Nicaragua Team's Valentine with El Camino

"We ought to be someone who wraps a towel around our waist to wash dishes at the home of someone. We ought to be someone who hang out with someone of different culture, of different language, of different personality and career or of different age. We ought to be someone who sympathetically weep and laugh with someone. We are part of the community even in a country that is distant from our own or even in a language that is unknown to us."
-2011 Nicaragua trip, Kari =)

2011 Nicaragua mission trip is the era of where we all experienced the characteristics of a true missionary El Camino, "the Way", as a team. The Twelve saw how Jesus wrapped the towel around his waist to wash their feet, talked with Samaritan, embraced the children, formed the team of the uneducated or the rejected people, wept when he saw the others weeping for Lazarus, and wandered into every unknown places to bless the others. El Camino demonstrated Love.

On February 14th, twelve of us landed in Nicaragua for a special Valentine Week with El Camino as we abandoned our homes, families, and friends to follow El Camino. We met two missionaries, Matt and Eva Barlow, who welcomed some of us into their home and some into the hotel. Our discomfort begins. How may we share our lodging? How may we communicate effectively? How may we connect with one another? Our questions were eclipsed by our servitude in Christ.

For 7 days, we get together to:
-Eat meals together and share some of our thoughts and devotions.
-Hammer and paint the coffeehouse, La Puerta.
-Hang out with the Deaf kids at Escuela Cristiana De Sordos de las Asambleas de Dios, and paint some walls.
-Go on a few wonderful field trips: on the boat, see the volanco, and shop!

The unique characteristics of the Twelve:
-Have a deaf pastor from the team preach at a hearing church with interpreter and teach the people how to sign "Gloria a Dio" on Wednesday night.
-Have a Deaf ministry leader from the team preach in Nicaragua signs at a deaf church on Sunday afternoon even though she wasn't fluent in it yet.
-Have a multilingual person from the team speak in French to someone staying at our hotel to encourage the guy.
-Have three interpreters from the team intepret the languages surrounding us: American Sign Language to spoken English and spoken Espanol to spoken English.
-Have one Phd. "spy" from the team who sneaks out to learn more about the education system and etc.
-Have three non-signers blooming into a pee-wee ASL and Nicaragua signers, playing some pranks with non-voicers.
-Have two wonderful leaders from the team dealing with all of us, crazies, and make wonderful things happen!