Hi everyone, Sorry I have not updated before now but have had a really heavy schedule and have not had two seconds to write my thoughts down.
So far we have had a very successful trip. We had an ice cream party for over 200 people in Ceibita and we played and played and played.. We also performed a skit on love and had many laughs. The youth came from Pastor Jorge's church to help again and we made them be included in the "Minute to Win it Games" which turned out to the a blast. We shared many things with the people but most of all God's love for them.
Later after the celebration my team and I walked to several houses and prayed with them and talked about what was going on in their lives. It was a very special time for me.
On Monday we had another busy day ministering in two schools to over 300 children, preschoolers and elementary kids. What a blast... One of the highlights was praying with the children. As I prayed they repeated what I said and it was like listening to angels.
In the afternoon on Monday we traveled to a new community called Sagrada Familia (Sah-grad-ah). There were 204 families there and 175 houses. A large community all who are Sandinistans which is a huge political group here in Nicaragua. There are lots of controversial issues with people here in Somotillo who follow that group and it will be a challenge to minister to that community because they are ones that most "Christians" don't want to help to keep from being a part of the "political" issues here. My personal beliefs is they need Jesus and that's all I care about. Democrates or Republicans make no difference to me and that's how it should be in Nicaragua also. Not sure what God is up to but we're talking about plans for that community because their are many many issues to deal with there.
Today we ministered at the school that most of the kids from Ceibita attend. It was fun to see all my kids and to see them smiling and happy and excited to show off to their friends that they knew us. Gwen shared an object lesson on how "sin is dirty" and Flutter-By (Leigh) told the story of Zacheus. Lot's of fun and lot's of children heard God loves them.
Afterward the school we got prepared to love on the newest children added to Operation Education. 41 kids and their parents came to receive their new school uniforms. These are the children who either have HIV/AIDS or their parents do. We took lots of pictures which I'll post soon and blessed them with a bowl of ice cream. I got to see many ice cream mustaches which is always a blessing. Flutter-By blessed the kids with a "mouse" balloon before they left giving them a reminder of God's creations. These families were very blessed to have us their helping them. Prior to coming we were not sure how much interaction we would get from the parents but by the time they left they were hugging me and kissing me and begging me to come back. I felt so happy that they felt accepted by us. This will open a huge door for us to minister to these families.
Tonight was church night and what a blessing it was. Gwen played Open the Eyes of My Heart Lord on the flute and the entire church song it in Spanish as she played. It was beautiful to see the two parts coming together to praise God. It was such a beautiful song.
Tomorrow (Wednesday) we will be ministering in the morning in Ceibita with the women only. We will be discussing how beautiful they are in God's eyes and why they need a relationship with God and many other things. In the evening we are ministering to around 50 teenage girls. We will be discussing purity and the importance of self worth.
Please pray for the rest of the trip as we still have lots to do. We are certain God is not finished with us.
God Bless,
Angie, Gwen and Leigh