I have traveled to Nicaragua twice, Washington DC, Florence SC and Rockville Minnesota since the last time I have posted. I am having to take on extra jobs and those jobs have me working in other cities so since the first of March I have been going 30 days and I have worked at my new job at Belk, for the ministry and for my husband. It's been a very busy two months and yes I am telling you all this in hopes you will forgive me that I have not been in contact this entire time.
I have tried writing this newsletter like a million times and have not gotten more than a sentence done.
I need to update you on my trip to Somotillo in March. We had a great time. I have uploaded the pictures for you to see my peeps..
My friend Gwen and I went this trip and each March when we go we like to do crafts and teaching time with the different groups of people. This trip we met with the Women, the kids and the youth girls. We also had a special time with the wedding couples from my December trip.
We met with the women and talked about God's love for them and how special they were in his eyes. We made a craft that had a mirror on it so they could see themselves and know that the person they were looking at was very precious to God. They are the Princess's of God. After our craft time we also blessed them with new and slightly used clothes. They love to go shopping at the Angie store.. :) Check out their creations by clicking here.
This trip we met with the little kids. It seems like very trip we play with the kids but don't really get to have a lesson with them. We gathered them together and song a cool song, laughed and had lots of fun. Gwen told them a bible story about Noah and about how he must have experienced fear on the ark. We talked about God's promises to never leave us or forsake us. To help them remember it we talked about God giving us a rainbow to remind us he would never destroy the world by water again and of course we had to find candy with rainbow colors.. They had a great time and so did we. Here are the pictures from our time together.
Our time ministering to the teenage girls was the highlight of my trip. Every March we do something special with them but this trip I just wanted to HANG with them. We met, told stories, talked about their dreams and desires and of course ate some sweets. It was a very nice time just relaxing with them. We also made slap bracelets using duck tape, they love making crafts. I had also taken a ton of new cool shirts and dresses for the girls so they too got to go shopping at Angie's store. At the end of our time I had an unsettling in my spirit and just felt I wasn't suppose to talk to them about anything further so I told them we were finished but obviously God wasn't finished because Pastor Arturo who had been off to the side praying for our time together came and spoke a word over the girls. It was very powerful and at the end ALL 17 of the girls either made a commitment to focus more on God or prayed to accept Jesus as their savior. It was a very precious moment for me because I had been working on those girls for several years. I Love those young ladies!!! Click here to check out bracelets and the lovely faces of new baby Christians.
Remember the 15 couples that got married in December? Terry had taken beautiful pictures of each couple so I wanted to bless them with a copy but before I gave them out I thought it would be fun to play the Newlywed Game with some of the couples. This gave me a chance to break the ice with the men and get their attention. The questions we asked them were hilarious. I had the men laughing so hard they almost fell out of their seats. We had so much fun and yet I was able to remind them of the covenant they made with their wives is the same covenant they can have with God. They really loved the game and the pictures. Check them out here.
Each trip I go I always try to bless the families with food. Depending on the money I have depends on how much food they get. I now have 70 families to buy food for and with the cost of food rising every trip it is getting harder and harder for me to afford it. This year I am going to have to limit the food to only the families that have kids in my program instead of every family in the community. I am sure that is not going to go over well since there are many who are currently receiving the food who don't even have kids. It will not be easy for me but until God supplies more it is what it is. It takes about $1,100 each trip I go just for the food not to mention any other ministry needs. I have no doubt that God will work it out for each trip. He knows who needs what and He will provide for his sheep. While Terry was with me in December I had him take family pictures of the 70 couples. Not everyone was able to participate but most were there. So during the distribution time of the food I also gave each family a copy of their family picture in a frame. For many this was the very first picture they had ever had. I hope soon to send all the sponsors of my kids a copy of the families also. You can see the pictures of the families and them receiving their food here.
While I was looking through the pictures I realized that in the past 7 years I have been working in La Ceibita I have never just shown you the community and the people who live in it. These pictures are some examples why I love them so much. Enjoy the pictures here.
Last but not least I would like to tell you about my NEW HOTEL. In February many of you blessed me with funds to help my friend Teresa fix her house so my team and I could stay there. We love Teresa and her family and they love us. They treat us like family not like guest. On this trip I slept in a nice soft bed, got to take a hot shower in a clean bathroom and got to rest knowing I didn't have to worry about drunks breaking in my door at night. Thank you so much to those who made it happen. Of course in every construction project you find issues you didn't know were there so we were not able to finish the project as planned but we at least were able to have more than I have ever had in that town. We still have one room to complete and we need to build on an additional bathroom to accommodate a team more than 3 people but I figure that is all in God's timing. I am just so grateful I have a warm, loving, safe place to stay. God is so good. Here is a picture of my new Nicaraguan family and to see pictures of my new hotel click here.
(Teresa, Emily, Betsabe, Maria Teresa)
As always thanks to each one of you for your prayers, support and friendship. I can't do any of this without your help and together we are changing many lives one at a time.
Those of you show sponsor kids should have received a letter in the mail from your child last month so if you want to reply to that letter I will need them by the July 24th as I will be headed to Nicaragua on the 31st.
So this is so late but better late than never right?
God Bless each of you.
Angie
PS. Those who live near me, please know I am raising money for the August trip and I'm having a yard sale in June. If you have any junk you want to get rid of let me know. Your junk is my treasure. I am collecting through the end of the month. Let me know if you have anything..