Naked Streets

This is my third day in Nicaragua.  I’m here. Finally. The first two days we went out to Candalaria where the New Song base and church is.  We will be going out there daily except for Mondays and Tuesdays, which is the weekend for the mission.  This is my first time in Nicaragua though Meg and Whit have been here before.  So, the first day I was able to meet a lot of the youth and spend time with them.  There are other americans staying on the base doing missions as well.  We are staying in Leon, (about 30 min from Candalaria) with a wonderful couple, Sandra and Preston. They have opened their home for us to stay for the first month that we are in Nicaragua. Later, when our team gets here, we’ll move out to the Bloquera with them so that we can all be together.  

Yesterday was our second day out at the base.  The youth there have a dance ministry that Ashley Welingham, from my church in Boone, started.  There is one boy, Giavanny, who is 17 and a very talented dancer.  He has continued to choreograph for the youth, and everyone loves to dance!  While dance practice was happening (which it happens everyday for about 2 hours!)  I saw the younger boys, (ages 6-13) playing soccer, and so I went and played with them!  A friend of mine had given me a word about ministering to people through the simple things like playing soccer. She saw oil on my feet, and when I kicked the ball to another kid, there was then oil on his feet, and so on.  So part of me wanted to play because of that word, and also I love being active with people!  I had the best time out there! All the boys learned my name, and I got to learn many of theirs.  I got hugs from all of them when I left at the end of the day.  Those were my hugs from Jesus.  It blesses me, maybe more so than it blesses them, to be able to have a friendship, and see the love, the same love that I have, flowing out of them!  They have Jesus’ love, he’s all over them, I can’t wait for them to recognize it!

~Brianna