At the airport!

hey everyone we are almost home. We are in minagua nicaragua at the airport waiting for our flight at 330 our time. Our trip has been beyond amazing and the people were great. We had a party with the kids last night and it was hard to say goodbye. I never knew children could teach you so much. One of the members of our group had their backpack stolen with their passport and boarding pass in it. But God is great and the man was found and everything was still in the bag. But I am on my iPhone and typing is hard and we are about to head up to our gate. We miss you all terribly and our families too and can't wait to share our experiences with all of you. God bless you all

January 4, 2009

What a great day...we went to church and Eric delivered a very touching message that was well received, about what it means to be a here...a hero is an ordinary person who does the right thing in extraordinary circumstances, but he/she was a hero all along, doing the right thing and not noticed until the extraordinary circumstance presented itself...he then segued into faith and used Hebrews 11 to illustrate the many people in the Bible who stepped out in faith...and were heroes. Thankfully Eric spoke in English :), the rest of the service was in Spanish, but very moving, especially the music and the worship and fellowship is very moving and exciting.

This afternoon we went to a very poor community and handed out food and prayed with the families as we did this. The people there were so open and gracious and wanted us to pray, they even had requests for the prayers. It was very moving. We may go back and offer medical services as there were needs we were not prepared for.

God is blessing us all so much and it is wonderful to see him working in us and through us every day.

Until tomorrow!

Shelly Dean

P.S. Hello and love to Dave, Josh and Jessica and Mom and Dad

Saturday in Nicaragua

Buenos Tardes!

We have had a full and exciting week so far! Yesterday some of us were woken up by the local rooster quite early in the morning. After breakfast the kids and our team were in for a treat! We took the to the local baseball field and the older boys were able to play a game against another team. They lost- but had a fantastic time and loved having us there to watch and cheer for them!

We have been doing a bible lesson everyday for the kids, and they are truly enjoying it. They come running up to us, asking if we'll be doing them again that day! Yay God!

Yesterday I taught them about being God's treasured possession. I reviewed Deut. 7:6 with them and we all made 'treasure stones' out of water, flour, and salt. We were able to get little crosses for each of the kids and placed those in the center. Unfortunately we didn't have a translator, but God spoke through each of us and really showed up!

Today we will be doing a treasure hunt for the stones we made yesterday!
This morning was very reassuring for a lot of us. Some of the kids drew us pictures and wrote letters to us, thanking us for coming and telling us how much they appreciate it.

Everything is going well. Thank you for your continual prayers!
We are excited for the rest of the trip and coming home to share with you everything God is showing and teaching us!


Go God!!
Jamie Lawson

Happy New Year from Pt Cabezas

12/31/08

PM We had a 2 hour church service. Afterwords the orphanage held a party with crazy fireworks.

1/1/08

AM This morning, we talked about how we wrestle with God over tough questions about orphans, poverty, and faith. Later some of the group bussed with the kids to local river. No language barrier when spending time with kids. Other group members organized medicine in water-proof containers for medical trip up the Rio Coco tomorrow. Construction team started repairs, upgrades, and safety systems around the orphanage. PM this afternoon the medical team toured the hospital. A vision screening was held for all kids at the orphanage. The kids team taught a lesson about how God makes each of us unique. Origami was a hit. Afterwords, the kids played tag with the team.

-Mann family

Puerto Cabezas

Our day started early, very early, to catch the bus to the airport in Managua. From there, we took two 12 passenger planes (circa 1955) to Puerto Cabezas. I have to admit, it was a little scary. Lots of prayers later, we landed safely in Puerto Cabezas about 8 am. Our luggage came in about 12, but at least it came in. We drove to the orphanage and they had a great breakfast for us, eggs, bacon, and fresh fruit. Today we mostly toured the facility, sorted meds, unpacked supplies, ate lunch, toured the "city" a little, saw the beach, came back and ate again. We eat really well lol. We are having a church service tonight. The kids have decorated the building for a New Years Celebration. We were able to meet some of the kids today. They love to give hugs. Everyone is excited about the party and the fireworks for tonight. Until later.....we miss you all!!!!!

30th--Almost there

Our journey began at 9:00 Monday night as we pulled out of the church parking lot in a 3 vehicle caravan. We picked up a few more team members along the way and a few more met us in DC. By 8am Tuesday we were 17 strong and on our way to Nicaragua. 24 hours later we arrived in sunny warm Managua. The airport was a blur of people collecting their bags and getting through customs, but after a couple of hours we were loaded in a bus and on our way across town to rest for the night. We were greeted with a fantastic dinner of chicken, rice, and a salad. ( the safe kind) It did not take long for the weariness to set in and we all went to bed early. Tomorrow the last leg of our journey to Puerto Cabezas we begin at 3 am. Sleep will be short, but the beds look comfy and we are all very ready. We will write again later, until then keep praying for us as we are praying for all of you.........................

Now we have a blog!

We're all busy packing for our departure tomorrow evening. We can't wait to see what God is going to do in our lives and in the lives of the Misquito people we'll be serving! We'll write again once we've arrived in port. - Barbara Johnson