Day 2 - Building Homes and Building the Kingdom

Today was an experience that I will never forget.

We were all able to start the day right in God’s word. 

Next we ate an extraordinary breakfast followed by an hour and half bus ride to our job site. We worked on building a house for Pastor Justo.

Shortly after, we had the amazing opportunity to minister to the kids while playing games, singing songs, presenting the gospel, and putting on plays.

Jacob shared the gospel - in Spanish!

The first day in Nicaragua was the best I have ever lived and can’t wait for more like it in the coming days.

                        

                                                                                                        -Tim Alvarado

                Even though it has only been two days, this is an experience I will never forget.  I have loved every second of it.  After a great nights sleep, my dorm-mates and I got up to spend some one-on-one time with God. 

After taking this well needed time with God, we walked into the mess hall only to see a beautiful looking breakfast.  I enjoyed plates full of fruit, sausage, beans and rice, pancakes, and eggs.  After that, we all sun screened and bug sprayed up and loaded on the bus.  During this hour and a half bus ride, I tried to take in as much of the culture as I could.   I found it fascinating.  There were many open shops, and everything was very colorful.

Today my team was going to work on building pastor Justo’s home.  I hammered nails, moved blocks, cemented walls, and cut tar strips.  I was a little nervous about the language barrier but it was much easier than I thought.  When they pointed to my bucket of dirt and then pointed to a hole, I understood.

 After getting some walls built and getting the roof up, we stopped for lunch.  We ate PB and J’s with chips, crackers, and pudding.

Then, we split up and some went to VBS and the rest of us went to building again.  We got a lot done on the home so Kristi, Stephanie, and I had time to go and meet a family with three cute little boys.  We tried our best to talk to them but it was difficult.  We did connect through laughter. 

So far, I’ve loved every second of this trip and I don’t think I’ll be ready to leave any time soon.  Please keep us in your prayers.  Pray that we all will be strong both physically and spiritually, and pray that we will just be able to be a beacon of light to the people down here.

                                                                                                                                -Olivia Johnson

BIOS

1) What one thing has impacted you so far on the trip?

2) What do you hope/pray to see God work/change in              you?

Timothy Alvarado

16 yrs, Junior

1) Seeing how the kids found joy in the simple things, like watching us being silly, a balloon animal, playing a simple running game.

 2)I hope that God will give me a better perspective of how other people live and give me more gratitude for what I have.

More great moments from our day:

Pastor Justo, the Pastor whose home we are building, came to share with us today.

We have been richly blessed as we serve where God has brought us.

Day 1 - Monday We made it!

Well after a long day of changing altitude and seeing many new places, experiencing many new things, we made it to Nicaragua.

Even though the plane rides and security checks were stressful, we are all praising God and thanking Him for the safe travels. 

We had about an hour drive from the airport to the compound.  Everybody is settled in and ready to start a busy week.    

Preparing lunches for Day 1 on the job site.

Ryan Nuss

It was a very early start this morning, but we are grateful to all who came and sent us off with prayer.

God blessed us with several opportunities to share about our up-coming mission. One conversation even took place in Spanish between Chilean Italians and brave Spanish 3 students.

We are grateful for smooth flights and smooth going through customs - thank you for praying us through.

It's late here (remembering that we are in Central time zone), so check back for daily updates.  By the way, sign up on this page to the right to be notified when new entries are posted.

Buenas noches - hasta luego.

Mrs. Heys

One Week!

In just one week, we will arrive at the airport in the wee morning hours (4:00 a.m.) to check in, have a time of prayer, get through TSA and then wait for our 5:40 a.m. departure.

We're all pretty excited (well, maybe not so much about that 4:00 a.m. thing) and so looking forward to seeing what Jesus is going to do through us in Nicaragua.

We had a great team retreat this past weekend, which really helped to begin the bonding process. We lugged our sleeping bags, pads/mattresses, pillows, Bibles, notebooks, etc. into the school about 6:00 p.m. Yay, sleepover!

Our 18 hours together were spent in prayer, singing (yes, in Spanish), eating (of course!),

discussing how to work through conflict, discussing the travel and cultural logistics, team building exercises and trust building exercises.

 



(In this trust building exercise, one team member was blindfolded while the partner had to direct them through a course using only Spanish directional words. We did pretty well... only one person ran into a wall when the directing partner couldn't remember the word for "stop" (alto).  ;o) )

We also practiced the two skits and signing song and packed about 20 tubs full of clothing, toiletries, towels, toys, peanut butter, Ranch dressing, sheets and pillowcases.

This coming week will be busy with school, basketball tournaments and last minute packing.

In the last post, it was mentioned that the team would be introduced here. I apologize that illness kept yours truly from gathering pictures and info for that. So you will meet everyone in a coming post.

We deeply desire that you would lift this team to the Throne this week for God's work and way. Some needs that we have are:
1) Several of the team members are ill, please pray for recovery before our long day of travel.
2) That each team member would be watching for ways to step out of their comfort zone and share the gospel this week here at home. (If we can't do it here, how can we expect to do it there?)
3) That God will expedite all our luggage and tubs through customs without any issues or confiscation. (It's a third world country, sometimes when they open a tub they may like something they see and take it.)
4) That God will build servant hearts in each of us to love and serve the Nicaraguan people.

This Wednesday (22nd) there will be a prayer time for the trip and team during chapel and all invited to join. It will start at 8:05 a.m. in the gym.

Thank you so much for your prayer and support!

Nicaragua 2017!

How can a year pass by so quickly? It truly seems like just last month that we returned from Nicaragua.

If you recall (or you may not even know), rather than the juniors and seniors from Heritage Christian School, last year's team was from New Beginnings Church in Bozeman. You can read all about our sharing and God's working in the entries below.

This year's team is again made up of Heritage juniors and seniors. Seventeen students and 10 adults make up the team, our largest yet.

We will leave Bozeman on Monday, February 27 and return Tuesday, March 7.

Please return here soon to meet the entire team. In the meantime, we ask if you will please begin to pray for us. Pray for team unity, health and God's preparation in our hearts for what He has planned. Thank you!