Hello again family and friends!
I am sitting here on the porch in a rocking chair with a full belly and an full spirit! It is a beautiful morning! The team is out here with me, rocking in the porch chairs, watching yellow butterflies flutter around, and waving adios to the kids headed to school.
Yesterday, we were greeted warmly at the local United Methodist Church. Plastic chairs, an open air sanctuary, and Spanish praise songs are very different from our 9:40 service. But the Lord we serve is the same and praising Him together with the people of Nicaragua is indescribable. We presented a gift to Pastor Juan Carlos for his baby girl, due in mid-September and introduced our team to the congregation. We headed out with the children for children's church where we told them the story of Moses and the burning bush, sang some songs, and passed out a snack. The children also sang us two songs, complete with adorable hand motions (something about a frog from what I could tell). After church we handed out stickers and many of the children passed the stickers on to the pastor as a birthday gift. We ended our morning at church with a group picture and a rousing rendition of "Happy Birthday".
After lunch (an amazing chicken dish and rice) we rested for a little while before taking the El Ayudante children on an open air bus tour of the city. Imagine a double decker bus in London- only it was a old yellow school bus, raised up, with the top cut off. Better yet, just download the attached picture. It was fun to sit with the children and even more fun to hear them "make fun of" our bald team members. "Pelon! Pelon!" they would shout! And they should have many years of good luck for all the rubbing of the bald heads they did!
The tour dropped us off at a local chain restaurant, Tip Top, for fried chicken, coleslaw, a roll, and fries for the children. Our team just got some nice cold drinks and sat with the children while they ate. After that we headed back to the team house for dinner, devotional/processing the day and bed!
Today we are headed to a preschool to do VBS and provide a snack. After lunch back at the team house, we will be taking the El Ayudante swimming.
We are continually reminded here that we are part of a bigger story. People have been here before us and people will be here after us- all party of the mission of spreading the Love of Christ. Even more importantly, God has been here before us, He is here with us, and He will be here after us. Last night, as part of our devotional, we listened to "Rewrie this Tragedy" by Sara Groves and it really hits on our mission here. As you read it, please pray that God's will be done in our hearts and in the hearts of the people we encounter today.
Rewrite This Tragedy- Sara Groves
Tonight I forgot a line in the play that you and I
Have been rehearsing since the day we met
It made me put down my script, made me look around a bit
And wonder how we came to play these roles
I'm here to re-write this tragedy
One line at a time
Hold on, I'm changing all the scenery
It's okay we'll be fine
Cause we know how this ends
Sometimes it's hard to tell what to keep and what to kill
What of this makes us who we are
All that we love the most, all that we cannot let go
How much of change can we survive?
I'm here to re-write this tragedy
One line at a time
Hold on, I'm changing all the scenery
It's okay we'll be fine
Cause we know how this ends
We know there's a better story
There's a better story
Of true love of true grace
There's the hope of glory
And our first chance to be truly brave
It's the place we're going
When we can't stay where we are
I'm here to re-write this tragedy
One line at a time
Hold on, I'm changing all the scenery
It's okay we'll be fine
Cause we know how this ends
We know there's a better story
[ Rewrite This Tragedy Lyrics on http://www.lyricsmania.com/ ]
Blessings,
Katie and the Nicargua Team
No comments:
Post a Comment