So - how did we end up heading to Nicaragua?
Rob has felt very led to do something of this nature. Once we read David Platt's "Radical", he was sure that he wanted to go on a mission trip. We looked at 3 options. 1) Ukraine - there was a group from our church getting ready to go there to support a ministry that is near and dear to our hearts called Jeremiah's Hope. (www.jeremiahshope.org) 2) Kenya - a client of mine is a missionary in Mombasa. There was a group from another local church going to visit them. 3) Living Water International - LWI (www.water.cc) is an organization that sends teams of 12 to various places to drill water wells and to teach hygiene to the local villages.
The decision was fairly easy. We were very interested in the Ukraine trip, but the time frame was short and we decided that that was one that might wait until the 'next' time. Kenya, while it was a huge temptation because we really wanted to go to Africa, seemed to not have the components that he was looking for. It seemed like about 70% tourism and 30% ministry work. Living Water however, seemed to have everything we were looking for. It was Christian based, there was a 'project' that would benefit the village - for generations - AND, we could do it together because of the hygiene component. Really, can you see this girl getting out there and drilling a well? But LWI comprises their teams of 8 drillers and 4 hygiene teachers (who must be women), so that was perfect for us. We were going to go!
So, we just figured that we would have them add us to a team and go do our thing. WRONG! God had other plans! Rob mentioned to his men's accountability group that he was going to do this. Several of them thought it sounded interesting. So, Rob decided to open it up to the church as a whole and see if anyone really wanted to come with us. We advertised an informational meeting in our church bulletin. As we and headed off to our meeting, we figured that we would be lucky if one or two people might really show some interest. Well (I get chills when I think about this) so many people showed up for that first meeting, and immediately gave their deposit that we had a waiting list!!! SHAME on me for limiting God like that. We were absolutely blown away! Everyone I suppose had their own reasons why it interested them. But one story in particular is so powerful that I want to share it with you, in Dan Richardson's own words, so I will save that for another posting! (Makes you want to come back and read more doesn't it?)
(Excuse the random picture - just wanted to practice.)
So that is how this whole thing began. It has been an amazing experience. I have learned a lot, and we haven't even checked in for our flight yet! I've learned that Tetanus shots hurt much more than Hepatitis A or Hepatitis B shots, and that it is harder than it may seem to schedule the 8 days to take your Typhoid medicine. I have learned much more important things than that, but I fear that I have gone beyond wordy. So, as you finish reading this, I would ask you to take a minute to read over the names of the people on this amazing team. Think about each of them - pray for them by name. Hopefully through this blog you will get to know them better. Trust me, they are really worth knowing. If nothing more happened from this trip, I know that I have been deeply blessed and am a better person for having gotten to know them better.
Nicaragua Team (alpha order, cause that is just the fairest way) (And I get to go first, lol)
Karen Anderson
Rob Anderson
Lauren Gibbins
Kent Grubb
Jim McDaniel
Deanna Mesa
Emily Ockerman
Dan Richardson
Randy Turner
Theresa Turner
Josh Zimmer
Kristen Zimmer
Excited to follow this journey!
ReplyDeleteI love it! Thank you for sharing your journey and your heart.
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