The Blog of Shelter Rock Student Ministries on Long Island, NY.

Friday, July 10, 2015

Nicaragua Mission Day 7

This morning we had devotions at 7:30am and breakfast at 8am. We then set up for something of a "VBS". We had 2 groups of children bussed in from the community - one group at 9am and another at 2pm. We played soccer, did facepainting, made balloon animals, then had a time of singing and dancing followed by a gospel message. We are super proud of Claudia who preached in the morning, and Timmy who preached in the afternoon.  About 5 children prayed to receive Christ following each message! Never underestimate the significance of a child praying to receive the Lord. I was one of those children! Let's pray for these 10 or so kids. Pray that the seed of the Word of God has landed on good soil, and that it will bear good fruit in their lives. This evening we had rhe 7 year anniversary celebration of Villa Esperanza. We led worship, some of the girls from the Villa did some dances, we ate dinner, had cake, watched a slide show, and shared notes and took pictures with the girls. It was a very fun night. Tomorrow we are loading the bus at 4am to head to the airport.

Thursday, July 9, 2015

Nicaragua Mission Day 6

Today was another day for building relationships with the girls from Villa Esperanza. After devotions and breakfast we loaded a school bus and drove to a water park. The rides and the time at the pool were simply times to show the girls the love of Jesus. We enjoyed conversing with the girls, practicing our Spanish and giving them a chance to learn English. We sought to get to know them better, encourage them, and ask them deeper questions about God. This evening Adriana did a makeup workshop for all of the girls, showing them how to properly apply makeup. Following the demonstration she ministered to the girls, talking to them about their intrinsic value, inner beauty that doesn't fade with age, and challenging them to become women of God. 
   

Wednesday, July 8, 2015

Nicaragua Mission Day 5

Today was our free day so after devotions at 7:30am and breakfast at 8am, we loaded the bus at 9am and drove about 45 minutes to go zip-lining. Everyone did it and we had a great time. Afterward we went for lunch overlooking a lake. Just after we finished eating and as we were about to take a group picture we saw a storm approaching over the lake. We took our picture then ran for the bus as the downpour began. We then drove to the market where we did our souvenir shopping. We got back to the Villa at 4:30pm. We have dinner at 6pm then at 7pm we will be having an evening of fun interactions with the girls.

Nicaragua Mission Day 4

This morning we had team devotions at 7am followed by breakfast and worship and devotions with the Villa staff and some of the girls. We then got into a couple of groups and did work around the Villa. One group did yard work and another group worked on the road into the Villa, shoveling dirt out of the drainage ditch and using it to patch up another area of the road which had been washed out. We also enjoyed some time hanging out and playing with the girls. After dinner we had a service with the girls. Ady and Mike led worship, we did the "Everything" drama, and I preached. Following the message I gave an altar call and probably 30 people came up including both people from Nicaragua as well as our team. We had a powerful encounter with the Holy Spirit and the ministry time lasted over an hour as people were praying for one another. It was an in incredible time as the Spirit of God moved. Following the service we had our debriefing meeting as a team and it was marked by expressed feelings of being overwhelmed by the grace if God. We also heard reports of two girls giving their lives to Christ tonight! God is good! Thank you for continuing to pray for us.