Ministry Tour

In my last week in Nicaragua prior to coming to Ontario, Kelly Eggink a member from my home church came to visit. Together we joined with various other missionaries to learn about their ministries and to help as we were able. Even though I'm not new to Nicaragua as Kelly was, the week had many new and challenging experiences in it. One idea that I've learned on the mission field and that was evident repeatedly this week is that relationship building and investing time in relationships is important and necessary.

This picture was taken at La Chureca which is the dump in Managua. We joined a friend of mine who goes to the dump twice a week to bring cups of milk to some of the babies living there. It might seem more time efficient to teach the mothers to make the formula, but this way we can be sure the babies get the milk and also take time to visit with the families. We also passed out vitamins to any of the children we passed. In the picture above are Vilma, about 25 years old, and her daughter Marianne (missing are her two younger children). Her baby twins are not with her right now because they were quite sick and in need of care outside the dump. Spending some time with this family was difficult because of their living conditions, but it also helped me to see that all people are the same. Vilma loves to visit with people, tell jokes and stories, and laugh in spite of the very poor conditions she and her family are living and working in.

We also spent time at the Nutrition Center were children are brought who are in desperate need of nutrition or have been neglected by family. Sadly to say several of the children in this center were abandoned at infancy and left to die, but were found by someone in the community and brought to the center. This center was started by missionary friends who are providing the best care possible for these children until they can either return home or a more suitable home can be found for them. Kelly and I planned some activities for the older children for several days. By the second or third day they were calling us "Teacher, teacher". Kelly brought some beads to make necklaces, but we realized that 10 out of the 12 older children were boys. This posed no problem for these guys. They tackled the project for nearly an hour until each of the kids had their own necklace to wear.