guess which one's the monkey...

there really are monkeys behind stacey...

i
oh... last time on here. i think. in nicaragua, anyway. this is jill and i am feeling pretty bittersweet right now. i will miss these people. i want to see my family. i will miss not cooking dinner. i don't want rice and beans for breakfast. i am not looking forward to customs going through my dirty clothes. i can't wait to wash them. this mirage of feelings is pretty consistent with how i have felt all week.
how was my trip?
really amazing. really hard. really rewarding. very hopeless. exhausting. rejuvenating. tears. laughter. i want you all to know that this group is ready to talk. to share with our families. to "take you with us." but we know that you have had a week, too. it was not the same, but it was still a week. we can't wait to hear about what Jesus has done in each of you while we have been gone. be patient with us as we make sense of all that we have seen and heard. please look at our pictures. laugh, even if you don't think it's funny and get ready for tears. we have been ruined for the ordinary. the lives that we had are no longer enough. we have tasted and seen that the Lord is good (psalm 34:8) and we want more. not more from you, but more of God. we don't want people to just listen, we want you to hear. we are now ambassadors for a country, a culture and a people. one that we love and now holds a piece of us.
our bus leaves at 4:30 in the morning and we will touch base in houston. so excited to see each of you.
to my 3 boys: thank you, thank you, thank you. my prayer is that i will be a better wife and mother because you sacrificed this time for me. and... it's time to REALLY learn spanish!

love!

Hosanna, Happy Birthday and Happy Meals

Hi all! (This is Kim.)
Today is Sunday - and also Mother's day for all of us. Kind of bittersweet. We are glad to be here, but also miss our families and children. We love you all and look forward to seeing you soon!
This morning started off AWESOME. We went to Hosanna-Nicaragua. It is the church that Hellen (CFCI director) and Caroline (with CFCI & our translator) attend. It reminded me so much of Seacoast. Especially when Hellen and Caroline discovered they attend the same church as we were deciding which church to go to. (what??? I go there, too!) The main auditorium is huge, and their worship experience is similar to ours (words on the screens with a moving background), plus their sound board is about the size of West's sound booth. Even had traffic control in the parking lot. Too funny.

Then we had lunch at McDonalds... (I'll have a numero cuatro and a mango mcflurry, por favor.) Griff, your mom has a surprise for you!!

Then it was off to finish painting the room at Nueva Imagen that the women have their bible study in. The results are in the pic above. I think it turned out great. I pray the women have excellent bible studies like we do, HC ladies! When we were done, a few of us bought some Dulce de leche popsicles from a street vendor. Those were delish.

Then - off to a market...ok, well it was a Walmart, but they had a great selection of Nicaraguan delacacies. Who wants coffee?!?!

And last, but certainly NOT least, we celebrated Katy's birthday. When we got (ok, I almost wrote "home") back to the Baptist House, the eating area was decorated with balloons and streamers - and a big Happy Birthday sign. After dinner we celebrated with the CFCI staff. Thanks to Celini for the "tres leches" cake. It was muy bien.

Ok, now that I've used my 10 Spanish words, I'll sign off for the evening...blessings to all -

And to my precious family - I love you guys SO much. Thanks for the great mothers day pic you sent!

and the gumby goes to....

today's gumby goes to the one of us who has taken the hit for making the nicarguan pastor's wife make her bed, but more importantly has served us and the women here in amazing ways. the gumby goes to....


lee anne!

(i would like to insert some love for my co-leader. she is such a servant. she recognizes everyone's needs and makes sure that we are all taken care of. she was the only one who noticed when we started dinner without kim! :-) i am so grateful for her.)

giggles, goof ups, and grace

hola! it's tiffany reporting live from Nicaragua.

so much laughing... so many silly goof ups... and so much grace has happened just in the past 24 hours let alone this past week.
today was our last day with the pastor's wives in san marcos. upon returning back to the baptist house tonight during processing, the interpreters informed us that two of us (jill and i) had been pronouncing one of the pastors wives named paola incorrectly for the past two days. the way we were saying it meant... woman who farts a lot. oh the horror!
we also thought we were riding back to the baptist house while the bus took the pastor's wives back to their houses. so, we said all of our good-byes and gave out lots of hugs and kisses... and then to our surprise boarded the bus with them to ride for and hour back to where we are staying to say good-bye again. we have laughed so hard over all of our silliness and the nicaraguan's have been so gracious!
today we did a question and answer where the pastor's wives asked us about GOD's callings on our lives, our relationships with our families, and our greatest fears and and desires as mothers for our children in american culture. they told us they would pray for us and our families and gave us so many words of encouragement that we were all sure we were the ones being ministered to and not them. we did some fun activities together (where we laughed a lot), we did a skit/talk on colossians 3:12 (pictured above), and we ended with the cross where we could nail our burdens to leave them for CHRIST to carry (also pictured above). the women shared how they had been encouraged and how they had learned that it is okay to leave their children for a short time over night to do ministry or even to renew themselves... many had never done this before. i can't believe this trip is almost over... these women will forever be etched in our hearts. i am overwhelmed when i think about this week and the blessings that i have experienced.
tomorrow we will go to church and finish painting the room at nueva imagine... and maybe have a little rest time (i hope). thank you all for praying for us!

tim, selah and josiah, i love you so much and cannot wait to hold you in my arms... i miss your snuggles the most.
love you!
-tiffany

and the gumby goes to....

for her willingness to lead all of our team building activities and to teach extensive water safety courses to our new nicaraguan swim team (btw, butterfly is the favorite), the gumby goes to....

tiffany!!

. . .

This is Stacey :) It's been another GREAT day! However, it is 10:50 and I was awake by 5:20 so I have no cute title for you and this may be a shorter post than you're used to. . .but maybe not. . .

We are in San Marcos, about an hour from Managua. The weather is great and the drive here was picturesque (I think I may be annoying to some when I want stop to get a picture of everything. . . not sure, Jill?). Coming here, as we talked about our topics for discussion, I wasn't sure we had as much to offer these women who are well versed in the bible; now it is obvious we were placed here with purpose. We can tell they truly appreciate our willingness to take time away from our families to inquire and talk about their lives as they usually spend their days serving others and neglecting themselves.

It took a little bit for the women to relax and open up but shortly after Tiffany's warm up activities, it was obvious these ladies were here for some serious R & R. Their silliness and laughter was music to our ears. A few even seem as if they are our Nicaraguan Hannah's circle equivalents.

We continue to do our best communicating in Spanish, but I realized earlier in the day I said, Escuche me for excuse me instead of permisso; so instead I was telling them, "Listen to me" as I passed by. At dinner, I was impressed by Katy's ability to comprehend a woman's request for the rest of her meal. Also, this evening when Lee Anne opted for gesture over Spanglish, the woman understood her to say, "Make my bed!" and she did. . .

Testimonies were shared by Katy and Tiffany today. Both were powerful and led to great discussions about fear, boundaries and relationships.

I look forward to tomorrow. . .

Jeff and Griff, I can't wait to give you lots of hugs when I get home. Thanks for letting me have this time. It has been an amazing experience. I love you so much! oxoxo

breeze and flowy skirts don't mix

we are now at skylark with the pastor's wives. the weather is completely different. the wind is BLOWING and so are our pentecostal skirts! the women have just gotten here, so i will get off and hang out now. thanks for the prayers!

love!

and the gumby goes to....

today's award goes to the woman that has been stretched out of her comfort zone and has been able to put off family concerns, fear and anxiety to laugh, laugh, laugh. the gumby goes to....

katy!!

Upended by Grace

Hola! It's Katy, or "Kaht-ee" as the women in Nicaragua call me! We have had such a fabulous day! We were all up and ready for our devotion at 6:40 and spent the morning laughing (as usual), crying (as usual), and preparing our hearts for our last day with the Nueva Imagen women. We talked this morning about how difficult it is to "understand" what these women have been through and how it is so hard to try and give them hope. Jesus said, "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full". We all have been trying to figure out how we communicate this concept with women who have been through so much and live in a place where "abundant life" seems so impossible. Jesus also said, "Everything is possible for him who believes." We have so much hope for these women... each one of us has been drawn to different women and they now have a permanent place in our hearts. We find ourselves talking about them like they are our friends..."did you hear what Candida said this morning about her daughter?"..."Ruth needs us to pray for her granddaughter, Helen"..."Xiomara's niece is a mess of messes!" However, at the same time we find ourselves cracking up about how we have totally messed up trying to say something to them in Spanish or trying to understand what they've said. You'd think 6 years of taking Spanish would have helped! Our interpreters have been troopers dealing with this group of sarcastic and wordy girls!
After a morning of sharing testimonies, we explained to them the concept of "The Cross". We brought a wooden cross and asked the women to think about something specific that might be holding them back (shame, guilt, fear...) from living a life of freedom in Christ. After asking the Lord for forgiveness, they could write down that "something" and pin it to the cross- leaving it there as a symbol that we are free of sin because Jesus died for all of us. We spent lots of time praying over all of these women. Although they think we were ministering to them, we all know they have ministered to us. wow. "And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us."Romans 5:5
After lots of hugs and kisses, we said our good-byes! We ate a yummy lunch and went on a bus tour of Managua! Kim and Lee Anne braved the "Canopy Tour" and zip-lined through the trees!

Zack, don't worry, I haven't packed any children in my bag... yet.

Love to all!

i am so honored

jill here... i cannot express to all of you how proud i am of these women. this has truly been a life changing experience for me. for those of you who don't know, 6 out of 7 of us are in a life group together. this has completely changed the dynamic of this group. there is a love and a trust between us that i have never had on a team before. and laughter...! no one has wet their pants yet, but it's coming! if you are in a life group, this is something to think about...

janet, kim, lee anne and stacey have shared their stories. what a blessing their authenticity has been. i am "waiting in expectation" (psalm 5:3) for what Jesus is going to do next!

jeff and troy- amazing tag team blogging.... so funny! stacey was grateful for your posts.
heath- thank you. you make this so much easier to do. you are the best. (and b/c of the Lover of your soul, i love you more.)
trace, keith and derrick- thank you for encouraging you wives. we love them, too.
zack and tim- hello?! kidding. we know you miss and love your brides. thank you for sharing them with us.
HC girls- you are here... seriously!
the rest of our great followers- thank you. your prayers ARE FELT and so necessary. we are praying for all of you as well. thanks for putting yourselves in the line of the enemy on our behalf.

dios le bendiga.

and the gumby goes to....

it's thursday morning and because of her willingness to share her coke, be attacked by flying beetles and use her spanish, the gumby goes to....

STACEY!! she was so moved, she could barely control her emotions.

Another day with the ladies!

Greetings from Nicaragua! This is Lee Anne. Today was an emotional day with missing family (love you Derrick and Mason!) but God is doing amazing things. We woke up early to the birds chirping and enjoyed another amazing breakfast. We left to meet with the core ladies and enjoyed team building activities, fellowship, devotionals, and sharing testimonies. We have only just met these beautiful women and they already trust us with their life stories. They are grateful for us to be here and we are thankful for the opportunity. Tiffany has done an excellent job leading our team building activities. The ladies have said that they have had fun, enjoyed laughing and as one lady stated, "I feel like a girl again." I just want to thank the Lord for uniting us with these women and letting us love on them. We have laughed and cried together. We were able to meet even more women this afternoon and are looking forward to getting to know them better tomorrow. There is more to say and I can't find the words...I just tried to put my camera battery in the computer instead of the memory card to load pics so I'm going to go get some sleep! Oh ...and Jill got her first haircut in Nicaragua!! (maybe we'll sneak a pic in on a later post). Love to all!

and the gumby goes to....

so... we have our own form of the oscar's here. actually, it's better. it's called the gumby. given to the girl who was most flexible the day before. the second gumby has been given out and we wanted to update you.

yesterday, because of her her willingness to use her 10 spanish words, the gumby went to.....

KIM!!

and today, kim's job as the academy came. because of her willingness to sacrifice her personal time and make sure that we did not leave the job undone, the gumby went to....


JANET!!

more tomorrow morning.

Jumping in!

I'm just not sure where to start with the post tonight (this is Janet, by the way). What an amazing place this is. I think I can speak for all of us when I say we love it here. We jumped all in first thing this morning at 5:15...the sun comes up really early here! =) We spent the day at Nueva Imagen meeting with the core women, getting to know each other, doing some initial team building activities, oh, and a whole lot of painting! We were asked to paint the room that the ladies use (you can see the before picture above...the after picture will be posted later as the project is not finished yet). Each of the ladies we met today is so gracious and thankful and beautiful. We're really looking forward to tomorrow when we go back and can start sharing our testimonies and really begin loving on each other. And for those of you who were wondering if we were going to come back a little slimmer, well, I hate to make you jealous, but the food they are serving us is FABULOUS! I'd post the pictures of the meals we're eating, but it takes to long to load the pics. =)

I'm having a hard time with words as I'm writing this because there are so many emotions that are stirred up within me right now. All I can say to make any sense of it to y'all is that God is all over this mission. The work that is going on at Nueva Imagen is life changing and I feel so humbled to be asked to be a part of this. Though our cultures and lives are completely different, we still have our common ground in womenhood, motherhood, and sisterhood in Christ.

We are surely having more fun than we ought to be, but I don't see how it could be any other way with the girls on this team. Can't wait to see what the Lord brings us to tomorrow.

I love you, Keith, Sam and Ruby. Can't wait to share all my stories with y'all when I come home. Love to everyone and thanks for your continued prayers.

it's us!

tiffany, janet, jill, kim, lee anne, stacey, katy


the long awaited picture! this update will be a quick one until i turn over the keys to another team member tonight. we are so very grateful for all the prayers...

"we will praise the Lord at all times; his praise will always be on my lips. my soul will boast in the Lord; let the afflicted rejoice. glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt his name together." psalm 34:1-3

that's what we are doing today: praising the Lord! (HC girls, we love you. enjoy your time together today, we are with you in Spirit.)

we made it

we are here... all is well... we are exhausted. i (jill, not maria) will try to write in the morning... pictures to come. thanks for the prayers. love to all.

outta here!

this has really been very short in planning, but i feel like it's been forever. i think i'm ready. am i ever really ready? it's like starting college or getting married or having a baby. you prepare and plan and listen to stories and reflect on past experiences, but are you really ready?

this is a trip like no other: to be taking off with women i have grown in relationship with for years. we have shared hurts. we have dug each other out of pits. we have laughed together, studied together, prayed together... we are a community. to travel with community is different than anything i've ever done. i can't wait to see what happens.

here we go...