Oconee Heights Nicaragua 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--