The Medical Team Arrives!

The medical team arrived in Nicaragua today safe and sound.  We were greeted by Henry's family with warm hugs and smiles and they immediately made us feel right at home.   We are looking forward to living in community this week with our Managua family.  In Romans 12 it talks about how we need to let go of our routines and expectations of home and let God do His will in our daily lives.  We are excited to live this out during our time here in Nicaragua.  David shared four reminders of our purpose here this week:

1) serve - serving our host with extravagant generosity
2) listen - quiet our hearts so that we can hear what God is teaching us through His word and his people here in Nicaragua
3) commit - commit to how we can carry over our experience in Nicaragua effectively once we return home to our comforts
4) say yes - letting go of our expectations for the trip and saying yes to the unexpected opportunities God will place before us

Join us this week in living out Romans 12:1-2
"Therefore I urge you brothers in view of God's mercy to offer your bodies as living sacrifices holy and pleasing to God this is your spiritual act of worship.  Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and prove what God's will is - His good, pleasing, and perfect will."
-Tina

Well Drill Team Arrives in Nicaragua!

We are here. Most of us have had a very long day. In talking with team members, it seems that most everyone was up before their alarm clock was set to go off. That's if they slept at all. Feelings ranged from anxiety to excitement and anything in-between. Some had never left the South Eastern United States before. Some had never been on a commercial flight prior to today. We are all equally glad to be here and equally excited to see what God will do in our lives in the next several days.

Don't think that we have forgotten about our friends and family back home. Worries about sick family members or the feelings about being away from loved ones in general linger. What we do know and take comfort in is that God is omniscient and omnipresent.

Our travels went as smooth as could be. Flights were ahead of schedule, navigating airports went smoothly and everyone's luggage made it. Some time after leaving the airport in Managua we stopped at a Tip-Top (Central American fast food chain that serves grilled and fried chicken) for a late lunch. There we ran into a second Living Water International (LWI) team from Northern VA who will be drilling at another village in the area.

Upon arrival at the LWI compound we went over some rules of the house, helped unload a supply truck and then ate a delicious dinner.

After dinner we spent some time praying and sharing some of what God has done in our lives and how we've arrived to where we are now, physically and/or spiritually.  We prayed for all of you, our team, our goal & mission but most of all that God would use us. We ask that you do the same throughout this week and beyond.

One thing that is for certain is that lives will change because of the obedience of the 11 folks attending.  

-Zoltan

Nicaragua Bound - 2012

The book of Matthew is loaded with verses describing what the life of someone who professes Christ as their Savior ought to look like. Some are broad in scope (Matt 22:37-39; “love God, love people”), while others are more specific (Matt 5; Sermon on the Mount). So how do these verses shape our lives today?
 

For at least 25 of us, this week, it looks like a plane ticket to Nicaragua. In Matthew 28:19-20, Jesus instructed us to “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations...” so that's what we are doing. Split up into two teams, we will be drilling a well for a village and providing medical care to over 400 students and their parents. Most importantly, we will be living out the Gospel in a practical way. A way that many of the people with whom we'll be interacting have never seen before.
 

If you look through the passages above, nowhere does Jesus say that we're guaranteed success nor that we will always be welcomed with open arms. He only tells us to go and to love the people that He created in His image.
 

Please pray for us that we may be able to express Jesus' love to the people we'll come in contact with and that we would be able to accomplish the work that He has ordained for us. Pray that we would have an open mind and to let the Holy Spirit guide us and to leave our own agendas behind.
 

Check back daily as we walk through the week.

-Zoltan

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