A lot of preparation goes into the trips that we take. We spend months planning, making decisions, getting our supplies, fundraising, getting to know our team members, and on it goes!
When we get to Nicaragua Fox River will join the Nicas and form one team. Part of our team will be working in the Clinic and the other part will be out in the communities. Although we will be doing some different things while we are there we are all just one team. We go as ONE body, each given different gifts and abilities in order to fulfill the same task > Sharing the love of Christ. (1 Corinthians 12)
I’m going to share with you about how the Nicaragua team is preparing to go…
We prepare for the tasks that we will be doing, physically for our health, for the environment we will live in, and most importantly we prepare spiritually to be open to what God has for each of us.
Some of the best moments we have as a team are our monthly meetings. As a leader, there are so many details that need to be looked over with a fine tooth comb on a regular basis, having a team to help with planning and cultivate ideas is the greatest thing ever! Don’t let the title ‘leader’ fool you, I have the great privilege of walking beside and among them as they plan and take ownership of the trip as a team! At our meetings we have groups who work on certain tasks and we have moments where we come together as a whole and discuss. We have groups for music, games, crafts, stories, and the medical group. EVERYONE is a part of the planning! I am so grateful for my team!
Our music group teaching the rest of the us the dance for VBS.
My absolute favorite part of all the preparing, planning, and craziness is the time I get to sit with the team and get to know them. We take time at each meeting to hear each others stories, to hear what they are excited about or maybe even what they are nervous about.
Intentional prayer!
Pastor Guy praying over the team.
Then we spend time in what we call ‘Intentional prayer’, we give our worries, and praise to our Creator! We want to make sure we are always working with God and not apart from Him. We pray for our planning, our team members, travel, we pray for the people we will work with, for their planning, we pray for all the people that our team will come into contact with, we pray for the clinic and church in La Esmeralda, for our supporters, we pray that our hearts will be aligned with God’s plan, we pray for the unknown… Will you join us in praying?
God is already at work answering prayers of support and partnership. He is working in the hearts of all of us and of those we will come into contact with. Supplying the needs we have as we prepare to go some obvious and some that we didn't even know we had. Giving courage and peace to those of us who have fear and anxiety, and giving patience to others who can't wait to go see friends and make new ones. We have such a great God who loves us with an everlasting love, it is His desire that we come to Him to fulfill our needs. Let this team be a testament that He does in fact meet our needs and bless us greatly.
Counting down the days until we get to see all the planning come to fruition!