August 6-8, 2009

Hello again! Sorry for the wait but we cant go to town everyday. Thursday morning was free time for us and most of us decided to take an adventure into Jinotepe. We explored the market place, tried some different food, and bought a lot of hot sauce. When we came back we filled up hundreds of water balloons and had a massive water war. We did our team vs. the kids which quickly became USA vs. Nicaragua. When the fight started, one of the teenagers, Alex, let out a war cry, ¡Para Nicaragua! and launched his water balloon across the battlefield. Once the balloons ran out, we filled up buckets and kept fighting. Nobody was safe, not even Kim Fisher, the director of Arms of Love. The youngest girl, Meyling, was ruthless and hunted Julia, the event coordinator, down in her office. She also threw water on one of the adults who was in the van coming back from town. After that we showered and got ready for a night in the Jungle. Sven thought it would be fun/adventurous/risky if we all went camping in the jungle. We bought hammocks, bug nets, and a lot of rope so the little critters wouldnt eat us. Unfortunately, the whole team did not get to experience this adventure due to the intimidating insects, but we are going to give it another try on Monday. Nobody was attacked by snakes, spiders, or scorpions, so it was a successful trip. We didnt get out to the jungle until it was dark, so it took a few hours to set up 14 hammocks. We tried making a fire but jungle wood doesnt know how to burn. The dried banana leaves were the only things that caught fire, but they only last about five seconds. It was really noisy all night, but everyone seemed to enjoy the experience.

On Friday, we all went to the beach, or as the kids were singing, ¡Vamos a la Playa! It was a blast. The water was warm and the waves were big enough for surfing. We played in the water and on the beach for probably two hours nonstop before having lunch. The kids body surfed, built sand castles, and caught enough crabs to fill one of the buckets. We also did some horseback riding. There are no restrictions on what animals can be brought on the beach, and we discovered this when a local had a mini-cattle drive of bulls right through the middle of our activities. Someone also brought a pig. Not things you usually see at beaches in the States! On the bus ride back, Sven and the teenagers got into a spanish improv singing battle in which Sven yelled things like Biesbol and Corn Flakes over and over again which happened to wake up everyone who was trying to nap. They didnt stop until we got back to the orphanage. At night, we had some other missionaries from a Vineyard in Iowa join us. They shared some of their experiences with us. Every night we take time to reflect on what God is doing in each of our hearts, and last night we had a particularly intense prayer session where God was definately present and moving. He has been doing a lot of very powerful things for all of us so far, and we still have six more days here. We just pray that He continues to pour his blessing on us and the children for the remainder of the time.

We have been playing with the kids all day today. Surprise surprise! We brought out a lot of different toys, and the older kids took some of us on the zip-line through the jungle. Tonight, Sven and David are traveling to Managua so David can preach to some youth with Sven as his translator. The kids are throwing a party for the rest of us tonight, and tomorrow we will go to Managua for church. Sven is preaching in spanish for his first time tomorrow at church, so please be praying for both him and David. A new blog will be up as soon as possible. We need to get back for dinner, rice and beans like always! Im glad nobody here is on the Atkins diet. ¡Adios y vaya con Dios!