Some Thoughts from Nicaragua

I arrived to Nicaragua after a 10 hour bus ride. I was able to sleep for most of that making the bus ride shorter than it really was (grateful for the ability to fall asleep anywhere and quickly after half an hour of movement). Fabricio and Claudia (Christ for the City base directors in Nicaragua) picked us up and took us to the base for lunch. There we met Joe and Carolina, a missionary couple that leads the Short Term Missions Ministry in Nicaragua. Nicole and I stayed with them for the duration of our time in Nicaragua. And Josue and Jaime (the other team members) stayed with Fabricio and Claudia.

I cannot describe how big of a blessing it was to stay with Joe and Carolina. I was so encouraged by them and learned so much from them. Joe is from Ohio and Carolina is from Costa Rica. Both of them were working with Christ for the City International Costa Rica when they met, then fell in love and eventually got married. Later, God called them to Nicaragua and that is how they ended up there. Hearing their stories and adventures as International missionaries in Nicaragua was really encouraging especially since this was the first opportunity I had since I moved to El Salvador to spend as much time with other international-long term missionaries who have much more time and experience serving in the mission field. Without a doubt, God takes care of preparing us and equipping us with all that we need in order to do that which He calls us to do. So grateful for the reminder.

The base in Nicaragua is very nice, is 8 years old and has around 10 staff working there. The base receives about 13 teams per year. This base is well known for offering good trainings for ministry leaders, missionaries and pastors. This was proven to be true with the training we received last Saturday. We spent about 12 hours learning how to lead short term mission trips, very helpful information. Also, while in Nicaragua we visited Masaya market which has lots of souvenirs and leather items. We also went to El Lago de Apoyo which is one of the most popular sightseeing spots in the area and also visited Nicaragua's historical spots.

More to come soon....!