as a road: horse carts, motorcycles, trucks, bikes, walkers.
·      Weird looking gull-sized birds with markings like eagles but shaped more like buzzards.
·      Some roads are pretty good, others will remind you of mud season, except the mud here isn’t so soft that you can sink in it!
·      Brightly colored buildings: houses, commercial buildings, & all.