AACS Nicaragua Trip 2017

Today we started off the day by finishing up our construction projects in the morning and then in the afternoon we visited a public hospital to provide encouragement and prayer for the people there as well as giving donations to provide for their physical needs.  Here are thoughts from the day from several different students: Jeremy Solsman - Today I felt kind of awkward when we first entered our room in the hospital.  When we entered, there were 5 people laving on beds in the room, surrounded by family members.  When we went up to the first person to talk to him, my nervousness melted away and I could feel his joy and the presence of God in the room.  Afterwards, when we went to talk to the other 4 people in the room, I could also fell the presence of God and their joy at our prayers.  This was very encouraging to me to experience God working in these peoples' lives. Rachel Solsman - When we went to the hospital, at first I felt awkward because I didn't rea...

Yesterday, after 3 days of digging 1.5 ft and 3 ft trenches, carrying 40 wheelbarrows of rock and sand, mixing almost 9 bags of concrete, laying 30 support block (150 lbs each), refilling the trenches, leveling the dirt and laying the concrete  Kaitie, Cal, Mr. Cole, Angel, Wilmer and I finally finished our one construction project. We paved a new walk way to what will soon become a shed for fertilizer. It was really hard work that has now taken its tole on all our backs but it was so worth it. The workers here work so hard and I personally wanted to finish this project for them, so it was one less thing they had to worry about. It was great to get to know the workers we worked with, Angel and Wilmer, who are so funny and kind. Today since we were done, we helped other groups with their projects and I got to speak a little to Joel, another worker. The people who work here and even just the people here in general have so little, yet they are so happy and kind and loving and generou...

Thursday-Kaitie and I had a fun time pouring and mixing concrete while talking to 2 of the plantation workers.  We talked the whole time with the workers while doing construction.  We taught them Spanish and they taught me English, while Kaitie helped translate.  We laughed at each other and joked around a lot with the workers.  The two workers then talked to us about the Tower of Babel, and related to how we had a bit of a language barrier as we were doing construction.  It was really cool to see them talking about Bible stories to us, and them asking us how much we read the Bible. There was something really cool about talking to Christians who are so far away from where I live and who speak a different language.  It made me laugh but also kind of sad when one of the workers said to me, "I will tell the government of Nicaragua not to let you out of the country until you have taught me English, and I have taught you Spanish." Cal Anderson

Tomorrow we will have the opportunity to visit a hospital where many patients are seriously, if not terminally, ill. Please pray that God would use us to shine his light and bring hope to often humanly hopeless situations. Ask God to give us opportunities to share the gospel and that peoples' hearts will be responsive. Also, please pray that we would have controlled emotions as we encounter difficult situations. Love to you all - thank you for lifting us up in prayer! The Lord is answering!

I can’t believe it’s already Wednesday! These past couple of days have gone by so quickly, between traveling and house visits and touring the farm and construction, all of the days seem to have melted into one. I have loved being able to form relationships with the workers and translators here at Piñas de Paz, and I have been blessed with the opportunity for me to become better friends with my classmates who are here on the trip with me. My construction task is building a house for Carlos, who is one of the workers here. It has been a labor-intensive yet very fruitful experience. Today, my fellow construction workers - Jeremy, Mark, and Zach - and I carried lumber up the hill to Carlos’s house and helped to nail 2x4’s into the rest of the wooden frame that we had shaped throughout the past couple of days. After returning to the farm for lunch, our team prepared for a Vacation Bible School for the children who live in the Ticuantepe area near Managua. I was part of the Music group with...

Today we continued many of the construction projects around the plantation and in the town that we started yesterday. My group has been doing a lot of heavy lifting while putting in a sidewalk to access a new tool shed that is being built. It was been incredibly difficult work digging trenches, moving dirt, mixing concrete, replacing pipes, cutting out tree roots, hauling wheelbarrows and doing anything else that needs to be done to finish this project. While the work has been difficult, it has been a joy to work with a couple other members of our team along with Angel and Carlos who are on staff here at the plantation. Even though we do not speak the same language and have only known each other for a couple days, we have already been joking around with each other and having a great time like we're old friends. My favorite moment was when it started raining so hard that the trenches we were digging started filling up with water and we had to stop working and seek shelter. Although ...

Exploring God's beautifully amazing creation on our Jungle Walk (aka Walk through the farm). Monday, June 19, 2017