Day Two

Today was another wonderful day. When we arrived in the village, we were greeted by all the young children who were not in school. Many of them were wearing their Kidzone shirts and were as excited to see us as we were to see them. They made us feel so welcomed and loved.
To start off the day, we were treated to a tour of some of the coffee "fields". I say fields but they are actually on a steep mountainside. Several of us ended up on our derrières at some point on our hike! The farmer, Henry, who shared with us about the crop, walked as easily as a sure-footed mountain lion. Henry also shared that he has paid off his Argos loan, so he now owns the land.
On our way back up the hill to have lunch, it started to rain. We were a somewhat soggy lunch bunch!
After lunch, Kidzone began, and today we had even more kids. Ashley did an awesome job teaching the kids that God is always with them, and the singing was a blast. Elise led us beautifully with help from Ethan and Stephen.
It wasn't very long after the singing ended and small groups began that the heavens opened up. Now I know that as Pitsburghers you think you know what that saying means, but, trust us, you don't! It was a monsoon. Kate's group, the Orange group, was in the pavilion which has a corrugated steel roof. It was so loud we could not hear each other speak. Since we finished our lesson early, we started "Singing in the Rain", literally. Kate and Josey taught hand motions and danced and sang with the smiling children, all the while being observed by half of the village adults who were seated under the roof. We also taught the Hokey-Pokey.
The Blue group led by Brian and Elise were outside at games when the monsoon hit, along with the game masters: Ethan, Sam, Stephen, and Taylor! They were drenched several times over, but still managed to help the Kidzone kids have fun.
The Green team who were with Bill and Ashley, enjoyed the relative dryness of the school where they were completing the craft.  They did not get wet until they had to walk across the muddy puddles in a normal Pittsburgh heavy rain back to the pavilion.
As you can tell, it was even more chaos today, but all of us had a marvelous day. We were not even worried when we were told that our bus driver was concerned we might not be able to drive out successfully because the roads might be too muddy. I guess we all felt God's presence and pleasure today as we loved and were loved in return. We left the village today "full!"

Few more pictures from yesterday...

Our first day in village!

After a good night's sleep and a hearty breakfast, we headed out on a two hour bus ride to the village. The roads at the beginning of the trip were great. However as we journeyed higher up the mountain, the road gave way to mud and bigger potholes than we see in Pittsburgh in the winter! Our bus driver was amazing and brought us safely to the village. Once there we were welcomed in style by several leaders and many families. We toured some homes and prayed with one gentleman who was ill.
Agros brought in a lovely lunch for us as well as some cold drinks which we especially were thankful to have. Then the first ever Kidzone in Nicaragua began! Kate welcomed the children with great enthusiasm. This was followed by singing, of course with lots of hand motions and energy, a large group teaching, small group time, games and a craft. It was organized chaos as more and more people showed up throughout the day wanting to participate. Many wanted to have their photo taken, which was a part of the craft, and others wanted to play the parachute games and bounce in the inflatables which Agros rented for the event! Yes, inflatable bounce houses!
We are a tired but happy group tonight and excited to see what God is going to do tomorrow. We all feel blessed to be able to be here serving as God's ambassadors.

Here We GO!

Our New Community Church mission team left early in the morning on Sunday, June 18, 2017.  Pictured here is (left to right): The Blair Family (Taylor, Sam, Tannis & Spencer), Mark Bolton, The Kiggins Family (Ethan, Josie, Bryan, Kate & Elyse), Ashley Cavey, Stephen Steward, Gina Bolton, and Bill Cavey.

Please be praying for safe travels, and for the success of the trial run of the first ever 

KidZone in Nicaragua.  May God be glorified in this adventure!