#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!

Thursday Afternoon...final "At Camp" Post

More Random Thoughts/Observations

Last night after ending chapel, Hume/SD put on a brand new optional activity. "Worship Under The Stars" and it was in two different locations, separated for guys in one area, and girls in another. What a blessing for everyone that went! In each group, as a part of the time together, the leaders/counselors were encouraged to pray out loud for their small groups of kids that they are with this week. And then, the students were asked to pray out loud for their leaders! I've heard so much positive feedback from this experience! Leaders and students alike each saying what an impact it was to hear the out loud prayers of the ones that were praying for them. I think the extra layer of students realizing just how often they are prayed for might have finally went to a new level of appreciation as they were able to participate in both the giving and receiving of out loud prayers!

Something that was not a first, and has become a Horizons tradition at camp, was the Wednesday Late Night Burrito Run. I was able to actually find a killer taco shop (Roberto's of course) pretty close to campus, and $325 later, both dorms were filled with the smells of San Diego Mexican Food...Carne Asada Burrito's, Cheese Quesadillas, and Rolled Tacos w/ Guac....(I'm not even gonna type the obvious follow up sentence to the one I just typed....hahaha)

Another non-first was the annual "Boardwalk Walk" that we do as an optional activity every year for them...I'm sure you've seen some pics of the trip on Facebook, there's plenty of them! They took that walk today and had a blast...

Our chapel time this morning consisted of being led in worship singing by For All Seasons (kids have REALLY taken to them!) and then we took an offering for many ministries around the world. Pretty stoked to say that the offering raised $2000.58! What a blessing! Following the offering, we were dismissed to "Church Time" where I was able to give the lesson/challenge/message/sermon today...and we focused mainly on the entire chapter of Ephesians 4. We talked about what an incredible youth ministry we could be if we followed the challenge that Paul gave to the church in Ephesus. I want to challenge YOU, yes, YOU, the one reading this, to click on the link I provided, to read Ephesians 4 and see if YOU might also answer the call to help bring about the type of unity and work of God that Paul challenges that church with in your church!

After a dinner on the lawn, we (Liz, Caleb and I) were asked to once again participate in the 4th of July parade that is unique to this week of Summer Camp. We decorated the golf cart we use (to  help Caleb get around) with plenty of red, white and blue, and had a blast with the Hume/SD staff giving the entire camp a USA Pride-filled parade :)

We are heading off in moments for our final chapel...in what will be the final message the students hear this camp. I'm praying for God to break through any final barriers that students may have, as we look to finish the week of camp on a super high note. 

Tomorrow morning, we'll check out by 7:30, have breakfast, and then do our traditional "awards" before getting on the bus and heading to Mission Beach for a few kids to get Baptized! Then we'll head home and hopefully have a non-eventful trip, arriving back to Horizons at approx 5:30

God Rulz!

TN