Construction, Kids and Caring

Today was another wonderful day full of work on the houses! We woke up and ate a delicious breakfast of biscuits and gravy and then had a team meeting for a few minutes. We talked about the possibility of conflict arising in our group and looked at several verses that exhort believers to live in unity. Then we hopped on the bus and drove to the village!
The construction team and repair team split up again (I am on the construction crew) and we made a lot of progress on the pastor’s house today. We finished laying cinder blocks and began to put up wood siding on the top half of the walls. Some people also started to level the floor so that we can pour cement tomorrow.

I personally didn’t do any construction today.  No, I’m not lazy; I just had the opportunity to play with many kids from the village all day. The language barrier was a bit difficult with them at first, but once I built a relationship with them, it was so fun! We played games, sang songs, played soccer, and I taught them a little bit of English. The Nicaraguan children are so affectionate, which will make it very difficult to say goodbye at the end of the construction.

Right now we are at the church of the pastor whose house we are repairing. We are taking a break and the service will start in about half an hour. During the service we will be performing a skit called the Sin Chair.

 

Well, that’s pretty much all the highlights from today! The Lord is doing so much in my life during this trip and I’m sure all my teammates can say the same. Thank you for all your prayers back in the States! We really appreciate it!
Alethia Heide, for the Team

Today we woke up at about seven in the morning, though for some it took longer (mainly the guys).  Once all had arisen, we had a delicious breakfast of biscuits and gravy with rice! We then took some time to hold a team meeting to talk about how our week was going and how God was working in our lives. We also talked about how we need to keep a positive and loving attitude to the Nicaraguan people and also to our fellow teammates. After a short break we hopped on the bus for our hour+ trek through Managua to the work site.

I am on the repair team, and will be giving an update on our progress! We finished repairing the cement walls today and started to put up our wood siding. We had gotten about one quarter of the siding up when it was time for lunch. After our brief lunch, which was full of delicious food (sandwiches, chips, cookies, Gatorade) and fun conversations of how each team was doing, we headed back to finish our job. We got all the sides and back done, but the front was going to be difficult. We needed to put in a window. So we made the frame and placed it, but we needed to wait for hinges for the window and doors, so we decided to call it a day.

Throughout the day, we entertained ourselves with fun riddles to trick each other like, the “Elephant Game”, and a number game using different objects in different shapes to represent a different number. But the best thing we did today was when the family that we are helping asked to take a group picture with us, and to also take a picture of them with us with a camera of our own. The family is so kind and loving toward us, and they have two little girls living with them that make working in the heat less painful. They laugh and giggle as we move around them, and they loved it when some of us would take a break and sit with them and their family.

God has really blessed us by allowing us to come to Nicaragua and help these people. It has also been a joy to learn more and more Spanish throughout the days we interact with the people. We learned words like tuani  (“cool”) and chócala (“high five”). I think I speak for all of my teammates when I say  that it has been an amazing, growing experience not only spiritually, but also with each other. I am getting to know my fellow teammates, now fellow friends, so much more than I would have by not taking the opportunity to come. Thank you guys back home for all the prayer and support that you give us! It has been a real blessing!
Kaleb Biladeau, for the team

 

Mrs. Heys, Annie (project leader) and I came back to the compound at noon today and went with Tammy (a Project HOPE staff member) to one of the hospitals to visit with the women in the chemotherapy ward. My heart was torn as I watched a young lady writhing in pain from her cancer as a family member stood by her bed trying to massage the pain away. The lady whose hand I was holding and whose head I was stroking was crying as Tammy read Scripture and prayed. Another young girl, 14 and pregnant, was sitting with a drip tube in her arm. She had already lost her hair, and I wondered how her unborn baby was going to survive this, or even if she will. We helped each of them make a little beaded pin which they triumphantly pinned to their shirts, and would proudly touch occasionally.

We went out behind the hospital to the "shelter", a windowless, dirt floor building with about 8 bare mattress beds. Here, the women who can't go home because of distance or complications, stay until their next chemo treatment. Again, we read Scripture and prayed and made pins with them.

I can't begin to describe the difference in their hospital and what we're accustomed to at home. I seriously think none of us could survive in this one because of sanitation issues.

Tammy then drove us to a grocery store where we picked up some rice, beans, oil, salt and some pasta to take out to the food station at the dump. A pastor and his wife live at the edge of one of the dumps and cook food for some of the people who actually live in the dump - eating from it and scavenging from it for a living. Because of the late afternoon hour and because we didn't have a man with us, we couldn't go into the dump to minister to the people.

As I stood in line this evening for dinner, I could barely hold back the tears thinking about what we were about to feast on compared to what all those dump people were eating. Oh, my Lord, let me not be ungrateful for all You give us!

THANK YOU for praying for us!
Mrs. Goede