NICARAGUA TRIP 2018

“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” ... Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ."

-Romans 10:13-15, 17

It's almost time to head out and we are so excited! A team of 25 from Heritage Christian are prepared to leave Bozeman tomorrow morning, February 26. We are heading to Nicaragua to serve with Petra International Ministries (www.petramissions.org). We will be posting blog updates as a team throughout the trip!

Nicaragua Team 2018

The team will fly into Managua and spend the first night there. The next morning there will be orientation in Managua and then the team will be traveling to Ometepe Island (about a two hour drive and hour and a half ferry ride).

Ometepe Island has two volcanoes. There are two Petra church plants on the island,

Balgue and Merida, and another core group that has formed in Altagracia.

Wednesday through Sunday will be ministry days on the island and will include things such as work on the camp and farm where we will be staying (the camp and farm help support the ministries and church plants and is also being built to house teams of internationals and Nicaraguans for discipleship training and equipping), sports ministry, children's ministry, door to door evangelism, work on construction of one of the church plants, along with fellowship opportunities and testimony times with the church members on the island. The team will also attend service Sunday on the island at the Balgue church. Monday the team will return to Managua for a final fellowship night with the church members there before heading home Tuesday morning.

Where the team will be staying on the camp and farm

La Roca Camp and Farm - Ometepe Island

Balgue Church

May the Lord do a mighty and powerful work and receive all the glory!

We would love to have you pray along with us. Here is a prayer calendar that has specific things to pray for the team each day. We know nothing can happen apart from His power at work!

"Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” -Acts 4:12

We are thankful that there is power in the name of Jesus and look forward to seeing the work that He will do! May we always seek to live in light of eternity!

"We have all of eternity to celebrate the victories but only a few short hours before sunset to win them." -Amy Carmichael

Day 9 - We're home!

Today was the grand exit of Managua, Nicaragua.

After waking at 4:30 am, we loaded the bus at 5:20am in order to leave promptly at 5:30.

World's Best Bus Driver - Eddie

At the Managua airport, it was a chance to have a last look at souvenir shops and drink some coffee. We boarded the airplane around 8am and left at 8:30 am. From there, it was a smooth, four hour flight into the United States, where we were all happy to finally be able to drink tap water.

Upon arriving in Atlanta, Georgia, we were required to go through all of customs where we mostly waited in lines and looked at our passport pictures. We went through the last TSA checkout and then we started talking about where we wanted to eat during our 3 hour layover. Many of the kids picked a variety of restaurants, and ate quickly. Then some decided to venture throughout the massive airport and some decided to play cards.

After the wait, we boarded the huge airplane right on time. When our flight left, we had at first experienced some minor turbulence but it then was soon smooth sailing. We arrived in Salt Lake City safe and sound for the final two hour lay-over.

We ate a little more food, made sure we got more pictures, and had Mrs. Smith give us all backrubs. As we boarded the last plane, some were excited and some complained and seemed to want to turn right back around.

However, all were soon seated and on their way to fly the final stretch back home.

Naomi Robertson

Some of us hated the idea of leaving Nicaragua—the culture, weather, and people are easy to enjoy and hard to let go. We are reminded, however, that we can take home something very important, and that is what God has taught us. As we head home, we pray that we will not forget our experience in Nicaragua, we pray that we will not forget to listen to God daily, and we pray that we will continue to treat others with the servant’s heart, as we have throughout the trip.

Each team member can agree that this short-term mission trip is truly inspiring. It was special for each individual, as we were all challenged in different ways. While we can describe the sights, smells, and sounds, the soul of the trip can truly not be justified with words. I would therefore encourage everyone to experience the trip in person when the opportunity comes. The trip was an incredible adventure. All thanks be to God for this chance. We thank Him for all the protection, planning, and people we met along the way. May God be the one glorified as we return home to our usual lives and share of this experience.

Beryl Wytcherley

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?

Beryl Wytcherley

16 yrs, junior

1) While working on the house yesterday, seeing how everyone was so willing and ready to work, and how the Nica workers were able to communicate to us through the language barrier.

2) I noticed yesterday that I was more focused on “doing” and doing it perfectly. I’m hoping God will work in me an attitude more of letting Him work through me, rather than me doing it myself.

Day 8 - Rest & Renew Day

Today was the team’s tourist day of Nicaragua. We started by going and seeing one of Nicaragua’s active volcanoes. We could only spend five minutes at the volcano because the sulfur was too strong and made it hard to breath. When you looked into the abyss of the volcano you could see the red hot lava. Then Konnor and Tim decided to see who was stronger and…. Konnor threw Timothy into the aforementioned abyss.  

We also went to a museum that showed the living history of the volcano. One interesting fact is the natives would sacrifice their kids to the volcano god by crucifying them at the mouth. One of the exhibits had real live bats flying around the museum. The funny thing was that they were not in cages they just freely roamed the museum.

                Next, we went to the market. The market was full of Nicaraguan souvenirs. Some people tried to barter with the vendors but failed with style. There were also people selling very off brand Oakley and ray ban sunglasses for three dollars. They had some really neat stuff like machetes, clay and wooden animals, key chains, hackisacks, tops, clothes, bird whistles, hammocks, dish utensils, and minion stuffed sacks. There were so many different vendors in a compacted space it was hard to tell the separate shops apart.

              Last, we had the best part of our tourist day. We went to the Lagoon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This, by far brought the most joy to the day. The lunch was also very fulfilling. We had the option to buy beef, fish, or chicken, all of which was cooked to perfection.

They had a dock that sat 15-20 feet in the air. Almost all of the students jumped off of the dock. A few of the kids decided to jump off and do flips in the air; every single one of them landed on their stomachs.

The best part was the fact that we got Kalen to jump in! Everyone was cheering and encouraging him to jump in. He said “I was scared but I am so happy that I built the courage to jump in.”

The day was so much fun and it was very relaxing to just be in the culture. At the end on the way home from the lagoon, we saw the president being escorted somewhere. There were multiple police cars surrounding his car, it was very neat to see.

Trent Smith and Kaiana Sipes

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?

Trent Smith

18, senior

1) Seeing the happiness on the pastor’s face after we built his house, and when we gave him the gift bins.

2) Patience and learn to trust God more by being stretched out of my comfort zone.

Day 7 - Church and Serving

Today we finally got to sleep in for an extra hour because of church being at eleven and having no other activities. We drove fifteen minutes to a church service at Iglesia Biblica Petra, which was established by Pastor Cox, and now led by Pastor Hamilton.

The service lasted two-and-half hours and included partaking in communion, the students’ performance of the sin chair, and Jacob Oard playing the piano piece called “Summer”.

The service was quite a bit more energetic mainly through the music. Surprisingly the church seemed more like American churches than the other churches we had the opportunity to minister to.

After we ate some food, we went canvassing in the neighborhood around the compound inviting niños to VBS in the middle of the street.

There was a statue, which was our pinpoint for where we would meet for our “street party” and performed the sin chair once more.

Kalen courageously joined Kristi in performing the signing of Via Dolorosa, followed by Gabe, Jacob, and Alex presenting the “evangecube” – the gospel in a visual form.

When VBS was over we went to a soccer field where the boys tried to play some Nicas in a friendly game of soccer, but the game before us was for money and it was not going to end anytime soon.

To wrap up our final missions day we all gathered around, watched God’s Not Dead, and then headed to bed to prepare for our final day.

         Konnor May:  Through leading the sports I feel like God has taught me to be a better leader and showed me the true family of Christ and how dependent we are on one another. I had the opportunity to meet up with a sweet little girl named Alexa and very slowly got her more and more involved in our activities. She was constantly looking for her mom who sadly was not there so she quietly held my hand and waved the parachute.

Last, but not least, I was able to reconnect with Axel from last year’s mission trip and played some soccer. It took him a little bit to recognize me but slowly he recognized my dad and me.

            Cambrie Shea:  I helped Konnor do the games and we did the parachute today.

I had a couple little girls who kept running up to me, holding onto me, and refused to let me go. I noticed one girl’s teeth were rotting away and she was no older than 9 or 10. I realized how blessed we are in America to have a toothbrush and toothpaste to help keep our teeth from rotting. Throughout the whole trip, I have realized how much we take for granted. The people have little, but in a sense they do better than us because they know how to live with little and we “have” to have more and more.

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?

Konnor May

16 yrs, junior

1) The children’s joy in having little things and how open they are to us.

2) I hope to be a better leader and be more open to listen to those who are over me.