July 24, 2012

Worlds Apart . . . part 5

OK . . . we are on day . . . 5. It was Tuesday, our second day at House of Hope.

In the morning, we attended the service with over 400 women. Usually they work on the jewelery, cards, sewing, etc. afterwards but this week was pay day - so it was a little different.

I know I keep talking about Oscar, but I saw him during the service - he's not someone that I'd ever want to cross, for obvious reasons, plus his size. But he was there, laughing and joking with the women. So awesome.

After service it was more testimonies and lunch. There was another team there, working on construction. The House of Hope has been built completely by short-term mission trips . . . the men on this team were finishing a building that they had started last year.

Then the kids were back for another day of VBS with us, which went by rather quickly. At one point during the afternoon, Mary asked some of the girls how they liked House of Hope. One of the girls, who is 12, told us that she loves it there . . . she gets to go to school, she gets to hear the Word of God, meet Americans like us and hear about how important education is. That was pretty amazing to me . . . when I was 12, my priorities were a little different. I think all I cared about was Gap jeans, my body image, and boys. The girls here are amazing - to see their joy and hear their stories was so wonderful. It really is a reminder of what's truly important in this life.

After all of the VBS groups went through the rotations, we had one big gathering for worship . . . which was so much fun. I love singing and dancing around and looking like an idiot, so this was perfect.
After worship and a few group photos, one of my favorite things went down.

Before the trip, during planning meetings, someone suggested a "candy shirt" for the kids during games at VBS. I had never heard of this before . . . what the heck is a candy shirt?

Well, you see . . . you take a regular T-shirt, then you use super glue to strategically place as much candy as possible all over it. Then, you do what only is logical - run out into a crowd of children and pray that you make it out alive, or at least without any life-threatening injuries. I mean, at least a nurse was on the trip.
no mas, no mas!
It. was. hilarious. Hillary took video of this, and I can't wait until it's on facebook :) The guys were troopers - risking life and limb and all.

Monday and Tuesday were clearly the most intense, overwhelming and emotional. House of Hope has captured my heart. These days had the greatest impact on me. I hope that I never forget these experiences and all of the amazing, raw ways that God's power is on display there.

After these days, we were told that our team had one of the best VBS's there . . . they liked us, and we actually helped the staff/interns instead of adding stress or being a burden. This was such an answer to prayer.

It was so encouraging to hear that a short-term trip could be beneficial . . . I had been asking God to help our team be a blessing to the missionaries, women and children there. I knew we could not make a huge, lasting impact in only a week - but it was such a blessing to hear that they liked having us there.

For weeks and months leading up to the trip, I asked God to prepare the team and the people in Nicaragua for this week. It was so cool to see things come together . . . in the different ages, personalities, gifts and skills of the people on the team. At times, I thought we were such a random mix . . . but in the end I could see that God orchestrated this group of 17 - and I was so thankful.

2 comments:

  1. Sarah- you are gifted in epressing this trip! So thankful for you! And i promise to get that video up soon!

    ReplyDelete

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