Nicaragua Journal Entry Day #4... El Porvenir

Encouragement for today...
May the God of Hope fill you with all Joy and Peace as you trust in Him.  Romans 15:13

This morning as we drove into the community, we saw Wilberth at school.  He saw our bus and van pass the school and within a few minutes, he was running down the path to find us.  Our translator was trying to tell him that he needed to be in school but he stood there with a quivering lip and said he wanted to stay with us.  Now, the teacher in me knew he should be in school but the love in my heart wanted him to be with us today.  We allowed him to hang with us, knowing that we have such little time with this precious child.  

It was yet again, another day filled with great joy, love, and friendship!  Our morning was a continuation of yesterday’s.  We walked through the community of El Porvenir to plant lemon and orange trees for more families.  Each family was asked to think about where they would like their tree to be planted and needed to have a hole prepared in advance for us.  It was wonderful to see our children planting these trees, talking to the families, and praying for the them!  After watching the adults yesterday, it was wonderful to see the kids take ownership of this mission. 

Wilberth hit it off so well with my boys.  They were being silly together all day.  Wilberth was wearing his best clothes today, knowing that we were coming to visit.  Yes, it was 100* and he was wearing long sleeves but it was his finest.  Although they were his best, his britches were huge!!!  We kept telling him to pull his pants up and he would just giggle :)

Wilberth walked with us to each house planting the trees.  We held hands, hugged, and laughed often... it was happiness to my heart!  He was truly like my own son.

Once we completed our tree planting, we ventured to the feeding center for our lunch.  Our team has bonded so well.  The kids have all become united and the adults are building great relationships also.  There has been no complaining, not even from our children!  This has been an exhausting few days yet everyone continues to be filled with such happiness!  The Holy Spirit has certainly been present and at work in the hearts of many. 

After lunch we were able to have our “official” visit with our sponsor family.  As we arrived at the home, the father, Paster, was borrowing chairs from his sister’s home to bring over to his home so that we would all have a seat.  He welcomed us to what he said "his little yet humble home."  The interpretor asked him to share with us about his family.  Wilberth had a sister... she was 7 years old and died two years ago from heart difficulties.  That caused great sadness in their home during that time and his wife left with another man.  Paster has stepped up to be the best dad that he can be and works very hard to provide for Wilberth.  He showed us a picture of Wilberth and his sister.  My heart aches for this man.  You could see the sadness in his face.  Once we were done chatting for a bit, he spoke with the translator and left for a moment.  She was obviously touched by his words and she told us that he had a gift for us.  She said that he knew we couldn’t drink their water so he went and bought water bottles for my family and the translators.  Now, you might think, well that was nice.  But my heart was feeling transformed by the sacrificial love of this man.  He came back with 6 cold water bottles.  He had rode his bike to the local store to get us water bottles AND he spent approximately three days earnings on this water.  I’m certain that he sacrificed a few meals to provide for us.  I can’t imagine taking that much of my weekly earnings and handing it over so graciously and selflessly as he did.  It brought tears to my eyes.  What a gift.

We were able to give Wilberth a Spanish Bible,
Ritz crackers, and toothbrush/paste set.

I am trying to prepare myself for our final goodbye.  It will most certainly be a difficult moment.  I pray that you will be touched by this story.  I challenge you to think about child sponsorship.  What could you sacrifice to provide hope for a family?  It will be one of the best decisions you ever make...  If you are interested, go the Food For the Hungry website and seek a child today!  A small influence can make a BIG impact!

My Sweet Boy!

“If you spend yourselves on behalf of the hungry, and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in darkness and your night will become like noonday.  The Lord will guide you always... You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.”                Isaiah 58:10-11

Nicaragua Journal Entry Day #3... El Porvenir

Encouragement for today...

"And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive."  Matthew 21:21-22

Lord, I ask today that we might impact some lives today, including our own!  I pray for safety, and for our ability to love the needy unconditionally!!  I hope our day can go smoothly.  I can't wait to shine your light :)

Wow!!!  The most beautiful and amazing day :)  We drove to the community of El Porvenir, about 15 minutes from our hotel in Chinandega.  We drove down a dirt path to get there.  My heart was full of sadness upon arriving and seeing the poverty.  The animals are all bony and skinny.  The houses are made of trash, long plastic sheets, and aluminum roofing.  However, when we got out of our van, the community people gathered all around to watch us while we were introduced to the FH staff.  Then, we broke into groups to begin our mission of planting lemon and orange trees for the families.  Our group (Pete & Anna with us) went to our first house.  Braydon and Bryce planted our first tree for a dad and his son.  The families had to decide ahead of time where they wanted their tree and had to have a hole dug and ready for us.  

While the boys were planting the tree, we were talking to the dad.  He told us his son's name was Wilberth, sounds like Wilber.  Im thinking... "What are the chances that this is OUR Wilberth?!?!?!"  We began asking questions about his sponsor.  The dad walked away and went into his home and came out with some tattered and dirty letters... they were OUR letters!!!!!  I was SO excited!!!  The Lord had this all planned... our first stop!!!  I realized at that very moment just how important our letters are.  They have very little but it was obvious that our letters meant something special to this family.  I prayed with Wilberth and his dad.  

We presented the tree to them as a reminder of our friendship and God's greatness of life.  Praying the tree brings much fruit to them physically and spiritually!  Wilberth and his friends followed us the rest of the morning... SO special!!!

We continued to plant trees for other families.  I was so proud of Braydon.  He did all the planting and pushed the wheelbarrow through the community.  Both boys were so loving to the people, it made my heart happy :)

At noon we went to the FH feeding station, which our last ECC team helped build. 

There is a team of moms that come to the station to cook food on two stoves for the kids.  FH has done an amazing job of beginning to equip this community to work hard for each other.  

The kids started showing up, each with a bowl and spoon.  Most of the bowls were dirty.  Jairo asked the ECC kids to serve the community kids.  It was beautiful to see our children serving in this way with such joy!

Once the kids were done eating, we started our VBS programming.  I hung out with the craft team to work on learning the names of the kids from the name tags that they were creating.

Helping Wilberth cut his puppet :)

We left the community to head back to the hotel for the kids to swim for a few hours before dinner :)

We gathered at 7pm for devotions.  We talked about what poverty means...

...God's concern for the poor is a central theme in the Bible.  Over 400 verses, sprinkled throughout every genre of scripture, speak about God's passion for the needy and His desire that His followers share that passion.  Whenever we are passionate about something, we talk about it often.  God, through His word, speaks frequently about the poor and needy.  Poor = Those whom lack both the material necessities of life and suffer from low social status and vulnerability to oppression.  He displays "tender mercies" to the poor and needy, desiring that they find refuge, protection, and provision.

"Blessed is he who has regard for the poor."  Psalm 41:1