Our busy Thursday!

I know this update is being done on Friday, but I wanted to put all the Thursday stuff out before I talked about today.

Thursday was incredible. We went out into a local community on the outskirts (countryside) of Leon. I'm amazed people actually live out here because it's a gravel/dirt road to get there. It took us about 30 or so munutes to get there from the house here in Leon.

Many of the people were already there waiting on us to arrive. Apparently, once they hear a team will be in the area they come early to meet you. Below are some pics of the precious children wating on us.

Aren't they just precious!

Here is how they bagged the oil. We took the stuff out to the community the day before we passed it out. The pastor of the church and some others helped to divy up the rice, beans & oil into 50 bags for 50 families. We were able to give each family 2 lbs of rice and 2 lbs of beans plus a pound of sugar & salt along with a liter of oil. We went back Thursday and personally passed it out after having church with them.

One of the translators, Eugenio preached the message. He has a real passion for Jesus.

Blue shirt is Eugenio.

After the community visit, we came back to the house for lunch. We then went to this beautiful catholic church near the hospital and then to the hospital. We donated some peds nebulizers, a peds stethescope and a number of glucometers. God was gracious as the glucometers we donated were exactly what they had strips for and use regularly.

On to the peds ward where we got to see the babies and children.

Make shift rubber pants made from a black plastic bag part.

We would never see an American baby placed in a crib this old and bad looking, however this is what all but one crib here looked like.

Rubber pants or disposable diapers aren't used here.

It was hard to see the hospital here. They have no air but in the director's office and the burn unit (I believe). None of the rooms had air. The equipment is so old and outdated we wouldn't use it in the US, but it's all they have here, so it's what they use. We need to pray for them to get better equipment. Another thing is birth defects are rampant here. They have pictures all over the peds ward warning women to take folic acid to prevent major birth defects. Cheryl keeps it on hand at the house here to give away.

It's already Wednesday! Where has the time gone?

I can't believe it's already Wednesday. The prayer breakfast yesterday was great! We had 15 churches represented and God has planted the seeds to begin a women's prayer ministry in these churches. These women know how to pray! They could have rained down heaven yesterday. I was so touched at their willingness to share their personal needs with each other as well as the needs of their churches. They prayed for each others needs, their family needs, church needs, community needs & Nicaragua. It really was a sweet time of prayer.

The children here at Cheryl's home amaze me each day. They helped us to decorate the gift bags for the ladies breakfast. They loved doing it and we loved watching them. They were so excited to be a part of it.

Today we did a little shopping. We went into town looking for some things for the kitchen here. Esperanza cooks with so little. She never complains and cooks all day in the kitchen with no air conditioning. Shopping for Esperanza was an interesting experience. They took me to the locals marketplace. Uh, let's just say I'm pretty sure I don't EVER want to try Iguana, rabbit, turtle eggs or cow parts after seeing this!

I loved this guy who wanted me to take his picture while we were buying rice, beans & oil for a community we will visit tomorrow.

Street store in Leon. This is the locals shopping area.

I added some pics from the first day too.....so go check those out. They are of the kids!

We've made it!

We got in late last night and crawled into bed around 1am or later. I honestly don't know what time it was....just that I was very tired. It had been a long uneventful day. On the plane last night there was another mission team coming to Leon too. They all seemed very excited to be involved in the ministry they are doing here.

We saw God answer prayer shortly after we arrived last night. Customs was no problem and we quickly got on the road from Managua to Leon. We stopped for something to eat on the way. Tamara and I had prayed on the way to Atlanta that God would provide a female interpreter for the women's breakfast to make it more of a women's event. At our dinner stop before we even mentioned it to Cheryl she said she was planning to ask a female interpreter to do the breakfast for us. God is so good! The kids were all asleep when we arrived, so I didn't get to meet any of them until this morning.

Early (6am) the kids came in to wake Mama Tamara up. They clearly love her and she loves them. It took them a few minutes to warm up to me. Magaly was the first to befriend me. She is the sweetest thing....she's been lovin on me all day! I'm hoping to post a picture of us later.

Today is some kind of election day here, so we are staying inside most of the time. We did walk down the street to a little store run by an older lady. Tamara had brought her some skirts she wanted her to have.

Although this is their winter season, it's still hot here. We just finished swimming in their little pool in the yard. I didn't bring a suit, so I went in fully dressed. The kids didn't care....they just wanted us in the water with them. Magaly spent most of her time in the water sitting in my lap or swimming around me. All the kids enjoyed showing off their new swimming skills.

This is Juancito. Cheryl is challenged by his condition and wants so badly to crack the code to making him better.

This is Magaly. What a sweet smile. They tell me Magaly came to Cheryl 3 years ago and didn't walk or talk. She scooted around. She now keeps up with the other kids although she has CP. She is my "chocolate" friend. She asks me for candy or chocolate every chance she gets!

Today she had makeup on - thanks to Wendy!

This is Wendy & Monica. They are sister's, just a year apart. Monica has a twin brother Ele (Elezar) below. These kids love Mama Tamara to death.

This is Ele showing off his muscles. He has got to be the sweetest 8 year old boy I have ever met. He loves on Tamara all the time.

This is Gabriella. She is the youngest and certainly the drama queen. She knows she is sweet and isn't afraid to let you know it.

4 days and counting!

Wow! There are only 4 days left before we leave for Nicaragua. I'm excited and overwhelmed all at the same time. Things are so busy that trying to get ready for the trip seems impossible. Satan is fighting hard too. I've had a killer migraine today and have been in bed most of the night. Tamara told me earlier she's had a migraine as well. But, GOD is faithful and I'm up and moving around now and Tamara has been pushing herself to go on all day!
Talking to Tamara today got me excited. She is pulling together a bunch of supplies for the pediatric ward for the hospital in Leon. I don't feel like I'm doing enough to help her! There's so much they need. But again, I remember GOD is faithful and He provides exactly when we need it, so I know He will provide for them too. He loves them more than any of us do.
The next few days will fly by. Please pray with me that we get it all together. I haven't even started to pack!

6 days and counting!

It's Sunday night and I thought....well, someone suggested creating a blog. So, I got on Google and figured out how to do it. Here you go....I will try and keep posting to this to inform everyone of the trip. I'm so excited. I havent' even started packing yet and I'll be out of town for a night this week!

God is good! He continues to amaze me on a daily basis. He is all I need!

I fully expect to come home from this trip radically changed. Please pray that this will occur. Pray that God changes my heart in a radical way. Pray for our safety. I cut my finger yesterday and am praying for a full healing before we leave.

Thanks for visiting with me today. I can't wait to tell you all about it!