Sonya....

Sadly, on most of the times that I have great stories there are no pictures... I was serving and most of the time it never occurred to me to stop and take photos. So I am sorry.. I did not come back with enough photos. But here is one of many stories.

Before I start, let me restate. My trip to Nicaragua, though it was tough, I would not trade my time there for a second. God did some amazing things and I am so glad for this opportunity to have gone again. When I last posted, I started that I was hard on myself and yet, God pulled me out of my negative pit and showed me the GOOD that was completed. Glorios a Dios! Again though I had one of those negative days, I would return to Nicaragua in a heart beat. I am so grateful to have been able to serve with some pretty amazing people.

On to the true story..

There is one neighborhood that most that live there are prostitutes and their children. All of these children have usually come from their mothers profession. El Shaddai has been working in the area and one of the prostitutes made the choice for change and has been working in her neighbourhood to introduce them to Jesus. On most Thursday afternoons, a few of us would head to their neighboorhood and have a Bible Study.

While I was there, a government project was happening for getting zinc (metal roofs) for different families. A few in this neighbourhood were able to apply.

One family who received government zinc is named Sonya (insert picture here... sadly.. I don't have.. I'm sorry!)

Sonya, being a single mother of 4 children (10 years-8 months) was not able to personally place her zinc on the house for a couple reasons. Firstly, let me tell you, that zinc is not only heavy but awkward. If I have my internal measuring tape correct they are about 8 feet long by 3 feet. Secondly, Sonya's house was leaning to one side and we could not determine if it would fall over with the new zinc plus people on the house to install the zinc.

Yet, God is the orchestrator for His good.

The same week that the zinc was delivered, there was an American team coming who had also donated money for a roofing project. So instead of buying more zinc, we bought new logs to hold up the zinc. (meaning, Sonya and her 4 children were getting a new house!!)

Sonya and some of her friends dug the holes for the posts (7 plus later 1 more needed to be dug) and the American team plus El Shaddai (and me! the only woman on that project) went to work! We constructed the truss, installed the zinc, and used brand new plastic and the some of the old zinc (after washed) to the sides of the house.

Due to the nasty looking sky, we could not tear her house down until after we had at least a roof on the new house to move her valuables over. This meant that one side of the house could not be closed in due to the fact that her old house was inside her new house! It was an interesting project!

I really enjoyed watching Sonya and her family watch in awe as their new house was coming together. It's really hard to imagine 7 logs (that in no way shape or form were straight or the same length!) sticking out of the ground will really eventually look like a house.

The house was not completely finished when the American team needed to head out but not before they stopped and prayed for Sonya, her children, blessing her home to be blessed with good things, and that she will be able to provide for her family in another way.

The El Shaddai team kept working and mostly finished building the house that day. The excitement of the children and the tears in Sonya's eyes made a hard day of work well worth every penny..

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Another story of that day, was that I was introduced to biting ants... Her house was under a tree and the ants lived in the tree but were being tossed onto the workers below by the construction team on the roof.

I was never so happy to have been wearing a tank top and a t-shirt that day..

I tore off my t-shirt, with help, took off the ants, and washed the bitten spots with soap and water..

Sadly the itch didn't go away.. so the t-shirt came off again and hand sanitizer was spread on me! hahaha.. Ohh the experiences!

The best part was one of the El Shaddai youth telling my ant story and trying to act like I had! I had a good laugh.. However, I am sure I looked a little more crazy.. :)


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Just because it feels weird not to post at least one photo..



More stories to come!

In Canada

When I am asked how the trip went my answer is –good, tough but good. I do not know if I can come up with a different answer. Let me say, I love Nicaragua. It is a beautiful country. A place I call home. There are beautiful and handsome people in it. Many amazing local people working to make a difference in their lives and the lives of others.

There are places in this trip that were incredibly hard. Places in which I never thought would happen. I knew to expect the poverty. I knew to expect to see men, women and children hungry (physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually) and having practically nothing. Yes, of course my heart broke for those things. But it was the other things that have broken me even more. However, they are things that out of respect for the people involved; I cannot speak of or write about. All I can say is please pray for the things that have broken my heart. My heart yearns for justice and chains to be broken.

Transitioning to life in Canada has been a bit of a whirlwind. I returned to Canada and within 12 hours I was heading on another trip for a friend’s wedding. I am very grateful to have gone and the weather was much nicer than where I am from which helped some. I was still cold though (and still am)! The wedding was beautiful and I am very blessed to see a great friend be married to a great guy.

In Nicaragua, sometimes it was hard to remember about your personal needs but within hours of returning to Canada, my heart sank as I realized how I had quickly adjusted to what I needed. Even in Nicaragua I know there were places where I could have been more selfless in my actions. Actually many times, I am embarrassed of my actions.

Yesterday, August 14^th, was a difficult day. I am a pretty happy person with a smile that most people enjoy seeing. However, it was not always like that. I may have had a smile on my face but my thoughts were all negative and beating the crap out of myself and everything I did or did not do. Jesus has done a lot of work in my life and one place was with my thoughts. However, there are times in which my thoughts turn negative.

Yesterday was one of those days.

I questioned whether being in Nicaragua was really worth it. Did I actually make a difference? Did the harmful actions that I had at times just make things worse? The main thought was that this trip was horrible because of the things that broke my heart – the actions of those who were harmful, the injustice that was done as well as the actions that I had that were not pleasing to God.

In the middle of the day, I had to almost slap myself, realizing how I was taking myself down a destructive path. A path in which the devil wanted me to walk down but our cross barring Jesus was not. The amazing thing about our God, so great, is that He covers a multitude of sins. The mistakes I made, the mistakes others made are covered by His grace. As I repented for my destructive thoughts, the thoughts of the things I saw that did make a difference in the lives of others returned.

Yes, not everything was beautiful and amazing but there were some pretty amazing things that happened. Things that I desire to share on my blog over the next little while, though most start with a sad story. Just like a rainbow - you must have the rain (not so good) and the sun (the good).

Where I was living did not have internet for over a month... though we thought it would only be 10 days, it was not. I am sorry for not being able to share while I was there. I hope sharing now will be able to show what your donations and prayers were able to achieve in the last month I was there.

On a personal note, here is an updated photo of me!

Photo taken by the lovely Lorna Rande in Penticton BC (Note - it was about 31 degree Celsius and I was in pants, shoes, tank top, a t-shirt and never left the hotel without a sweater! The lack of humidity in this country is killing me!)