Steve McKnight of Hamilton, Ontario was the team leader for this Service & Learning Team to Nicaragua. His wife accompanied him on this his second trip to this beautiful Central American country.
In February of this year I had the opportunity to join a CRWM Service and Learning team going to Nicaragua. So, at 2 a.m. on February 9th, I and 9 others from Immanuel CRC of Hamilton, Ontario headed off to Managua via Buffalo.
From the very beginning we, as a team, felt God’s presence. He was with us as we had team meetings and devotions before we went. He was with us in the prayer support we felt from many people. He was with us in our fund raising. He was with us as we travelled; crossing the border to and from Buffalo were the easiest 2 times I have ever crossed into the States. He was with us in Nicaragua and kept us all safe and healthy.
This was my second trip to Nicaragua as I went on a WWCS Hands team 4 years ago.
I will admit that this was a very different experience than the WWCS team was. Not better or worse just different. On the WWCS team we were very focussed on building and this time we spent much more time interacting with the people. This was a big step outside my personal comfort zone but once I tried it I quickly learned what open, friendly people the Nicaraguans are.
As a team we did some things together and some things as individuals. On the first Sunday, we all went by bus to Granada to attend a Spanish church. On Monday one of our team members Sandi, who has a bead store and makes jewellery, and the two other ladies in our group travelled to a small village named El Limonal. There, working with a local group called Nicamade, Sandi taught the ladies how to make jewellery in hopes of making the village more self-sufficient. The other 2 ladies worked (played) with the kids. That same day, three other members of our team met with a group entitled the Ezra team at the Nehemiah Centre. They talked about a new direction for churches in Nicaragua called “The Healthy Church Initiative”. The rest of the team filled our time doing “odd” jobs around the Centre. Tuesday and Wednesday, 6 ladies from El Limonal came to the Nehemiah Centre for more training with Sandi, while the rest of us continued the “odd ”job theme. On Thursday morning, bright and early we travelled 3 hours to a town up in the mountains named Santa Lucia. It was here we would be helping out with a water project or so we thought. After arriving in Santa Lucia and having some lunch we got back in the vehicles for a ride to a very small village named Los Alvarez, where the water project was. Again we broke into different groups. Some helped dig at the water holding tank, some helped carry sand and gravel up to the holding tank, 800 metres up the side of the mountain. Others helped with trenching for the pipe to bring water from the well head to the tank, a distance of 1800 metres. Others worked with the kids of this small village. On our second day here we all helped carry and lay pipe and backfill the trench.
At lunch time on this day we were told the village had a celebration planned for us. I firmly believe that from time to time God by his grace allows us brief glimpses of heaven; all we need to do is pay attention. This celebration was one of those times. This village opened there homes and hearts to us. They fed us, they worshipped with us, they celebrated one of our team members birthday with us. They prayed for us and our church back home. The entire event was a moving experience for us all.
So many more stories to tell and so little space, so to close, this thought. For those who are considering a short term mission trip, I would strongly encourage you to do so. You will not come home the same, but better. And remember if you are fearful or uncertain, God has promised to go with you. I can certainly attest that He went with us.
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