more photos

Hola from Nicaragua

We had an absolutely terrific morning with about 90 of the sweetest, happiest children!  It was in a rural school and we had room to spread out and do our things the way we had planned, which was fun for us. From the smallest to the oldest, the children joined in and made the crafts, played the games, sang the songs, played music on the combs, and listened to our lesson.  What a joy it was.  We had to ride in the back of a pickup truck that had seats on the side.  We went down very dusty bumpy roads which made our adventure even more fun.  We saw baby pigs and baby horses and all sorts of other things along the way.  When we arrived, sweet smiles greeted us.  It was simply great fun. 

Right now we are packing bags to take out to the families that live near the dump area-rice and beans and other supplies that will help them eat at least for a few days. 

Bible school team photos, a start

photos from the construction site

The Ants

It is late so this will be brief.  The whole team had a marvelous and productive day.  The construction team made huge progress on building the kitchen.  They had the help of two of the little boys in the family who I think all the guys enjoyed.  This family's story is very special and it is such a joy to be a part of it.  I promise photos soon but tonight we are all exhausted.  The eye clinic saw over 100 people and had some beautiful stories to share as well.  One involves the ants so that is for a longer post later.  The VBS team had the two groups we worked with-the first I wrote about earlier.  The one this afternoon had right at 150 children and it was busy busy and yet so much fun.  They loved our skit and program about the ants, they loved singing the songs with us and loved all the games and crafts we did.  So it was just a great day.  Hot, Sweaty, and happy-that describes the afternoon so well.  We closed our session after most of the children had gone.  The pastor asked to pray with us and when he finished, we asked if we could sing to them and we sang "Shalom To You".  It was very special. 

The Ants visit a preschool

What a wonderful day it is in Nicaragua. It is very hot and very humid but we are doing fine and are loving our journey here.  El Ayudante is has a wonderful program and they are doing so many great things.  This morning the eyeglass team went to set up their clinic and at noon, they had a great report so I will let them report on that later tonight. The same with the construction team.  The only casualty they said this morning was a wasp sting on Glenn's face. Luckily, he said he is not allergic.  They will report more tonight as well. 

The Bible school team had a wonderful morning at Grandma Carmen's preschool.  It was a simple room with open windows and concrete floor and 22 of the most precious children you will see.  Since they were preschoolers and the were pretty far out from town, we came in and smiled and got to know the children slowly so that we did not scare them! After all, we are a rather funny looking crew! They loved the songs and we pulled them in with the Hokey Pokey.  They were so cute.  We probably were too! We played with the parachute and played duck, duck goose only we play it ant ant lazybones. We played the ants in the pants game .  After a good snack, we helped them paint ants on little shirts and made ants out of egg cartons. And we made antennae out of  headbands and pipe cleaners and they loved everything. However. when we gave them sunglasses, the smiles came out! They LOVED those.  By the time we left, we got hugs and waves and they were sad to see us go and we were too!

Photos from Sunday