Smiles, Plagues & Beauty in Nicaragua

Smiling faces and hosts of swarming gnats welcomed us to the beautiful island of 
Ometepe, Nicaragua on Wednesday.

After a straight flight from ATL to Managua and a two hour bus ride, we arrived safely to the port city of San Jorge, Rivas at 1am and settled into our hostel for the night [Shortest travel day ever].

At 7a, Kayla and I set out early to buy local SIM cards for our phones, breakfast for the team and find the ferry that would take us to Ometepe. 

Several of our ladies speak Spanish very well, so one of them went with us to translate. It made the whole morning much easier. I have been so thankful to not have to struggle through charades and have someone who knows the language in what could be high stress moments. 

 

 

By 10:30am, we were on the ferry to the beautiful Isla de Ometepe, where we were greeted by the smiling faces of the workers and children of CICRIN orphanage and bombarded by millions of gnats. 

No lie, those suckers were everywhere. The director of the orphanage, Helen, said it was the worst they had ever been. It could easily have been compared to the plague of gnats in Egypt. 

The women on this team have been so great. There are 19 including Kayla and I, and they have jumped right into serving and opening up to the team. They have been such a joy and honor to lead so far. 

 

In addition to being a home for 28 kids who have been abandoned, abused or come from extreme poverty, CICRIN operates a private Christian school, which the children attend and is free to kids in the surrounding community if their parents volunteer a few times a week to cook lunch. CICRIN is in the process of becoming a self-sustaining orphanage so there is a large garden & plenty of animals around. 

The kids in traditional Nicaraguan clothes on Kids Day

Our first day at the CICRIN after the kids celebrated Kid's Day

In the mornings, we garden, clean in the kitchen, cook, clean, maintain the grounds, and paint rooms to get them ready for more volunteers. Our afternoons are spent with the kids. In the evenings, we have team time and watch the sunset from our backyard: 

Kayla and I are completely opposite, and we work really well together. I'm thankful I've known my co-leader pre-trip so we got to skip the "get to know you" bit and can lead together from strong friendship and mutual trust. God is teaching me to lead from my strengths and not try to be someone I'm not.

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That wraps up our first week here in Nicaragua. If you'd like to donate, I'm still about $950 away from being fully funded: Click Here. 

Pray for our team for energy, health, continued servant hearts, intentionality in relationships with the Nicaraguans and each other, and that as we're pouring out each day, we'd continue to be filled up by Jesus.