Day 1 - June 14th (Jenn)

It has been quite an amazing day! We started out waking up at 3:00 AM and left the house by 3:45 AM. It was sad to say goodbye to the animals, but Erin woke up to help see us off. We arrived at the airport at 4:30 AM and started the check in process. It took about an hour to get everyone checked in and through security. We ate a quick breakfast, I said goodbye to Nate, and then we boarded the plane. It was a quick flight to Miami because I slept most of the way. After arriving in Miami, I had a chance to talk to the other girls on the flight - what wonderful women! We have such an amazing group and God has placed a great love in my heart for these women. I'm excited to serve side-by-side with them in Nicaragua. We had some great conversations about life, relationships, God and many other things. How awesome and inspiring it is to see other women pursuing God and truly wanting to change lives. These women have many of the same struggles that I have and they know so much about God's word and who He is. Well, after some walks and some talks, we were all sitting as a group when a family sitting near us had some restless kids. Sue pulled out her ukelele and we all sang songs while she strummed away and entertained the kids. The kids started clapping and dancing to the music. Even the parents were enjoying the entertainment for their kids. I think in that brief moment, God used our group as Christ ambassadors. What a privilege! So after our 8 hour layover, we boarded the planed and arrive in Nicaragua around 7:30 PM (Mountain Time). After a long wait through customs, we made it through and met Eddy, the field director for Casa Bernabe. We only had a few seconds to say hi to him, but he was so warm and caring in those few seconds; he was a true Christ representative. So we gathered everyone in our group and we boarded this old school bus that was repainted and decorated with stickers and other items. We took a 40 minute bus ride to the orphanage and I was astonished at some of the things we saw in Managua. There were so many people on the streets after dark, just hanging around. That was the only time of day when people could just relax together. Many of the buildings were just poles and tin roofs. So we arrived at Casa Bernabe and claimed our rooms and bunk beds - 8 beds per room. It seemed a little small, but we were excited all the same. Once we had settled in a little bit, we met Alvaro. He told us his amazing testimony. I won't tell all the details because I don't want to get the story wrong, but he actually lived at the orphanage for many years. He had a lot of anger toward God and told God that if he met his mother, he would give his life to God. Many years and difficult times later, he met his mother and devoted his life to Christ. He's now working with a ministry that offers kids on the street, one week away from their lives to show them a different life with more opportunities. Those that run the ministry hope that this experience will lead them to Christ, but they don't push it too hard because many of the kids are teetering on the edge of decisions like that. The ministry sponsors 250 kids, 3 times a year, to go to a camp in Northern Nicaragua for 1 week. It has drastically changed many lives and led many kids to Christ. Alvaro has such an amazing story and he totally got me fired up for the trip. After awhile, the second group arrived and we were able to meet all together in the dining area. Tommy, one of the leaders of ORPHANetwork, gave a short speech about our missions, some do's and don'ts, and said a prayer for our group. I am very excited to work with everyone over the next week!!