God's Growing Family

One of the beauties of Nicaragua was being able to see first hand how God gave each person on this mission a task to complete and how all our tasks intertwined in His perfection to grow His kingdom. This happened again and again throughout the week and what follows is one many stories I have of how our tasks fit together.

On Wednesday, after a full day of seeing people at our medical clinic, two kids decided to follow Jesus. There is nothing greater to God than seeing His family grow, but what makes this story more awesome is how God let us be a part of it. As we were packing up clinic, a group of kids were playing on a swingset. Joey saw them, walked over and began swinging alongside them. Not too long afterwards, they took Joey and Roy (who went to capture the moment on film) into the woods for a photo op. The next thing you know, all of us went into the woods to get a soccer ball from Martin’s (one of the children we saw in the clinic) home and find a place to play soccer. Chris had given Martin the soccer ball earlier in the week. We made it back to the clinic and a group of us went off to play while others stayed under the clinic tents. Under the tent, a few of the kids gathered around David as he shared the gospel. Martin joined David in sharing the gospel and low and behold, two of the kids accepted Christ! God always knew those two kids would come to know Him. He is powerful enough to have done it by Himself, but He let us be the ones to love on Martin by treating him in the clinic. He let Chris be the one to give away a soccer ball, He let Joey be the one to swing and Roy the one to take a picture. He let David and Martin be the ones to speak. He let everyone witness His love in action, and for that I am thankful. -tina

Parting thoughts...

We finished the week with both teams together with a night of worship and dinner. Great to see everyone after a week doing separate task but tons of great stories of how God has provided, affirmed and asked everyone to take a faith step with sharing the experience. We are ready to see our families, but sad to leave this wonderful community that has welcomed us with open arms, taught us about being generous, and brought us into their families with sincere hospitality.

Thank you Living Water. Thank you Henry Vargas and the Managua Christian Academy. Thank you Lord for the plans you had for us exceeded all of our expectations. - Chris

Hard Goodbyes

It's funny how different days bring different temperaments to teams. Yesterday we ended the day on a very high note. We worked hard and we played hard. This morning, just waking up felt different. I don't know if it was the soreness, stiffness and tiredness all catching up with everyone at once, or if the subconscious knowledge that today was our last day with the community set in overnight. Breakfast, which had been a time of laughing, joking and greeting the day head-on was very quiet and reserved. Many of us seemed to be lost in our thoughts. I found myself quietly reflecting on what this week had brought and what I might expect to see and feel today and so were many on our team.

We left on-time for the community and arrived a little earlier than we had been. Instead of getting right to work (our boots were in the truck that had not yet arrived), we took some time to play with the few kids that had already wandered into the "playground" area near the pump. Once our boots arrived a few of us cleaned up the area around the well site (2 settling pits and the water trench that are required can leave quite a mess if you don't fill them in). We kind of eased our way into the day. We took a lot of photos of (and for) the kids.

We packed gravel and concrete around the casing to stabilize it. The men of the community took turns mixing up concrete and filling up the form boards for the pad around the pump base while many of us played soccer with the kids. Once the concrete work was completed, Michael Johnson was given the honor of installing the plaque (designating this as a LWI / Radius Church well). As I snapped photos of the installation I began to feel that our job here was coming to a close. That we were, indeed, going to leave today having given these folks a well and I began to have to fight the tears.

After installing the plaque, the women of the community had prepared a meal of chicken soup for us. We had known it was coming and we watched them feather the chickens early this morning right after we had arrived at the site. Four of the chickens that had been underfoot this week were right there in the pot for us today. Four chickens that these folks use for eggs (and extra income) were being offered as gifts to us. The "widow's mite" took on a whole new meaning today. We sat down and ate lunch with our hosts - and it was a great meal. Then the work resumed. We sank the pipe (100' of galvanized pipe) and the pump assembly and rod down the casing. It was a slow, labor-intensive process that took almost an hour and a half to complete. As we wrapped up this portion, we each took turns writing our names (along with the important information about the well itself) under the repair access cover that would be installed on the well head. As we took turns writing our names, I could see the emotions beginning to well up in team members (I could feel them myself). Our "goodbye" was coming quickly.

We finally finished setting and bolting the well head and handle. The community had slowly been congregating around the area (45-50 folks had turned out). The women who had prepared our lunch were back at the site, but this time in the best clothes they had. This was a big deal. They had been on a waiting list for over 12 months. Some of them had been praying for this for years. And we were here to see the answers to those prayers. The emotions continued to flood in.

Our LWI team leader, Lew, addressed the community (with a translator) and told them "thank you" for the opportunity to serve them. A few spokespeople from the community also spoke up and offered thanks to us and to God for providing them this well. One of the community leaders told us that this community was now our community too. That we could return at any time and would be welcomed with open arms. And the tears flowed.

The Spanish word for goodbye is "adios", which I can't believe is by accident. Literally translated it means "to God" or "with God". When you are telling someone goodbye in Spanish, you are sending them "to God"'s care - trusting that He will take care of them and that you will see them again. Today was not a day for "hasta manana" (see you tomorrow) or "hasta luego" (see you later), it was a day to say "adios" (go with God). We were telling our new friends that we were trusting God to care for them. And in turn they were telling us that they were doing the same. They were some of the hardest goodbyes I have ever had to say.- Andy

Update from Thursday

Today was another great day! We saw another 50 plus people, taught a hygiene class to the faculty of the school, and started moving tents for the start of school next week. Along the way we were able to pray with several people, play soccer and frisbee, and laugh a ton.

The highlight of the day is when Joey spotted a kid in the crowd that had cut his eye on barbed wire. Instantly the team prepped the Operating Room, or in Nicaragua the picnic table and with some well placed stitches he was ready to go again. Pretty talented considering its the dry season and wind is blowing constantly through the parking lot the school is currently located.

Tomorrow is our final work day. We plan to pour the concrete pad early tomorrow morning, then finish the school tents. The medical team will make our last push to see as many people as possible before we run out of time.

A real treat for us will be when both teams - Well Drilling and Managua meet together tomorrow night for a pizza dinner and debriefing the week. We return on Sat afternoon and are very excited to see our families again.

Thanks again for all the love and support.- Chris

Dr Joey in action

So a trip to Nicaragua wouldn't be complete without Dr Joey sewing up a kids eye who ran into barbed wire. Funny part is, he didn't come to the clinic because his eye was bleeding, but since he was there he thought we should check it out. Three minor surgeries in 4 days. Pretty talented to stitch an eye with the wind blowing on a picnic table in a parking lot.

The 14 yr old boy didn't move during the procedure!

Report from Wednesday

Going into the final stretch. Today included a full medical clinic with 150 kids seen this week. Working on some equipment around the school / compound, and going to church as a team. Great news - 2 kids decided to follow Jesus today! This was after our kick ball game that was anything but heavenly...

Tomorrow we are supposed to teach the faculty of the school about medical issues specific to their students. We are to continue working on getting ready for the the school year to begin, and make final preparations on our concrete pad.

Laughter, Failure and Faithfulness

It's Wednesday night. We've been in Leon for 4 days now. I think I can honestly say that I have laughed more (in frequency and intensity) in these last 4 days than I have in the last 12 months. I found the same to be true when we came down in September to scout these trips. I laughed a ton. Laughter really is the best medicine. I've come to realize, perhaps incorrectly, but I believe rightly, in the midst of some of the most dire poverty (2nd in the Wester Hemisphere only to Haiti), you will find some of the most intense joy. And for me, if I focus solely on the needs I see around me, I would force myself into long naval-gazing sessions every night back at the hotel. Not so when I've been able to see joy every day. Not just from team mates (though we have laughed so hard together that nearly everyone was in tears), but more so from the community that we are serving.

Today was the longest and hardest day on the site that we've experienced thus far. Yesterday ended with the dis-heartening news that we were about a half-day behind the usual schedule. Some of that was just because we're drilling roughly twice as deep as the standard well depth here in Nicaragua (for a variety of reasons, but primarily because we needed a large enough aquifer to produce enough flow for the hand pump). Some of that though was just because we were feeling the enemy attacking. That was evidenced again this morning as we had decided to set out about 30 minutes early today (7:30AM instead of 8).

Less than 5 minutes after leaving the hotel, we got word that the pick-up truck our crew leaders were in had broken down. We went back and picked up what we could and off-loaded it into our team van. We had to stop and get fuel for our pumps. The first station we arrived at was out of fuel (the tanker hadn't come in yet). We located it at the second station, but had eaten up our entire early start. It's amazing that in the midst of doing what is right and good, how much the enemy will try and distract you from your task.

So, once we arrived at the drill site, the first thing we did (before anyone picked up a shovel or donned a hard-hat) was to circle up and pray. And our prayers were answered by about 2 this afternoon when we had finally seen that we were, indeed, producing about 12 - 15 gallons per minute (a hand-pump requires only 5). Out of the revelation that we had managed to create a well and not just a 180' x 7" hole in the ground, sprang one of the greatest moments of joy and excitement I have ever experienced on a corporate level: a water fight!

Let me explain a little. As you develop a well, you have to break-down the bentonite that is caked on the walls of the bore hole (it is caked on during the drilling process to prevent the hole from caving in on itself) so that the water from the aquifer can pass through the "screen" into the pipe (slots that are cut into the pipe to allow water to pass into the casing). Part of that process is to use an air compressor to drive air deep into the casing (with a cap on the top). The compressed air is forced into the water-filled pipe and lifts the water to the top of the casing, causing friction on the screen / wall cake. As you pulse the air compressor, the movement of the water against the wall cake breaks down the bentonite and at some point, water begins passing from the aquifer into the casing and up to the well-head. OK, so that's a lot of technical info to say that we force air into the pipe, which eventually forces water up to the well-head and it has to go somewhere. It comes out the "T" that we put on the top (and today that "T" went through 40' of pipe into a large community "playground"). So as this pressurized water comes to the surface, an immense rush of water comes out of the pipe. Imagine 65-70 kids running around with a large burst of water spraying into their "park"...it's a site to be seen.

Now imagine a bunch of "gringos" filling 5-gallon buckets and dousing each other with water. The kids were so excited to jump in that they began picking up our hard-hats and filling them to throw on each other! From complete frustration yesterday afternoon at being a half-day behind - to laughing and drenching everyone in the community (and I mean EVERYONE was involved) and laughing with nationals at clean water! What a sight!!

Here's my point: We've been experiencing all kinds of feelings the last 4 days. Sunday tore many of our team apart to see the poverty and need. Monday was difficult because it was a day of learning new skills and working very hard. Tuesday got worse because no matter how hard we worked or tried, we kept getting farther behind. This morning, despite all of our best efforts to get ahead of the game it appeared that the enemy would have none of it. Yet by this afternoon, we had seen that our God is greater, that He is faithful and that in His faithfulness there is unsurpassable joy (not just for us individually, but for an entire community). It has been a wonderful, though difficult, week so far.

LWI has a "corporate verse" of sorts, Galatians 6:9 - "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." That has been proved true this week!

-Andy Ott

Day 3 at the well

The team got the casing installed today and began the development of the well.

It was probably the hardest and most intense of the last 3 days.

Andy got dirty too!

More pics from Tuesday

Practice Practice

Joey with a 2 month old baby

Sunset in Nicaragua

Pics of the new Managau Christian Academy

Tina showing how to stretch

Tuesday wrap up from Chris

Managua House

At the construction site we moved tons, literally, of dirt in order to make room for a concrete slab and then spent the rest of the day leveling it. We had a tractor but it didn’t work so all the work was done by the sweat of our brow, again, literally.

The medical team had a fantastic and very rewarding day. Both the kids and the adults were so open to the team that it made helping them even more special. The types of sicknesses got more interesting today as well –you’ll have to ask Joey when we get home.

For both teams it has been all about helping the people, whether it was wielding a pickaxe or a stethoscope. The unity and heart of our group has been tremendous and Radius should be proud of the team that God assembled and sent down here.