Day 8

Good evening, or morning if you're reading this with your morning cup of coffee. Today was shopping, painting and movie, I'll let the girls talk about all this, but I have to admit that the movie has touched me deeply and reminded what our walk with God is all about. I have a lot of reflecting to do!
-Jake

Shopping is nothing like montreal, thats for sure! We only had 45 minutes to shop through a bunch of little stores and surprisingly we were able to get everything we wanted in that time. We finally finished painting the school today, but it was a challenge. It was crazy hot today and the heat just made it that much harder to paint. A few grade 11's came back to help us finish up today and their help was definetly appreciated. Tomorrow we get to go back to say bye to the kids and to see the final outcome of our work. 1 more day here and we're home :)
-Tessa

Shopping was very stressful for me and unlike Tessa, I did NOT get everything that I wanted in 45 minutes (sorry Patrick and Elizabeth :S). We painted the second coat in the classrooms today and it was brutal. The paint wasn't staying on but we eventually finished it and it looks pretty decent. The movie we just finished watching was very inspirational and simply amazing. Tomorrow we will still be learning more about Nicaragua then we will be picking up food from the market for the feeding program at the school we're serving which will also allow us to say goodbye to the students, teachers and other staff that we met there during our 10 days. In the afternoon, we are visiting an orphanage which i am so so so so so excited for. It will be hard for me not to want to bring every single one of them home.
Goodnight,
Anya

Hello all, Hot, hot, hot and hottest! The humidity level is soooo high. Annelies and I have been fighting with a headache for the last 3 days. On the upside my hair looks great :)
The girls worked so hard today in the heat to finish our painting job. Thank goodness a few of the grade 11 boys came back to the school to help us. I wonder why........
The movie we saw was called Reparando. Google it and you will find a few youtube clips. An amazing documentary on how God can use a few people who feel called to change the lives of so many in Guatamala. I will share more when we get home.
Tomorrow we are looking forward to going to the orphanage. A few of us have had a cold (thanks Terrance) and depending on how we feel we may not get to go in and hold some babies :( Please pray that we all feel better. One of us is having bathroom issues. I will let her tell you about it in person. Pray also for Katherine. She has the cold and worked like crazy today and paid for it this evening. Don't worry Martine, we are all taking good care of her and she was feeling better.
The girls that did not blog this evening send their apologies but the heat and the hard work has sent them all to bed early.
Thank you for all of your encouraging words and your prayers.
Blessings, Caroline

After the movie we talked about what following Jesus is about: he was a friend of sinners, never turning anyone away, and loving with the love of God. At the heart of our faith, this is what makes our faith real: God's love being worked out in our lives and us loving God and others. To bad churches and Christians often forget this. Thank you for your prayers and your encouragement. I discoverd that the blog had privacy blocks on and I've disabled them so commenting should be much easier: comment and post.
God bless, Jake

Day 7

Good day everyone, it's hard to believe that we've been here a week already. The time has flown by and we've taken in a lot of information and experiences in the past 7 days. Today started with a sobering experience, as we were driving to Hosanna Sur, we came across an accident between a pickup truck and 2 motorcycles and one of the motorcycle drivers lay on the side of the road and he was dead. Many of them do not wear helmets, though with this accident, it's unlikely even a helmet would have saved him. It is a reminder that life is a gift from God and precious, but also that God may call us home at any time and we need to be ready right now, not leave our relationship with God for tomorrow. The girls were shaken up by this and it showed in their quietness for the first part of the morning. We spent time with the grade 11 students all morning and they helped us in the afternoon. I'll let everyone else share how they expereinced the day themselves.
-Jake

I'd first like to take this opportunity to apologize for my insane mothers comments. I love you and miss you Mommy but you gave us all a good laugh with your technical difficulties...it probably made me miss you more.Thank you to everyone who has commented. It is definitely nice to hear from people back home. Mom, Dad, Mr. Richard (Katie, you too)and Mr.Steve, you type exactly how you speak! We all miss you. Today had a brutal start but we were able to actually have a good time connecting with the grade 11ers. The language barrier will never cease to be weird and awkward but we did have the opportunity to laugh and poke fun about class clowns, dating, teachers... justin bieber...etc. We also got the majority of the painting done with the help of the tall grade 11er boys. We all discussed how we don't want to share too much on the blog so we can have some interesting stories to come home with. So that is all for now. Be prepared for june 2nd. Love you and Miss you all:)
-Lea

wafu banana bean and papa new guinea, MISS YOU! Mom says she misses you guys also.
- Annelies

Hello family, just like Lea mentionned previously, I dont want to mention too much on the blogs because I know I will have so much to tell you when I get home, which I believe you'll prefer more than: "well you read it on the blog, no need to hear me speak" (haha)
Love and Miss you very much. Can't wait to be home again.
-Anya

So i pretty much agree withh everything Anya and Lea said... I can't wait to be home to tell you guys about everything that has happened down here! I'm just writing cause I know mom and dad count on me to say something. I love you guys and miss you mucho.
-Tessa

Tonight we talked about God, doubts, our own faith and lots of questions, continue praying that God continues to work in all our hearts, helping us to love him more and more as he loves us,
-Jake

a few pictures to reflect the schools we've been at, the poverty and the wealth

these pictures are from the Jordan school

 the Antorcha Divina school

the organic farm which has impacted over 5,000 families

the Treasures of God school

poverty is a major issue in Nicaragua

but there is also extreme wealth, not many inbetween however

Day 6 Sunday

Hello there everybody, thanks for the postings, the girls especially look forward to reading your comments! If you want to post, you will be asked to register, but you simply need to give some basic information so that when you post a comment, we will know who it is from. Today we went to a Nicaraguan church, Hosanna Sur, right by the school we are working at and worshipped in Spanish. I'm sure the girls will share something about that, then this afternoon we went to the Pacific Ocean. It is now around 6 PM here and we have the evening to relax, and even I'm giving them a night off from talking! Now it's their turn to share--Jake

So today was the beach and it was amazing. The weather was perfect and we got to play a soccer game with some boys from here. We had an awesome day!
-Tessa

Soccer on the beach. Enough said.
loved it
-Anya

Today we got to go to the beach and play soccer against a bunch of local boys and somehow I managed to score a goal and it was the most exciting thing ever! Of course I got a sun burn again even though I've been putting on sunblock! The food was really good too. It was a great day!
- Katherine

I finally got a decent tan today :). The beach was amazing and so was playing soccer with some local boys. We also got to meet our guide/ translator's wife and step son. He was super adorable and played soccer with us also. The church service this morning was painfully long this morning but we all managed to survive somehow.
- Annelies
P.S HI RICKY RICARDO! miss you Pops! Tell Terrance I say Helloo

So I'll never complain that Pastor Jake's services are too long again. This mornings service was 2 hours and 15 minutes. Add to that, not understanding the language and deathly hot and humid temperatures. Enough said. Unbelievably, the Pastor was in a suit and tie! I did recognise a number of the tunes though :)
The beach was great. We kept a close eye on the girls, as did all the other men/boys on the beach....
Before I sign off, one more comment about yesterday's Zip lining. Moms, when you see pictures of your girls hanging upside down, or flying through the air like superman, they have been doctored, I swear! If you don't believe that, in my defense, I did tell them that I thought they were nuts!
Love to all. Katie, only 4 more sleeps and we will be home :) Tell Daddy and Terrance that we miss them too.
Back to work tomorrow :)
- Caroline

to sum things up a bit, it was a good day and I'm reminded that even when we are somewhere and don't speak the local language, worshipping God still happens! Worship is an international language and doesn't depend on us, but on the Holy Spirit working in us and our hearts and leading us to worship God with all our brothers and sisters. It felt a little bit like heaven today in Hosanna Sur!
-Jake

Day 5 Cultural day

Hi there everyone, this has been a very different day for everyone. Today we took a break from work and learning about ministries and what God is doing in Nicaragua and went to see the beauty of this Central American country. It is truly a beautiful country with rain forests, coffee plantations, lakes and volcanos, all within a short distance of each other. I'll let the others share their favourite part of the day and what they saw.
-Jake

Zip lining through the forest, dormant and active volcanos, boat tour through some islands, feeding and taking pictures with a monkey is what our day consisted of. Today was amazing and we got to see some beautiful parts of Nicaragua. It was a big change and difference from the usual things we have been seeing like the slums and the poverty but it was so much fun. It was great to see the difference between the cullture in Canada and the culture in Nicaragua. We were able to enjoy and experience new things while being able to learn new things about this country.
-Tessa

Today was so much fun and I got to do a lot of things I wouldn't be able to do at home. In the morning we went to a pottery shop where they had three adult Chihuahuas and a bunch of babies which were so cute and cuddly but we found out after they had fleas....gross! After that we went zip lining over a coffee bean plantation which was incredible but also super scary at the same time. I even went upsidedown at one point! Then we had lunch at a really nice restaurant that reminded me of a resort. After lunch we took a boat tour to an island with actual monkeys on it, but wild, not like in a zoo! One even jumped on the boat and ate from junk food. Later we went to see an active volcano which was really cool and amazing. We had Pizza Hut for dinner and thankfully it was like at home! Now we have the evening off to relax and hopefully sleep really well tonight even though a gecko got into our room last night and is somewhere making annoying sounds!
- Katherine

Not very many people get to say that they saw an active volcano, dormant volcano, wild monkeys, baby chihuahuas and got to go zip lining, go on a boat tour around a bunch of beautiful islands, go out for lunch and supper all in the same day in Nicaragua. Today was amazing. That is all.
- Annelies

Cultural day is the BEST day! We finally got to take a break from working. We got to experience the amazing Rain Forest, beautiful Lake Nicaragua, The Masaya Volcano and the animals of Nicaragua. It was definitely a change from all the poverty we have been dealing with the past 5 days. One of my favorite parts was driving through the city of Granada. I would encourage you all to either google maps or google image it...Amazing. It was like a little piece of old Spain. Another mind blowing experience was the zip lining, so much fun for us adrenaline junkies. Also, While stopping off to check out a dormant volcano, Anya and I were asked to be interviewed by a Korean travel channel and all I could think was "great, let's throw another foreign language into the mix!". But hey, We're korean stars now. Today especially we really got a taste of how coveted young "gringas" (white girls) are here in Nicaragua. I don't think we've gotten so many blown kisses in our lives. Anyways, I think it was pretty important for us to see all the positive parts of this country as well on this trip. I will remember this day for the rest of my life. Who else can say they did all this in one day?
Love you Mom and Dad and the Toufexi
Lea xoxo

After reading everyone else's comments, theres not much more to say. It was an amazing experience and something that we will remember the rest of our lives. Not many people get to live through and experience what we did today and it's something we will be able to share with our children later on. It was refreshing to see the beautiful and positive parts of Nicaragua because monday we will be back to seeing and working with poverty. We all thanked God for the gorgeous weather that we had today, not too hot and definitely not too cold which was perfect for our zip lining activity and our volcano visit. Tomorrow we will be going to the ocean so please pray that we make it safely and have amazing weather as it will be our only day at the beach.
Goodnight,
Anya (love you mom and dad  ps. thanks dad for letting me know about Alan's comment. That's so sweet of him)

So, wow, what a day! I am one tired lady. I'm proud of myself that I did not let my fear of heights get the best of me today. I went zip lining in a rain forest! I got harnessed up, climbed up to the platform with everyone else, watched all the girls go, got clipped on myself, then off I went zipping through the rain forest with my heart in my throat and fear in my eyes. When I was done I was so glad I'd done it but was glad it was over...... That's when they told me that there were 10 more that we had to do! Are you kidding me??????
We saw some beautiful places here in Nicaragua! What a drastic difference from the poverty that we have been surrounded by all week. We went on a boat tour in Lake Nicaragua, near Grenada and saw some amazing homes on there own Islands. Fred and Diana, I know you are planning on moving to Ottawa, but do you know that you can buy your own Island here with a beautiful home on it for around $400,000.00? You may want to reconsider your relocation. Just sayin.... I promise we would visit you :)
Katie, I'm glad to hear that you are doing well. I will talk to the Big guy about that canned dog food.
Love you and miss you Hon.
- Caroline xoxo

You've heard from everyone and there is not much to add. It's important that everyone saw that in spite of the great poverty here, there is also great beauty in this country that draws people back. At the same time, it was a reminder of the great gulf between the rich and the poor here; there is almost no middle class. Things are changing slowly and the Christian organizations and followers of Christ are playing a big role in this. Pray for the girls as we will be reflecting more over the rest of the time here on what God is doing here, what kind of a God he is and our relationships with God and other followers of Jesus; but also pray for those working here to reveal God to the people in Nicaragua through the work they are doing to transform the country and the people in it, and pray that we all may be transformed by God as well, blessings
-Jake

Day 5 Cultural day

Hi there everyone, this has been a very different day for everyone. Today we took a break from work and learning about ministries and what God is doing in Nicaragua and went to see the beauty of this Central American country. It is truly a beautiful country with rain forests, coffee plantations, lakes and volcanos, all within a short distance of each other. I'll let the others share their favourite part of the day and what they saw.
-Jake

Zip lining through the forest, dormant and active volcanos, boat tour through some islands, feeding and taking pictures with a monkey is what our day consisted of. Today was amazing and we got to see some beautiful parts of Nicaragua. It was a big change and difference from the usual things we have been seeing like the slums and the poverty but it was so much fun. It was great to see the difference between the cullture in Canada and the culture in Nicaragua. We were able to enjoy and experience new things while being able to learn new things about this country.
-Tessa

Today was so much fun and I got to do a lot of things I wouldn't be able to do at home. In the morning we went to a pottery shop where they had three adult Chihuahuas and a bunch of babies which were so cute and cuddly but we found out after they had fleas....gross! After that we went zip lining over a coffee bean plantation which was incredible but also super scary at the same time. I even went upsidedown at one point! Then we had lunch at a really nice restaurant that reminded me of a resort. After lunch we took a boat tour to an island we actual monkeys on it, but wild, not like in a zoo! One even jumped on the boat and ate from junk food. Later we went to see an active volcano with was really cool and amazing. We had Pizza Hut for diner and thankfully it was like at home! Now we have the evening off to relax and hopefully sleep really well tonight eventhough a gecko got into our room last night and is somewhere making annoying sounds!
- Katherine

Day 4 already

Good evening everyone, it's thundering and lightening outside, thankfully as it has brought down the humidity! Last night we had a fascinating evening as we met a couple from Alberta who moved down to Bolivia about 8 years ago to help the people there develop farming techniques that do not rely on machinery and are sustainable. They shared with us many of their experiences coming to Latin America and taught us much about the people and culture here. They are in Nicaragua to see how they might help here and to explore where God might be leading them next. We gained a great deal of insight into why some things are the way they are here. We are also being challenged about our own culture, the strengths of it and the weaknesses we often don't think about. We are being encouraged not to feel guilty about living where we do and having what we have in comparison to the people here as God has placed us where we are and the people of Nicaragua here, but we are being challenged to think of what our responsibilities might be! A lot of heart stuff and thinking going on!! -Jake

Today was a busy day. We visited an organic farm which was interesting but very annoying to be swarmed by flies. In the afternoon we went to 'Treasures of God' which is a centre for kids and youth with disabilties, mostly physical. It was very shocking and sad to see these children laying down looking very lifeless. We did alot of sensory exercises with them and simply sat beside them. I will let a few of the other girls share their experience.
-Anya (love you Mom and Dad)

Today was a long day. I'm super sunburn so that makes everything a little less enjoyable! In the morning we took a really long and bumpy car ride to an organic farm. I really had to pee and when we got there, there were bats all over the bathroom. It was a terrifying experience. At the farm there were lots of bugs but the animals there were kind of cool. I never knew how big pigs were and its unbelievable! After lunch we went to Treasures of God to interact with the disable children and their mothers. It was shocking to learn some of the kid's stories and how the center works. Besides the bugs it was a good day!
- Katherine (love you Mommy!)

I peed in a bathroom with bats this morning. I never thought I'd say that but it happened. Besides that and all the terrible feces smells from the farm this morning, today was a really good day for me. In the afternoon, as the other girls have mentioned, we had the opportunity to go back to Treasures of God. the first time we went (on Tuesday), Michelle the director was super busy so we mostly felt like we were in the way and we didnt really get the chance to interact with the children which was something I had been looking forward to. This time we each got to interact one on one with a disabled child. At first I had the opportunnity to do stimulation exercises with one of the children. It was very obvious that he was both physically and mentally disabled. I started to get emotional while doing the exercises but didnt want to cry in front of his mother because I recognized that this was something she had to deal with on a daily basis. I then moved on to a little girl named alysia. She was so adorable but was unable to really communicate and had developmental problems. I quickly figured out that she loved getting her hands rubbed and calmed down when I did that. Afterwards, Katherine, Pastor Jake, my mother and I talked to Michelle about all the different kids and what their specific needs, challenges and disabilities were. It was then that I found out that the first boy I had been doing the stimulation exercises with at the begining of the day was born a 'normal' and healthy baby boy. When he was six years old he was running home in the rain and was hit by an electrical wire and got electricuted. He is now 15 years old and the past 9 years of his life have been completely different from his first 6. After hearing all of this I had to excuse myself to the bathroom because my inital emotional feelings that I experienced earlier on in the day came back. I couldnt imagine how it felt for his mother to one day have a completely normal child to now having a fifteen year old that can't walk, talk, feed himself or communicate with others around him. Overall this day was really challenging for me but I'm really glad I was able to see what michelle was doing for all these kids and their families.
-Annelies
p.s love you papa

So this is what happened today and how the different members of our team have experienced the events of the day. We've met some amazing people this week: Blanca, Lennin, Lester, Michelle, and more; others have touched our hearts, I've met a little girl Angie I want to take home :). Please keep us in your prayers and feel free to leave comments as we would love to hear what you are thinking as we serve, learn and experience being in a different culture far from home, thank you--Jake