I will miss....

I have decided to bring to all you faithful readers about what God has taught me since I have been here through those things, which I will miss. You may think this is soon considering I have roughly two months here, but it has been so strong on my heart and in my head that I feel compelled to write it. I thank you all for supporting me through this time and keeping me in your prayers. I have felt protected by the power of the Holy Spirit ever since I arrived and believe it is because He obviously lives in me, but because my church body and friends believed in me and showed that through prayer and words of encouragement since I have been here. But let me start with simple and bring you to complex with those things that I will miss. I will miss walking down the dirt rock covered road to work every day and seeing odd ends of children’s toys, crushed mango seeds covered in dirt, and children standing outside in their diapers and tennis shoes waving to me. God has taught me that Nicaraguans spend TIME enjoying what they have. They spend TIME with those they love, and this is why many families (cousins, grandparents, uncles, and aunts) all live within walking distance of one another and visit one another daily. What a great image of family and love these people have displayed for me. I live with one family here, but My Nica grandmother lives one block away and my Nica aunt lives about five houses down from her. I work at the clinic with Dr. Bayardo and his mother lives right across the street. This is so typical and normal here; I wish it would be something practiced in the states. I feel like providing for ourselves and our immediate family has taken over importance of many lives and minds that extended family is nice to see every once in a while or whenever money allows to travel to visit. I have been praying that God can adjust my heart and my mind to easily walk back into the states and be comfortable with how I used to live before Nicaragua and that the adjustment to being back will be smooth and without losing too many tears. I will miss the church services where it doesn’t matter when your clapping or how off key your singing voice is because people are just giving their all and everything to praise our Worthy King. In the states I feel like if your clapping off beat in church, you’re an annoyance or looked at as ignorant to the beauty of music and how it “should be”. God created music and the beauty of it is that He gave us all different ways of how to worship Him and what we all feel as appropriate is acceptable and appreciated in His eyes. I will miss praying over patients in the clinic and being able to proclaim my faith to them. In the states, you are not able to open up about your religion unless asked while working in the hospital. I think pretty soon any external expression of faith in God will be pushed away and the government is currently trying to ban it in many areas where it once was normality. I will miss my little nephew coming in my room to say “Hola Melissa. Que estas haciendo?” This means Hello Melissa. What are you doing? I always welcome his presence and love his inquiring questions and answer him with the simple truth. Some of you may have experienced this over Skype or Face Time. The simplicity of a child’s faith and inquiring is what I desire to be like with God and just ask him simply, “God, what are you doing in my life? What will happen next? Why is this person in my life?” and simply wait and listen to his response. I believe God wants us to be like children and just ask him, but also be willing to listen. God desires this kind of relationship with all his children and I alluded to this in a past blog. I will miss seeing the little eyes of a young boy who can barely see over the ledge of the pharmacy to ask for medicine for his grandmother at home. His mouth is covered and so his voice is barely audible, but he comes weekly, so I know what he is asking for. His eyes immediately melt my heart and this is common with children of Nicaragua. Their eyes literally tell their story. I could look at one child and see the delight and the pain all in one instant gazing into their eyes. Some stories have been told to me and others I have witnessed first hand. Some children are left to take care of other siblings because the parents have neglected them or left them to work and look to provide whatever food they can find to feed their family. Some children don’t even get the opportunity to go to school because the parents force them to work on the streets and beg for money outside of cars at busy intersections. God has taught me that no matter what the circumstances or reasons are behind these children having stories like these, that each one is precious in His eyes and deserves to be loved unconditionally. I have felt privileged to show my love to these kids and picking them up and holding them and playing with them whenever I get the chance. My favorite thing is when they first inspect me and check me out with their timid eyes because they haven’t seen anyone with my color hair or my light complexion before. They then see my smile and my hand waving assuring them I want to play or just sit and watch and then they lighten up and are a huge bundle of joy willing to accept the love I desire to give. I will miss hearing the hustle and bustle of the city life right outside my house. I live in the “country side “where I come from in Florida and have to drive ten minutes into town to get any kind of “city” interaction. Immediately out my front door of my Nica house is the street busy and filled with people walking their children to school, going to work, taxi’s looking for work. It may seem overwhelming and busy, but I love it! God has taught me that cultures are different and has allowed me to understand and accept this as a different lifestyle and embrace it for what its worth. I have also enjoyed my visits to places like I recently went where town was only within reach on a twenty-minute car ride and the quietness of the countryside as the town goes to sleep at night. I am reassured I still have my country roots within me as I enjoy the simplicity of crickets and geckos filling up the night with their chirps and enjoying the rooster that crows at five o’clock in the morning to wake me up. This happened for one week of my trip, but I loved every second. I will miss my lunchtime meal at the clinic and having conversations with those co-workers I have come to love and have developed relationships with that will forever be close to my heart. I never thought the people at the clinic liked me, but it took me a while to approach them and get to know them before they opened up and talked to me like friends. The Nica people accept “gringos” (white people), but also inspect us and question our motives. I am sure my coworkers were wondering what on the earth I was doing in this clinic and why I would volunteer a year of my life for this clinic when the salary made by an RN in the states doubles and sometimes triples that of a doctor’s in Nicaragua. I will miss being able to exercise at my house on the back porch in the coolness of night. There is a breeze that cools my body down from the intense and strenuous exercise I put myself through. I love being able to do exercises in the comfort of my home because in the states it is almost impossible unless you have money to buy a room and fill with machines or things simply dedicated to fitness. But one of the things I have loved most about Nicaragua is the time spent at home and in the presence of your family. I will miss riding the bus to and from work. I got stared at everyday like a stranger but I enjoyed being looked at because God taught me that through these stares and glares, it brought some people to ask questions and then I was able to share my faith. At first, I didn’t want any interaction on the bus because everyone I work with made it seem like everyone who steps foot onto a bus gets robbed. I have had scares here and there, but I know God has sent his guardian angles to protect and watch over me while I am here because I am in His perfect will and listened to His voice. Of course, it has crossed my mind to ride the county busses at home and I still might give it a try, just to save gas money and compare it to the busses here. I am a very observant person and would love to see the similarities or differences of the city bus at home and compare and contrast it with the one here. God has opened my mind up to experimentation and allowed me to express my love for him more freely and openly. I will miss the cheap food, clothes, and odd things you can find here in Nicaragua that are outrageously priced in the states. You can feed a family of eight here for $11.00 and depending on what you buy, sometimes it is even less! The food here is natural and fresh and I have loved my food experiences here when they haven’t left me sick. I will miss the freshness and availability of the fruits I have come to love. Pitaya, pina, mango, sandia, papaya, naranja, etc. (Pitaya, pineapple, mango, watermelon, papaya, orange, etc.) I will miss our Thursday morning devotionals in which we are able to hear a message from God through one of our fellow CFCI members or featured guest. I will miss pouring my heart out and having great friends to pray for me and that I trust enough with the deepest things on my heart. I will miss our “cafecita and postre” time. God has put each of these special team members into my life for a reason and they each have brought me joy in a unique and different way. I am truly inspired by their courage and faith in God to live as missionaries with total confidence that He will provide for all their needs and wants in this small life we live. I will miss my morning runs and enjoying the sun as it peaks over the horizon and onto the ground I run on. I definitely WON’T miss the small little gifts that dogs so perfectly placed on my path. This “crap” kept me awake and ready to dodge anything else I needed to while running at 5:00 AM in the morning and ready for the rest of the day! This was my morning coffee and helped me to jump start my day! I have so much fun exercising because I know God has given me this special drive and gift of determination to relieve my stress and exert energy where I need to! I will miss Thursdays as my “relax” and “un-wind” day. I take this time to meditate on God and just listen to what He has to tell me. For example, this morning I had devotionals at the office with the group and the big “hefe” of all CFCI and it was a great time! We are his devoted ambassadors of His kingdom and it is great to share the gospel, God’s love, and the story of Jesus Christ with others of this country! I come home, enjoy lunch with the family, and then head to my room for some reading, meditation of songs, or a sermon. I feel relaxed and confident that God has great plans for my life and know His ways are the only ways I want to walk in! I am so encouraged when I think of how far he has brought me and through all the things He has shown me along the way! He is awesome, a worthy, Holy, Graceful, Mighty, and the Majestic God and I am so glad and feel honored to be able to serve and worship His as freely as I am! I will also miss my talks with the drunk, high, hung-over people I have come to love at the bus terminal I talk to daily. I know them by name and enjoy just picking their brain and sharing some of my beliefs. They all know me as the “chele enfermera” and make me laugh almost everyday. I am not scared of them. They are of no harm, but only people God has placed in my life so I can be that light. I may feel insignificant, but I know He has his reasons. Who knows; maybe one will come to know and love Christ. If one of these three to four lives is touched, my heart will be happy! One person at a time, I am trying to make disciples and stewards! I will miss talking in Spanish. As much as I dreaded some days of Spanish filled lingo, I have come to enjoy switching back and forth between Spanish and English on a day to day basis. I know that God has placed this culture change and language deep into my heart back when I traveled to Honduras in 2011. I will always have a love for Latin culture and their language and ways of life. I will miss being called an “evangelical Christiana” which is the “type” of believer of God I am. I like this name; because with it comes a title and a direct conversation starter for those who want to know why I am in Nicaragua. I know that most people in Nicaragua are Catholic, but as a Christian, I am here to sway their beliefs and try to share God’s never-ending love and compassion to these people with whatever He puts on my heart. I thank you all for keeping up to date! I will write soon, because a medical team from Grace Community Church of Greenville South Carolina is coming down on July 19th and they leave the 26th! I am super excited to work with this team, because they were such a blessing to work beside in March, and I am only more excited than I was! They are great people! Praise God that He has touched and put on my heart the things to say and the actions to perform while on this mission! My time is not done, and I am working for Him forever with ALL my heart and soul to bring praise and glory to His throne! I love serving such an almighty powerful God! “Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD you God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.” Deuteronomy 31:6. A special friend who was a former CFCI member, Shelby Johnson, shared this verse with me and I am confident it was because God wanted me to know that He is with me! Thank you all for being such encouragers and partnering with me in prayer for my travels and the people who I am interacting with daily. I know He has kept me protected through His spirit and thank you all for your encouraging words and special tokens of love you send my way!

Lets go to Trohilo!

I first want to apologize for the time it has taken me to update you all! I have been very busy lately and catching up on sleep this past week from the team that just came from Charleston South Carolina from Seacoast Church. This group had 11 people and with CFCI Short Team Ministries leaders Joe, Carolina, Moises, and his wife Meyling, and myself there was a total of 16. This number may seem small to some and at first, it was to me as well. I think of mission trips I have taken in the past and I remember 25-30 people sometimes depending on where we were going and how the market was for income. I remember the first mission trip I took out of the country. It was to the Dominican Republic and I was very impacted by the work we did and how God used our group. I remember doing a skit and loving on the kids. There was something about this group from South Carolina and these kids of Trohilo Nicaragua. There was a certain cry that their eyes held. There was a certain smile that just made you want to never let go of the vulnerable child you held in your arms tickling him or her until they would fall out of your lap. There was a certain willingness to play their favorite game countless times (drip, drip, drop, OR gota, gota, bano). I will never forget this community of Trohilo Leon. This was an indigenous group of people and was located on the outskirts of Leon, Nicaragua. Leon was one of the first founded cities in Nicaragua next to Granada and they were both the capitol at one time. The people decided on a meeting point in the middle and that is why Managua is now the capitol. Both Leon and Granada have a very similar style to the houses built when the Spaniards first voyaged over to Central America. It is a beautiful place. Houses have NO separation between the two of them; the walls to houses are all about 5-10 feet higher than a normal North American house. They are sturdy and made of concrete blocks, but painted all different, and bright colors. I love the city of Leon and Granada. Leon is the city with the most Catholic population in ALL of Nicaragua. It is Nicaragua’s home to Catholics. So I am going to take you on a journey. Introduce you to some special people I met over this week and what I learned. You don’t have to buckle up, because you most likely will be in the back of a pick up truck bed and holding on to the side of the truck hoping the next speed bump doesn’t make you lose your balance and fall over board. Get ready! You will get dirty, you may not like what you experience, but you will never forget it! So the CFCI green and white bus pulls up to an Apostolic Church in the City of Leon. Some of the members of the team dismount the bus to use the bathroom located near the back of the church right next to the pigpen. With human feces, urine, and the smell of pigs, you can only imagine how many people attempted to hold their breath and hovered over this modern day toilet for as little time as possible. After meeting the pastor, his wife, and some people who were going to accompany us to this small town twenty minutes away by vehicle, we all piled back on the bus and got ready to see where this trip was intended to take us. As we traveled through the city streets, many people knew we were foreign because some had cameras hanging out the window hoping to catch the perfect photo of the experience they were going through. I have learned that no camera can capture the essence of what you heart ultimately feels and so I have not hauled it around as much hoping to snap a picture here or there because I know that my eyes and memory are perfect examples of blessings The Lord has given me to recall these wonderful moments. While a picture may stop time for that split second it snaps a picture for you to look at it later down the road, the sentimental meaning behind the words spoken before and after that picture and the hugs exchanged after that picture are much more meaningful and worth remembering than a smile stopped to attempt to look presentable during this photo. Back to our voyage; we reach the edge of the city and venture off the main road onto a side gravel road that goes and goes and goes. We get taken by bus down the bumpy gravel road and are peering out the windows like children in a candy store. On both sides of us there are pastures of sugar cane, cows, or every now and then a plastic house with a tin roof or a concrete house with a tin roof appear and nothing could be within 200 yards of it and this is normal. Many people were walking or biking to their next destination. I say many as in the people we did see, not literally “many” people because there were far from that. Twenty minutes later with the country wind blowing through our hair we arrive at a church entrance. From this point we have not yet reached the church itself; just the entrance and our bus driver had to contemplate whether the bus would make it down the drive. In the end, it did and we pulled up to this church. It consisted of 6 posts holding up a covering. The chairs we sit on for the service were plastic chairs used in America mainly for sitting poolside or outside. These chairs are very common in churches here and I believe it is because they are cheap and easily made. Next to our “church” were the walls and spaces left for future windows and doors to the church they intend to finish within this year. When we had church, the two times we had power, we were outside, mosquito bait, and praying rain didn’t fall through the center of the roof and drench us. The people brought their best for us. We had a speaker system that hooked up to one electrical wire with a plug running from the street which was 100 yards away from the church through the trees and maybe a couple of neighbors back yards to make it to the church. But when we didn’t have power, which was usual, we couldn’t blend our fruit juices, couldn’t read by light, and couldn’t use the microphones because there was no way to obtain electricity. We had a welcoming church service the first night we arrived in Trohilo. This service was loud and I think the same verse in Psalms was read at least twice, maybe three times. It was Psalms 133 and I thought it was so strange that these people kept reading about oil running down Aaron’s beard or dew settling on the mountains of Zion. I then realized the passage was about brother’s (of Christ) dwelling together in unity and that is just what we were about to encounter. I didn’t know my roommate, because she came with the group. I knew her name and that was about it. I also noticed that before we were taken to our host family’s house, she didn’t look too excited and I was thinking; “I will have to pep talk and babysit this trip God? Why me? Can’t you send the first timer with someone she actually knows! I will be no help!” Yes people, even missionaries think what you shouldn’t, they just usually don’t voice it until God has his chance to move. And on this trip he moved her and I closer together than I thought possible! I was talking to my host mom and her daughter who lived next door as we waited on the pick up truck to take us to our home because we each had a 3 inch twin mattress to carry, our suitcase, backpacks, and each pair had a 3 gallon bottle of water to share throughout the week. This could be refilled during the week so please don’t think we were deprived of hydrating liquids because we for sure were not! As we arrived at our house the first night, my mom (Christina) showed us our sleeping quarters. Now, we had a big room! In this room about 10 by 12 feet had a twin bed and two tables to keep our suitcases off the floor for the week. I looked at Emily (my roommate) and said, “Well we will get to be close after this week”. I can now say how “spoiled” I feel to live in Managua and how disgustingly spoiled I feel to think about my living quarters in the United States. Emily and I placed our suitcases on their tables and opened them up searching for shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and our change of clothes we planned to sleep in after our shower. We were exhausted from our historical/informational Managua tour before leaving for Leon, traveling all day, and having a 2-hour welcoming church service. People in Nicaragua almost always shower in the morning so when I told my mom we wanted to shower, she asked “Now?” and I replied with “yes, please?” We were lead out to a well with a huge bucket that housed the water they used to shower in. This well did have a pump and we didn’t have to manually lift it with bucket and rope from the hole in the ground like other people did. Our shower was outside, and I mean, we had a pila to place our bathing products on and standing in front of this pila, hope that the moon was shinning bright enough to give us the light we needed to see what we were doing. On night one, we had a flash light, but it ran out of batteries shortly after that first night and I forgot to bring back up batteries. The talks Emily and I had during our showers were pertaining to what she missed and how the poor girl was homesick. I understood her all too well and asked what she missed most and about who she missed and how it is normal, but I reassured her that I am a listening ear ready for anything she wants to say or even if she wants to cry, I would be there for her. This made us so much closer because this lead us to talk about our pasts and who we were, what we have gone through, what we want to become, and the things in our lives that have affected all these things. After we took our bucket showers and kept each other entertained by talking to one another through the rush of freezing cold water running down our naked bodies in the countryside, we were ready to get some sleep! But this of course doesn’t end our first night adventure so quickly. We asked where the bathroom was because we both needed to go. During our trek to the bathroom, I noticed it wouldn’t be so bad because I got to pass this cute little pig every time I needed to go! You may think I am weird, but hey, a cute baby pig made me happy at this point! We of course had to use a latrine. And if you have never experienced this, it’s a hole in the ground, literally a concrete hole in the ground. The latrine is about 100 yards deep and is usually a house to a mountain of cockroaches that sometimes climb the walls or scurry across the toilet seat during the night. Someone told me a trick to getting them to flee when you’re ready to hover over the seat; spraying bug spray into the hole and around the hole. This trick does not work, so I told myself, well, I am going to just have to go pee the whole time here, because if I attempted to sit and something got too close and I could feel it graze my butt, I would be running to the house for my life with my pants on the ground. This latrine was always used by us Americans with the door wide open because for one, we were too tall to close the door, and two because we were both not locking ourselves in the cock roach house with no light. Again, we counted on the moonlight to help us use the bathroom. We had one roll for two of us for four days and it lasted! Emily and I were placed next to two other girls from the team and each night they came over before we settled down before bed to talk and eat fruits that our family knew we liked. They went out of their way to get us fresh mangos, coconut water, and make my favorite fruit juice, pitaya. This fruit is not in season in Nicaragua, but my host mom lives on a farm and the first one of the season bloomed right as we arrived and she picked it off and made it into a fruit juice and had her daughter deliver it to me at the school we worked at during the second day in the community. These families moved out of their normal routines, and cleared their personal space for us Americans to invade for these four days we were hosted. During the first night, I slept great, passed out, and woke up at about 5:00 AM to a crying baby. This baby was Kenneth and was only at our house the first night because his mom (our sister) had to leave on the early 4:00 AM bus to Chinandega to meet with her husband. So our host mom was keeping him for her. I was annoyed and aggravated being woken up an hour early and could not fall back asleep because by 5:00 AM the sun was already up and shining bright. So I laid there and thought how these people live like this from day to day. No fans, no air conditioning, no roof over their kitchen, chickens roaming throughout the house, and no electrical plugs throughout the house to charge cell phones. I was being inconsiderate and selfish with my thinking, due to the disturbance to my peaceful sleep. On day one, we headed over to breakfast and this was a mile and a half walk with our backpacks loaded and ready for the day. We were expected to wear clothes we could get dirty or paint on and I was ready! We headed over to the school after breakfast and team time and two members of the group shared their testimony with the school children and then we showed them how to make redemption necklaces. After this, we played games with the kids and had a blast playing “red light green light”, “Simon says”, and “Leap frog”. We then started cleaning the school of the dirt balls dried on the side or the mountain of dust built up in the windows. We didn’t get to paint on day one but headed over to the church property for lunch at 12. We ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner everyday at the church and it was all food I loved! “Gallo pinto” (rice and beans), plaintains, pollo (chicken), “carne asado” (grilled meat), and a bunch of other things that are typical Nicaraguan meals. From 2:00 to 4:30 we had Vacation Bible School for the kids we invited from the school across the street and the kids who lived around the church. We had three different stations during bible school. One day one, I was translating for the face painting group, there was a guy who was making balloon animals, flowers, and swords for children. There was also a craft section where each day, the craft was something different. Everyday, there were different activities, but we had a general organized theme and pattern on how to rotate throughout each station. On the last day of painting the school I want you to know that not only did we paint walls faster than I have ever seen walls painted, we worked together, intermixed with Nicaraguans working side by side. Usually when you go to a community to help out, the people just sit back and watch Americans do the work. This community was different. They were proactive; they wanted to work along side us even if they couldn’t communicate with us because of the language barrier. It was a great way to practice and set an example of peaceful sustainability. Because during the time we were there, we didn’t finish painting the school, but instead, the Nicaraguans did it themselves! Four other members of the team were up at the church constructing a bench and table during the days while the rest of the team was at the school painting. This bench and table we made to give to the community clinic 100 feet away from the school. I was blown away by the willingness of all team members to be busy and set on getting this project finished. The youngest person on the trip was 18 and the oldest was 28, so it was quite a mixture of people and I enjoyed it very much! I want you meet Laleen. This little boy was a blessing to us at the school on our last workday in Trohilo. He had Down syndrome and was left at home alone during the day because his mom needed to work. He was at the well accompanied by Emily and Glenn who were washing windowpanes. This little boy was noticed by the two group members to be quite a little instigator of bad behavior around the school. The teacher’s must have known him because they called him by name and told him to leave! Emily noticed how dirty he was and the gnats that kept swarming around his head and landed on the sleep coming out of his eyes, so she picked up a rag she was using to clean dusty windowpanes and started washing him. The teacher, who a moment ago was yelling at him to leave, brought Emily a bar of soap and a different rag. This little boy got a bath and ate our teams left over fruit telling me each name of the fruit before I placed it in his mouth during our break we had for our snack. This little boy was a sweet heart and only wanted to be loved. He came up to me while I was on a chair painting a hard to reach window without assistance and just hugged my legs. I helped him button his shirt on and set him on his way back over to help Emily and Glenn at the well because allowing him to stay near wet paint may be a bad idea. During the second day of VBS, I met this family of five children. The oldest girl who was no older than 9 was in charge of all her little siblings; two boys maybe 6 and 4 in age and two twin girls no older than 3. She kept their hair out of their face,, guided them to where they needed to go, and kept the boogers from seeping down their face into their mouth. She was a 9-year-old girl living as a mom. I truly got attached to this family in particular and my heart went out to them! I was blown away by how mature she was at such a young age and probably not by choice. My heart hurt for them. I knew they just needed to be loved and told how precious they are so each and everyday, I looked after them, picked them up, held them, and helped them get to the next station of VBS and hoping they kept coming back! They did, and it was great to say a proper goodbye! I miss the little children who ran into your arms because your skin color was different than theirs and they knew you spoke a different language. You’re probably thinking, why would any child run to you if you’re totally opposite? In my last blog, I wrote about child like faith, and the children of Trohilo were perfect examples of just that. These children were so vulnerable and willing to love on you, if you were willing to open up your arms and allow them to run and jump into them! It was a perfect place to be! I was in heaven! I can seriously picture heaven be running around on streets shouting praises to God and picking up smiling, giggly children and throwing them in the air just to see the smile and hear the laugh that is exerted from their playful mood. To wrap up our week, we had a farewell service and during this service the group shared the Lifehouse skit. If you have never seen this, or been a part of it, please look it up on-line. It is very powerful! By this last night, I had my little niece on my lap at church asking questions and singing so loud that her little squeaky voice was so precious I couldn’t help but just stop and listen. I loved this place! The next day, we spent with our families during the morning. This morning consisted of trying coconut water, riding a horse, picking up the family pig, and getting pictures of all of us together before we departed from Trohilo. I was blissfully taking in every thing I could because I knew pictures wouldn’t do justice. I wanted to spend more time, just getting to know my mom and sisters and nieces that I lived with and near. I wanted to just work on the farm with my mom and help her sell the things she does to make a living. I wanted to just be put into this atmosphere and have to adapt because there was no other way. I just wanted so badly to stay and just take in the quiet countryside and take a break from the busy city (for example, right now, fireworks are being set off, and I have no idea why). We prayed over a guy who had high creatinine levels and then as a group, we collected $15.00 for an injection the doctor prescribed but he couldn’t afford before we arrived. We got to share our lives and stories with the families of Trohilo and hear theirs as well. I will never forget this village with plastic houses and tin walls that loved God with ALL they had. Literally! I think about all the Tervis tumblers we have sitting in the cupboards in the kitchen at home and compare it to the tree branch with the end of baby branches supporting the 8 plastic cups this family had. I am not writing you to guilt trip you about the stuff and clutter you have in your home wherever you are. I am writing to inform you that these people were so content with what little to nothing they had, loved God unconditionally, and were true examples of people who lived off faith because money was scarce and time was all they had. I loved being in this community, because I had time to think, I had time to smile and laugh with the children, and time to relish that God has blessed me with ALL that I have and everything I am in Him. Thank you for taking the ride to Trohilo! Our group got really close and on our free day, we went zip lining and then to the Masaya market to get souvenirs. On our last night, we had a feet washing, uplifting, debriefing session that left us on a good note and remembering the friendships we made. Emily, my roommate, and my twin, I loved her like she was born to be my best friend and I will never forget the impact she made on my life. She started a non-profit organization her freshman year of college at College of Charleston and is currently running it while going to school and is on fire for our Lord Jesus Christ! I encourage you to visit the website; it is awesome what she started! http://www.charlestonhope.com I met other great people who will always have a special place in my heart and especially those of Trohilo. I ask that you pray for this community and that their church and love for God will only flourish and grow! I recently renewed my passport and am getting ready to wrap up my last two and a half months here. This makes me so sad, but I know I am in good hands with God as my guide. I will be going to Costa Rica at the beginning of August and maybe accompanied by my North American mom! The next team I will be working with is the medical team from Grace Community and I cannot wait! They are coming the day after my birthday and I will be in great company! Please pray that God continues to use me daily wherever I am whether it be in the clinic in Managua, out with a team in a community, or even in my house here in Managua! I think of leaving and it makes me sad, but I need your prayers as this time is coming to an end. I am sometimes ready to leave, but other times, I know a piece of my heart will ALWAYS be in Nicaragua. Thanks for your continued prayers and support! See you all soon!