Friday morning we woke up early and after a rushed devotional time we made our way to Hogar de Fe to say our goodbyes to the orphans living there.

We spent the hour or so that we had running around and playing games with the kids

A line-up of free throws on the basketball court.

A play-wrestling match that broke out in the courtyard between Tyler, Josh, and half a dozen students.

There were far less tears than when we left Pochocauape—but not because we care about these kids any less. Rather because these children have more access to the Internet (the school at the orphanage has a computer class), and some of them already had email addresses and Facebooks.

Swapping contact information with the children.

Nonetheless, saying goodbye was still hard. We had spent an entire week building relationships with these kids—and most of us wished we could stay longer.

This little boy refused to let go of his friend’s hands, even as she was backing up onto the bus.

We left the orphanage and drove directly to the Managuan airport. It was a bittersweet time. Most of us were tired and looked forward to the rest we would get upon returning home, but it was so hard leaving the people we had loved on over the past 8 days.

Filling out our customs information.

The trip home was long and uneventful. Most of our students passed out from exhaustion once they were on the plane.

Debrief:

We had the debrief for our trip Sunday night. We discussed what it was like adjusting back to American culture, how hard it was to tell people about the trip, and our highs and lows for the entire week.

On life after returning from Nicaragua

“I went to a neighborhood get-together. They’re all like “where’d you go, what did you do…did you go like build houses or something?” and it’s just so hard to explain. I tell them that we put together a service and we go around and give them a service, but for them that’s just another boring day at church. They don’t think it sounds any fun. It’s so hard to explain in a way that they could understand.” Bob Hilt

“I don’t know if I felt an actual presence, but now that I’m home I feel like I’m on a Jesus high. I’m just so excited. Right now I feel like life is good. I just want to go out and talk about Him and do everything about Him.” Sarah Ganster

“I just feel so much more confident after coming home. I’m a senior. I have one more year at my school—one more year to impact lives there. I really want to share my faith and reach out. Because why else are we here? I don’t want to just sit in class and learn, I want to be there spreading his Word. We did it in Nicaragua, why not here?” Megan McKinley

“I think something that impressed me was how excited all the little kids at Hogar de Fe were about church. Megan and  I were working with this group of boys and one of them put all of the books of the Old Testament in order. It just pushed me to learn more about the Bible. I mean they were 8 years old!” Carlee Hilt

“Yesterday I was in my air conditioned house, on my laptop, watching my big screen tv…asking myself What am I doing? How am I worthy? Why do I have all of this and they don’t? It was very hard.” Natalie Will

Everyone who shared their testimony essentially said the same things during our debrief. We all feel invigorated—like a weight has been lifted off our shoulders and we want to help people by sharing our story.

Some of the highs, lows, and reflections on the trip.

“I’ve seen pictures and I read the newspaper and such, so I know a lot of the things going on down there, and I knew what to expect. They say that as Americans we feel superior, but driving in I just felt like another human. It was completely humbling.” Tyler Dewar

“My low would be going to the dump and seeing how little everyone had, and seeing how happy they were even though they had nothing.” Alex Poissant

“I think we can now all say that we truly understand that happiness doesn’t come from materialism and things. I used to be all about getting the big screen TVs when everyone else had them…but once I got one I just went on to the next thing. But this whole week was nothing but relationships! Relationships with each other. Relationships with the kids we served. Relationships with Christ, and the time we spent in prayer and worshipping. I think that’s truly where total joy and happiness comes from.”  Bob Hilt

“My high was going to Pochocuape and seeing everyone and how they remembered me. I thought there are lots of missionaries down there, we can’t make much of an impact…but one of the mothers remembered my name, despite the fact that last year I hadn’t even thought that I would be going back.” Maddie Collins

“I always believed in God, but I never knew why….but after this trip I started understanding God and knowing why I believed in him. Now I know I believe in him for the right reasons.” Izzy Smith

“At the English Festival the students kept saying ‘Our family’—not ‘our class’ or ‘our school,’ but ‘our family.’ And it really is like a family. Here we are one unified thing. I think of the times where we’d be together in our own group in the mornings and at night, how we’d be singing songs—and we really were like a family.  And then on that last night in the church when the teenagers came up and joined us to worship. We were jumping around and praising God as if we had known each other forever.” Nate Wade

Keeping the Momentum

We have some big plans for the year ahead and are confident that God will be using our experience in Nicaragua to continue developing our group.

Our students desperately want to keep the focus on fellowship and community that they experienced in Nicaragua. We want to stay in the Word and continue developing our relationships both with each other and with our Savior. We want to hold onto the spirit of openness and reliance that we experienced while sharing our testimonies.

In the past we’ve stayed at Pochocuape, where we were in constant contact with the children there. This year, however, we were living at a guest house at least twenty minutes away from any location we worked at. Because of this we weren’t simply focused on service and missions but we had numerous opportunities to grow as a family of believers together—as we see in Acts chapter 2. It is because of this that I personally feel, and I think most of the team agrees, that we had our most successful trip. God moved within Salt Company this week.

Pray that this experience—this encounter with God’s Spirit moving through our group—is not simply a spiritual high, but a catalyst for what is to come!

I had a number of prayer requests for this trip. I prayed that Salt would experience God’s Spirit. I prayed that we would see the outpouring of spiritual gifts. I prayed that we would stay healthy and safe. I prayed that we would see leaders step up and developed within our community. I prayed that we would not desire that God make everything go smoothly, but that we would learn to follow his plan when things didn’t go as we intended. I prayed for Christian fellowship within the men of Salt Company. And I prayed for the opportunity to share my testimony.

Every single one of these prayers was answered. We saw people step up and become more involved with Salt. We have already started a men’s discipleships group since we have returned from Nicaragua We got to experience stepping back and letting God take control (like on Wednesday night). And this is the only Salt trip where no one got ill! I could go on but the point is this: Our God is a God who answers prayer.

So I implore you to continue praying for Salt. Pray that our experiences in Nicaragua this past week will be the start of something new! Pray that we will continue to see the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on our students! Pray for continued openness and vulnerability within our group! Pray that we will continually rely on God’s plan for our ministry! And most importantly, pray that we will not fall back into our old habits and insecurities, that we will be passionate and on fire for God, constantly desiring his Spirit, and that we will passionately pursue him both within Salt and in our own personal journey of prayer and devotion to his Word.

Because our God is a God who answers prayer.

Flying home, crossing the coastline into the United States.

This is an update from the Special Update – Prayer Request about a little boy named Edwin.

Many of you have been asking about Edwin and how he and his mother are doing. On Friday we returned to Hogar de Fe in order to say our goodbyes to the children there, and I was able to get some information about Edwin and his current condition.

Edwin sleeping in his bed in the orphanage. He has a special location in one of the girl’s dormitories so his mother can sleep next to him every night.

The first person I spoke to said that things didn’t look good—The doctors were losing faith in Edwin’s situation and they were going to stop treating Edwin—but this didn’t seem right. After finding the director of the orphanage and speaking with his mother, we found out that there has been some progress in his condition, and today when we visited he was definitely coughing less and he seemed even more aware of what was going on.

We were told that Edwin has another hospital visit this week, and that hopefully the doctors will be inserting a feeding tube into his stomach to help him eat so he can gain weight and survive any future treatments. My understanding is the appointment with the doctor is going to be on Monday, July 18 and the surgery will be the following Wednesday.

Please, please keep these dates in your prayers.

We heard a number of sad stories from Edwin’s mother. She told us how she would take the bus to the hospital, but the bus would be crowded and the driver, seeing Edwin, would not let her board, making her miss her appointment and thus be unable to receive the medication that Edwin needed.

Stories like this break our hearts, and we pray that Edwin’s condition will be used to bring glory to God as a testament of his healing Spirit.

Join us in prayer for Edwin and his mother! Pray that they will no longer have any issues travelling to and from the hospital, that the doctors will not lose faith and continue treatment, and that Edwin will be miraculously healed!

Our team praying over Edwin and his mother.

We believe that God is a loving Father, and that He hates to see His children suffer. We also believe that our God has a divine plan, and that His will is guiding this situation.

“‘I will restore health to you, and your wounds I will heal,’ declares the Lord.” Jeremiah 30:17

We also believe that God has given us his Holy Spirit, so that we may call upon the power of the Almighty and extend his healing hand to those who suffer—as long as we pray the word of God with boldness so that all glory may be given to him.

“Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus. After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.”Acts 4:29-31

Join us in prayer, lift up Edwin in this situation, call upon God’s healing hands with boldness so that His glory may be seen!

Please share this post with everyone you can so we may all join in prayer for Edwin.

Blessings to you all.

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!

Pray for the Salt students as they say their goodbyes and head back to Chicago.

Praise God for an awesome trip!

Then, we had planned on catching a quick dinner at the guest house and making our way up the mountain to have an evening service at Pochocuape and say goodbye to the children there. We spent the morning in prayer that God would bless us with good weather, if it was in His plan, so that we could make it up the mountain safely and not have to do our service in the cramped schoolroom.

But God had other things in mind!

The first half of the day went more or less as we intended. The children absolutely loved the zoo, and it was a blast hanging out with them.

There was a bit of a wait, but we made use of the time by goofing off and reconnecting with the kids we hadn’t seen since Sunday.

The Salt students were pleasantly surprised by the zoo. A lot of us were worried that it wouldn’t be very impressive and that we would get bored of it after experiencing American zoos, but that wasn’t the case. It had an extremely “natural” feel to it—not like a concrete jungle housing a bunch of animals. And many people forgot that the Nicaraguans would have a different idea of what animals are interesting and exotic.

Izzy Smith taking a photo of squirrels—an animal most Nicaraguans have never seen.

Alex Poissant buying lunch and snacks for two of his Nicaraguan friends.

David Walton gives everyone on the team massages when he isn’t taking pictures or working on the blog!

Ariel Perez, Josh Robinson, and Garret Grant engaging with the orphans from Hogar de Fe while waiting for lunch.

Sarah Ganster enjoying some one-on-one time—sometimes a translator isn’t necessary to tell someone you care about them.

George Morgano showing a child how to play with an Etch-A-Sketch.

Salt students discussing the things they had seen throughout the week.

Lining up for lunch!

After the morning of hanging out together, we spent the afternoon on a photo scavenger hunt throughout the zoo. The kids absolutely loved it, and had the time of their life trying to figure out their clues (written in both English and Spanish) and take pictures of the animals.

Exploring the butterfly exhibit.

Another group led by Carlee Hilt and Alex Poissant on the scavenger hunt!

“Los monos” were a definite favorite for Nicaraguans and Americans alike.

We had a little bit of time after the photo scavenger hunt

We won’t be seeing the kids from Hogar de Fe again except for a quick visit on Friday, so it was a little hard saying our goodbyes today.

We returned to Quinta Arien for dinner, but on our way back it rained—earlier than expected. So not only would we not be able to perform our service for the families of Pochocuape outside as we had planned, but we would not be able to make it up the mountain at all.

Since the trip was going to be our last opportunity to see the children, this was extremely hard for some people to take. We were angry and frustrated. We kept asking about our options and alternatives, but it simply was not possible for us to make it up the mountain of Pochocuape in such a heavy rain—the heaviest it’s been this week and last.

In an effort to make up for our lost trip, Bob pulled everyone together and we decided to have our own personal service—a time of prayer, worship, and sharing—at Quinta Arien.

Worship was led by Seth Rhodes, Nate Wade, and Tyler Dewar. Sarah Childers and Natalie Will shared their testimonies.

It was quite possibly the most powerful experience of the trip thus far. We’ve  spent so much time serving the children and loving on the people of Nicaragua, that we forget that we also need the love of fellowship and community in order to grow as believers.

I can’t explain exactly what happened tonight. But it was incredible. You could feel the Spirit moving through the room and tears were definitely shed. Throughout the trip you’ve seen quotes from people commenting how Salt is a family—tonight was the exemplification of that family, and I hope it is the start of something incredible for our ministry in the coming years.

And as it turns out, Marcia Williamson, our trip coordinator, was able to switch some scheduling and we will still be able to see the kids on Pochocuape tomorrow morning. We all unanimously agreed that God wanted us to have that service tonight. I pray that this will be a testament to the fact that God has a plan and he is Good! All the time.

Debriefing

We did not have a traditional debrief tonight, because of our service. We did have an open time of sharing, however, and we chose to go over what we had been thankful for on our trip, in light of the frustration we were facing with not originally being able to go to Pochocuape:

 “I’m just thankful that God brought me on this trip to be on this missions team. Being with you guys, it’s like my family got bigger.” Sarah Childers

“I’m thankful in regards to this trip because of that moment earlier this week that just sealed the deal—now I know 100% that God is real.” Garret Grant

“I’m thankful just to be on this trip. This trip has been different for me because I don’t know exactly why I’m here yet. God hasn’t placed it on my heart. Normally when I come down here I have incredible spiritual experiences, but to step back, just to take a back seat as a leader, and see other people step up. Tyler, Josh, Seth…God has great plans for you guys here.” Scott Wloszczynski

“I feel like you guys let us be ourselves more than other youth groups. And you give all that we do up to God and let Him do His thing. You don’t fall into the trap of “hey, let’s do it this way” instead of letting God lead…just like with the rain today.” Seth Rhodes

“I’m thankful for everyone behind the scenes, like the cooks and our bus drivers and being able to stay in such a beautiful place. And being able to come on this trip with such an incredible group of people…I’ve grown more internally and spiritually in this past week than I’ve ever been able to before.” Lauren Vollrath

Prayer Requests

Pray for continual good health! So far everyone who has begun to feel sick has gotten over it and we haven’t had any serious illness. This is a record for our Nicaragua trips! God is definitely placing his protective hand over us.

Pray for safety as we travel to Leon tomorrow. We will be working at a church with one of our translators and helpers from a previous trip, Oscar. But we don’t know many details about the church or the congregation. Pray that God’s plan comes to fruition, whatever that may be, and that we see Him work as we did today.

Thanks to our successful fund-raising, we have some money left over to donate, and we will be discussing tomorrow night how we think that money can best be used before we leave. Please pray for guidance on this issue.

Please keep praying for Edwin! We do not have an update on his situation but will be visiting the orphanage on Friday before we leave.

Pray for our team! Something powerful is happening here. People are changing. Students are growing. Leaders are developing. God has something in store for us this coming year. Pray that we don’t fall into complacency once we leave Nicaragua, that we remember our experiences here and all that we’ve learned. And pray that the fellowship and community building within Salt stays this strong, if not even stronger, outside of Nicaragua!

Many of the students said, during our debriefing, that seeing the children at both of these locations was absolutely heartbreaking, and left them speechless—after seeing God in the children of Pochocuape and La Chureca—you really are at a loss for words.

Arriving on the mountain, we sent one team of students and translators off to gather up the children in the area. We went from house to house, meeting the kids, and telling them both about the youth service today, and the adult service tomorow.

Some of the children on the mountain were very shy, but for the most part we were greeted with shouts of excitement and open arms attached to running legs.

The people of Pochocuape are unbelievably friendly. They desperately want our friendship, and most children find one person that they bond with specifically. Michael reconnecting with Megan outside of his house. Michael accepted Christ during our Salt trip last year.

Once our group arrived at the Fe y Esperanza school, about a quarter of a mile from the compound, the remaining students had already set up games and crafts for the children.

The children were given squares of canvas and some markers, and most of them decided to write to their American friends and turn them into bandanas.

We had a short worship service at the school before heading to lunch. Our goal was to reconnect and allow our new students to build relationships with the children of Pochocuape, ultimately inviting them and their families to our service tomorrow night.

We led the students to the large field next to the compound and continued playing with them while lunch was being prepared.

It really is incredible how friendly these children are. All they want is our love and compassion, and many of our students who were in Nicaragua for the first time had no problem connecting with the kids.

Josh Robinson playing with a child.

Lauren Vollrath with two of her new friends.

Lisa Hartman with a group of buddies.

Natalie Will with a giggly friend.

And of course, for others it was a joyful reunion—like old friends seeing each other again for the first time in months, if not longer.

The food was prepared outside by local women (Pastor Jorge’s wife Monica and others) cooked over a fire outside of Monica’s house.

A number of soccer balls were donated to Salt Company by Tri-Cities Soccer (St. Charles, IL) to share with the Nicaraguan children. The kids at Pochocuape LOVE soccer, and were overjoyed to have nice, new balls. Most of their sports equipment is secondhand and falling apart.After eating lunch, we packed up and left for La Chureca. La Chureca is a dump located within the city of Managua where hundreds of families live, picking through the garbage every day for a living. While the government has finally stepped in and started relocating families to houses outside the dump, it is still one of the most impoverished places you can image.

The road leading up to Maria Magdelena’s church..

Unloading our equipment to serve the children of Maria’s church.

Our leader Autumn reuniting with Maria Magdelena, the founder and pastor of the church in La Chureca.

This woman ran up to Lauren and embraced her. They were so thankful for our service.

Seth Rhodes and his drum.

Autumn Gilchrist applying stick-on tattoos.

We performed a slightly abridged service for the children of La Chureca, which today were mostly the younger students.

Our “Set Me Free” drama, this time the main character being played by Sarah Ganster.

A team prepared food in the school’s kitchen. We were able to start handing it out to the students before leaving.

After helping with dinner we had to head back to Quinta Arien. It was extremely difficult for some of our students to depart from the children of La Chureca.

The night back in the guest house was equally as emotional. Al, the director of the Horgar de Fe orphanage, came and shared his story with us—how he grew up abandoned by his parents and living as an orphan, ultimately leading to an incredible testimony of reconciliation, forgiveness, and salvation.

Debrief:

Highs and lows again today.

“Seeing Tyler connect with a kid today since he’s been working behind the scenes. It was really awesome seeing him out there playing with them. Same with Josh and Ariel. I’ve been especially praying for those three, and it was great seeing them love on those children.” Megan McKinley

“This was my second trip to the dump, and this time I had the opportunity to give one of the little boys my shirt. It just felt amazing being able to give away clothes to people who have nothing and really need them.” Kalah Anderson

“I noticed something during La Chureca. You were all singing to the children. But five men outside stopped and looked towards us, listening, and it just made me wonder what was going through their minds. There was more than one ministry going on there.” Jana McKinley

“I love how the kids are happy with such little things. One of the shyer boys, Fabian, found a straw wrapper and he picked it up and played with it, and then we started passing it back and forth and every time I dropped it they would laugh at me. I had never heard Fabian laugh before.” Sam Berg

“A high was playing with the kids today that I‘ve known for the last four years. If you ever come back…it’s almost like time has not passed. They run to you and they jump up into your arms and give you these hugs. And it’s such an awesome feeling! And I almost feel like, for them, it’s a differentiator from other group that comes through, because we keep coming back! The other high was Maria is just such an awesome woman. Her prayer was the best thing I’ve had in the last few months! It makes you feel awesome to serve her because of what she does back.” Bob Hilt

“I have a high and a low. At Pochocuape I met two girls, and one wrote her name and mine in a heart, and she wrote “Izzy is my sister” in English. It was amazing… My low was when the kids were eating my new friend Natalia took my hand and took me over to get food. But she didn’t have a bowl. I found out through a translator that since she didn’t have a bowl she wouldn’t get to eat. That was really hard for me to see.” Izzy Smith

“At La Chureca we were all singing, and I spotted Nubia [a translator] sitting there, and I dragged her onstage and I’ll probably have bruises tomorrow because of it, but it was so worth it because by the end she was smiling and laughing. My low is that Curtis [a Salt student], who’s like my brother and who I’m closer to than almost anybody isn’t here. He wasn’t able to come and I’m just sad that I couldn’t share this with him.” Tyler Dewar

“I got to reunite with my two friends, Helder and Axel. Helder told me that he has been consistently reading the Bible I gave him last year. I also learned through a translator that Helder is the top student in his grade, and Axel is second on his honor roll. It’s so awesome seeing how passionate they are about God and their education—especially in a culture where so many boys grow up into men who become destitute and let their lives waste away. What we’re doing with these kids is so worth it.” David Walton

Prayer Requests:

There were a few minor injuries today. Just some scrapes and bruises while playing with the kids, but please pray that they do not get infected but heal quickly.

Pray for Chepe, one of the boys at Pochocuape, who has something wrong behind his ears. His parents and the people at the compound aren’t sure what it is, and he will be having a doctor’s visit shortly. Chepe and his friend, Maddie Collins.

Students are starting to worry and pray about what life will be like returning to the States after being in Nicaragua. Lives are being changed, and the Spirit is moving.
Pray that our students will never forget the things they’ve seen here and the people they’ve met. Pray that their lives will be forever changed and that their experience in Nicaragua will be the catalyst for a lifelong commitment to missions and the pursuit of God’s Spirit.

And a praise! Last year we made a post about a girl named Milgros who has been diagnosed with an intestinal condition since she was twelve days old. She has made an incredible recovery since her surgery and has been healed from all of the pain she was experiencing last year.

The now healthy Milagros and Autumn Gilchrist, one of our Salt Leaders who suffers from the same condition. Thank you so much for your prayers!

Halfway through our missions trip, today was our day off. We were able to sleep in slightly later than usual, and after another delicious breakfast we made our way to one of the large marketplaces in Managua.

Students were able to buy anything from small souvenirs to machetes to dresses and shoes, and really became immersed in the Nicaraguan culture and economy.

After eating a sack lunch, we drove to Leon, where we spent our afternoon and evening at a beach.

It was incredibly relaxing. Some of the students had never been to the ocean before, and the waves were large and the weather perfect.

We had our dinner at a hotel on the beach.

Dinner! Quite delicious.

In traditional fashion, just as we began to eat, storm clouds rolled in and we enjoyed a thunderstorm over the beach while eating.

After dinner we made our way back to the guest house, where we debriefed. After the debriefing a number of students stayed up, where we spent the rest of the night worshipping together—a cappella—praying for each other that God would be moving through our group. The Holy Spirit was definitely present during this time, and it was just an incredible bonding experience within our group leadership.

Debrief:

This is the halfway point of our trip. Everything is going to change from here on out. We’ve been dealing with mostly children living in lower middle-class communities, but tomorrow we are going to spend our morning on the mountain near the Pochocuape compound, working with children whose entire families live in small tin or wooden shacks, and in the afternoon we will be serving at La Chureca—the Managuan city dump—where hundreds of children live and have grown up literally in garbage.

Pray that we will be able to impact these children for Christ and that our own students would have their eyes open to the needs of the Least, the Last, and the Lost among the nations.

Pray for our group as the days begin to feel longer and longer. It has been an incredible week so far, and we have been growing so close as a team, but traditionally people are more on edge as time passes.

Pray that we will be filled with the spirit of love and compassion not just for the children we are serving, but within our own community as well, and that we will continue to grow as brothers and sisters in Christ.

Pray that God will send a spirit of healing to the group. A few are starting to feel sick.

So we spent almost our entire day at the orphanage, other than a lunch break back at the Quinta Arien guest house.

The students at the orphanage were ecstatic to see us again! They are so used to groups coming in for a day, or even just an afternoon—and usually think that Americans, like us, simply come and go and forget about them. So when we showed up at their Sunday school this morning they were running around laughing and trying to find the friends they had met the day before.

Continuing our tradition from last year, we are creating a banner for the children as a reminder of our week and our message.

Kalah Anderson and her friend, drawing with chalk on the floor inside the open-air sanctuary.

  Some arts and crafts.

Neighborhood friends playing before the service.

Our service started about 10:00. We had initially thought that we were just going to be sitting in the service with the children, but it turned out that the church had hoped we could present for them (since the younger children don’t go to the service on Saturday nights). Thankfully we had our worship team and some music prepared!

Some of our worship leaders singing on stage, and Josh Robinson praying in the audience.

After the morning worship service, the students broke off into smaller devotional groups, and we eventually split up for lunch, with the Salt students returning to the guest house—just in time, too, because almost immediately after getting off the bus the clouds poured down torrents of rain in just a few short minutes. It was enough to completely change the climate, and while the cooler temperatures were nice, it was incredibly humid, and the rain caused all of the bugs to come out!

Autumn and her new Nicaraguan friend Luis.

At 5:00 families and adults from the surrounding neighborhoods began to arrive and we began our worship service.

Josh Robinson sharing his testimony, along with Carlos, one of our interpreters.

This service had a different drama, along with different students sharing their testimonies.

Natalie Will and the rest of our student cast performing our drama.

Sam Berg, Sarah Ganster, Megan McKinley, and Lisa Hartman singing a cappella.

Lauren Vollrath shared her testimony as well.

The audience after Lauren’s profession of faith.

More worship—“Hosanna” sung in English.

After our testimonies Bob, our director, shared one of the most powerful sermons I’ve ever heard him preach about the prodigal son and the return to faith.

Bob invited anyone wanting to accept or recommit their lives to Christ to come up on stage, where our team joined them in prayer.

At the end of the service Bob invited the local pastor to come onto the stage so that we could lay hands on him and pray for him and his congregation.

The pastor, after our prayer, turned the tables on us, and implored the church elders and leadership to come up on stage and find individual students and pray over them. Even though we could not understand the words of their prayers, the desires of their hearts were more than evident as they came forward and prayed for our team.

It was undoubtedly the most emotional night of our trip thus far. We will not be returning to Hogar de Fe until Wednesday, so continue to keep the orphanage and church in your prayers! Tomorrow we will be taking a midweek break, spending some time in the city of Managua at the market experiencing the culture, and in the afternoon visiting the ocean.

Debrief:

Tonight was focused more on our own missions team. Students were asked to share about examples of Christ they saw in their teammates in order to encourage one another.

“I want to point out Megan, because she was constantly surrounding herself with kids, never taking a break. And during our time in Sunday school I was with her and she would constantly help me communicate with the children. She never got frustrated or bothered, even though I kept having to ask her questions.” ~Izzy Smith

“After Josh and Lauren gave their testimonies everyone came up and encouraged them and gave them hugs. It’s just what Josh shared—we’re like a family here.” ~Aiden Williamson

“Tyler has been a huge servant this whole week so far. And it’s all in the background: not this attitude of ‘Oh, I want to be up front for everyone to see me.’”… “I’m going along with Tyler as well. I know the tech thing is really an important part of what we do and not everyone can do it. So thank you for stepping up.” ~Bob Hilt and Jana McKinley

Prayer Requests:

One of our translators recommitted her life to Christ tonight. Praise God, and please be praying for her as she continues growing.

Despite our growing unity as a team, there is still spiritual warfare going on, and some students want continual prayer to help fight against that.

We will be going to the beach tomorrow. Pray for safety for our group!

Pray that God will continue to keep our good moods up. Traditionally its the 3rd/4th days where people start getting tired and grumpy after all of the short nights and close proximity. Pray that doesn’t happen this year!

Edwin Update: (Read initial post about Edwin here.)

According to his mother, Edwin had one of his best days in months today. So praise God! Edwin and his mother will be visiting the doctor tomorrow [Monday]. This meeting was not originally planned, and none of us are really sure what exactly is going on, but his mother is extremely nervous. Please be praying for her, her son, and their doctor tomorrow! Pray for God’s Spirit of healing to come down on Edwin and that, as we see in John chapter 9, his physical ailments will be used to bring glory to God!

After preparing our hearts for service, our team gathered their belongings for the day’s events. We would be heading to Hogar de Fe again. Each student paired with two or three of the children at the orphanage.   A special care package had been prepared for each child filled with school supplies, toys, and personal gifts.

Scott Wloszcynski organizes all of the gift bags.

We arrived at the orphanage and met in the cafeteria, where all of the students, American and Nicaraguan, sat in a circle, where names were called and we met our “adopted brothers and sisters.”

Sarah Childers and Seth Rhodes introduce themselves to the orphan children and exchange gifts.

After all of the school supplies and presents had been stowed away in the dormitories, we had a few hours to spend engaging with the children and getting to know them—playing sports and games, doing crafts, or just talking. Al, the director, had told us that all of the students were supposed to be practicing their English, so we were to use as little Spanish as possible!

Aiden Williamson teaching one of the students how to use a yo-yo.

Tyler Dewar and a number of the students broke off into teams and played basketball.

While Katy Rupp found that the orphans love card games, it can be hard to explain the rules without knowing Spanish. Thankfully Lisa Hartman was able to translate when needed.

The Light Co. team last week built tables for carpetball and targets for a beanbag toss. They are already being put to good use.

The Nicaraguans love make-up! And they love applying it too.

Jailin Turner and one of the girls coloring with chalk.

After playing games and eating lunch together, we all loaded up onto busses and made our way down to a sort of collaborative presentation of a number of orphanages in the Managua region.

They each had groups of children perform dramas, sing songs, play music, and give speeches about their different ministries—all in English—performing for credit in their English classes.

We packed up and returned to Quinta Arien, the guest house we’re staying in, had a quick dinner, and got ready for the heart of what we had prepared for our mission trip—a service for the children at the different sites we will be working at. The services include music with our worship band, Bible readings, and dramas—all in Spanish—along with translated testimonies and a salvation message.

A number of our students, including Garrett Grant and Megan McKinley, rehearsing for their drama that evening.

Back at Hogar de Fe, after a brief reunion, we all settled down for our worship service.

Izzy Smith playing with one of her new Nicaraguan friends before the service.

Our worship band, led by Nate and Seth, and accompanied by some adult volunteers from Hogar de Fe.

Kalah Anderson shared a touching testimony.

Another interpretive dance from our worship team.

One of our dramas, set to a Spanish version of the band Lifehouse’s “Everything.”

Maddie Collins also shared her testimony. After the service a number of both students and adults came up, commenting on how close to home the stories shared by Kalah and Maddie were—and many of our students were reminded of how much we have in common with the Nicaraguan people.

After a salvation message, we ended with another round of worship.

One of the local pastors from the church worshipping.

To conclude the service, the pastor at the orphanage preached an incredibly powerful exhortation about how God was calling us to rise up beyond the generations prior, building up God’s Kingdom.

After warm good-byes, we all returned back to the guest house to debrief and prepare for tomorrow, where we will be presenting a similar service for all of the families in the community, not just the students at the orphanage.

Debrief

We shared some highs and lows from the trip thus far:

Highs: In the past, especially at Pochocuape, we interacted primarily with younger children. It has been an entirely different experience at Hogar de Fe, where some of the orphans are nearly twenty and the same age as our own students. Besides simply being easier to communicate with, they have seen a lot more in their lives than the younger children, and it has been both a blessing and an eye-opener to share with them and hear their stories.

After only one full day many of our students already feel as if we have been completely accepted by the students here. Lisa Hartman commented,“My new friend Tanya, who I just met this morning, already had a seat saved for me when we went back to the orphanage tonight. I just really felt like I belonged.”

The Worship: Despite a couple technological hiccups early on, it was just incredibly moving to sing in Spanish alongside the Nicaraguans.

Several students shared positive feedback they received not just from the students, but from adults as well—translators, parents, and others who came by. It’s very encouraging to know that our message is applicable to a wide range of audience members.

Each of the orphans received a new Bible in their care package. A handful of them had brought them to the service that night and already started using them, and Carlee Hilt shared that one of the younger boys she met today pulled her into his room to show off the Bible he had received. It was his favorite gift.

Lauren Vollrath shared about her girl, Paula, who at first didn’t talk much while receiving the gifts, but later in the morning they were making some musical instruments together. Paulda made Lauren a tamborine that said “Paula y Laurina T.A.M.” When asked what  “T.A.M.” stood for, Paula hugged Lauren and said “Te amo mucho.” Even if we don’t see as obvious of a response from the children, it doesn’t mean that they aren’t being impacted—they might just be shy. We are making a difference in their lives whether we can see it or not.

Lows and Prayer requests: Some orphans clearly feel bitter toward Americans—especially missions groups. They know that we are only here for a short time, and they feel as if we will completely abandon them once we leave. Please pray that they will understand the lasting friendships we wish to build—not only as friends coming year after year but also as eternal brothers and sisters in Christ.

Things don’t always move as smoothly as we would like—especially within our services. Please pray not simply that things would go well and we wouldn’t run into problems, but that God would give us patience to overcome anything adverse that comes our way.

And lastly, a large number of students mentioned hearing Edwin’s story as their emotional low point of the day. Please see previous blog post about him and his current condition. Please check it out here and pray for him! Spread the word!

This is not our normal daily blog. Instead, I have a prayer request for everyone reading this.

Our team returned to Hogar de Fe today. After arriving our students split off, each with two or three of the children living at the orphanage—except for me, as I was going around taking photos for our blog.

After wandering around for a little bit, I stepped into one of the dorms and met Edwin Joel. He’s four years old.

About two years ago Edwin suffered brain damage from an unknown source. Half of his brain suffered. As a result, he has been unable to feed himself, and has to eat through a feeding tube. He has also stopped talking.

Edwin with his mother and Sarah Ganster, one of our high schoolers.

At nearly five years old, Edwin is only 16 pounds. Because of insurance problems, he went months without any medicine, and he was just recently able to receive medical treatment. He was just released from the hospital today.

The mother, Marta, has two other boys (9 and 7). They all live at the orphanage. She has land, but not a home that is safe for Edwin to be living in.

Students and leaders gathered to pray for Edwin.

Autumn Gilchrist and Megan McKinley.

The doctors say that he is getting better, and he’s gained a little weight. A rash and blisters that had covered his entire body has almost completely disappeared. Eventually they will put a feeding tube in his stomach to help him eat.

However…the doctors also said that if he was not able to make significant weight gains within the next fifteen days, then they would not be able to offer more treatment, and they would have to leave him with his mother.

So please, please pray for healing! Pray that he will recover soon and gain weight before his next appointment with the doctors!

A number of students laying their hands on Edwin and praying for him.

Edwin’s mother holding a photo of him taken two years ago, a healthy baby.

We’re heading to our next assignment and everything is very rushed down here in Nicaragua. But please. I implore you. Pray for Edwin as soon as you can. Pray for God’s spiritual healing and that the doctors will be able to treat him when he returns to the hospital in fifteen days!

This is an extremely urgent matter. If nothing changes in fifteen days then Edwin could be in serious trouble.  Please share this with your friends. Tell them Edwin’s story.

The song Hosanna says“Break my heart for what breaks yours. Open my eyes to the things unseen.” That is the epitome of this trip. I don’t even know how to put it into words. We see things and experience things that we never would at home, and it breaks our hearts. And this is what the cause of Christ is here. Our hearts are broken for what his breaks for, and he’s using us. But that’s what’s hard about this situation. We can’t do anything besides pray for the family. We believe God is a God of healing, and we believe in the spirit of prayer. Let’s demonstrate the power of God’s Spirit through prayer and healing.

“Out of the three trips that I’ve been on, this is the most horrific thing I’ve seen. It’s a situation completely out of our control. It just breaks my heart. There’s got to be more Edwins….” Autumn Gilchrist

Update 7/17/2011:

The Missions Team visited Edwin prior to traveling back to the US. Check out the details here.