Nicaragua

My trip to Nicaragua is quickly approaching! I am super excited. I am blessed to have people committed to praying for my team each day, and I thought you all might like to join them. Here is a brief rundown of how we will spending each day:

Friday: We leave for the airport at 6:45 am. We arrive in Jinotepe, Nicaragua in the late evening. You can be praying for the safety of our travel that day. It would be great if all of you would say a prayer for Will as he begins his journey as a stay at home dad for the week.

Saturday: We will be spending our day with the kids from the Arms of Love orphanage. We will take the kids to the beach, where they get to swim and have fun. These kids rarely get to go to the because it costs teams quite a bit of money to take them there for a day, so it is a pretty big deal for them to spend a day there. We will also treat them to a meal at a restaurant on the way home, which is another big deal.
Prayer for the day: Pray that God will use this time to show the kids how much they are loved, that we would begin to develop relationships with these kids, and that God would use our team (especially the women) to model modesty and Christian behavior.

Sunday: We will be spending our day at the orphanage. This is a day where we will just love on the kids again. We have some big group activities planned and some devotions and small group Bible studies with the kids.
Prayer for the day: Pray that God will use this time to strengthen the bonds we are making with these kids. Pray that God's love and compassion for them will be shown. Pray for strength and energy for my team as we run around and try to keep up with the kids!

Monday: We will be spending the morning doing work projects around the orphanage. The afternoon will be spent with an American couple who live there and do ministry with boys and girls who have been kicked out of orphanages or are transitioning from an orphanage to a "grown up world" situation. We will spend time with these young adults, and we will be bagging food to take to the dump the next day.
Prayer for the day: Pray for continued strength for the team. Pray that all of the supplies will get to the right location so we can bless the poor with food. Pray that we can help influence the young adults who are transitioning to stay on a godly path.

Tuesday: We will be spending the day at La Chureca. This is the city dump in Managua where hundreds of people live and work, sifting through piles of burning trash to sell. La Chureca is plagued with addiction and child prostitution...a place where parents will sell their daughters to the garbage men for prime trash. We will be handing out a weeks worth of food to the families who live there and praying for people.
Prayer for the day: Pray for protection for my team while we are at the dump. Pray for the people who live there to be open to what God might want to do.

Wednesday: Most of our team will be spending this day at Arms of Love with the kids. We will be doing work projects, devotions, and big group activities. Another part of our team will head into an area where child sex trafficking is huge. They will be prayer walking and just following the Holy Spirit's lead.
Prayer for the day: Pray for the team who will be with the kids. Pray for God to give us extra energy and strength. Pray for the team doing the prayer walking. Pray for protection and the ability to discern and follow the Holy Spirit.

Thursday: We will be heading out with the couple with whom we bagged food and went to the dump. We will be heading to some poverty stricken communities and handing out a weeks worth of food to families. We will also be praying and sharing the message of Christ with these people.
Prayer for the day: Safety for the team. Pray that God would ready the hearts of the people who will be hearing the message. Pray that we are all open to what God wants to do.

Friday: We will be leaving the orphanage at 3 am Friday morning to make the two hour drive to Managua and to the airport.
Prayer for the day: Pray for safety in traveling and re-entering the US.

Thank you to all those who have supported me financially and those who will support me in prayer. I am ready for God to do some amazing things!