Hello family and friends from Nicaragua! For my first blog post on the field I thought I would let y’all know what exactly a week looks like for me and the team while staying in Nicaragua. I’ll most likely try and make one of these for each one of the countries I’m in before I dive deeper into what Gods doing in my life. Before going into what a day looks like, I wanted to explain that we are being hosted by an organization called REAP Granada which has been established for almost 20 years. REAPs primary goal is to love the community and help provide as much possible help. REAP works with the World Race to bring racers out and give them a place to have community, as well as fun while they do mission work in the surrounding area.
To start we begin each day at 4:45 am which sounds tough, but when it gets light at 5:00 am it comes a little easier. We begin the day with prayer and worship time for an hour and then person bible reading time for another hour. We then have another hour before breakfast to get ready for the day. At 8:00 we have breakfast which consists of rice and beans with some eggs. After breakfasted we have our first ministry time of the day.
Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, would be prayer walking in the surrounding neighborhoods. And these aren’t your average neighborhoods, I would describe these more as a jungle scattered with scrap metal huts. We go around to each family and drop off a bag of rice and beans, and talk and pray with the families.
On Wednesday and Friday’s we head to a place referred to as the dump, which is exactly what it sounds like. Many Nicaraguans come here to try and find valuables that they will be able to sell as a way to make a living. Our job is to provide a meal to the hard working locals while also sharing a quick sermon. Many of the people working at the dump depend on us to be there because they know that they will get a meal that day. Also just getting to know them and build relationships is a large part of the dump ministry.
After finishing our first ministry of the day we’ll go back and have lunch which will always be delicious. Afterwards on Mondays and Fridays we’ll have our book club which is where we talk about the devotional we’re reading. On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday we’ll do some other kind of ministry whether that be go to a local kids baseball practice and help out, or make crafts to sell with a group of women that work at REAP, or even host basketball tournaments for men. We’ll find something to do that will benefit the community.
Dinner comes up pretty soon around 6:00 which is always fantastic. After eating we’ll have team time which is a couple hours of just hanging out with the squad getting to know each other better. Bed time falls around 9:00 which we’re all very ready to get some sleep by then.
Saturdays are our sabbath day which consists of us staying on base resting for the day. And Sundays are our free days where we can go do whatever we’d like. Whether that’s go into town to get some WiFi or go Volcano surfing we make sure we spend the day exploring and having fun!
Thank you for following along with my journey, I look forward to posting more as time goes on!
