Good-bye Nicaragua

Well here’s our last blog of the trip. Today was a great day! But it was also very sad. We went to church this morning at 9:30 at Centro de Fe and saw our Nicaraguan friends! We all worshiped together. After the service things went a little crazy. We had planned to say our good-bye’s and leave quickly after the service, but we ended up going to a youth bible class at the last minute. Because of this all our good-bye’s were very rushed which was really unfortunate. Many of us felt very strong connections with the Nicaraguan students and found it incredibly difficult to say goodbye. Many tears were shed.

The rest of the day was a great opportunity to wind down and relax while soaking up the salty water as a team, and playing and jumping in the waves. It was great getting to know the culture and the people here in Nicaragua, it was truly an amazing experience, and many memories were made! We will miss Nicaragua very much!

Now that we have reached the end of the trip, I have had many opportunities to reflect on how this experience has impacted myself, the team, and the people we came in contact with. Having been a first time leader I have had my eyes opened to the amazing abilities of 17 and 18 year olds. As a middle school teacher, it is incredibly encouraging to see what my students will one day grow to be. Each and every day I found myself astonished by the depth of faith that some of these students have. The way that many of them can eloquently express their relationship with Christ is inspiring and humbling.

Overall, I was most impacted by the incredible relationships that students developed with the students at Centro de Fe. Throughout the week, the other leaders and I continuously made comments about how quickly our students connected with the Nicaraguans. Our North American hosts expressed the same sentiments. They have helped with many school groups in the past, and they said that they have never seen a group jump right in and develop friendships so quickly. From the very first activity, students were actively engaged in conversations with students their age, despite a language barrier. I was concerned that this level of engagement would not be able to keep up all week, but each day they continued to integrate themselves and soon found that teenagers are the same no matter where you go. It was heart-wrenching to watch some of the goodbyes today, as there were so many tears and long embraces. I still find it hard to believe that in one short week, these kids really came to love each other. Tonight we had our last devotions/debrief together as a group. We did an activity called a “Pow-Wow” where each person had an opportunity to share one “pow” and one “wow” (one negative and one positive from the week). For the past two days we did some very touristy things like zip lining, boating, looking into a volcano and swimming at the ocean, and yet not one single “wow” had anything to do with those things. For every person on this trip, the most meaningful moments were those shared with the people here. I truly believe that our team has come to understand what it means to serve God by loving others. One student said something that will probably stay with me for a very long time. He expressed that even though our plan was to come here and do missions through loving others and helping with development of Christian education, he felt that the people here were the true missionaries and we were the ones learning. He said that he felt that the people here are the ones who really know how to love. They know what it means to welcome you with open arms and to show God’s unconditional love and he hopes that when he arrives back home he will be able to love others more like the people here. To me, that thought is a true testament of what this trip was all about.

 

~Bethany

Adventure is Out There

Today felt a bit like a whirlwind, filled with many different adventures and lots of driving from this place to that.

Our first stop was at a small in-home pottery shop which many of the team members have been looking forward to since day 1, especially Steph Stoker! We were greeted by a precious little monkey named Oliver and then headed downstairs where we had the opportunity to observe the precision, skill and patience it takes to create a masterpiece in pottery. He was truly amazing. Jenna then had the chance to try it and let’s just say the potter made it look super easy! We then went upstairs to the store and were amazed by the time and care that went into every item from a cup to an engraved vase.

 

I was personally quite excited for this stop at the zip line as I’m always up for a good adrenaline rush. We were harnessed up, thrown in the back of a van and then driven to the first line as the tension was building.

 

 After a short lesson on how to brake we whipped through all 11 lines in what I think must have been a record amount of time! Some went upside down, did the superwomen or even bounced all the way down all of which were very fun.  It was incredible to be able to see God’s creation from a different perspective in an unknown environment.

After draining our energy in the hot sun we were ready for lunch, which consisted of fried chicken, fries, coleslaw and Coke at Tiptop. Everyone was quite thrilled to have some “normal” home food.

 

Soon after lunch we headed to Lake Nicaragua for a boat tour. We carefully walked out on a makeshift pier and when turning around we saw horses freely galloping along the beaches. It was a blessing to have the time to take in the surroundings and witness that interaction between creation. We boarded 2 boats and headed towards “Monkey Island,” which is actually a grouping of islands where some of the wealthiest Nicaraguan reside. The boat ride included many laughs, feet dragging along in the water and yes we did also see some monkeys.

We then return to the city centre of Granada and took in the beauty held within the architecture and culture, especially the elaborate colours of the buildings.

 We then drove to the top of the Masaya Volcano, which is active and erupted one year ago. It was incredible to look down into the crater and see how smoke was continuously spewing out of it and occasionally thinned out allowing us to see the other side. It was in this moment when Wes asked me if I wanted to go to prom with him and I said yes! (Sorry I couldn’t resist) We all stood in awe of our Creator as we engaged with nature and felt His presence.

Our busy day wrapped up at an authentic Nicaraguan restaurant called Pupusas. We enjoyed our meals and headed back to the Nehemiah Centre ready to unwind. 

 It was a joy to feel the warmth of the sun beating down on us all day as we enjoyed a variety of activities and experiences within God’s world. Through these many adventures and time spent at Centro de fe our team has grown so much together and through our different weaknesses we have found strength as a whole and a love rooted in Christ.

Stephanie Keis

 

 

 

 

 

Day of Saying Goodbye

Today is the 10^th day of our trip and this is the day to say goodbye to our friends in Centro de Fe. It is always hard for me to say goodbye to people who are very close to you. Even though we are from different culture background and we speak different language, our friendship that we built in six days is incredibly strong.

The day started at 6:30. We quickly had eggs with ham and fresh fruit for breakfast and headed for Centro de Fe right after that.  The school held a closing chapel for us to have an opportunity to say goodbye. Every grad prepared its unique talent show for us. For grad 3 and 4 children, they painted 7 cards to make up the word “friends” and gave each letter a special meaning in Spanish. Like “F” stands for faith to the end, the meaning of “R” is breaking all barriers, “I” is always unconditional friends in every moment, “E” is extending your hands with love, “N” is don’t expect anything in return, “D” is they give all their love for you, the last letter “S” represents only a friend gives everything for you.      

 

For grad 8, five girls prepared a wonderful dance for us along with a Christian song, expressing their passion to God and their love for us.

 

Our team also shared some bible verses with the whole school and did our school theme song “Build Your Kingdom Here” and another Spanish song. We were so thankful the big welcoming from Centro de Fe and all the students’ full participation. Through God’s love, we were able to bond together and share our love.

 

After lunch, we did some desk painting with students from grad 11 and we also painted a mural on the wall in the school as our special memories. We drew the national flag of Canada and Nicaragua on wall and everyone wrote name and left footprints. Every piece of drawing was our precious memory.     

God’s love enables us to love our brothers and sisters in Christ. We teach, encourage and rebuke. We weep and rejoice.  After we’ve experienced God’s love, we then can learn to give love” let us love one another, for love one another.” The love we give and receive is tender, tough and supportive.   God is big on relationship. I will not forget this trip in Nicaragua and these students and teachers we met and loved.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wet

 

Today was another beautiful day spent in Nicaragua. Getting to sleep in an extra hour is a thing of beauty. After eating a delicious breakfast, we made our way out of Managua to a museum in a crowded bus that didn’t quite fit all of us.

 

 

 

 

 

 The museum was really cool but difficult to understand at times as everything was in Spanish. We watched a video about turtles which was also in Spanish, so that was interesting.

 

 

 

We then travelled to a beautiful waterfall with all of the Nicaraguans and ate delicious peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch. And then came the swimming and sunburns! Some of us thought it would be a great idea to burn because of course after the burn goes away it turns into a tan… real great idea guys.

 After a long day of swimming we headed back to the Nehemiah Center, ate dinner and did devotions. It is amazing to see the work and relationships developing here in Managua. Although it will be bittersweet to leave the friends I have made here, I will cherish those relationships and will never forget this experience God has blessed me with.

~Mariah

 

Red Paint White Paint

After a long day of painting, I am here, sitting in the courtyard, just trying to recover from my burns. I don’t feel as tired as I have been recently, and that is probably due to the extra hour of sleep we all received this morning. Waking up after six would have been considered a blessing, but waking up after seven was just phenomenal.

 

 

 

 

After a quick breakfast of eggs, ham and fresh fruit, we jumped on the bus and travelled about 20 kilometers out of Managua to a small town where we were to paint three classrooms of a rural Christian elementary school.

 

We started off just cleaning up the classrooms, and a small group of us went to paint the gate, which proved to take more time than anticipated. The red tattoo around my neck and on my shoulders is a testament to the time spent in the sun today.

Once the gate was done we headed over to the classrooms again, where the second, larger group had already made excellent headway, almost having the walls covered. Very quickly it became very packed in there while we waited for the walls of the second classroom to be prepared. When the walls were done, some of us got on our knees to clean the floors, while others continued on to the next room. This pattern was replicated for the second classroom, and suddenly it was lunch.  

We had some delicious peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch, as well as some frozen orange juice. Only after some pretty hilarious acrobatics with our juice, we finally were able to get some out. It, being the consistency of a slushy, was incredibly refreshing.

We quickly powered through the next classroom, and began working on the office, but soon we were out of paint, and out of energy. We were all feeling a little buzzed from the fumes of paint and thinner, but we still felt good after being able to bless the community in a very practical way.

Everyone else seems to be relaxing in the hammocks, so I think I’ll join them.

Lukas

day of talents

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today was day 5 in Nicaragua, or otherwise dejectedly known to our team as, the halfway point. We feel as if we’ve just settled in and have started to make solid friendships, but the awareness of our limited time here creeping in on us has been blocked out and pushed to the side. As a team we’ve decided to focus on what we’re doing in the moment or in the day rather than dwelling on the unwelcome thoughts of leaving.

We spent the entire day at Centro de Fe today, and really got a feel of the school and what classes are like. We started out in the grades 3 and 4 classrooms, teaching them how to make beaded cross keychains, which was really fun. Trying to communicate without words can be incredibly hard, especially with young children who know very limited English. Fortunately, we had our fantastic translators and comic relievers, Lenin and Lester.  After our time with the kids, we headed downstairs to watch a drime that the grade 11 students had prepared for us. It was about how we sometimes see the sins of the world as pleasing to our eyes and succumb to them, but we later realize how much it ruins our lives after the initial novelty wears off. “Chains” are put onto our backs, and we are held captive by sin (the chains were the metaphor that was portrayed), and the only way to be free is to run back to Jesus. John 8:36 says, “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” The drime was done extremely well, and beautifully portrayed the truth of the gospel.

 

After that, the students went home for lunch while we stayed and ate with the teachers at Centro de Fe. Through the help of our translators, introductions were given from both sides, and many kind and welcoming things were said from the teachers towards us, which was very encouraging. When we were done lunch, we had a break for about an hour, and most of us slept, while others did some worship or played volleyball. Free time can be really nice to have, especially when we’re driving off of adrenaline and makeshift energy all the time. When the grade 11 students gradually started to come back to the school, we started preparing for the talent show.

The talent show is something that we as a team have been thinking about for a long time prior to this trip. It was an opportunity for us to express ourselves, show our talents, and dive completely out of our comfort zones. We were able to give the students a brief glimpse into our own lives and what we love to do, and even though many of the “talents” were more just comedic acts, I took a lot away from it. It was amazing to see both the Canadians and Nicaraguans bond together through things like music, magic, and humour. We were surprised, however, at some of the acts. Who knew that two guys of complete different cultures and backgrounds could be so similar? Nelson sits down with his electric guitar, and Wes sits down at the drums, and without even a minute of practice prior begin to spontaneously play together for a good three minutes. Roslyn displayed a magical side when she pulled out a deck of cards, a simple elastic, and a disappearing penny, and completely blew our minds. She got the entire audience engaged and did a great job of making us incredibly confused. Also, Bethany really portrayed her “awfully” good talent with cups, a story I’m sure she would love to share with you some time. To sum it all up, the talent show was an awesome way for us to bond and grow together as not only a team, but as a community made up of two different cultures.

 

 

The love that is being shown to and from both sides fills my heart so much, and I feel incredibly happy. It will be extremely difficult to say goodbye to these friends, but I will treasure the moments that I’ve had with them forever, and I will cherish the memories that have been made and are still waiting to happen.

 Jenna

                                                                                                                    

               

Monday Madness

            

 Today was another exciting day in Nicaragua. After the restful day we had yesterday, we came into this day with all the energy we had. The day started at 5:45am, to be able to leave by 6:45 for Centro De Fe. When we got there, the school gathered together for some daily announcements, and did some devotions. 

 

After chapel, we joined the grade 11’s in a Spanish/English class. We got paired with two Nicaraguans, and answered questions such as, “How many brothers and sisters do you have,” or “when did you become a Christian.” We had to answer them in Spanish, and they had to answer them in English. After class we had a forty minute break. At this time, Casey and I got a tour of Centro De Fe.  The Bottom floor of the school is where grades 1, 2, and 3 take place. Once we entered the area, all the kids ran up to us, hugged us, and wanted to take pictures with us. After we got through the crowd, we made our way upstairs where all the other grades took place. The classrooms were small, and there was only one wall separating the classrooms. After the tour, we made our back to where all the younger kids were to get to know them more. It was so loud, so crowded, and so hot; but we all loved every minute of it. After the break, we went to another class with the grade 11’s and discussed social media. This discussion was…interesting. It was a little difficult to understand the goal and to hear people talking.

 

After lunch, we made our way to a park where team games where played. We were all divided into eight different teams, and did a bunch of relay races. We did races such as the wheelbarrow race, Frisbee throw, a volley ball pass, and a beanbag race. Of course, it was probably the hottest day we have had yet. After the games, we snapped a few pictures and said goodbye until tomorrow. This team has bonded extremely well. We have made nick names for each other such as Slurps (Danica), Straws (Wes) and Sprouts (Casey). Each day brings something new into our lives, and we are always so excited to see what the next day has to offer.

~Danica