Psalm 133 reminds us “how good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity”. This couldn’t be more true for mission teams as well.  And praise God, we are experiencing and walking in unity as a team. As I watch our students in action each leading their groups around or facilitating their stations I see a visible picture of the body of Christ working together in unity. Using their strengths and abilities, these students are faithfully serving as a body – a unified body under the banner of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

As we’ve settled in to Nica time, we are experiencing days that start early and then they end late.  And these guys are giving it their all – all day long. It’s a big investment to give these kids at camp the attention that they need and desire. But we are reminded that it is less about putting on an exciting camp for them, but really being present with them and engaging their hearts – even through a language barrier. To connect by jumping on the brinca brinca (trampoline) to giving a piggy back ride or simply sitting around – we are learning the ministry of presence. We are seeing that ministry is truly a connection of the heart.

And that is what we are studying in our time here at our team time each night. We are taking a look at what the Bible has to say about our heart and how it is our life. And the promise of Jesus in John 10:10 is that He came not just to give us a future life, but He came to give us a full life now. But in order to gain this life, we need a heart transformation and the ability to see with our spiritual eyes – the eyes of our heart. And we have been learning and applying as we engage with Christ each and every day, serve alongside each other, minister to the kids and even do construction work.

Speaking of construction, we continued our task of moving dirt in preparation for the retaining wall and sidewalks. We also had some holes to dig around posts needing concrete and taking off concrete from poles that had it above ground level. It was more back-breaking work, but as we like to say “character forming”! But I’ve been so proud of these guys work ethic and encouragement of each other during the construction work. We’ve got more hard work ahead, but know that God will give us the strength that we need!

Here are some photos of each of our groups – younger and older boys and younger and older girls.  For more photos, check out our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/wsm.mission.nicaragua.  Thanks for praying for us!