Nicaragua Adventure

Many of you have emailed me wanting to know about the trip. I find it hard to sum it all up in a few short paragraphs but I will try to share without going on and on.
My decision to go to the jungles of Nicaragua was not born out of some Godly call or noble action on my part. My reason from the beginning was to go to see what my husband's passion was all about. You see, he led a team last year and came home a changed man. He has been back 3 times now and would come home sharing and I would think.."that's nice honey" but I just didn't get it. So I decided that this time, with this team of 29 people I would go see if I could "get It".
When we landed in the country, and left the city by bus, it became clear right away that "we were not in Kansas any more". It is extremely hot and humid and very dry and dusty. Needless to say it was hard to stay clean. As we arrived at the village we were to serve in, people ran out of their "homes" to wave at this bus filled with Americans. We stayed in a school compound in tents and our showers consisted of buckets of water and a scoop. Bathrooms were of course outhouses laden with an occasional bug or spider. The spiders are big here. Often we were surrounded by chickens and mini pigs as we went about our work. It was not unusual to see cattle being hearded on the same roads we used for walking on. Did I mention the spiders are big here? There was a team brought in to do all of our cooking for us and they did an awesome job. We had bottled water and great food. There was never a worry of getting sick from the food or water. (okay barely a worry) The pineapple here is beyond any sweetness you can imagine. The coffee was amazing and a blessing each morning and evening.
The reason we went first and foremost was to build a church building. In these villages there are believers and they need a place to congregate. The church building not only provides a place of worship but acts as a community center as well. The fact that Americans come from so far a way to do this for them is a draw in and of itself. We also provided a medical clinic and a children's program. The kids club started with around 60 and ended with aprox 120 children by the end of the week. Our daughter even provided a day of haircuts to the locals. At our church services each evening there was an alter call and several came forward to accept the Lord into their lives. All week as I looked around and observed the people my thoughts were something like this... They are dressed nicely, relatively clean and healthy, happy, so why are we here? For one, there is no extra money in this economy to erect a building. My aha and "get it" moment came on the last night in the village after we finished our part of the building (yes, I worked on the construction team, never have I been so dirty in all of my life :). We had a church dedication service. All of the visiting and local pastors were inside the structure praying and dedicating it to the Lord, We were watching through the window opens at these men of God praising Him with tears streaming down their faces in thankfulness. I looked next to me and there was a sweet little Nicaraguan women standing in the doorway, tears streaming down her face hands raised praising and thanking God for this new place to worship. It brought tears to my eyes and a lump in my throat to see her. She hugged me and said in Spanish something like gracias! until we meet in heaven, as she pointed up. In that moment I knew why we were there and I think I finally "get it"
There were so many things that happened and so much to share but I will leave it at this for now. I do however welcome your questions. I will close with a few more pictures. Enjoy!