Happy Easter, from Nicaragua!
Today was a wonderful day … a Sabbath and a day of rest!
We got up in the morning, had breakfast and left for “Verbo” … a nearby church. (Verbo means verb or action). The church was very welcoming to us as we entered. The worship was lively and upbeat, complete with a group of liturgical dancers using ribbons and streamers. The music was contagious and thoroughly enjoyed by all. We did our best to try and follow the Spanish lyrics as they were singing, when suddenly we recognized a few of the songs … “Majesty”, “How Great Is Our God” and “How Great thou Art”! We were suddenly overwhelmed with the fact that no matter where we were, or what language we spoke … we were all worshipping the same God. – Today on Easter, together we were worshipping our risen Lord, and celebrating His unconditional love for each one of us. It was overwhelming!
We were given headsets to use throughout the sermon so we could listen to a translator. This was nice as it allowed us to follow the sermon and to feel like we were a part of the congregation.
On the way back from church we stopped at a local store to purchase snacks (ok … junk food!) that we might want for the evenings at the Nehemiah Center. Then we returned to the Nehemiah Center for a delicious Easter lunch and spent some time relaxing together at the Center.
Next we went to a privately owned pool where we spent the afternoon enjoying the water and our time together as a team. We truly felt spoiled and as if we were on vacation!
We returned to the Center for pizza from PIZZA HUT … which tasted like home!
In the evening we watched a movie called “Reparando” (or Repairing) which is a challenging movie about how God can repair lives of the broken … and how he can use ordinary people to bring about beautiful change in the lives of others. It is a true story, set in the heart of Guatemala. It brought about serious reflection and some good discussion afterwards.
Our evening came to a close with devotions together, including meaningful and special notes from home. Finally, we spent time working on our journals, and then time to prepare details for our activities at Bautista Libertad tomorrow.
We enjoyed today … we know that we have busy and full days ahead of us, and we are excited about the experiences that await us. But for today, we were grateful for time to worship together and to enjoy time of relaxation and fun together!
STUDENT HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY
Today’s Students: Kirsten and Charline
"I really loved getting to worship with all of the people here today on Easter Sunday!! It was so interesting to hear the Spanish worship and to even hear some of our familiar Sunday songs sung in Spanish! It was kind of hard to catch on to at first, but the music was so peppy and fun, I found myself singing along even in Spanish!! It was so cool and so much fun!! :) Worship is something that unites everybody around the world, and today on Easter Sunday there were millions of people worshipping God as one church." Kirsten Gerlywich.
"Today was such an amazing day ! So grateful to have the opportunity to worship God with a different culture and see others worshiping him. It amazes me how passionate they were and seeing how happy they were in praising him! You can really see their thirst and hunger for God! Such a wonderful feeling to know that there is no shame in showing our love for God ! We just worship in our unique way with all our hearts! Another highlight for the day is our pool party where our whole team just bonded and had an awesome, fun time! "
Charline Vibas
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