O day full of grace… a great line to a favorite song from choir days in college, but was very fitting for the start to our day today.  There aren’t many days of sleeping in with the time change, sun and birds around here, but with the long day of travel yesterday, it was grace to the team to get a bit more rest (especially the girls who slept past their alarm). But we were awakened to the beauty of this place and a gentle rain falling.

I had to run to the grocery store to pick up food supplies for the week, which gave the team a bit of extended team time this morning and the ability to enjoy God’s grace in a slower paced morning.  But after gathering all our supplies, we were loaded on the bus and headed out to Ruby Ranch to prep for the start of camp tomorrow.

Even the ride out to the Ranch is a gift of God’s grace as we tour picturesque views of Lake Managua, the mountains and valleys of the countryside and even one of the volcanoes.  We worship our way out to the Ranch each day and I also got to share some of the story of the Ranch – how it came to be and the future vision.

Everyone on the team got right to work prepping for their stations and activities tomorrow.  Then after lunch (our staple PB&Js) we were off to our first construction demolition project.

I just was here with a team in December and since then the first ever ‘modern’ bathrooms have been completed. This meant the old, faithful latrine (which was always quite the experience, by the way) could be decommissioned.  The wooden walls and tin roof came down leaving the concrete throne exposed.  We carefully removed it as the school down the road is in desperate need of a latrine overhaul which we hope to do later in the week.  But many jokes were made about the large dumping that was now taking place to fill up the hole in the ground.  But now, the latrine is just a memory… and a smelly one at that.

From there the demo continued with the old cattle stalls (which we had mostly done in a previous visit) in preparation of a hammock porch.  And then we took down the old water tower now that the Ranch has a full water system (also done in a previous visit).  Finally, we worked on the entrance to the Ranch which is always in need of work due to the damage of the rainy season.  But God’s grace covered us all day long with an overcast day and cool breeze and by easing us in to some of the work that will become more grueling as the week progresses.

We always finish our night with team time as we gather to share about our day and study God’s Word together before we head off to small groups.  We are looking at what it looks like to pursue God and being captivated by the awe of God.

Please pray for us tomorrow as we start camp with 50 kids that have never been before.  We are certain they will be apprehensive.  Pray that relationships form quickly and the Gospel is presented in word and deed!