Nicaragua

So my time in Nicaragua was great. It's an amazingly beautiful country. While i was there i found out that Nicaragua is the second poorest country in the Western hemisphere, and has many children who are forced to work because of the economic conditions. 80% of the population lives in poverty. Nicaragua is the largest country in Central America but the least populated. It was hard to see how poor these people are and not be able to help them more than we did. Alot of the homes we saw were just made out of corrigated steel, and some even used cardboard as walls. It was hard to see the level of povety these people are at. It definitely makes you think everytime you go and buy a 3$ frappachino.

The first week we were there we worked with YWAM and taught at their school for grades K-5. We taught the kids bible stories, crafts, and physical education. It was a good week, and a good place to start our time in Nicaragua. We played football or soccer for us almost everyday with them. They worked me quite a bit, but it was still fun playing with them. I spoke at a youth group for boys. We played soccer for an hour and half, then had a bible study, then played soccer for another hour and a half. It was pretty tiring but so much fun.

Our second week in Nicaragua we worked with an organization called Rise Up Inc. (www.riseupinc.org) check out their website it's pretty cool. What they are doing is starting a foster family home for girls. It's really cool. While we were there we went to a place called Chureca. Chureca, which is literally translated “scavenger,” is one of the largest dump communities in the world. The area is infamous for crime, extreme poverty, and hazardous health conditions. We went one day and just walked through the community. We met a lady and she asked us if we could pray for her husband. There was something wrong with his back where he hadn't been able to sleep well for 4 months. He was given a bunch of different pills but because they can't read he had no clue what he was taking or what he shouldn't be doing while taking them. We prayed for his back and saw him two days later and he said he was feeling much better.

The second time we went we brought rice and beans to give out to families. The last lady we gave out a package too, asked us to come pray for her baby because it had a respiratory infection. We later found out that her house was full of smoke with no windows open and the baby was just sitting in there breathing that smoke all day long. When we showed up we prayed for her baby and when we finished it went to sleep and was super peacefull. This lady was the poorest person i've ever seen. And i've seen some poor people. We all felt like we were suppose to give her all the money we had. We only had like 15$ out of the six of us, but to this lady it was the biggest gift. We told her that we don't know her from anyone else but hoped that she would be wise with the money. Not something in the Missionary 101 handbook to do.

We also got to go to another city and hang out with some boys that sniff glue. They are super poor and sniff the glue to forget that they are hungry. The only thing that sucks is that they are now addicted to the glue and walk around high all the time. We bought lunch for two of the kids and tried to keep them there long enough to come down off their high. I would love to be able to go back and work with these kids again.

It was a great trip and i really want to get down there again and see if we can help these people more long term. I know the guys at Rise Up are starting some really awesome programs at the Chureca and with the boys. Check out their site and see if there's anything you can do to help.