August 2009 -
After backpacking through various Costa Rican cities and jungles for a few weeks in
July, my sister and I ventured up north to Nicaragua.
We headed to Chinandega, a city where we were to join a mission organization that my sister, Emily, had planned to work with for the following six months. I spent a little over a week working with a group known as Amigos for Christ, mostly doing construction work and filling in where ever I was needed.
I managed to practice some first aid skills after a few of the missionaries suffered some minor injuries (injuries totaled in two broken toenails, one bloody nose, a scalp laceration, and one shovel to the zygoma aka the cheekbone). The group is dedicated to serving poor Nicaraguans who were displaced from a hurricane that hit the area in 1998. While we were there, two short term mission group trips came through to work with Amigos.
In addition to construction work and relief aid the mission groups got to experience some the Nicaraguan culture: climbing a volcano, swimming at a local water spring, visiting an orphanage for disabled children, shopping in the market place, and going to a nearby beach.
While I was there I knew that I was witnessing others mirroring Christs' love for us (Humanity), as the missionaries cared for the the impoverished of Nica. It was a blessing to be a part of that challenging but rewarding experience. By the end of my week there I had grown close with the long-term missionaries and actually started to feel as if I was where I belonged. I felt God calling me to a life of serving the poor.
I came home to the U.S. to finish my fourth semester of nursing school in Nashville and wrestle with what had been put in my heart.
As the months went by it became more and more clear that I was being called to move back to Nicaragua for missions work. I have since then graduated school and I am now preparing for a year long stay with Amigos for Christ. I still have a few more things to wrap up with my nursing registration testing but I will be leaving for my mission sometime between late Feb to beginning of March. I am very excited to continue working with this group of believers and to see how God will use me over the next year. I'll be using this blog to keep my friends, family and supporters up to date with what's happening on the ground in Nicaragua. Thank you and God bless!
