We had our first full day here in Nicaragua, and after catching up on some much needed rest, we were ready to hit the ground running.  Days start pretty early for us and after breakfast one of the team leads us in a brief team devo and prayer time before individual TAWG (time alone with God).  The bus horn signals it’s time to load up to head out to Ruby Ranch.

Upon arrival, the station leaders staked out their locations for camp and all the final preparations were underway.  We did have to flip our “normal” camp in the morning and construction in the afternoon, so we actually started the day with our first construction project which will eventually involve the Wildwood favorite… cantera stones.  We’re started prepping for a walkway that will connect the Rancho to the walkway we build last year around the water slide.

We didn’t get much time to work before the noises of children coming up the road alerted us to prepare for our camp opening.  After gathering and welcoming all the campers, we started by feeding them the lunch we provide.  It’s always amazing to see the kids only eat a little of the lunch and save the rest to take home to their family.

After lunch, we divided into our four groups and started the rotations.  I got to walk around and experience each station and was so proud of how our team planned and executed their first day lesson plans.  It is truly a picture of the body of Christ at work!

These kids all come from the El Caimito community and it’s a good mixture of kids we had last year and some new ones.  We have 50 campers participating this week with us.  They jumped right in to each new experience and the relationship bonds started to be renewed or start new this year.  This is truly the heartbeat of what we do – trying to build relationships that cross language barriers with the home of showing and sharing the Good News with these kids.  Please pray for their hearts to receive our love and most importantly, the love of Christ!

We had a good, full first day, but our work wasn’t done.  We loaded up some tools on the bus and did some road repair on the drive out.  The road is ok, but always pretty wrecked from the rainy season, so we became the Public Works department to work on a section that was giving the bus trouble.  You never know what project we will tackle!

Back to the Quinta for our dinner, then a bit of time to clean up before team time and small group time.  We are looking at the question, “What happens when I lose my love for God?”  We are digging into God’s Word and looking into our hearts to truly understand and apply what John Piper says so well, “God is most glorified in us, when we are most satisfied in Him.”  Thanks for reading today and for praying for our team!