#hccnicaragua Thursday Update

It's been a crazy, wonderful, intense, relaxed, hilarious, deeply touching, (and more) first 4 days on our trip to Nicaragua.

We've known that God was in charge of this trip for months already. Our fundraising went better than we even prayed for, our team has come together quickly, and we were excited to leave early Monday morning. We had no problems in travel...the flights were on time, and getting through customs was easy.

On Tuesday evening, we had "Culture Night" where SI gave us a sample of the local customs and introduced us to a lot of their food. I think you'll like the picture of Thomas dancing in their demonstration.

We were definitely tired after arriving Monday night, but in great spirits. We had a short orientation, and then went to bed. We slept in a little on Tuesday and then had our extended orientation before each team headed to their ministry sites to get started. As the "Leader" of the group, SI (Students International) has designed the experience for me to be a rotating participant. That basically means I go to a different site each day.

The feedback from the first few days from all of the groups has been great. The entire team is getting involved in their areas, and building relationships with the people they are serving. It's very obvious that SI has done a lot of work, and been blessed, to build a great standing in the community. They are respected and b/c of that, we are very welcomed by all those we come into contact with.
n Tuesday evening, we had "Culture Night" where SI gave us a sample of the local customs and introduced us to a lot of their food. I think you'll like the picture of Thomas dancing in their demonstration.

The different sites include Medical, Agriculture, Boys Club, Women's Social Work, Education, and Applied Technology. We are doing everything from installing simple concrete water filters, to doing crafts, to picking fruit, clearing fields, playing soccer, hanging out and talking with the people, and meeting basic medical needs.

I will not be able to upload any pictures on this blog, w/ this connection, but I will try and post some more multishot pics on instagram and Facebook

Please know that our whole team is doing extremely well 1/3 of the way through the trip! The young people on their very first mission trip experience are all doing fantastic. God is working in both directions, please believe that! Yes, we are being used to bless the Nicaraguan people, but they are absolutely blessing, and deeply touching each of our lives as well. Parents, you should be very, VERY proud of your kids! They are stepping up in amazing ways!

Until next time (and I don't know when that will be :/ )

Troy

as always...

God Rulz!