See if you can guess? A prize will go to the winner!!

Hello everyone! It’s Corinne again. It’s midnight right now and I’ve never been so tired in my life! I’ve got to do this blog though…

These past two days have just been too great to not write about as soon as possible. On Friday we traveled to Posoltega. This town had been put through a lot of tragedy. Ten years ago, a nearby volcano erupted and left many people devastated with the loss of family and friends. These people were really hurting. The awesome part of this day was that we teamed up with the mayor of the city. He is a great man of God and it was awesome to see how much he cared about his community and the people in it.

In the morning we went to a school assembly. The kids really enjoyed our dramas and skits. At first, when we introduced the altar call, the response was not too great…but we all kept praying really hard and all it took was one child to step up and then we were praying for practically the whole student body! It was so amazing to see what a little faith and the power of prayer can do. The devil tried so hard to discourage us but he was absolutely not successful.

After that assembly God blessed us with a huge down poor! Now, you might think this would be a bad thing…but it felt so good! We all ran out into the rain and ran around and danced. We got drenched and it was awesome! We then traveled to the mayor’s office to eat lunch with him and some local pastors. As usual, rice beans and chicken was our food of choice and it was muy delicioso.

Following lunch was another school assembly. This one was outside…without a roof over our heads. And guess what?! God blessed us with more rain! We had to walk a good ways to the school from where our bus could park, but it was a great walk. The road was muddy and we had to cross what we thought (at the time) was a river. Once again, we embraced the mud and enjoyed ourselves the whole way.

At the school we got to do stomp and our other dramas in the rain. It was so sweet. The altar call went amazingly and once again God showed us how powerful he is. We prayed with almost all the kids. Many shared personal problems in their lives with us and many accepted Christ. God is so good.

We headed back to the mayor’s office for dinner and some good fellowship there. After that was the community rally, talk about some powerful stuff! We came to this huge field full of tents and a big stage. Once again, the rain poured down. The whole team is really starting to believe that is God’s way of giving us all assurance and his approval. Despite the precipitation, we continued with the program. We performed stomp, jump, heart skit, healer, and everything. Every single drama went perfect and the crowd responded amazingly to the altar call. He really kept his anointing on us that whole day.

Today was another blessed day. We finally got the chance to sleep in a little (YES!). After our much needed night of rest, we traveled to the market to do some SHOPPING. Oh yeah! It was a little bit crowded and a tad overwhelming…but of course we had so much fun. The exchange rate between Cordoba’s and our American money confused me a little bit…but hey, we can’t all be good at math! We all bought our souvenirs and many of you can probably expect some gifts coming your way.

After our little shopping spree we went to the (drum roll please) ORPHANAGE! YAAAY! We were all so excited and impatient to get there. During our time there we pulled out the chicken and clown suits, the bubbles, and the piñata! Not only did the kids have the time of their lives, but we did too. Sadly, after about three hours there… it was time to say our final goodbyes to all of them. It was very, very, very, hard. We all got so close we the little kiddos and formed relationships that I know none of us will ever forget. Just being able to spend time and play with them was a precious gift from God.

We reluctantly left the orphanage and headed over to the tent church that we went to on Wednesday. We did a youth service there. Pastor Jeff and his translator had us all laughing our heads off. He did a great sermon and we also got to do some of our dramas. At the end we got the opportunity to prayer with many of the teens. Their willingness to let us pray with them and their passion for God was really inspiring. We chowed down on some pizza and then came back to camp. On another sad note, we had to say good bye to our Ohio team friends. It will be really rough waking up tomorrow and not having them here. It was awesome to see our teams mesh together and bond this week. We’re all praying for safe travels and God’s blessings on them as they return home.

Our time here is coming to a close…but, we aren’t done quite yet. We still have two days left and I know God has a lot more in store for us. Keep praying and we will see all your wonderful faces bright and early on Wednesday!

God answers our prayers! We prayed for souls and we have seen them come to accept Jesus in their hearts!! We have seen healings and families mended! We are praying tonite for these teens to live a life of purity! Please agree with us in prayer!

After a long day yesterday we got to sleep in a bit and on the road at 9a. We lost one of our buses to get fixed so it was all on 1 bus! To the market to shop for 1.5 hours and the off to the orphanage… We played with ten and had lunch… Did a fun video and broke a piñata with them… Then sad goodbyes with tears in all eyes!! Now we are off to a youth service in Corazo!! Trying to get them to write blogs but it’s hard to write in a bumpy road bus… And we have been so busy and get back so late…. Everyone has been awesome!!! Fatigue is setting in on some but they are persevering! Thanks for all your prayers! It really has been amazing!!!

Wow! Mtg the mayor and having great school assemblies! Then the outdoor rally at nite with over 800 people! Many came to salvation! Each a great experience for everyone! Longer blog to come tomorrow! It’s been a several really busy days in a row!! Orphanage and a youth service at Corazon!!

Today is going to be an exciting day! Three school assemblies, lunch with the mayor of the town we at ministering and a huge outreach! Projections are to be 1000 students… So be praying for us we have a two hour bus ride to get there.. We are about 20 mins into the trip!!! Thanks for all your prayers!!

Today we set a new frequency record 6 outreaches. Six!! I think we did every drama we ever learned twice! Except for Jump and Stomp we did everytime! But we had sooo much fun. Everyplace we went we had altar calls and people came to the Lord! What an amazing day! One event I remember was at a school assembly at the altar call. A girl approached me and said the salvation prayer for the very first time in her life! (all through a translator of course) God is changing the lives of all the Nicaraguan people we meet! The events taking place are life changing and we all can’t wait to tell you guys about them in detail when we get home!
Oh and sorry we didn’t have the shout out video we’ve been too busy listening to “5 seconds” on our roller coaster … I mean bus! And sweating… Did anyone mention the heat? Nicaragua is best friends with the scorching sun if you haven’t heard? To all our friends and family at home: we miss u very much and wish to share the icicle showers and blazing sun with you! God is rocking us to the core!
Peace and love always!
Brooke, Nick M, Hanna G and James

P.S. Will someone tell my mom about the blog!! Brooke

You would be so proud of this team!! They have worked really hard… Fatigue is setting in a little so continue to pray harder… Strength and anointing!! God has been doing great things at each opportunity….

Wow! What a sermon we had tonight!

Pastor Tommy amazed us all with some stories from his past. The best of all had to do with a scooter and 8 ft tall flames. As epic as that sounds, its definitely one of those do-not-try-at-home stories.

In all seriousness, Pastor Tommy took us on a journey through James 3:3-12,

³When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. ⁴Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. ⁵Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. ⁶The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

⁷All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, ⁸but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
⁹With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. ¹⁰Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. ¹¹Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? ¹²My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

James compares our tongues to horse bits and ship’s rudders; small objects that steer large things. It is the same way with the words we say; although it’s small, it controls the type of person we are to the world. A mean person says mean things, a nice person says nice things, etc.

Controlling the tongue is difficult. James goes as far as to call it impossible. It should then go without saying that controlling it is an intentional act, it’s something that we have to put our will to. We have to make the conscious decision to learn to control the tongue; it doesn’t happen by accident.

Some questions to ask yourself to help you control your tongue:

What does your mind dwell on?
Remember Philippians 4:8. Whatever is holy, whatever is pure…
Do I consider the other person’s feelings before I speak?
With what motives are you speaking with?
To congratulate, to comfort, to attack…
What types of music, books, tv shows, movies, etc., are affecting the way you speak?

Taming the tongue is impossible to do. No MAN has ever accomplished that goal. But we have a GOD who can do all things. If you want to learn to tame your tongue, go to God for help! You can’t do it on your own but God is just a prayer away, waiting to help you in all that you do.

UPCOMING EVENTS!!
THE BIG SERVE! Registration is out! Get excited to hear Press Play and help out the community!!
WATER WARS! 7/23 from 7:00 to 9:00 pm @ youth center!!
NO YOUTH ON 7/28 due to Mega Sports Camp! Instead, meet us for lunch, games, and bowling at the Colosseum at 12:15 (bring money)
MEGA SPORTS CAMP VOLUNTEERS! Volunteer online! Pastor Jan needs you!
SUNDAY SCHOOL! We’re going to talk about Jesus and what role He plays in your life! 9:30 to 10:30 am @ Youth Center

Blessings!!
Alexa

It is the end of our third day and we are physically tired, but spiritually refreshed. Today we did one school assembly… It was super fantastic! A bunch of little ninos came up front to receive Jesus and pray the sinner’s prayer… It was awesome! After that we went to one of two food distributions… The first one was a very humbling experience… I (Miranda) saw this one girl who looked like she was about 10 years old and she had this big thing bulging from her back… At first I thought it was a tumor but then I remembered where we were and why we were there and I realized it was a bowl for her food… All the little children had bowls with them and after we were done doing our program we lined them up and gave them comida (food)… It made me realize that I have so much compared to them and I should not complain about not having enough stuff… After that food distribution we went to another one… We also did a program and then we handed out food to the children… All in all, both distributions of food were humbling experiences for all of us… After that we went to the orphanage for the afternoon and evening… It is always fun to play with the children… Some of our boys played futbol (soccer) with the kids from the orphanage and of course our boys got schooled… Then a BIG and SCARY thunderstorm occurred in the middle of our frolicking with the children… But we all made the most of our time with the children… We also got to do our program for the children… Luckily we get to go back on Saturday, or else the departure would have had mucho (a lot) of tears from all of us… After we left the orphanage we came back to the place where we are staying and we all got together in the breakfast room… Both the PA and OH teams experienced God in a totally spectacular way… He definitely showed up and wrecked some of us… But in the best way possible… Overall we had a great day… We can’t wait to see what God will do in the next couple days…

SHOUT OUTS…

Mommy, Daddy, n Jake – Hope all is well en la casa! I miss you guys lots! Love you!

Calah – I saw Larry at the orphanage today… He got pretty big but his personality is the same! Carlitos isn’t there anymore… I’ll tell you about it later… I miss and love you!

Deanna – Miss and love you too!

Ally – I’ve seen lots of cows and they all have made me think of you!

And to everyone else… Thanks for your prayers! They mean a lot! Keep them coming!

Mucho Amor,

Miranda =D

Mommy, Daddy, Ashley, G, Ginger – we’re having an amazing time down here. we miss you a lot and can’t wait to see you! And mama don’t worry, im drinking plenty of water. Love you so much!

Devin-Hope your surviving without me =] can’t wait to see you! I love you!

Everyone else- miss you all so much! Thank you for supporting us!

-Chelsea and Leah