Finally in Granada!

Hola! We made it to Granada! After a week of training in Georgia, where we got to know our teams and
leaders, we have finally arrived in Nicaragua. Training camp consisted of lots of team
building activities, speakers on topics ranging from children’s ministry to
spiritual warfare. Overall it was a
great time to get to know our teammates and also prepare our hearts for what
lies ahead. I love my team, too! 10 girls,
4 boys, and 2 leaders. We have been
getting along really well and everyone seems to be very excited about what
we’re going to be doing and learning together over the next 8 months. During our first full day in Granada we walked around the city. It is so beautiful-full of history with old
cathedrals and the town square has so much culture. We also walked to the lake and the volcanoes
and mountains in the distance looked so cool with the clouds hovering near
them. That night, we met with Charles
and Sarah Kaye, the full time missionaries on staff with AIM here, and it was
so neat to see the base that they have spent the last year or so restoring,
using it for a church they’re starting, as well as other Bible studies and
clinics they run out of the building. We
had a chance to just worship together before dinner, which was amazing because
there we were, a bunch of Americans and Nicaraguans together, worshipping the
same God in two different languages. It
was an awesome way to inaugurate this adventure. We’ve been having nightly soccer games on the
street in front of our house where kids just come out of nowhere. I sat and talked to Chilu, one of our
neighbors. She is an elderly woman who
doesn’t have a very big family. She sits
outside of her house almost every night and I hope to continue our
friendship. We laughed a lot as we were
trying to understand each other since I speak so little Spanish, but hopefully
I’ll improve as the year goes along and we can go deeper with our
friendship. She told me she only has one
lung and isn’t allowed to work in the hospital as a nurse any longer and she
misses working. After sitting with her
for about an hour, I had to leave but moments like that make me so excited to
get to know the people in this city, to work with the various existing
ministries, and also help start up new ones as well. Thank you for all your prayers, encouraging
emails, and for reading this blog! I
hope to update it at least weekly. More
to come… I love and miss you all!!!