I’m sitting on the top bunk in a room that sleeps 9 girls each night. Right now though there are 15 of us in the room. We share small living quarters complete with three tiny rooms to house all of us and one bathroom for 13 girls, yet here I am and I’ve never felt more liberated in my life. That may seem strange to say that I feel liberated as I am spending 2 months in a poor and struggling country but that is how I feel. I’ve been given the amazing opportunity to be able to serve as a missionary in Nicaragua to bring life, restoration, freedom, joy and so much more to these people. I’m here doing something that I have always dreamed about, free to give my life to what the Lord is calling me to do.
Since my last blog was posted we have done so much. On Tuesday we flew to Nicaragua, getting to the Managua airport after 7 that night. It was the strangest and most wonderful feeling. We loaded ourselves and our luggage on a school bus and we headed out from the airport. We drove for more than an hour and when we arrived at La Quinta it was so dark that we couldn’t see our surroundings. When we woke the next morning we could see what our surroundings really were. La Quinta is a compound with a church, a couple of houses, a preschool and the pastor’s house. The children/teenagers who live here have came from the streets and this place gives them a place to live and be cared for as they get the opportunity to go to school. The women who runs it is so sweet and she takes care of us so well. It is warm, beautiful, and lush and we can even pick fresh mangos off the trees to eat. All of this makes up for the fact that we constantly have dirty, dusty feet and barely get a good shower! Sometimes we have run out of water and we brush our teeth with water from a cup but so far we have all taken it all in stride.
But all of this aside, the people we have met here are amazing! They are so hospitable and sweet. Everyone has a smile for you and we do our best to communicate with them through the language barrier. The children who live here permanently have a love for all of us that have never seen before. They are so affectionate and loving and I cannot get enough of them!
So for now we are learning and figuring things out while getting to spend our summer living in community with the people of Nicaragua!
