Wrapping Up the First Week in Nicaragua

Hola!!! So it's been a few days since my last blog and a lot has happened since then. The group left on the plane to go back home this morning and should be arriving there this afternoon. Right now, I'm staying at Tamara's house and helping her get things reorganized and going with her to restock the groceries and things like that.

So picking up from Thursday... we went to the hospital in Leon in the morning. We brought a 12 year old girl, Maria Jose, from El Paraiso with us to see a doctor because some of the doctors in the clinic found she had a heart murmur. Over the past year, Maria Jose has become more tired and isn't able to do as much. Her sister has taken her to Central Salud, the free medical clinic, to find out what was wrong, but they didn't tell her anything. So at the hospital, I went with Cheryl to get her blood work and x-rays done. I don't know too much about it, but one of the doctors said that her condition may be too late to do anything. Cheryl picks up her bloodwork today, and that will tell us more about what she has or can do. Please pray for her and that we can find answers for her.

While Cheryl and I were with Maria Jose, the rest of the group went around the hospital, particularly the children's ward, to pray over the patients. They handed out some visors, coloring sheets, and crayons for the children. They also handed out some John and Romans booklets to the patients and family. Later, after the group left, I stayed with my friend Raquel to visit her great-uncle who is in the hospital. A lot of the patients stay in one room, kind of like a dorm, and usually there are at least 2 or 3 family members with them. When I was visiting Raquel's uncle, I noticed that a lot of people were reading John and Romans! That was really cool to see.

Raquel's uncle isn't doing so well right now. He's 72 years old and had been in good health until recently, and he has had trouble breathing. The prognosis for him is not very good. Raquel told me that her grandmother died of the same thing he has right now. His daughter has been taking care of him, and she is worn out emotionally and physically. She started crying while we were there because she feels like her dad doesn't have much time left and he doesn't seem to want to fight either. Please keep him and her in your prayers as well.

Friday, we went to a new community, El Apante. When we arrived, the church there was filled with children. So I did several Bible school activities outside while my fellow team member and friend, Dave, played kickball with them. The kids were a lot more well behaved than most of the kids we worked with. Most of them seem to go to that church. It seems like God is really blessing that area. While the doctors saw the patients and ministered to their needs, Mark and Pastor Carlos spoke with several of the adults and 12 more came to the Lord!

Saturday, we had a ceremony and ground breaking for the hospital that JCM is going to build in a community called Bella Vista, which means "Beautiful View." We invited a lot of the commmunity to participate, but there weren't many people in the houses. It seems like most of the adults have to commute into town to work and stay there most of the day. The hospital will bring a lot of good jobs for the people while it is being constructed and later maintained. The ministry also has plans to build a church, a community center, a new soccer field, and new houses. Below is the plan for the area.

The community seemed really excited to hear what all was going to be built and the opportunities that were available for them.

Yesterday, we went with the group to look at some shops in Catarina, which has a beautiful view of a crater lake. After that, we went to Granada to take a boat tour of these little islands in Lake Nicaragua and to see Monkey Island. Monkey Island is this little island in the midst of these islands with 4 monkeys. One of the monkeys, Lucy, got on the boat and we fed her some peanuts. It was so cool! I got to hold her hand and her tail and pet her lol. I hope to show you some pics soon.

I have gotten to spend a lot of time with Raquel, and it's been really good. She told me last night that she wants to get closer to God and live like her mom did, always having faith in God and putting him first. She's had a hard time though and has felt so discouraged. We talked about doing a Bible study together and hope to start today. I want to invite my friend Jessica to join us too. Please pray that this happens and that God will guide us in our study.

Today, I plan to just rest and help around Tamara's. Tomorrow, Tamara and I are taking Milagros, the baby, to therapy. We are praying for a miracle for Milagros. She's about a year old but she has seizires often that have delayed her development. She has shown some autistic characteristics as well. In therapy, they are trying to work with her to get her to hold her head up on her on, roll over, crawl, and do things that a baby should be able to do. After therapy, Tamara and I are going to a drug-rehab center in the afternoon. The drug rehab center is on the land that was originally going to be used for the hospital, but then turned out not to be suitable for building. Tamara has been to the center before and said she could feel the prescence of God there and they had so much peace there. We hope to bring them a word of encouragment tomorrow.

The rest of the week, I plan on staying with Cheryl and helping out with the kids in the house. The kids are dying for me to come over there! I haven't hardly gotten to spend time with them since being here. I look forward to being there and loving on them.

Thank you so much for your prayers! There is so much going on and so much need but so many prayers are already being answered. God is so good and has been so good to me. He continues to speak to me in subtle ways and he is recultivating my love and my faith and my relationship with him. One of the biggest things he has been reminding me is that there is nothing more or less I can do to earn his love. His grace and love is enough. Although I know that, it is easy to forget, especially when striving so hard to live for him. But thank God that He lives in me and in my life and even when I get distracted or busy, He's still there and still speaking. There is nothing too big or too small for Him, and nothing can separate us from His love.