Saturday, February 25th, 2nd Post w/pics

Okay gang, as promised, here are some pictures . . . I'll try to name them for you as I go :).

Our arrival day, during our tour :).

Core women from the church in Los Cedros.

Cards we gave to the core women of the church, prepared by Chris Lund & Seacoast Sisterhood :).

Crosses created by Angela (Reeder - on our team) that are painted w/chalkboard paint.

Sorry for so few pictures . . . . this has taken me a couple of hours due to the fact that each pic I upload I have to reposition and it takes forever. We're going to bed since it's 10:30 our time and we have to be ready to leave tomorrow as of 6am. Good night all!

-Maria

Saturday, February 25th, back in Managua!

Hello friends and family! We've returned to Managua this afternoon after a blessed week with the women (and several families) of Los Cedros. I will do my best to post some pictures this evening after our dinner :). We are all doing GREAT! There've been no sicknesses or any 'reactions' to food or the heat/direct sunlight; in fact, we all LOVED the FOOD!!! And, we've eaten LOTS OF IT. We are looking forward to the first portion of our debriefing in about an hour and then another amazing dinner prepared by Jolydia (she cooks for the teams regularly here at the CFCI Hospitality House).

We were very sad to leave our new families today. . . . there were many tears and emotions (including the Pastor and our dads!). These people are so incredible, hospitable, and open their homes to us as though they've known us their whole lives. They treat us like royalty and they minister to us like we could never imagine.

Thank you for your prayers & support, we send our love, hugs & kisses to all our familes and loved ones back home! Keep us in prayer as we head out tomorrow for a picnic day with the ladies of New Image. . . . we will be sharing with them and having some wonderful ministry time. For the sake of privacy, I am not able to elaborate online about this particular ministry group of women, but . . . . we are so incredibly grateful to have the opportunity to be with them for the day tomorrow and we can't WAIT to deliver some very special cards to them!! We even delivered some of these special cards already, to the core church women of Los Cedros (that we had 4 sessions of ministry time with). Thank you Chris & all the ladies of Seacoast Sisterhood and/or Chris's group that took the precious time to make those cards with so much love! We have some awesome pictures to share with you that show the hearts your time/effort has already affected (I'll post some tonight, internet cooperation willing).

Thank you all again, and we'll update you soon!

Blessings to you all,

Maria, Heather, Angela, Brandy, Judy (and our Nica team members Hellen, Carolina, Araceylis & Blanca)

We're here! Monday 2/20 7:45pm (MGA time)

Hey friends and family! We arrived earlier today and have had an amazing afternoon & evening of orientation, touring the city and meeting the CFCI team we'll be working with this week. We have finished dinner and are about to complete our orientation . . then we're off to bed! We have a very full day tomorrow and for the next several days. I'm not sure we'll be able to update while we're in Los Cedros so you may not hear from us until Saturday afternoon :). We'll be ministering to two groups of women in Los Cedros, one group is a core group connected with the church and the other group is within the local community that the church is reaching out to.

We are so grateful for your prayers and support . . . please keep us lifted as well as the women and families in Los Cedros. We are so humbled to see what God has in store these next several days. We will update you all as soon as we're able, hopefully one day while in Los Cedros but we're not sure.

Thanks so much, and love to all!!

2012 Nica Chica's
-Maria

Halfway there! Monday 2/20, 8:52am

Hey followers! We're hanging out in the Miami airport & will be boarding within the next half hour. Our flight this morning from Charleston was gorgeous since the sun came up while we were in the air =).

We'll blog again tonight so you'll know we made it. We hope you all are having a great day so far!!

-Maria

2012 Nica Ladies Team - Departing February 20

Good morning friends and family! Allow me to introduce our 2012 Seacoast Nicaragua Women's Team: (back row, L to R, Angela Reeder, Maria Sinkler [me]; front row L to R, Judy Seegers, Heather Mote, Brandy Rein). We are so grateful to have each of you following our team in prayer, love and any/all kinds of support; it means the world to us AND to the people of Nicaragua!

We meet at the airport here in Charleston at 4am tomorrow (Monday) and our flight is at 6am on American Airlines. We'll connect through Miami and arrive in Managua around 11am (they are 2 hours behind us, so that's really 1pm here). We will keep you updated as much as we are able with internet access :). At a minimum, we will post tomorrow evening that we made it. Once we travel to the city of Los Cedros (on Tuesday morning), we may not have any internet access until we come back to the city on Saturday. I'll give you more details on that later.

Thank you all again, so very much! We can't wait to get on that plane and get going . . . we are honored and privileged to represent Seacoast Church and humbly serve the women and people of Nicaragua! God bless :).

Fun day & Final post

Hi all!

We are back in the states!

We had our fun day at The Apoyo Lagoon. It's a crater-lagoon, considered to be a sleeping volcano with a few hot springs in it's interior. It's a perfect example of God's creation. It was beautiful beyond words!

There was a platform that was about 10 feet above the water where you could jump into the water. The lake is very high right now due to all the rain in Nica this year. From what I understand the lake us up probably 5 - 10 feet from last year at this time.

The platform entertained us for a good while....

After jumping, swimming, relaxing and eating at the lagoon, we headed to the Masaya market where we bought the place out. Well, one vendor anyway!!

Then to the grocery store...

...and back to the CFCI hospitality house for dessert with some of the CFCI staff and ministry folks that they work with.

It was a great ending to a wonderful trip.

I want to say thank you again to EVERYBODY who made all parts of this trip possible. So many of you worked and prayed with us before, during and after our trip. You are not only helping the women of Nueva Imagen, and not only the pastor's wives, but the work you put in is being felt as a ripple effect out into their communities. I pray that God blesses each of you far more than you could ask or imagine!!!

Blessings,

Kim

Yesterday & today

Hi all -

Here are some pics from yesterday and today. Top pic is from the pastor's wives retreat. They (we) took the spiritual gifts assessment and personality test. They were amazed that this type of thing even existed. It was pretty cool.

We also presented them with The Fathers Love letter. fathersloveletter.com I think. Yes, we presented it in spanish. Lots of tears there. Felicita sang us a song before we left. It was pretty emotional.

Side note: remember the other day's post? The pool pic? Yea, that was right before we taught them Marco Polo. That was hysterical. We learned a new word: tramposa. It means 'cheater'...

Ok, so when the bus was leaving the retreat center, the ladies were yelling out the windows: "Marco!"....and of course we were yelling "Polo".

They definitely left happy and relaxed.

These two pics were from todays picnic with the ladies from Nueva Imagen. There was more ministry and fun. We handed out some cards that Chris made and some cards that Emily's friends made. The women LOVED the cards and were so thankful that so many people think about and pray for them.

Many blessings to all back home. Thank you for your prayers of support - they are felt!

Great day at Skylark

Hola!

Ok, I've got 5 minutes until lights out and my laptop battery is almost out so...

here we are working:

and here we are playing!!

Blessings!!

Ministry Day 2

Hola amigos y familia!! (it's me, Maria Elana, and my Spanish is improving!)

We are so very grateful for all your prayers & support; we can feel the covering of the Holy Spirit and you are making a difference here in Nicaragua :). Today was a phenomenal ministry day!!! Our core time this morning (core women pictured above-these are the ladies that run the ministry at New Image) was really REALLY refreshing (for all of us). We did an activity that would normally seem really simple, but here in Nica, it was a really BIG deal. We each drew a name out of a hat and then said something nice about the person whose name we drew. ALL our names were included and some of us had just met 20 minutes prior to this activity. I wish I could recall some of the specifics about what was said, but let me just say that the Holy Spirit was ALL OVER THAT ROOM. The Nica women are NOT PRONE to sharing 'encouraging' thoughts with each other, whether Christian or not. This morning though, you would never have known it; tears, laughter, and the sheer element of surprise were on many faces. And if that wasn't enough, Nancy then shared much of her heart about the women's role as a wife and/or mother and then the women opened up even more; it was beautiful. Kim shared a bit as well, seeing as how she is a mother of 3 'little ones'; we were all encouraged and uplifted :).

Our afternoon time with the large group was also wonderful. We saw many women again today, and that isn't common; usually the number of ladies coming in the afternoon drops after the first day. Our activities were FABULOUS! We'll add more pics later (there were multiple cameras but not all were ours) but what you need to know is that there's a "shoe ID" game that is simply genious! Basically, everyone stands in a circle and removes one of their shoes; the shoes all go in a pile and on a 'ready / set / go! ' qeue, everyone grabs a shoe (not their own) and has to find the matching 'person' and then get to know a couple of things about that person. When you factor in the language part, it gets pretty funny. The best part was watching the women laughing and playing like little girls, absolutely carefree for a few moments. For the sharing part, I (Maria Elana) got to talk about conflict resolution (I've had quite a lot of practice with that these last couple of years!!!) and it was really cool. Nancy shared again as well and we played a couple of other games; it was really a fabulous day. Did I mention that inbetween these two group times, we got to go "shopping" specifically for jewelry and/or pillows that were hand made by the core ladies and laid out special for our viewing? We have many goodies to show you when we get home!!

There are a couple more pictures below and since we leave for the Pastors' Wives Retreat in the morning, we're not sure if we'll be able to post again tomorrow night (while at the retreat location). If not, we'll post again on Friday night so don't worry if you don't see anything until then :). As I type, Nancy, Kim, Carolina & I are sitting at the dining table, hole punching some laminated bible verses we made (THANKS PAM!!!) and chatting like school girls. Emily went to bed early, it was really hot today and she played with some of the little children for quite awhile. And by the way, a beautiful lady named Yolidia has been cooking (and cleaning) for us since we got here . . . . WOW! For any of you who've been privileged enough to travel here and stay at the Baptist House, you've had her cooking before. It's not something you easily forget, but it's definitely something you miss when you get home!!! Truly, we are 'suffering for the mission'! Since we are the FIRST GROUP to officially stay at the new CFCI offices (aka "Hospitality House"), let's just say the red carpet has been rolled out and the bar is now set really high! But we're not spoiled . . . . I mean, some of us (not me!!!) are really having trouble sleeping . . . due to the . . . . cold air . . . supplied . . . by . . . the . . . air . . . . conditioner!! Yep, I said it, you read it right, this place is air conditioned! We're talking straight up condensation on the glass door based on the immense heat outside. Ahhhhh, this is the life!

Okay, back to work . . . we thank you for your prayers, again, it truly makes all the difference and you are very much a part of our team and God's work here! Much love to all, we'll tell you more again soon!!

PS - forget the fact that I reference 'pictures below' because really, they're up top . . . I can't figure out how to load them into the blog so that they are below the text . . . okay, don't judge me!! :)

Ministry Day 1

Good evening to all! It's 9:12pm Nica time and we've completed our first day of ministry . . . and it was AWESOME!! We started off with an amazing breakfast and then headed out to New Image. We spent the first half of the day with the core women who help run this ministry and then the second half of the day with about 35 additional women (some from the streets, some Christian, some not). We shared our testimonies with all the ladies (this afternoon) and a few of them shared with us as well . . . WOW! I can not put into words what God has done for these women and what He's pulled them out of and/or away from (in their lives, families, communities, etc.); they are truly a walking witness for His greatness & mercy . . . we were encouraged to hear from these ladies!

Tomorrow we will have the same schedule (morning time with the core women & afternoon time with several others in addition) so please keep our time lifted in prayer; that their hearts would be open to receive whatever God has in store for them, and that OUR hearts would be open for the same :).

Below are some pictures from today . . . we hope you enjoy this tiny preview into our activities. We did play a game with the whole group (and a hula hoop or two) and it was really fun.

In Nica

We have arrived!

When we first got here, we ate at Tip Top (which was yummy), then Carolina, Joe & Ada took us on a tour of downtown Managua. Here we are in front of the old Catholic church, heavily damaged in the earthquake of 1972, and unfortunately no longer structurally sound enough to be safe to use.

And...we have super exciting news! We are the first team to stay in the NEW CFCI offices/hospitality house. Here we are with Carolina and Ada.

Thanks to everyone for your prayers, they are felt!!!!

Blessings,

Kim

Seacoast Women's Nicaragua Team 2010

And we're off . . . . to Managua, Nicaragua, on Monday 10/25 . . . here's our team pic! Aren't we GORGEOUS??? :)

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!!