I made a promise yesterday but now I am breaking it because there is simply no way for me to post pictures from today. As we speak, more than 1600 photos are loading onto my computer and everyone is already in bed! Luckily, we will be returning to the states Monday so you all won't have to wait too much longer before you can see the pictures and hear the stories in person. :]
Today was phenomenal. We went to the worksite in San Jose at the usual time this morning, finished pouring forms, and completed the roof. Plus we got to take part in the most moving part of our trip, dedicating the house to the family. This was especially touching this year because many of us know the kids who live in this house from previous years of mission trips and it was really cool, for me at least, to get to give back to a family whose kids have helped build houses for so many others in their own community.
We also passed out bags with rice, beans, sugar, and oil to about 50 families in San Jose. Almost all of us were able to participate in handing these out, praying with the families who received the food, and telling them that although the food would provide them with temporary physical sustenance, the real reason that we were there was to tell them that Jesus is the bread of life and He provides us with eternal spiritual sustenance. Hearing the stories from fellow team members about how they were touched throughout this process of touching others' lives this week was incredibly moving tonight.
After leaving San Jose (always sad for me), we returned to the team house for lunch, then headed out on our tourist day. We went to a coffee plantation called Selva Negra, explored their trails, then had coffee and cake in their restaurant. Then, we went to a place called Calvary Hill, which is basically an overlook over the entire city of Matagalpa. We also went out to a dinner at a local restaurant, then returned to the team house for worship and debriefing/share time.
Tomorrow we are going to church in Matagalpa, then heading to Managua to (hopefully) go to the market before staying a hotel to wake up Monday for our flight.
Goodnight to everyone! See you soon! (Keep your fingers crossed for a picture post at some point!)
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Saturday, July 6, 2013
Friday, July 5, 2013
Sorry sorry!
Hate to do this to y'all two nights in a row but today has been crazy long and jam packed! We are just getting to bed (lights out is usually 10 and its 10:45 now). Promise to have another long, good, detailed, picture-filled post about the last few days tomorrow!
Just in case you wanna know what tomorrow will look like: Tomorrow will be half work day in San Jose and half tourist day in Matagalpa. Then we are going into the capital after church Sunday!
More tomorrow!
--OHBC Nicaragua 2013--
Just in case you wanna know what tomorrow will look like: Tomorrow will be half work day in San Jose and half tourist day in Matagalpa. Then we are going into the capital after church Sunday!
More tomorrow!
--OHBC Nicaragua 2013--
Thursday, July 4, 2013
Dia 3 (dia de independencia de los estados unidos)
Tonight will be a short post because to be frank, we are all totally exhausted.
Today we completed the walls of the house, along with all the rebar assigned to us for this week. Tomorrow we hope to pour the final forms on the house and start, possibly finish, the roof.
In addition, at sports camp today, we covered 3 more fruits of the Spirit. (For anyone interested in the beads meaning: color cafe [brown] bead= paciencia [patience], rosada [pink] bead= fidelidad [faithfulness], rojo [red] bead= amor [love].)
Tonight we had an awesome worship session, some debriefing of the day, and now we are playing Mafia. Having a blast and definitely going to sleep well tonight!
Thank you for the prayers! [Also keep Swindle in your prayers, he has been feeling sick today!] Sorry for the short post! And Happy 4th of July!!!
Today we completed the walls of the house, along with all the rebar assigned to us for this week. Tomorrow we hope to pour the final forms on the house and start, possibly finish, the roof.
In addition, at sports camp today, we covered 3 more fruits of the Spirit. (For anyone interested in the beads meaning: color cafe [brown] bead= paciencia [patience], rosada [pink] bead= fidelidad [faithfulness], rojo [red] bead= amor [love].)
Tonight we had an awesome worship session, some debriefing of the day, and now we are playing Mafia. Having a blast and definitely going to sleep well tonight!
Thank you for the prayers! [Also keep Swindle in your prayers, he has been feeling sick today!] Sorry for the short post! And Happy 4th of July!!!
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| 4 fingers for a Happy 4th of July America! |
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| climbed on top of the bus to take a pic! check out that mountain scenery |
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| pics standing on the bus |
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| the cutest married couple ever |
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| the cutest engaged couple ever |
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| in honor of July 4th, I wore my 'proud to be an American' eagle american flag shirt |
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
Worksite Day 2!
Hola todos!
So today was our second work day in San Jose and it was awesome! The whole team really started getting into the groove of things, whether that was cranking out bricks at the house, organizing sports with the kids, making rebar, or, if you're me, getting back into the speaking of the Spanish language. Today was much rainier than yesterday though, which ended up slowing down the construction group a little bit. Luckily this led to many opportunities for relationship building with the kids of the village.
We also were able to get a more organized start to our sports camp (which we are doing instead of a Vacation Bible School this year). We made bracelets for our team, our prayer warriors, and the children of San Jose (which you may have seen us wearing at church on Sunday) with 9 colored beads that represent the fruits of the Spirit. Yesterday's sports camp was mass chaos (fun, but chaotic), and today was much more structured. We gathered together in one of the school buildings, and Morgan explained the days fruits to the kids (negro [black] bead= templanza [self control], and azul [blue] bead= amabilidad [kindness]). Then we headed out for a little baseball in the rain, complete with a few home runs!
In addition to a productive day of sports camp, our construction group mixed A LOT of mezcla (concrete essentially) AND completed the upper half of the walls of the house today, even with the almost constant rain.
In fact, we were all so productive today that we managed to leave the worksite in time to go get Batidos (milkshakes) in Matagalpa before returning to the team house for dinner. Most of us drank either coffee/chocolate or strawberry/banana and they were MUY DELICIOSO.
Now for some pics! Thank you for your support, we're feeling your prayers for us!
--OHBC Nicaragua 2013--
So today was our second work day in San Jose and it was awesome! The whole team really started getting into the groove of things, whether that was cranking out bricks at the house, organizing sports with the kids, making rebar, or, if you're me, getting back into the speaking of the Spanish language. Today was much rainier than yesterday though, which ended up slowing down the construction group a little bit. Luckily this led to many opportunities for relationship building with the kids of the village.
We also were able to get a more organized start to our sports camp (which we are doing instead of a Vacation Bible School this year). We made bracelets for our team, our prayer warriors, and the children of San Jose (which you may have seen us wearing at church on Sunday) with 9 colored beads that represent the fruits of the Spirit. Yesterday's sports camp was mass chaos (fun, but chaotic), and today was much more structured. We gathered together in one of the school buildings, and Morgan explained the days fruits to the kids (negro [black] bead= templanza [self control], and azul [blue] bead= amabilidad [kindness]). Then we headed out for a little baseball in the rain, complete with a few home runs!
In addition to a productive day of sports camp, our construction group mixed A LOT of mezcla (concrete essentially) AND completed the upper half of the walls of the house today, even with the almost constant rain.
In fact, we were all so productive today that we managed to leave the worksite in time to go get Batidos (milkshakes) in Matagalpa before returning to the team house for dinner. Most of us drank either coffee/chocolate or strawberry/banana and they were MUY DELICIOSO.
Now for some pics! Thank you for your support, we're feeling your prayers for us!
--OHBC Nicaragua 2013--
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| Morgan rocking it at giving instructions and explanations in espanol |
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| Ricky braceletting Juan Carlos |
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| John giving out mas bracelets! |
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| Me, Allie, tying bracelets |
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| Frutas de espíritu [fruits of the spirit] |
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| ninos con bulseras [kiddos with bracelets] |
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| that right there, my friends, is a volcano...or how we make the mezcla |
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| Jenna and Brandt attacking the mezcla, don't worry, it's just part of the process |
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| Fiances laying bricks like champs |
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| Brandt caught a chicken...and by caught we mean someone actually threw the chicken through the air and Brandt literally caught it [for anyone wondering, chicken in espanol is pollo if it's already cooked, and gallina if it's still alive like this one...fun fact of the day] |
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| Jamie [Jerome] posing with a statue at the Palacia de Batidos [milkshake palace] |
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| [yum] |
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| Brittany and Dona Fide went to pray with a woman in the community today as well! |
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| Jess and Ricky shoveling like champs |
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| Brandt, Jess [who wasn't feeling 100% and still working hard all day, by the way], Kristine, and John working the mezcla |
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| That is a toilet |
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| Will [aka rebar extraordinaire], also Jess and the back of John's head in the rebar room |
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| Jamie teaching football skills |
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| Allie throwing the football with Elton |
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Day Uno at the Worksite!
Good Evening Everyone!
Today was a wonderfully successful first day at the worksite! We woke up this morning to hot coffee and a delicious breakfast of pancakes and homemade fruit juice to energize us before we headed to the worksite. We also had a new bus this morning, which meant no car troubles today!
At the worksite we split into several teams. Kristine and Jessica headed up the sports camp with los ninos, while the rest of us either worked on mixing mezcla and laying bricks at the house, or tying rebar in one of the school buildings. Those working on the house finished laying bricks on the entire bottom half of the wall...and these are 120 pound volcanic rock bricks, not your sissy American style bricks. :]
Some of our team also had the opportunity to go and visit the families who live in the houses that some of us helped build last year. We could still see our fingerprints pressed into the mortar from last year, as well as a new inscription that reads "Jesus te ama" (Jesus loves you), which was added by the family after we left last year. It was so cool to see how happy they were to have a home that was sturdy enough to make it their own over the course of this year.
As usual, the people of San Jose were so warm and friendly as they welcomed us into their village! The kids swarmed around us and migrated with us wherever we went throughout the day, many of them helping us work or playing with us on breaks! We are all looking forward to 3 more days of working in the village and interacting with people, hopefully also having the opportunity to share the gospel with them! Even with the language barrier, God is all-powerful and can move in all situations!
It is already so cool to see our team coming together as a family. We just finished our dinner (of french fries, fried chicken, and the always present rice) and our nighttime devotion/worship session/debriefing. As we all shared our highs and lows of the day, it was so evident to me that we have already bonded in amazing ways. Many of our highs revolved around having already seen God moving, as well as how our team has already developed great friendships and bonds. We were able to work together to accomplish each task presented to us today because we have already become a team and a true family. As Jenna shared during our devo, "home is where your feet are," and that is the mentality we are trying to maintain this week. Continue to pray for us to remain invested where we are and focused on the tasks at hand so that we can take the most possible advantage of the incredible opportunities God is presenting us with right now, here in San Jose and Matagalpa, every day!
P.S. Funny tidbit of the day, our translator Alex spent most of today thinking that Jamie's name was Jerome, which brought about endless laughs, especially from Brandt. :]
Here are some pictures of our day (thank you to Jenna and Kristine for being such great photographers!) We love you all and thank you for all your support!
--OHBC Nicaragua 2013--
Today was a wonderfully successful first day at the worksite! We woke up this morning to hot coffee and a delicious breakfast of pancakes and homemade fruit juice to energize us before we headed to the worksite. We also had a new bus this morning, which meant no car troubles today!
At the worksite we split into several teams. Kristine and Jessica headed up the sports camp with los ninos, while the rest of us either worked on mixing mezcla and laying bricks at the house, or tying rebar in one of the school buildings. Those working on the house finished laying bricks on the entire bottom half of the wall...and these are 120 pound volcanic rock bricks, not your sissy American style bricks. :]
Some of our team also had the opportunity to go and visit the families who live in the houses that some of us helped build last year. We could still see our fingerprints pressed into the mortar from last year, as well as a new inscription that reads "Jesus te ama" (Jesus loves you), which was added by the family after we left last year. It was so cool to see how happy they were to have a home that was sturdy enough to make it their own over the course of this year.
As usual, the people of San Jose were so warm and friendly as they welcomed us into their village! The kids swarmed around us and migrated with us wherever we went throughout the day, many of them helping us work or playing with us on breaks! We are all looking forward to 3 more days of working in the village and interacting with people, hopefully also having the opportunity to share the gospel with them! Even with the language barrier, God is all-powerful and can move in all situations!
It is already so cool to see our team coming together as a family. We just finished our dinner (of french fries, fried chicken, and the always present rice) and our nighttime devotion/worship session/debriefing. As we all shared our highs and lows of the day, it was so evident to me that we have already bonded in amazing ways. Many of our highs revolved around having already seen God moving, as well as how our team has already developed great friendships and bonds. We were able to work together to accomplish each task presented to us today because we have already become a team and a true family. As Jenna shared during our devo, "home is where your feet are," and that is the mentality we are trying to maintain this week. Continue to pray for us to remain invested where we are and focused on the tasks at hand so that we can take the most possible advantage of the incredible opportunities God is presenting us with right now, here in San Jose and Matagalpa, every day!
P.S. Funny tidbit of the day, our translator Alex spent most of today thinking that Jamie's name was Jerome, which brought about endless laughs, especially from Brandt. :]
Here are some pictures of our day (thank you to Jenna and Kristine for being such great photographers!) We love you all and thank you for all your support!
--OHBC Nicaragua 2013--
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| Ricky, Brandt, and Jamie constructing a wall |
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| I think Josh is hammering |
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| Josh, Kristine, and Amy looking intently at something :] |
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| caballo [horse] |
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| cerdo [pig] |
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| lunch [beans, rice, meatballs, and yummy potato-y vegetables] |
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| the cutest thing you've ever seen |
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| another really cute thing |
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| Alex [our translator, also the person who though Jamie was Jerome] |
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| back on the bus after a looonggg day of work |
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| manly men playing sports |
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| bricks. those things are heavy |
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| Jamie [aka Jerome] and some mezcla |
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| Josh doin work |
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| Amy being a beast on the construction site |
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| EVERYONE LOOK! WE CAUGHT JOHN SMILING ON CAMERA |
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| Ricky and Brandt laying bricks |
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| Jenna and Swindle exhibiting superb teamwork skills |
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| John and Josh working those muscles [120 pound bricks!!!] |
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| ninos! |
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| Allie, Brittany, and Will tying rebar with Dona Fide |
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| Kristine and some jump ropers |
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| Jessica in the midst of the swarm of children |
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| worksite! |
Mas de Ayer (More of Yesterday)!
We got in so late last night, and we weren't really able to fill y'all in on how yesterday went so here goes.
Our journey through security went smoothly and quickly...but when it was time to board the flight, we spent about half an hour sitting on the plane waiting to get on the runway. At one point the pilot came on over the intercom to tell us, quite calmly, that one of the engines wasn't working and needed to be reset. After another couple of minutes we had a smooth take off and the rest of the plane flight went well...except it was longer than the 2 and a half hour flight we expected. Because of storms, we took a round about route that took about 3.5 hours.
Once we got off the plane and made it through customs, we gathered all of our checked luggage and team bags and headed for the bus to make the three-hour drive to the team house in Matagalpa. We would like to give a special shout-out to Ms. Babs for providing us with the delicious puppy chow snack for the ride. In fact, the puppy chow ended up providing us with more entertainment than it did sustenance. Our first Nicaraguan adventure has now been named the Puppy Chow Riot, which consisted of about 20 Nicaraguan airport employees swarming around our group and asking for "toda la bolsa" (the whole bag/purse) of our puppy chow. We ended up giving them a baggy just because they loved it so much.
The rest of our voyage should have taken about 3 hours, but our bus engine overheated several times causing us to stop. At one point we stopped and got out to stretch and perform some yoga poses (pictures to come).
After arriving at the team house, we received a warm welcome from Don Omar and Dona Fide, along with a quick house tour and a rundown of the house rules, primarily "do not flush the toilet paper," which didn't pose much of an issue for us since we were also informed that we would not have running water in the sinks or flushable toilets until the morning. We made do with bottled water and headed to bed about 3 am American time, 1 am Nicaraguan time. They were generous enough to move breakfast today for us to 8 am instead of 7 am so we got that much needed extra hour of sleep! Post about the first day on the worksite to follow!
--OHBC Nicaragua 2013--
Our journey through security went smoothly and quickly...but when it was time to board the flight, we spent about half an hour sitting on the plane waiting to get on the runway. At one point the pilot came on over the intercom to tell us, quite calmly, that one of the engines wasn't working and needed to be reset. After another couple of minutes we had a smooth take off and the rest of the plane flight went well...except it was longer than the 2 and a half hour flight we expected. Because of storms, we took a round about route that took about 3.5 hours.
Once we got off the plane and made it through customs, we gathered all of our checked luggage and team bags and headed for the bus to make the three-hour drive to the team house in Matagalpa. We would like to give a special shout-out to Ms. Babs for providing us with the delicious puppy chow snack for the ride. In fact, the puppy chow ended up providing us with more entertainment than it did sustenance. Our first Nicaraguan adventure has now been named the Puppy Chow Riot, which consisted of about 20 Nicaraguan airport employees swarming around our group and asking for "toda la bolsa" (the whole bag/purse) of our puppy chow. We ended up giving them a baggy just because they loved it so much.
The rest of our voyage should have taken about 3 hours, but our bus engine overheated several times causing us to stop. At one point we stopped and got out to stretch and perform some yoga poses (pictures to come).
After arriving at the team house, we received a warm welcome from Don Omar and Dona Fide, along with a quick house tour and a rundown of the house rules, primarily "do not flush the toilet paper," which didn't pose much of an issue for us since we were also informed that we would not have running water in the sinks or flushable toilets until the morning. We made do with bottled water and headed to bed about 3 am American time, 1 am Nicaraguan time. They were generous enough to move breakfast today for us to 8 am instead of 7 am so we got that much needed extra hour of sleep! Post about the first day on the worksite to follow!
--OHBC Nicaragua 2013--
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| A little bus ride card game |
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| --Yoga style stretching, as taught by Jenna |
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| You might call this the "tree" |
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| waiting at the gate |
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| the fiances, pre-flight |
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| Jenna and Ricky, pre-flight |
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| All of our luggage made it safely! |
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| Our team leaders are SO excited to be here! |
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| Will is also thrilled as you can see |
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| the Spaid sistas! |
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| yours truly, Allie, with Pooh pillow pet |
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| Morgan, Amy, and Swindle! |
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| An ecstatic John and Kristine and Josh |
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| Jamie! |
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