...and now we're back...

Hi.
Glad you're reading. Much appreciated.

I really do not know where to start with this update of the trip. I experienced so much last week and I don't know how to sum it up in a blog post. I know you all care how the trip was, but I'll try to keep it brief and not test my luck.

SUMMARY OF THE HAPPENINGS:

Fri: Travel day. Flights from Des Moines > St. Louis > Washington DC > Miami > Managua > 2 hour bus ride to Arms of Love in Jinotepe.

Sat: Since luggage didn't arrive (not surprisingly with that many flights), we couldn't go to the beach this day. Flexibility was key on this trip. Instead, we worked on projects around the orphanage then hung with kids when they came home from school.

Sun: Day with kids. We were invited to the school's fiesta. It was nice seeing the kid's (we got to be the gringos in the front row of the skits. They loved it), but it got kind of long when 3 hours went by featuring only Spanish (and some German, but that story is for another time).

Mon: La Playa! Unfortunately I forgot my camera on beach day, but it was a treat. It was nice to get the kids out of the orphanage. I imagine it gets a bit mundane being there everyday. We also took them to lunch at a restaurant beach side. That red snapper is still the best fish I think I'll ever have.

Tues: La Chureca (The Dump). This was hard to see. 1,600 people live at this dump. They fight for food and daughters are sacrificed as prostitutes in the hopes for a plate of food. Nicaragua is the second poorest country in the western hemisphere, and La Chureca is the worst place in Nicaragua. The drug of choice is sniffing glue. If you go to the wrong area, you can get stabbed with a hangar.

Not cool. Those people know how it feels to live day by day.

We met this 19 year old girl and her father. They prayed for us. It was really cool. How rough, ya know? Here are these really poor people- they know it (Nicaraguans refer to them as 'garbage people'.) Then comes in this group of American folks and they were willing to not only let us come to their home, but they explained what it's like to live there AND then he prayed for us. It was a special moment for everyone.

Wed: Baggin food day. Doug and Julie said it would take all day. Harvest Vineyard said it would take three hours. It took one. We can kind of thank Henry Ford for the assembly line and mostly thank God for the hustle.

Thurs: I M P A C T I N G. It was really cool delivering the food to the churches. We also did a few skits, shared the gospel, and did a mini-carnival for the kids. They have so much love to share.

I couldn't sleep at all Thursday because I had so much to think about. Too many though