DAY 1

Thanks be to God... everything went smoothly today with travels to Managua.  Seven of us took a bus from Liberia, CR at 8am this morning that took us to Managua.  While we were bussing it, two friends of Tamarindo Church flew in from the United States.  All went off without a hitch.  No troubles with customs at the Nicaragua border with us bringing 17 bags of clothes, shoes, blankets, etc. with us into Nicaragua.  Upon arriving at the bus station in Managua were met by our missions "chaperone" Alvaro.... a veteran at hosting these kinds of trips.  Along with him were our two friends Kevin and Randy who flew in earlier in the day.  It was great to see their faces and to know that all went well with travels for them.  After arriving at Quintaprimavera (our missions housing), we took some time get oriented with settling in and with our schedule for the next day.  Tomorrow we will be starting on the foundations of all four houses.  We'll be sure to post some pics tomorrow night with the next post.  Please pray for us as it's going to be a lot of lifting... so prayers for extra strength and protection of our lower backs in particular would be great!!  Following dinner (which was awesome) our group gathered for a time of worship and meditation on scripture together.  


John 3:16-1816 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. 17 If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.

We talked about the differences between love as mere sentiment, and love as action.  We talked about the joy that comes from serving sacrificially in love.  We reflected on how we, as God's children, are to bear a family resemblance of the love of our Father in heaven.  God's love can be present in us and through us only when we create room for his love by doing acts of sacrificial love and service to others.  It was a great night of sharing and getting to know one another through reflection on God's word.We are looking forward to an awesome day tomorrow of loving and serving the people of Tipitapa, Nicaragua.  Many of them our brothers and sisters in Christ, and so we are seeing it more as a family reunion than a "mission trip".  We are helping our brothers and sisters in need.  Please join us in prayer this week as we serve.  Please pray that God would be glorified in the lives of those we serve.  And that when we leave Nicaragua on Friday... that the people we have served would be encouraged in their faith... and that they would more thankful and more devoted to Him.

Peace,

Pastor Lyle