"God's voice thunders in marvelous ways; He does great things beyond our understanding. He says to the snow, "fall on the earth" and to the rain, "be a mighty downpour." Job 37: 5-6
We taught the children one of our favorite songs of the trip and then they taught us a song where at the end of each verse we would poke each other, stomp on feet, hug, and finally kiss as many people as we could before the next verse started. Some of the little boys ran out of the room to avoid being kissed.
We watched the kids play a game like Simon Says and gave prizes to the winners. Mike Ramirez brought a bag of baseball equipment, hats, and shirts that he had collected from friends and family to give to the orphanage. When the bus pulled up and we had to leave, all around we could hear each other saying that we wished we could have spent more time there or even the whole week!
On our ride to the hotel in Granada, it started to rain. We oohed and awed at lightning, thunder and pouring rain for about an hour. Water came into the bus because at one point we drove through at least a foot of rushing water. As always, God protected us.
Although we were there on a Missions trip and a great deal of work went into all the planning, fund raising, meetings, etc., we reflected also on how much fun we had with the children and with each other. Although we may have given the children a "day of happiness" on the days we visited them, they gave us a week of happiness.
Thank you Lord Jesus for giving us this precious opportunity to serve you and for keeping us safe. Please always bless the children we visited in Nicaragua, and may the seeds of faith that were planted and the prayers that were said, take root and grow strong. Amen.
FOLLOW-UP - During the course of this trip, 250 School Paks were distributed to children in need at 5 separate locations near Somoto. At each stop, the number of children present easily exceeded the Paks available and although those not pre-selected were not able receive a Pak, they were included in our Mini VBS with craft making, games and love. Without exception, at every stop we were welcomed warmly and invited to return to visit with our new friends.
Special thanks to our partners, guides and friends for the last 5 years in this Mission - Dave and Pam Waters of Mira Ministries and Jerson Gonzales our trusty and good-natured Nicaraguan coordinator. Special thanks as well to the many at Foothill Vineyard and beyond who supported this team with Prayers, filled Paks and assisted financially. We are blessed to have been able to be part of God's plan.
No comments:
Post a Comment