This past week, Brandon and I spent our time serving the people of Nicaragua. We joined together with 38 others from our church and several others from a church in Virginia. For the past 8 years, we have heard our missionaries talk and seen pictures from friends, but until we actually experienced it for ourselves, it was difficult to comprehend the needs that are so prevalent in this third world country. I wish I had the words to describe the needs that are present and the way that God is responding to those needs. I wish the pictures could tell their story...
The Schools
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| Griselda and her 2nd grade class |
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| Children sweeping and mopping their classroom floor. |
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| Lunch Time: Each student brought a bowl and cup. The teacher would fill them up with rice and beans that one of the parents prepared the night before. |
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| One of our teachers taught the kids how to play "Duck..Duck...Goose". Here they are playing it for the first time. It started to rain, but that didn't stop the kids from having fun! |
Los Pepitos
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| These were some sweet, sweet kids at Los Pepitos. |
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| This little girl had a hearing impairment. She was so excited when she realized that I could sign a little. |
Casa Materna
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| These girls were in their 9 month of pregnancy and staying at Casa Materna. Here they are sewing a new pillow for their new arrival. Eleven girls were there for the night, and the facilities had 4 twin beds. They were going to sleep two girls per bed, and three girls would sleep on the floor. |
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| This little boy became my friend at Casa Materna. He was one of the employees' children. |
The Town
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| Some of the girls walking to the mission after getting a cold Coke. |
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| Chelsea, Randi, and Jeana |
The Water
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| Here we are completing step 1 of the process to make a water filter to install in one of the homes of a local family. |
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| As we were making filters, a truck filled with cabbage drove by. As the truck hit a bump in the road, two heads of cabbage fell out. We watched as two local boys jumped over a barbed wire fence to take the cabbage back to their family. |
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| Here Brandon is washing the sand so that it can go in the filter. |
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| Randi, Kari, and Jeana |
The Mountains
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| The beautiful mountains of Jinotega. |
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| After a thousand-step hike up the mountain, we made it to the cross. What a beautiful view! |
The Friends
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| Brandon and his friend, Harvey |
