Another glorious welcome for us from this new village. We divided into two groups, one with the women and one with the children. The women shared their life living in the village and the many hardships they face, but they also shared their love for Jesus with us in words and song and we are definitely one in Christ.

The children gathered outside to sing with us, receive our gifts of toothbrushes and coloring books and soccer balls as well as the beach balls that we had fun tossing around with them. They were full of smiles and laughter. It was such a joy to develop new beautiful relationships that I pray will continue. 
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I am so blessed to be here serving the Lord as He leads. He is doing great things.

I am overwhelmed,
With love,
Lynea

Monday morning
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To all of our MCC friends and family, our second full day was a blast. Me and a few others woke up before the sun (5:30am) and watched the sun rise from behind the hill that is right next to the land we’re staying on. It was beautiful because there was not a cloud in the sky and all the sky turned into a beautiful combination of saturated colors. After that we had breakfast at 7am, eating what we have every morning (eggs, rice/beans, fruit, and juice).

After that we split into four teams and started getting ready for the scavenger hunt that would take place in the market minutes later. The scavenger hunt is an activity that we do every year where you’re given a list and you have to go out into the crazy market alone (with a team member of REAP so that we don’t get lost). You are supposed to do everything on your own, including exchanging currency, translating for yourself, and locating copious amounts of foreign items. When we set off for the market, the team member helped us reach the money exchange. This was weird to do because the money exchange was literally just a man at the end of the street with a stack of money worth of hundreds of dollars.

The next thing we did was enter the market, immediately I was overwhelmed because of how crowded and chaotic the market was. People everywhere, yelling to try and sell their items. Once we got past the entrance it got less overwhelming and we were able to start looking for the first item. Once located, we had to try and negotiate. Because we were clearly tourists to them, the vendors immediately over charged us for the item they were trying to sell, and we had to attempt to negotiate the price down with them in Spanish. This was definitely a struggle because of the language barrier, but we ended up pulling through. Once we got done with all the items on the list, we headed back to central park to meet the other groups and shop for ourselves. My group was the first ones back so we ended up buying fruity refreshments and relaxing for a while. There were so many cool trinkets to buy in central park, and there was so much city life surrounding us. Once everyone got back, we shopped for a little longer then headed back to the land. We drove on the back of the trucks which is a new and exciting experience, something that is illegal in the US. It was scary at times but definitely safe and very enjoyable. Once we got back to the land we ate lunch, which was these delicious quesadillas.

​Overall the morning went really well and I was so glad I got to experience the culture and chaos of the country of Nicaragua first hand.

Adios,
Olivia Sundman
 
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Monday evening
 
Wow! If you have never been ‘prayer walking’ then this will blow you away. Imagine that you left your house and decided to walk through the neighborhood and knock on doors, well I guess it’s more like leaning over fences… barb wired fences. Also, it’s not your neighborhood, but a neighborhood you don’t really know very well, with the goal of praying over the home owners. Today, this is what we did. We broke out into teams and walked the streets. We met old people, kids, drunks, families, unemployed, employed, infirm, students. We asked them their stories and shared ours. We asked them how we could pray for them and then shared a few words from the scriptures. What we didn’t do, was come across anyone who didn’t want prayer or to talk (which is what I’d expect to see at home). God has a way of showing up when you decide to step out in faith, and man did He!
 
In the evening we played hard. We were the first team to run an event in the new community center and over 75 kids/students showed up. We found out that kids are kids no matter where you live. We said ‘silence’ and ‘escuchin’ a lot… they threw things at each other, talked a lot, and we found out that all kids love musical chairs, balloons and candy! We are so excited to see this community center ready to be used for the Kingdom. It’s a center that was built on ‘dead land,’ a place no one wanted to go, as someone was once killed there… but you know God is in the business of bringing dead things back to life, and kids bring that life.
 
Please be praying for our team, as we continue to share the love of Jesus and that we would stay healthy.
 
Praying for one in Nicaragua.
Calvin 

Our first full day in Granada, Nicaragua was so exciting! At 7:00a.m we had breakfast. The breakfast was so delicious. There were rice and beans, scrambled eggs, and really refreshing watermelon and pineapple. The pineapple was white too it wasn’t yellow like the one from home. After we had breakfast there was a devotional that Josh lead, in front of the male softball team. After Josh shared the devotional, we watched the guys play a little bit of softball. Then an hour later, we visited a local church. It was such an amazing experience to go to another church in a different country. When you all know Jesus and love him. During the service, the pastor had timed planned out to have Sam and I (Parker) give a devotional. Before they started the devotional I (Parker) shared my testimony with all of the people.

He did such an awesome job.(Giselle’s perspective).  Then the Pastor asked if anyone else wanted to share their testimony and in the moment I (Giselle) was so nervous because I (Giselle) wasn’t sure if I was being called to share it. Then Josh asked me if I (Giselle) wanted to, so I (Giselle) did. I (Giselle) shared my testimony with the church. I (Giselle) was so nervous because it wasn’t just sharing the testimony with my group members. It was in front of everyone in church. I (Giselle) had got asked to share my testimony later on in the day and I (Giselle) was so up for it. But I (Giselle) didn’t expect to share it at the church. Our translator Julio was very proud me because he was going through the same things that I (Giselle) went through in my testimony. I’m not going to lie I cried like a baby after. Then during the service they sent the kids outside the church to have “Sunday School” for the children. Calvin called Alizah, Heather, and I to go with him to go teach the kids about David and Goliath. It was so adorable to see these little kids from the age 1-12 love Jesus and worship him as much as we do. Then after church we came back to the land and got dressed and ate lunch. The lunch was really good, we ate some hotdogs, with beans, and fruit on the side.

After lunch there was a parade for the kick-off of the kickball tournament for women. When they arrived they had music playing and it was so awesome. Then it was finally time to share my testimony again. I didn’t expect it to be such a big group like it was. I had a small anxiety attack because I didn’t know if I could actually do it. But I sucked it up and spoke in front all the women and their friends and families. It was pretty scary because I didn’t know if I would touch anyone’s heart but I hope I touched a couple I’m sure. After that we watched the kickball game for a short period of time. Then at 5:00p.m we went to VBS, which was a feeding program and Olivia, Nissi, Katie, and Justin shared a lesson with the little kids. They taught the kids about the father, the son, and the holy spirit. Then after the VBS, we came back to the land and ate dinner. Then finally after we relaxed and bonded over some really good conversations.
 
Sincerely,
Parker & Giselle

Early in the morning at 2:15am, I walked into MCC ready to take on Nicaragua for the 3rd time. Familiar faces greeted me with excitement in their voices. After a prayer and our final goodbyes to our loved family members, we loaded into the shuttles and drove to Boston. While on the way to the airport we got stopped for 10 minutes!!!! Because they were lowering a bridge, this definitely affected our time. When we made it to the airport we rushed through check-in and customs and finally made it to our gate. Once we boarded we found our seats. I was sitting in between Heather and Rachel.

I can’t recall much of the plane ride to Houston because I was fortunate enough to sleep almost the whole ride. We landed in Houston 4 hours later and only had 24 minutes to get to our next gate and board the plane, talk about stressful!! But we made it on the plane eventually. Anyways so we’re on our plane to Nicaragua and once again, I was seated with Heather and Rachel. For this plane ride, I also slept for the whole 3 hours, as you can tell at this point, I was very tired. So, 3 hours pass and we land in Nicaragua. The landing was AWFUL! Super bumpy and uneasy on the stomach. But we all made it and no one threw up. (Thank goodness).

​When we got off the plane we waited in lines for 20 minutes so we could legally come into the country. After that we met Scott Esposito! We piled into a big bus and drove into Granada. On the way there, we sang, laughed, and played fun games. When we reached Granada, we stopped at a Bell Tower that overlooked the city, it was beautiful! But incredibly WINDY! Rachel could literally lean back and not fall over, it was hilarious. We stayed there for about 30 minutes and then we went to Patanal, the town we are staying in.  The Esposito’s have huge land here and they just finished building the dorm buildings, like 2 minutes before we arrived. Let me tell you, these dorms are beautiful! At this piece of land is where we eat, sleep, play, and grow closer to God. One thing I really enjoy about sleeping in Patanal is because the land is placed right in the middle of the neighborhood that needs to hear Jesus the most. Everyone knows God, but not everyone has a relationship with Him. Overall, I am super excited to see how this week goes, I know that God has great things for me, my team, and the people of Patanal.
 
En Cristo,
Isabelle MacGilvary

​After beginning the day with African Tea and a delicious breakfast, we went to our village Batima, Bugesera. They were waiting for us with dances & worshipping again! The Pastor shared his personal sad and very touching life story. His wife had a beautiful testimony through a song that she made from their own life story of how God told them to move to this village to serve God and build a church. They encountered many straggles, people would make fun of them, but they never gave up. The song included a beautiful encouraging chorus saying that the devil will always will try to attack us and will always try to destroy us but we have to hold on to the word of God and with that we will destroy the enemy. 

Today we continued our meeting from yesterday, giving the women the opportunity to ask us questions. But what started with a personal concern from the pastor’s wife followed by many other questions from the women, they started opening up to us and building trust which rarely happens on a first time visit to a village. They brought up personal issues and concerns ending up with a discussion about “family planning”. Candice, our nurse, did a tremendous job handling this unexpected subject and with the help of each member of our team we were able to give many words of advice. 

We were also able to provide the group with Kinyarwanda Bibles, which the church handed out. It was such a wonderful experience to see them break out in praise and song after receiving their Bibles. We know that those will be a treasured possession for each of them. 

After lunch the guys continued with the hand washing project while we met with a group of women making bracelets with a message of praying for One and sharing the love of Christ, others were singing and dancing with the kids! It was a church full of blessings and the presence of God.

God has big plans for this village, and He is moving in big ways. I’m thankful that God has chosen this team to be part of the purpose He has for this village.

Silvia Walsh
Gusengera Umwe

​Team Barakabaho visited a small village in Batima, Bugasera District today after a much-needed rest at Sunrise Guest House. Emotion washed over all of us as women in colorful garb and smiling children greeted us with singing and dancing. 

There’s just nothing like worship Rwandan style—the choirs, their dancing and singing accompanied by the electric keyboard and its percussion beat; the “Hallelujahs” and joyful clapping; the energy of the leaders; and the felt presence of God’s spirit among us. Russell shared a moving message of God’s transforming power through his own testimony of finding faith later in life. 

While Lynea and I met with 50 women to learn about their lives in Batima, the rest of the team spent time with more than 125 children. They handed out toothbrushes, some crayons and coloring books, and gave the church a couple of soccer balls. Silvia brought  some small beach balls that created some fun and laughter. 

The women told us about the difficulties of village life when it doesn’t rain creating a long season of drought. They cannot grow crops, therefore have little money, and then they can’t afford to send their children to school. We heard about the work of their Women’s Cooperatives which left me, personally, with visions swirling in my head of how our team and future teams could help these cooperatives. 

The food is delicious. We love our interpreters, Angel and Brenda! It is definitely an honor to be paving the way to forge a bond for years to come with the people in this village.  

Praying for one,
​Russell