We started a new book this week called Discovering Your Spiritual Gifts by: C. Peter Wagner. It had an interesting point about distinguishing between your talents and your spiritual gifts. I am really liking it but sometimes our discussions about it tend to turn into heated debates because I have realized many people even on my team have different ideas than me about how the Holy Spirit moves today. It was good to see in our class time that even though we may disagree we can still be respectful of the other opinion.

There is something about living in another country other than America that makes you realize how truly "Americanized" you are. Every day we walk down this street usually going to the internet café or somewhere and there is this old lady who grabs your arm as you pass her begging for money. After you pass her she yells "Gringos" until you are out of sight. I have realized being a Gringo basically puts dollar signs on your face regardless if its true or not and is interesting to be faced with so many views on Americans and the way most of them live.

Here is a little run through of our week.

Monday- We had a day off(was needed and appreciated)

Tuesday-Taught ESL at Sisters of Charity

Wednesday- Had Trash Pick-up but changed it up by having a little kids service afterwards. It was cool because we got to talk about Jesus a good bit and many of them had no idea what we were really talking about. They were fine when we were talking about God but got a confused look on their faces when we mentioned Jesus. Its almost like the word "God" has become so common to people but as soon as you start talking about Jesus they get pretty uncomfortable.

Thursday- Me, Heather and Jessica did an ATL and it turned out pretty awesome. We heard about this lady from a local missionary here who is really involved in witchcraft and has some serious health issues. We made chocolate chip cookies for her and went and spent the afternoon talking with her. It was pretty nerve racking knocking on her door since we had never met her and going into her house that was covered with things dealing with witchcraft. She talked to us a lot about the witchcraft but she did mention the Bible and showed interest in learning more. I'm excited about going back next time and being more prepared to talk about what she's involved with because it was a stretch for me coming face to face with that type of spiritual warfare.

Friday- Me, Joe and Amy went to Collegio San Antonio which is a school/feeding center here and cooked lunch and hung out with the kids there for a while. It was a lot of fun and we are looking at getting involved with a couple more feeding centers deeper into the barrios.

Some people on our team are doing a 7 day fast this week so please keep them in your prayers.
 

Another good week in Nicaragua...this week has been full of a lot of class time. We still have been doing ministry time this week but have been having a seminar for our group and some local nicas to learn more about doing outreach in communities the right way instead of just temporary relief but actually developing a system that will stay in place long after you leave the community. It was pretty interesting and I hope our team will be able to apply some of the things that they taught us.

I'm having a hard time blogging right now which is probably because even though it has been a good week; nothing really out of the ordinary has happened. We had our Bible Study on Esther, and did a study on how to Study...(kind of ironic but was good because I learned there are better ways to study the Word of God than maybe how I'm doing it.)ESL went good this week and Wednesday we talked about how we could begin to do more work in the Barrios here which are the poorest places in Granada.

Two people had their Birthdays this week which was nice because there was cake and our team basically looks for any reason to throw a party. It was interesting this week hearing about how the elections went. I feel so out of touch with the news and missed watching the debates and the elections happen. I think it would have been fun to see everyone's reactions at home to who was elected but the ones in our team were pretty good to because several of us have pretty different political views. Granada is having their mayoral elections on Sunday and its crazy how different they do things even for an election for the mayor. We had two huge parades go down our street this week for the Sandinista party and these parades get pretty loud and crazy.

They close down school for elections and I got to have a pretty logical conversation with my taxi driver this week in Spanish about Nicaraguan politics that God really helped me through. It will be interesting to see if things calm down around here after the elections and the same thing at home.

I hope everyone is having a blessed week!

Love,

Jenn

Sunday several people on our team and some young people involved with Young Life went on a hike to the top of one of the mountains around here. It was really beautiful and a great time to worship God and get to know some more of the teenagers that live here. I have never worshiped God from a mountain top before but I would definitely suggest it if you ever have the chance because its definitely an experience. I had an opportunity to share about Christ with this little kid named Carlos who lives on the mountain. That has honestly probably been the best moment for me since I have been here in Granada. Doing ministry has been great but to get to sit down with a little kid and just talk about Jesus was pretty cool.

Here's a little schedule of how most of our weeks look although there's always changes:

Mondays: We always start our mornings off with an hour of quiet time with God then we have class in the morning and then we go to Sisters of Charity to teach English and then come home for chores, team time and usually end the day with a soccer game outside our house with the kids on the street.

Tuesdays: Usually look the same as Mondays although some people on our team coach soccer instead of teaching English.

Wednesdays: We have class In the mornings and then do trash pick-up outside of El Puente (in front of several barrios we are working with.) for our ministry. After that we come back home to do chores, and several of us have free Spanish lessons outside our house from the kids on the street. We have dinner and then team time (which is usually just giving a debrief of our day).The last thing is usually a meeting at El Puente for Young Life leaders.

Thursdays: We have "structured" ministry in the morning which is normally doing an ATL( Ask The Lord) which can go in any way depending on how the Lord directs your group to work in the community. After that we normally have class at El Puente and then finish up the day with Young Life, chores and team time.

Fridays: We usually have ministry in the morning which usually involves working at Sisters of Charity with the children's feeding center. After that we have class time at El Puente and then go home for chores and end the week by hanging out with the kids on the street by watching a movie they play outside and playing soccer afterwards.

Saturdays: Are our free day to get things done like blogging, emailing, and keeping in touch with home. Even though these are our "days off" they tend to be very busy.

Sundays: Every other Sunday we go to El Puente for church and are able to choose what church to attend the other weeks.

That is a pretty basic schedule but things will change a lot in January when we individually get to choose what ministry to dive into and don't have as much class time. I enjoy everything I am learning in class but cant wait to jump into the ministry I am passionate about after Christmas.

Hope everyone has had a blessed week!

Love,

I could write about some of the things that have happened this week but I realized something interesting I thought I would share. Charles Kaye has been teaching a study on a book that we are reading this week and pointed out something really cool. The first three chapters we read this week talked about how we as Christians need to understand our faith as much as possible. The Bible talks about being ready in season and out of season and I guess God really convicted my heart of that this week. I have always (especially in high school) tried to argue my case as a Christian with people and tell them why I'm right and their not. I'm starting to see that being so defensive is not the best way to go because it can turn people off of what your saying pretty fast so its better to talk in love. Anyway, he pointed out how well studied most Muslims and Jehovah Witnesses or people in other religions were about their faith. It just made me question how much devotion I put into understanding God's Word and being able to stand firm in future conversations with somebody who knows their stuff too.

Off that...we have had a pretty good week here teaching English at the schools and picking up trash again today. We went to Masaya which is another city in Nicaragua with some of the guys from El Puente and had a great time. They took us to this really pretty outlook at all the volcanoes and stuff like that and once again I got caught up in thinking about how awesome creation is and the God who did it all. I love being able to have random moments like that to take a little break from the hecticness (I don't think that's a word) of life here to see something gorgeous like that and thank God for it. So that probably has been the highlight of my week so far but its only Thursday so anything could happenJ We lost a team member this week and she flew back home today. I admire her so much for trusting God like she has and please keep praying for her also as she goes back to everything at home.

I think my blogs are starting to get shorter and shorterJ so I will work on that but that's all I have right now. I miss you all at home and think about everyone often. I hope everyone has a blessed week!

Love,

Jenn

This week It has been very cool just running into random people I know. I love that about this country or at least where we are at because it has such a community feel to it. Its so neat to see some of the same people everyday and becoming a fixture in their lives. I have never had this type of community living before at home and am really loving it here. Doing our structured ministry everyday is great and a blessing but the greatest ministry to me so far has just been playing soccer with the kids that hang out on our porch everyday waiting for all the gringos to come out so they wont be bored any more and sitting on my neighbors porch getting to know about her life. I am really excited about tomorrow afternoon because I am getting my first real Spanish lesson by this sweet little kid named Jeebron who also wants to learn English. Those things don't feel like ministry sometimes but they really are in their own way.

We have been doing this really cool study on the book of Esther in our girls Bible study and I've realized that its really good to dissect scripture sometimes. Many times I just read a huge passage and get a basic idea of what's going on but really taking it verse by verse is opening up things I never realized before. One parallel with Esther that I noticed this morning was how she was living with many other women in the palace all there for the same reason. One of them was going to be crowned queen and the rest would become King Xerxes concubines. Obviously that's not exactly the same situation but in a way its similar because as a team we are living together and working in a new territory where we have never been before for one reason and that is to serve God so I thought that was pretty neat. Esther was taken out of her familiar place and had to face many challenges that I'm sure she didn't know she was capable of.

The verse we used was Jer. 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you". "declares the Lord." "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you and to give you a hope and a future." It was interesting because that verse was actually written for the captives that were taken out of Babylon and God was promising them a prosperous future as his people. Esther (being a Jew) probably knew this and was expecting good things for her life until it got turned upside down when she was taken to the palace. Even through all of that she was able to rise above her situation and even stood out to the Kings eunuchs she was under and was noticed by the king which led to her saving her people. I can see this type of thing to in the story of Josheph after his brothers sold him into slavery.

I just think its interesting how God can take impossible circumstances and bring beautiful things from it. Please keep praying for the other people on our team because several people are getting pretty homesick and some are still raising support.

Hope everyone has had a great weekJ

Love,

This week has been full of different ministries. Monday we started our Bible study on the book of Job. Pastor Garcia who is one of the pastors down here who led it for us did a great job because I learned some things about that book I never had thought about before. Our team has been giving timelines since we got to Nicaragua which are just brief run-throughs of our lives. It was a really tough thing for me to do Monday night but there's something about talking about how God has got you to where you are or where you are trying to get to that is very freeing. I was really nervous about it but it turned out to be a cool experience because right before I started talking, the verse 2 Cor. 12:9 popped in my head about God's grace being sufficient for us and it calmed my nerves so much to know that truth. That verse has really just been such an encouragement to me throughout this week.

Monday and Tuesday we began teaching English at Sisters of Charity orphanage and had a great time. At first I wasn't sure how it was going to go because of the language barrier but the girls I was working with were so willing to learn and be patient with my less than fluent SpanishJ . That has really been the best part of this week to me because I started thinking of how much I love to teach and how I hope I can use that a lot while I am here.

As of Wednesday I have been away from home for a month which is exciting to me because I feel like I have already experienced so much that I cant wait to see what the next eight months hold. We definitely celebrated the occasion by Caleb and Laura bringing home a cake from the donut store (kind of ironic)J . I cant believe how fast the weeks go by here. We are pretty busy so I'm sure that's why it feels like that but it still seems so crazy to me.

Wednesday our team went out to El Puente and picked up the trash that is all over the streets in those neighborhoods. At first it looked like there was no way to actually make a difference because there was so much but it turned out way better than I think most of us expected. People came out of their houses and watched us like we were absolutely crazy but after they stared for a while, some of their kids ran out and started helping us. The parents and others standing around were pretty taken aback but eventually they helped to. We are going to go back to that same street every week for one day and just pick up trash and maybe the people living there will see what we are doing as a good thing and start trying to make a change themselves. Its also a great way to get to know the people we are living near and invest in their lives.

One morning this week some of us got up at like 4:30 and went to the lake to watch the sunrise. It was so awesome. I think many times its easy to take the beauty of God's creation for granted. I took tons of pictures so those will be up! The craziest thing that happened this week was when we caught an iguana at El Puente and put a leash on it. We almost kept it as a pet but decided it would be better off in the wildJ Yesterday our team went to Sisters of Charity again but for the daycare/feeding program they have there. I had a great time just playing with some of those kids and then getting to make and serve them lunch. More ministry doors are starting to open up so that is very exciting. Please continue to keep us in your prayers as everyone at home are in mine.

Hope everyone had a blessed week!!!

Love,

Jenn

Before I came on this trip to Nicaragua I had so many expectations of how it was going to look. How my team was going to be, how ministry was going to look, what I would get out of it all, what the people here were going to be like...all kinds of expectations. My expectations were completely wrong so I'm really trying to stop having so many expectations and just let God lead this year. Many people that go on mission trips and come back talk about how they brought back more from the trip than what they gave. My team is wonderful and I have realized that I don't care how much I get out of this or how much it changes me as long as I have the chance to impact someone's life here and the people here are beautiful. Ministry here is different than I imagined but that is a good thing. I expected to come, jump full force into going to feeding centers, orphanages, and hospitals but God is really starting to redefine my image of ministry. My leader Tana said something pretty cool. "Ministry is life and life is ministry". I didn't get that at first but I'm starting to now because sometimes the greatest way to minister to these people is just to live with them and be a constant in their lives.

Our team is the first FYM team here in Nicaragua and so we have the exciting opportunity to help develop some ministries here and break some new ground. I think some of the people and kids here at first expected us to just stay for a couple of weeks and leave but I think its cool to see them realize that we are here to stay for a while and want to invest in their lives. Ministry or loving people is not just giving them money on the street or buying a meal for them but it is sitting down with them while they are eating the meal and starting a relationship with them. I honestly would think that's how Jesus would do it.

We have had so much rain here in Nicaragua. Last night the bottom level of our house flooded but thankfully we had time to get all of our stuff to a higher part of the house. The only reason our house flooded was because of some random things like rats and nerf footballs being stuck in our drain. It was crazy and I think because there is so much rain is why I haven't seen any carpet in any of the houses hereJ These folks are smart! We have been doing a lot of work at El Puente this week. I love going there and will try to get some pictures of it up soon. I miss everyone at home...hope yall are doing great! I love showing kids around here pictures of my family and friends and I think they enjoy it to.

On Friday nights an American couple living near us have been showing a movie on the side of their house(all the houses here are connected to each other) and that has been a great way to get to know some of the kids and teens that live near us. Another cool thing that has happened the last couple of weeks has been getting to know our translators Mario and Natalia. Both of them have been such great helps around the city and also just getting to know about their lives has been great.

I hope everyone has had a blessed week!

JennJ

Yay! I just finished my book Blue Like Jazz and am pretty excited about it. It was pretty good but I started The Shack today and so far I'm really into it! Honestly the last few weeks I have read more than I ever read at home so I think I'm turning into a bookworm. Our team is required to go through eight books during our first three months here. We are in our first one and I'm actually really not liking it. I think its important though to read things sometimes even when you don't necessarily agree with it so you are aware of what other people believe and you can form better opinions yourself about why you agree with it or not. The book is Victory Over Darkness and I'm hoping it will start to get better. We have had a pretty good week. Some people have been getting a little sick from trying to get used to the tap water here but we have been able to do a good bit of ministry this week. I really love how we are spending our days here right now. In January we are going to be doing so much more outreach ministry but right now I am just enjoying soaking up everything we are learning like a sponge. Right now we have about a three hour class in the morning discussing the book we are reading and really dissecting certain verses in order to get the fullest meaning possible. I love it because sometimes reading the Bible it is easy to read big passages and never really spend time trying to understand what it is saying. After that time we spend the next four hours doing scheduled ministry in the community and it has also been great to get going with that this week. We did an ATL this week and it was really cool how God worked through my group of three people. When we started off we prayed for God to give us direction on where we needed to go. All I could see in my mind that whole time was Central Park which is a place here where people try to sell many things. I asked my team if we could go there and then God led another person on my team to pray with a mother and baby sitting on a bench. The mother told us how sick the baby was and how the doctors kept sending her to the witch doctors. The mother told us nothing was working and wanted us to pray for the baby so we did and that's all I know. I really hope us taking time with her had an impact to her and the baby in some way. We haven't been very busy this week because we are still trying to get into things here. We spent a lot of time this week at El Puente working with the guys that live there. The first day we cut a ton of vines and tall grass down with machetes. It was different especially when your used to a lawn mower and weed eater but we really got a lot done and now El Puente is starting to look awesome. Our soccer games at night with the kids who live on our street are still going strong and we are forming some good relationships with some of them. I have completely fallen in love with this food called picos here. They are so good and I'm not sure what I'll do when I get back to Georgia. Its like a sugar and cheese type pastry and its great! I love the freedom of time that I have had this week to spend with God. At home and in my routine it is easy to push it to bottom priority but this week has been so cool just chilling with God at random parts of the day if that makes sense. It was pretty funny yesterday how Heather (one of the ladies working with our team) was talking about how she had this cynical outlook at one point in her life about this shirt that said "I am a princess because my father is the King of Kings". A few minutes later I told her how I have that shirt from a Winterfest conference and I loved it. We both busted out laughing because it was kind of ironic. So I wore it the next day just for her but the point to all that is that its easy to forget I'm able to be so close to him and at the moment I really needed to hear those words it was like the Holy Spirit reminded me that I am his princess and beautiful to him. I just about started crying in front of everybody but just having that truth in my heart that day made the all the difference in how my day went! I'm missing home in a big way right now but am having a blast serving God at the same time so its all good!

Hope everyone is having a blessed week!!!

Love,

Jenn