Oh boy! So we have been on the island of Ometepe for about 5 days now. It's absolutely breath taking here. The people, the buildings, the trees, the random animals roaming the streets… it's all so new and so beautiful. I honestly don't even know where to begin. God is doing incredible things here. Our hotel is gorgeous, and the people who work here are magnificent. The food is delicious! Lots of rice and platanos! Me gusta mucho 🙂
We have been teaming up with the pastor of a local church, called Camino de Santidad, to reach out to the community. We have been going door to door, hanging out in the park, and visiting a boys home. The first time we went door to door I will admit I was a little nervous and uncomfortable, but it ended up being super awesome and encouraging. I think we stopped at about 4 houses. We met a man named Matias who told us about a time about twenty years ago, when he was in the hospital with intense pain in his head. He said all he could do was cry. One of the nurses came to his bed side and asked if she could pray for him and he told us that about ten minutes later his pain was gone. Praise Jesus!! We also met a woman named Carmen, who we were able to explain to, by the grace of God, that good works do not save you. She was very welcoming and very receptive. It was just over all an amazing experience. Later that day, we went to the park and invited anyone we came across to play soccer with us. (Side note: I'm really bad a soccer!) A woman came up to us and wanted to show us jewelry she made that was for sale. We ended up talking a little and with the help of Adyss (our amazing translator), I found out that her son, who couldn't have been more than two years old, was sick. I asked her if I could pray for him, and she gratefully accepted the offer. The next day I saw her in the park again, and I ran up to see how her son was feeling. She told me he was better! I LOVE seeing God at work. It's incredible. No tengo palabras.
The past couple of days, we've been having a constant presence at the boys. The first day we went, I instantly fell in love with it. There's about 15 boys there, ranging from 11-18 years old. They were so welcoming and so excited to have visitors. They make awesome bracelets and sell them so that they can buy candy or clothes or anything else they may want. They were so excited to be able to bring the all out. I wish I couldve bought them all. Theyre beautiful! So while there, we danced, and played cards, and just got to hang out, practice our spanish, and love on them. It was really hard for me to leave. There's one boy named Michael, and he is quite the ladies' man! Everytime I see him he asks me to take pictures with him. The first day, they had the radio on, and a slow song came on. He said "romantico", pointed to the radio, and grabbed my hand and started dancing with me. Kids melt my heart! The next day, a smaller group of us went back and it was so amazing to see them all light up when they saw us. I met a boy that day named Kenneth. He came up to me, wrapped his arms around me, and said "Estoy seguro." I just hugged him really tight. It honestly amazes me how quickly people take to us and open up to us. There is definitely no other explanation than Jesus Christ. My prayer is that the people here, no matter what age, see something so different in us; something so beautifully different.
God has been so faithful and present through the whole trip so far. He's breaking my chains one day at a time, and freeing me of so many things. I'm free to worship in a way like I never have; to pray and feel the presence of God like I never have; to love people and receive love like I never have. It's amazing to see the work God has done in me already, knowing this is just the beginning.
(Disclaimer: Sorry if this is a scattered mess! I just want to share the highlights with y'all!)
Mucho Amor <3
Bracelets the boys made
Some of the boys from the boys home
