It’s peaceful down here while I write these blogs each night.  The students have all crashed and I usually sit under the stars enjoying a nice breeze and listening to the crickets and other creatures of the night.  And even though we are working hard, this mission does bring us rest and renewal.  And I can personally attest to how necessary this is for my life.  Mission Nicaragua always comes on the heels of back to back camps (high school then middle school) and starts our mission trip season (Nicaragua, Montgomery and then Mission Tallahassee).  But even though life in student ministry is fast paced and exciting in the summer… rest and renewal are vital.

So we are settling in to the rhythms of being up early, working hard throughout the day, coming back for a break for dinner and to clean up and then finishing with a time of teaching and small groups… then sleep!  But one of the things we stress is looking (and listening) for God throughout the day.  Each night at team time I ask, “Where did you see God today?”  And this is a discipline that we all must learn to practice.  To have our eyes and ears opened so we can see and hear Him at work all around us.  And I’m so encouraged to see our students get this and to cultivate a practice of pursuing the presence of God.

Well, today started a bit differently as we were able to go and visit our very own missionary, Katie at her place of ministry, ESVO.  ESVO is a part of a Christian school down here that focuses on vocational training and discipleship.  It was a personal joy for me to see Katie in her element and continue to see God’s calling on her life that started back when she was a student in our ministry and first came on a Mission Nica team.  And even more amazing was to see the students working on a metal project that will be the Ruby Ranch sign that gets mounted at the entrance.

Camp today had to flip to the afternoon to accommodate their morning classes, so this gave the team the chance to get going with construction first.  Some worked on cleaning the sidewalks and walls (Nica pressure washing style), painting the sports court and also prepping the ground and paver stones around the waterslide.

The kids arrived for lunch and then camp began.  They had acclimated to the system and were far better behaved than yesterday.  Moving from station to station, they had a blast and are continuing to be exposed to the Gospel.  Our relationships are getting deeper as we build trust and we are having more trouble saying goodbye each day.  But, after camp was over and we did say goodbye, and then we had a bit of time to keep working on the projects we started in the morning.

Coming into the Rancho for dinner dirty and worn out has become the new norm for the Wildwood teams.  But again we are grateful for the work God is doing in and through us.  Everyone on the team is doing well and we pray God will continue to multiply our efforts.  Thanks for your prayer support!