May 21-22

Knock knock! Who’s there? Weekend. Weekend who? You!

The weekend here in Puerto Cabezas is drawing to a close. We have had a wonderful two days of project work and rest, and of fellowshipping with people in the present and planning for the next few days of our journey. The first line of the blog is representative of the jokes with have been exchanging with a new 4 year old friend. He, his parents, and younger brother have been in Puerto Cabezas this weekend to visit with a young man they befriended and brought to the orphanage here. While our four year old buddy hasn’t quite mastered the art of telling knock knock jokes, he is quite skilled at endearing himself to everyone he meets.  We may lack some of his charm, but we hope that we too can continue fostering good friendships with the many people we have met so far here in Puerto Cabezas.

On Saturday we continued to work on the filter installation. I am excited to report that my teammates’ creativity and resourcefulness resulted in a pressure tank that holds water! The filter system just needs to be connected to the main water line, and then we will be able to give it a test run. Later in the morning we worked with over 40 kids between the ages of 4 and 10 at the orphanage. This age group was the most immediately rewarding to work with since the kids were so expressive in their wonder while seeing bits of the nature through microscopes, their earnest interest in learning how to filter water, and their creative focus coloring storybooks. We slowly left the orphanage for lunch, playing just one more game or receiving just one more hug. The staff and the kids themselves have created such a stable, caring environment and it is a privilege to encourage them during the time we can share together.

We were not apart from the kids for long, because we were invited to join many of them on a trip to the beach. We rode school buses, one for the girls and one for the guys, to the coast through a maze of dirt roads. Our bus could hardly contain the excitement and joy of the girls as they belted out Sunday school songs and erupted in laughter with every jolt of the bus over the next bump in the road. Once on the beach, several kids partnered up with us and helped us thoroughly enjoy the experience. We swam, had chicken fights, built sandcastles, collected shells, and explored a mangrove swamp among other adventures. One aspect of the afternoon that stood out for me was when my buddy dove under the waves to find a sand dollar. I was impressed enough with this discovery, but then she proceeded to break open the sand dollar to reveal a tiny star inside which she shared with me. Her kind gesture aptly illustrated a concept we have been exploring in our devotions using Henri Nouwen’s book Gracias. Nouwen speaks of receiving “the hidden gifts of those we want to serve and to make these gifts visible to the community as a source of celebration.” We are here to do water purification work in Nicaragua, but only because God is already here at work in people’s lives and in their communities.  Like the star my friend plucked from the sea, there are many other divine treasures to uncover and celebrate as we go on with our trip.

Today we had the joy of not only worshipping at El Verbo Church with our Nicaraguan partners, but also attending a baptism. Members of the church packed into 3 school buses to travel to a swimming spot near the coast for the baptisms. They weathered a hot, dusty ride with no promise of a refreshing swim at the end just to celebrate with the 5 members of the church becoming baptized. As witnesses to their step of obedience to God through baptism, we too were reminded of our call to support one another as the body of Christ.

The next step of our journey will take us 4.5 hours away to a Mayagna community called Aguas Tigni. While there, we hope to share bucket filtration systems with 20 families, to train those families how to care for the filters, to teach about clean water and sanitation with school children, and to interview community leaders about how we may be able to partner together in the future. We will be the second North American group to spend time in the community. Our Nicaraguan partners have safe lodging and meals arranged for us, but our daily schedule and many details about life in the community are not yet known. We do know that the population is very young, with a census of 114 children under the age of 3, and perhaps 500 kids under the age of 5. These children are the most vulnerable to water-borne illnesses and we desire to join with the people of Aguas Tingni to care for these precious kids. With the help of 4 translators, we hope to listen well to the voices of the community about their vision for clean water in their town. Although we will only be in the village until Thursday morning at the latest, our partners from El Verbo Church will continue being the hands and feet of Christ to this community.

We have been so blessed by the believers that we are learning to know here. They have welcomed us in to their community of faith, and now they are sending us out to share with others. We mostly likely will have a brief absence from the blog world while we are in Aguas Tigni, but we invite you to pray with us for a visit marked by good communication, discernment, and mutual sharing.   

Thank you for your prayers and support!

Karisa (for the team)