Travel Update

It’s already been over a month since I’ve returned to Central America. Here is a little about what the last month has looked like:

 

Chinadega, Nicaragua

My first week and a half was spent in Chinadega, Nicaragua with a ministry called Vision Nicaragua and a youth group from Michigan. Our ministry focused on door-to-door evangelism, prayer, children’s ministry and church ministry.

During the mission trip I got to spend a lot of time in the Word in the mornings, which was great. It was also fun to get to teach the group about hearing God’s voice. This was my fourth time with the teaching and it is different every time (not going to lie, mostly because I have yet to remember to bring my notes with me, lol). I enjoy the opportunity to share the teaching.

In the middle of the trip, we went to Leon, Nicaragua and I was able to re-visit the volcano I sled down about 3 years ago. This time I opted to hang out under the visitor’s pavilion while the team hiked and then sled down the rocky face of the volcano as I contemplated the days of my youth (kidding about the last part).

 

 

San José, Costa Rica

The very next day after the mission trip, Kristin and I took a bus to San Jose, Costa Rica. While in San Jose we met with 3 other ministries, 2 of which have received several World Race teams and a brand new contact named Vanessa who founded the ministry Transforma.

We met up with Vanessa in downtown San Jose and she drove us to what is called a squatter village. This is a community of tin-built houses which has been established on un-owned land on the outskirts of the city. We crossed a busy highway to a path outside the village. Vanessa made a call and a boy found us and led us through the narrow roads to a small church where Vanessa gave a lesson on values to a group of women for a mother’s day event.

Afterward, Vanessa and her family met us for dinner and she shared about how the ministry started and the amazing work they do to teach values and vocational skills to women in the communities. We will be sending the ministry a month-long team in a couple weeks and possibly a week-long teams next year. The next morning we met with one of the program graduates and she poured us Coke and shared about her work with the ministry since graduating Vanessa’s program. It was clear the vision the Lord gave Vanessa to transform lives through teaching values was effective.

 

Jacó, Costa Rica

 

Next we took a bus to the beach town of Jacó to meet with a ministry called Ocean’s Edge. We met with the ministry leaders, Hannah, Carli and April over dinner and talked about how we can continue to serve the ministry with teams. We have been sending World Race teams to the ministry for several years and it was great to finally see the ministry and meet with the hosts in person. The next morning, Carli walked with us to the beach and we sat in the sand and watched the waves for a few minutes before heading back to San Jose.

 

 

Los Chiles, Costa Rica

After we returned to the bus terminal in San Jose, we rushed to the ticket counter to buy tickets for Los Chiles. After a  mountainous 4-hour bus ride, we arrived in a small town close to Los Chiles called Platenar where Pastor Tony greeted us with a huge smile and lots of energy. We went to his and his wife’s home and had dinner. Afterward, Tony and Rosita showed us an impressively detailed model of the vision God had given them to build a center that would help many in the rural town of Los Chiles through discipleship, vocational training, education and providing jobs.

 

 

The next day, the couple brought us to the farm in Los Chiles where they were building the foundations of the vision. We walked up a concrete path which Tony explained a World Race team had built and reached the sanctuary. Tony explained that the first priority in their vision was to build a sanctuary on the farm. There was a pile of stones at the front of the sanctuary and our hosts explained that everyone that had a part in working at the farm brought a stone with them to add to the pile and said a prayer. We then prayed and left our own rocks for the pile.

 

Granada, Nicaragua

For the past week I have been in Granada, Nicaragua catching up with my work responsibilities, preparing for the next host development trip and finalizing some plans for my upcoming wedding.

On Tuesday I will be travelling with Kristin to Guatemala where we will have a couple meetings with ministry contacts and host a retreat for some of ministry contacts. To be honest, I’m a little nervous about hosting the event as I have never led something like this before, but I think it will be fun to connect our ministry contacts and spend time with all of them. As long as they feel appreciated for all they do for our teams, it will be a success to me.

After the retreat, Kristin and I will be visiting about 20 ministries across Honduras and northern Nicaragua. After that, I will head back to Guatemala to fly home and then two weeks later get married. Phew.

I would appreciate prayers for the remainder of the support to come in to reach my goal within the next two weeks (only about $1,200 to go!), safe travels and good health for us. (I’ve been mildly sick for most of this month and hope to be all better before we leave.)

I’m thankful for those who support me through prayer and invest in the work I do with Adventures in Missions. It is a unique opportunity that I will look back on for the rest of my life. The past 6 months of travel have taught me a lot.