Day 3 - Saturday - Shade, Sharing and Showing Christ

I apologize for not being able to include pictures when I post in the evening. The band width isn't enough to handle all the other users and my photo uploads. (The other users are not our team but staff members and other teams that are here at base.) Remember, this IS a third world country. I will continue to arise early in the mornings when service is much faster. Please be patient and check back each morning for pictures.
P@

 

I really don’t know how to start this so Joanna said just to start. Here we go.

Well, today was another memorable day and, like the last, I started my day by sleeping until a minute before breakfast.

Today my team and I had the privilege to continue working on Pastor Jose’s house. This being the second day we had a huge blessing of a roof that provided much needed shade.

 We spent the whole day laying blocks and putting in cement that was not like the cement we have in the states. I personally take for granted all that we have and do not even think to be thankful about.

As we worked, Pastor Jose’s daughter, Ashley (about 8 yrs old), would come up to me numerous times with nails and a smile, always willing to help, and this just caught me. I know very little Spanish but it seems as though just through a smile and the way you look at each other changes any language barrier between you. 

We continued  working until we reached all that could be done on the house for the day; we even added a little door step that said “Jesus te ama” which means “Jesus loves you” and to top it off, it was signed by Ashley.

Already from this trip I have been changed significantly through seeing how important family is, growing in trust, and especially faith in God’s will for me. I will be honest, I was so worried about this trip and not wanting to go before the last few days because of an absence of faith and what might happen. All has gone so smooth thus far and has blessed me greatly through the house, food and one translator in particular - Michael.  Michael has made this an amazing trip by how much he reaches out to everyone. Everyone here on this trip looks for the good of others way above themselves. Words cannot describe all that has occurred through today and how much love is shown to us. This trip is like an answer to all my prayers, and I continue to seek the answers for more.

–Konnor

 Hola!! Today my team went into the city of Masaya and went door to door and invited people and their kids to our afternoon VBS.  We broke up into three groups, each with a translator. At one house my group met a woman named Louisa who became Christian 15 years ago. She had cancer about three years ago and was near death and God healed. After we talked for a little while, we prayed for her and her family.  

 

Around 2:00 we started VBS. At first we had about 6 kids but once the music started playing, more and more kids showed up.  We had about 40-45 kids there today. Amber and I (and our translator Michael) shared a short story of the Gospel and asked the kids if they understood it, which they did.

We then separated the girls and boys, taking the girls out into the street to play some games while the boys stayed inside for balloon animals.

During the games Dore made a new friend- a little green bird. A lady had it as a pet and brought it out to show us. The girls went inside and the boys came out and  we played soccer. Amber made me the goal keep, and I failed at it, but the kids got a laugh from it. Then the parachute was brought out and the kids LOVED it. That was probably their favorite part.

 

All the kids were so well behaved and dressed up for church. They listened to the lesson and all the instructions for the games, and when it came time to say goodbye, they all gave us hugs and said “Adios”. Overall, it was a great day spreading the Gospel  with people and spending time with the kids. Adios gringos!!

-Vikki


Thought you might be interested in some of the "facilities" we get to use.

This one is just a little corrugated tin outhouse with a black plastic door.

This one is much fancier. The tissue goes into the tank and water is poured into the bowl to flush it.