As I had said earlier, we were called away last minute to a funeral the Thursday and Friday before we were to leave on the trip (that's 2 days before we were supposed to be in Central America). I'm a planner, but I could not have planned for that detour! 5:00am came early on Saturday, and we needed to get on the road to the airport (on only 3 hours of sleep)! We flew out of Orlando to El Salvador (during the layover I got reacquainted with spades, love it!) and finally arrived in Managua, Nicaragua late in the evening. Our team of 18 met up with everyone else to make our total team member count 50. Here is a breakdown of who was on the trip:
From the University of Florida-
- FOUR 4th year medical students
- THREE 3rd year medical students
- TWO 2nd year medical students
- THREE 1st year medical students
- ONE dental student, physician's assistant student, nursing student, physical therapy student, physician
- and me =) -- completely unrelated to the medical field!
The rest of the team-
- NINE more physicians
- ONE pharmacist, pastor, handyman, additional nursing student
- TWO dentists, dental assistants, nurses
- THREE additional medical students
- FIVE college students
- FIVE kids, high school and middle school, all whose parents were also on the trip
We had people from all over the country- New Hampshire, Washington DC, Pennsylvania, Boston, Chicago, Texas, Tennessee! One of the doctors was even in his 70's and went on the zipline (upside down)! We got acquainted with one another over a very nice dinner and went to bed early. The next morning, we had a team briefing meeting with some wonderful praise and worship and an ice breaker. We met our local GHO coordinator, Rolando. He works for GHO and lives in Nicaragua. He had organized our entire trip from hotels to the churches we would work with at clinic. Establishing relationships and encouraging a productive network of churches is a priority for GHO. Once our clinic packs up on the last day, the local churches are in place to follow up with patients who had been ministered to. We then loaded up our two yellow school buses (from Bibb County Georgia, really!) and headed for San Juan del Sur, about 3 hours south on the Pacific coast, where we would set up clinic for the rest of the week.
We stayed in this beautiful hotel right on the beach.
We ate breakfast and dinner right across the street, even closer to the beach. Each meal had rice (and lots of it). We also had fish, eggs, fruit... not too many veggies. Everyone loved the soda since it was made with real sugar, and the coffee was wonderful!
Here is our full team on the last day of clinic. The church in the background is where clinic was held all week.
Every morning we worshipped and had a devotion on the beach. It was a great way to start the day! 
Zach led worship with Yuneg (left, a doctor from Washington DC) and Brandon (middle, dental student from UF)
We had clinic Monday- Friday (only until 11am on the last day). The clinic opened at 9am, and we usually packed up around 5:30pm. Each morning a lined had already formed and went up the street by the time we got there. Our days were very busy! Each person would receive the Gospel and be prayed over, then they were sent to triage to see a nurse.
This is the medical clinic. It was set up inside a church. Different "examination rooms" were divided by curtains, and minor surgeries were performed on the stage at the back. Once the nurse determined what the primary complaint was, the patient would be assigned a doctor for further examination. The doctor would pray over the patient again.
Sometimes triage would send the patient to optometry to receive reading or sun glasses. Medical students, college students, even high school students would perform the eye easements.
Finally, the patient might end up at the pharmacy. This was set up in a workshop/garage across the street from the clinic.
The is the dental clinic. It was set up in a church identical to the one the medical clinic was in. Dentists performed cleanings and extractions all day long.
This is the Medical Mobile Unit. More invasive surgeries were performed in here. It's basically an RV outfitted on the inside with a sterile surgical room. Cysts were removed and abdominal walls were repaired here.
Here is Zach getting in on some surgery action inside the Medical Mobile Unit. Dr. Ries, director for GHO, is performing the surgery.
Zach got to suture up the patient! Steady hands...
Zach also performed a few joint injections!
I did children's ministry all week. We would have a morning and an afternoon session with lots of play time in between! Grace (far right) is a senior in high school and Dr. Ries's daughter. She was the other leader for children's ministry- we had a great time that week! Our translators, Ericka and Lenin, were wonderful with the kids! They knew most of the Bible stories and some good kids' songs to sing.
The kids loved singing "Yo Tengo Gozo". It's basically "I've got joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart. Where?" You know, that song. But in Spanish.
Having visual aids was a MUST! We didn't realize this beforehand, but we always took some planning time to come up with a few sketches for each day. Here I'm sharing the story of the Resurrection. This little girl wants to know where Jesus is since He wasn't in the tomb!
And what is more precious than little kids praying? I would say a simply prayer, the translator would say it in Spanish, and then the kids would repeat it! So amazing to hear little voices praise God!
And some of the kids took it quite literally when told to close their eyes... and I guess, their mouths, too? haha precious!
I was also ambushed with this fun game! It's like london bridges.... and then it turns into tug of war!! ahhhhhh
All in all, we had over 100 different kids show up throughout the week! Praise God! 11 of the only children even prayed to accept Christ! We just had the most wonderful time loving on them and telling them about Jesus.
The medical folks would rotate through to children's ministry to help out each day. The kids loved Zach!
This little girl is Nicole. She was super sweet and snuggled right up next to me every day! She literally sang "Yo Tengo Gozo" all day long and was all smiles.
Stirling. This guy was my buddy all week. I introduced Zach to him as mi esposo (husband), and he stuck out his hand for Zach to shake! haha He had a surgery scheduled on the last day of clinic to remove a wart on his finger, and he asked me to be with him. He screamed and cried, but we sang "yo tengo gozo" through his tears about 50 times. When the surgery was over, he grabbed my hand, and we went back to children's ministry to do a craft. He stayed right near me until the bus pulled away at the end of the day... it just about broke my heart!
This pic probably should have appeared earlier, but this is what the street right outside clinic looked like. Not strange at all to have cattle or horses walking down the street! And every other yard had a huge pig. Chickens ran all over the place. Tons of skinny, stray dogs-- very sad.
One day fater clinic, the local baseball team challenged us to a game! It was legit baseball; it is, afterall, Nicaragua's national sport. Uh oh... they creamed us! But we got to share the Gospel with them and prayed with them after the game.
San Juan del Sur is kind of set back in the "cove" and flanked on either side with mountains. We ran up one of the mountains one cloudy morning, and this is the view from up top. Our hotel is right along that beach. This is the morning we heard about the earthquake and tsunami hitting Japan. We were humbled by God's power and reminded of God's soverignty.
There's Cosa Rica in the back! This is Cheryl, a 3rd year medical student at UF- and I must add that she just had a baby (her 2nd kid) 8 months ago. What's more impressive: her flat stomach or that she's a 3rd year medical student with 2 kids?
Zach beat us to the top, typical, but waited for us to get there! Look at our gross sweat... ewwww
Frisbee on the beach. Had to do it! Followed with a victory dip in the ocean! 
Zach and me on the beach at night.
We went to two church services at a community baseball field. The band was set up on trucks that were driven out to the pitchers mound.
The "GHO Choir" also led a couple worship songs in English. And the children from children's ministry came out and sang a couple songs, including "yo tengo gozo" for the congregation.
God displayed his beauty and wonder in the most breath taking ways! Look at these stars!
This is Genada. We traveled inland to here on Friday. We enjoyed a very nice dinner and fellowshipping with our new friends.
Saturday was our free day. Some of the group hiked an active volcano. We went ziplinning!
The Lord showed us so much on this trip-- not just a new environment or new people, but He revealed more of Himself to us. Before we went on the trip, God was answering our prayers, and that did not stop once we were in Nicaragua.
Answered prayer #1: Dear Lord, if You would have us serve you in Nicaragua, please make that possible.
The "Type A" personality that the Lord has cursed blessed me with challenged my faithfulness. It looked like we would not have enough money to go on the trip. While Zach and I felt called to go to Nicaragua, I had decided that if the numbers did not work out, I would not go on the trip with Zach. God humbled me when I doubted that the Lord who fed 5,000 could not put a few hundred dollars in our accounts. The money we still owed arrived in the mail the week before the trip.
Answered prayer #2: Dear Lord, use our marriage to bring glory to your name.
We have only been married for 8 months, but this has been a re-occurring prayer for much longer than that. We were one of three young married couples on the trip. The new friends we made on the trip told us that they could see how much we love one another and how the Lord is using us together. They are encouraged by our marriage and hope for a relationship like the one we have. Praise God- it’s by His grace alone that we are married!
Answered prayer #3: Dear Lord, please provide encouraging companionship for me in Gainesville.
Who thought this one would be answered across the globe? I have struggled making friends in Gainesville, and I was able to grow close to the entire UF team (17 students). A few of the girls are going to start a small group, so we can get together weekly to spend time in the word and to encourage one another.
Answered prayer #4: Dear Lord, how can You use us to make a difference in only one week?
One thing I have always struggled with when it comes to short-term missions is "How can a significant difference be made in such a short period of time? What happens when we leave?" How prideful of me to think that I can bring anything to anyone? God uses minutes, days, years, lifetimes when you turn your life over to Him. Our life on earth is but a breath. While we were only in Nicaragua for one week, the Lord worked in mighty ways. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians, "I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God, who makes things grow... we are co-workers in God’s service." Missions, domestic and international, is something that has been placed on our hearts, and we are just waiting for the next call!
1 comments to Gloria a Dios:
WOW, what an awesome experience! Those are some lucky people to have had you all go there! God is good!
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