We apologize for the delay. The team didn’t get back from León Thursday night until 1 in the morning or so, and we were all exhausted—we didn’t even have a debrief. And then we were traveling most of Friday. My plan was to work on it and post it in the Atlanta airport, but we got caught up in customs and then there wasn’t enough time! Hope the wait hasn’t been too long!
We woke up Thursday morning and packed up for our final trip to Pochocuape to say goodbye to the kids. Our service the night before had been canceled, but we knew that our presence would be made known and all of the kids would come to us.
Arriving at Pochocuape was as joy-filled as ever!
Be careful offering gum to the children of Pochocuape. They get very excited about it.
My assistant, Helder! He picked up my bag and wanted to help me take pictures.
Katy Rupp and Izzy Smith with their little friends.
We gathered together for a group picture before leaving.
Natalie Will and Maykelin sharing a tearful goodbye. Maykelin’s father recently lost his job and her family is having trouble finding food to eat and buying school supplies for their children. Salt Co. rallied together and is going to help financially support them while he finds new work.
Praying for Jorge, the pastor.
Kalah Anderson saying goodbye. Her friend wouldn’t let go of her hand.
Ashley and her little brother. Ashley is not crying because she is saying goodbye. She is crying because her close friend from Ginger Creek, whom she had built a relationship with over the past 2 years, didn’t come with us this summer. We have an incredible impact on the lives of these children. They don’t forget us—they remember us and think about us all of the time.
After leaving Pochocuape we made our way to Tip Top for lunch before heading out to a feeding station in León.
Alex Poissont and Seth Rhodes while waiting for food at Tip Top.
In León we met up with Oscar, one of the translators we’ve had a relationship with since our first Salt trip to Nicaragua. He works with a number of churches and feeding stations in León.
Unpacking at the feeding station. This location was very much “off the beaten path.” We drove for half an hour down a bumpy, muddy dirt road. Oscar said that they rarely get visitors, and this was an incredible treat for them.
We were worried that the kids would be quiet and shy, but we were wrong! They warmed up instantly! Faster than any group we had encountered before. And within minutes all of the children wanted to run around and play.
Playing soccer with the kids with more balls that had been donated by Tri-Cities Soccer (St. Charles, IL)
About half an hour after arriving a thunderstorm rolled in, but that didn’t stop the kids from wanting to play! We kept up the soccer game, and then taught the Nicaraguans how to play rugby.
The “Nicaraguan Spray-on Tan” after running around in the mud and dirt.
Kalah Anderson and one of the families at the feeding station inside the church.
Oscar and a group of volunteers preparing the soup to feed the kids.
Our banner—made by the children of León.
We did an abridged service with worship, the “Set Me Free” drama, and a short gospel message.
Children worshipping.
A girl intently watching the drama.
There were some wild dogs wandering around during the church service, trying to avoid the rain.
The rain subsided just in time for us to serve food to the families!
Alese Orchard dishing up soup for a little girl.
Two children enjoying their food! The apples were a very special treat that they don’t get very often, if at all.
We then drove to a small church in another part of León, where we were putting on a full service for the families there. We were worried that the heavy rainfall would deter people from coming, and it was a relatively small service, but probably one of the most passionate and emotional services I’ve seen in Nicaragua.
Tyler Dewar setting up our tech with some tech assistance.
A handful of Nicaraguan teenagers jumped up on stage to worship with us during our first songs. It really set the mood for the rest of the service.
Natalie Will shared her testimony.
The service continued with more worship.
David Walton also shared his testimony and a message about the confession of sin.
The team rallying up to support David and sing “Hosanna” after his testimony.
Bob praying for the congregation, and asking them to recommit their lives to Christ, to abandon any sin that had taken over their life, and for them to come up on stage if they wanted to have students pray over them.
We ended the service with one last celebration of worship, with all of the children and teenagers (and even some of the adults!) joining us on stage!
Praying for blessings over the pastor.
One of our students, Nate, turned 17 today. A girl in the church also had a birthday, and as is tradition, everyone lined up to give them their blessing.
After the service we traveled back to Oscar’s house. Bob pulled Nate aside, telling him that he was seen throwing garbage outside one of the bus windows, and that this was not how we should be representing ourselves in Nicaragua. This was, of course, completely untrue and used to keep Nate behind while the rest of the group, along with Oscar and all of the translators, snuck into the house for Nate’s surprise party—Nicaraguan style.
Nate—moments after walking in the front door.
Nate gave Oscar a taste of his own medicine.
Eating dinner at Oscar’s house. There was another small missions group staying there from Virginia. They offered to help make us dinner and serve us—quite a blessing.
We prayed for Oscar and his ministry in León before leaving.
Autumn saying her goodbyes.
The drive home was nearly two hours. We were all exhausted and tired after a long day, but excited about all the work we had done and how we had seen God move—especially during the service at the church.
Debrief:
Though we did not have our normal Thursday night debrief, I was able to grab a few comments:
“Tonight’s worship was very inspiring and I started crying.” Sam Berg
“The feeding center… I’m not used to kids being that eager. They looked at everything in amazement. I mentioned games and crafts and they started jumping around and getting excited.” Natalie Will
“I think the people in that church were blown away when you all came up to support David. I think it’s something they don’t see. And as I started to pray, while you guys were all huddled, a number of them came up to you guys and put their hands on all of you. When I said ‘come on up’ it was like we opened the gates to them. We weren’t up on the stage while they were in the audience. We were there all together. And you saw how it ended! We had people up and dancing! I love those kinds of endings.” Bob Hilt
Stay posted for one more update tomorrow about our last visit to Hogar de Fe and our trip home, as well as closing thoughts and prayer requests. Thank you all so much for your prayers and encouraging comments. Sorry for the delay!
David, thank you for capturing our story in pictures while in Nicaragua! We were so grateful to have you on the trip. Your talent and skill is a blessing, thank you for sharing it!
Thank you so much for all of your hard work David! I am extremely grateful for you and all the blogs. You rock!!