Hello again!
We have successfully accomplished our afternoon of teaching the children at the school. I believe that I mentioned that we would be doing dance and art classes. Both of these classes were divided by age. We were told while preparing in Omaha for this trip to plan for about 30 kids per class. Well. That morning they told us something more like 100 had signed up…. I will just allow you to imagine our faces. There was some reworking of previous plans. In the end the art class was divided into 3 groups instead of 2. The children rotated from class to class every 30 minutes or so. We made goo, drew pictures, and made impressions on foil. It went surprisingly smoothly. There were no riots!
The dance class went equally well. They finished early and asked the Nica girls if they would teach us a dance. So the girls learned a Nicaraguan dance to a TobyMac song! The next day we performed and it was lovely. All the little kids had streamers and the big kids danced ballet. It was wonderful. (I cried.) The song we danced to was the Spanish version of “No Sweeter Name” by Kari Jobe (Click here to hear 'No Sweeter Name'.) and “Feliz” by Ana Laura. (Click here to hear 'Feliz'.)
That evening we put together gift bags in a big assembly line for the teachers and the women in the hospital we will be visiting. While we worked on that we had a small team praying in the other room. As the assembly line ran out of things to assemble, more and more of us gathered in the other room. The praying, which was supposed to end at the same time the assembly lines ended, kept going. I am not positive how long we prayed. There was a team event that was planned for afterward, but the Holy Spirit had a different event planned! We worshiped and laughed and cried and prayed for one another. In my experience, it was one of the sweetest and richest times with the Lord. And it surprised me, because it was so informal. It just happened. I am learning that God does not need a big ceremony before He is among us. He is with us all the time. And we can laugh with Him! What a concept!
We prayed for the people in Terrabona, the town where we stayed last weekend & the people we will meet at the hospital. We prayed that God would heal people miraculously through us; we prayed that the gift bags we give to the patients at the hospital will not be viewed as being from us but from God and that the people would think of Him whenever they see them. We also prayed for our team members who were not able to come with us, for Kiley Cain and Deb Reno. Both have health issues that prevented them from coming. The team wants them both to know that they are not forgotten, and that we miss them (A LOT!) and wish they were here. But we prayed that God would order your steps even as you are not with us. That He would have meetings with people for you that are full of destiny and purpose. That He would be very near to you and that you would know without a shadow of a doubt that He has plans to prosper you and not to abandon you, but to give you hope and a future (Jer. 29:11).
The poor Benitez family, who have graciously loaned us their home to serve as home base, were kept awake by the continuation of our meeting. I am praying for their rest to be multiplied as the trip continues, although I do not believe we plan to keep them up every night like that.
At this very moment, Linda is teaching the teachers at the school about Step Up to Life. She is giving Pastor Murdoch’s illustration Titanic. (Click here to go to the Step Up to Life webpage. Click on the 'audio greeting' to hear more.)
And in other news: I have a message for Sarah Harvie!!! Sarah, HAPPY 4th BIRTHDAY!!!!! Sarah has two family members with us here in Nicaragua; her dad, Jon, and her older sister, Rachel. They both miss you and hope you have an awesome birthday, Sarah!
Oh, and I am happy to report that we are all feeling better. About a fourth of our team (all girls) had what we believe was a virus. We’re glad that’s behind us! -Bree Reno
We have successfully accomplished our afternoon of teaching the children at the school. I believe that I mentioned that we would be doing dance and art classes. Both of these classes were divided by age. We were told while preparing in Omaha for this trip to plan for about 30 kids per class. Well. That morning they told us something more like 100 had signed up…. I will just allow you to imagine our faces. There was some reworking of previous plans. In the end the art class was divided into 3 groups instead of 2. The children rotated from class to class every 30 minutes or so. We made goo, drew pictures, and made impressions on foil. It went surprisingly smoothly. There were no riots!
The dance class went equally well. They finished early and asked the Nica girls if they would teach us a dance. So the girls learned a Nicaraguan dance to a TobyMac song! The next day we performed and it was lovely. All the little kids had streamers and the big kids danced ballet. It was wonderful. (I cried.) The song we danced to was the Spanish version of “No Sweeter Name” by Kari Jobe (Click here to hear 'No Sweeter Name'.) and “Feliz” by Ana Laura. (Click here to hear 'Feliz'.)
That evening we put together gift bags in a big assembly line for the teachers and the women in the hospital we will be visiting. While we worked on that we had a small team praying in the other room. As the assembly line ran out of things to assemble, more and more of us gathered in the other room. The praying, which was supposed to end at the same time the assembly lines ended, kept going. I am not positive how long we prayed. There was a team event that was planned for afterward, but the Holy Spirit had a different event planned! We worshiped and laughed and cried and prayed for one another. In my experience, it was one of the sweetest and richest times with the Lord. And it surprised me, because it was so informal. It just happened. I am learning that God does not need a big ceremony before He is among us. He is with us all the time. And we can laugh with Him! What a concept!
We prayed for the people in Terrabona, the town where we stayed last weekend & the people we will meet at the hospital. We prayed that God would heal people miraculously through us; we prayed that the gift bags we give to the patients at the hospital will not be viewed as being from us but from God and that the people would think of Him whenever they see them. We also prayed for our team members who were not able to come with us, for Kiley Cain and Deb Reno. Both have health issues that prevented them from coming. The team wants them both to know that they are not forgotten, and that we miss them (A LOT!) and wish they were here. But we prayed that God would order your steps even as you are not with us. That He would have meetings with people for you that are full of destiny and purpose. That He would be very near to you and that you would know without a shadow of a doubt that He has plans to prosper you and not to abandon you, but to give you hope and a future (Jer. 29:11).
The poor Benitez family, who have graciously loaned us their home to serve as home base, were kept awake by the continuation of our meeting. I am praying for their rest to be multiplied as the trip continues, although I do not believe we plan to keep them up every night like that.
At this very moment, Linda is teaching the teachers at the school about Step Up to Life. She is giving Pastor Murdoch’s illustration Titanic. (Click here to go to the Step Up to Life webpage. Click on the 'audio greeting' to hear more.)
And in other news: I have a message for Sarah Harvie!!! Sarah, HAPPY 4th BIRTHDAY!!!!! Sarah has two family members with us here in Nicaragua; her dad, Jon, and her older sister, Rachel. They both miss you and hope you have an awesome birthday, Sarah!
Oh, and I am happy to report that we are all feeling better. About a fourth of our team (all girls) had what we believe was a virus. We’re glad that’s behind us! -Bree Reno