Email from Polly 2:25 PM on 7-27-09

I cannot even describe our morning. The Lord is working in such incredible ways... its so unbelievable. Our morning and evening worship, prayer and Bible Study times have been amazing. We have a man named Eric who is a national Nicaraguan who is our worship leader. He is amazing. Rhonda would love him. very gifted musician, very excited and loves the Lord. We have had some very powerful and worshipful times together as a group. Today, we were prepared for our day of directing vbs. We brought all our supplies, practiced our Bible story and skit, talked about the games we were going to play and packed our duffle bags with toys and prizes to give to the children. When we arrived at La Quinta, the church that we are working with, they didn't get the message and there were only a few kids there. We were discouraged since we had prepared so much for the vbs and it was one of the main focuses of the trip. But, God had something so much better in mind. Instead we went into the villages (I cant spell the word that they are called in spanish) and talked to the people and invited the children to the children's festival that we will be having on Saturday. It was such an incredible yet heart wrenching experience. The poverty, heartache, and living conditions of these people is something that we have heard of and seen pictures of yet until you actually see it and smell it you can't even believe that there are people living like this. We went with the pastor of the church, Falipio and our translator, Harold, and went into people's homes and prayed with them. One lady that we prayed with was crying and wanted us to pray because she had 3 sons and they had joined gangs. One of her sons had stabbed the other one 3 times. He was just coming out of surgery. Unbelievable stories and such an incredible need for the healing touch and saving grace of Jesus. There is never a time when our team doesn't have children clinging to them. I can't wait to show all of you the pictures. Kids are always on our shoulders and climbing on us. They are absolutely precious. It was such a powerful morning that will impact our kids for the rest of their lives. It was life changing. The supplies and plans that we had for vbs will be used on Saturday when we do the children's festival. One of the really cool things for me as the leader of this team is to watch each kid as the gifts and abilities that God has given them emerge and come to play in their part of our team. We work so well together. Each person´s gifts and talents have contributed so much to the team. We would be at a loss if it wasn't for Karissa´s incredible planning and organizational skills. She thought to bring absolutely everything we need and she planned for little details that none of the rest of us even thought of. Jamie is a spiritual giant. She truly loves the Lord and lives her life so open and pure and on fire for the Lord that it is contagious. She has shared some cool things with me that she has been learning and what the Lord is revealing to her during her quiet times. She has been a challenge to me. She asks the Lord to give her a verse of the day and so far, they have been really cool verses that are exactly what the team needs for that day. and what would we do without Austin. He is our work horse. The people here are fascinated with him because he is so huge and way bigger than any of them. The kids love him. There have been lots of times when we have had to haul luggage all over the place and his muscle and stength have been invaluable. Del is the most laid back member of the group and also our comic relief. If there is something that needs to be done Del is doing it without question or complaint. He does whatever whenever, Linc, Del and Andrew actually all the boys are the athletes of the group. they are constantly getting a pick up game of soccer going with the locals. They are not nearly as reserved or inhibited as the rest of the teams that we are with from North Carolina and New York. They see a kid that needs to be played with and instantly there is a pack of kids around them. Those boys are amazing at interacting with others. Those years on the R4 playground were in reality, training them for times like this. It is remarkable, their social skills compared to the teams from bigger cities where they didn't grow up learning to be as friendly and outgoing as our Nebraska farmer boys are. Kids don't pile on the boys from the other teams like they do our boys. Our boys were even given nicknames by the teenagers they were playing soccer with yesterday. Linc was called Girl Hair, Andrew was called Mosquito Face, a name that we have continued to call him just because it´s so funny, Logan was named Lion Head and Del called Corn Hair. Nobody really gets why they named Del that, but whatever. I think they were too intimidated by Austin's size to call him anything. So far it has been amazing. It is such a great experience. There are hardly any bugs. it´s windy here today and it´s not as humid as we expected. God is good and working in mighty ways. The testimonies of the people down here is such a challenge to our hearts. To see how little they have and how hungry they are for Jesus it so amazing. Many of us have become complacent in our walks with Jesus because we haven't had to lean on HIM in the ways that the people down here do. We just ate our pb and j sandwiches for lunch and will spend the afternoon at a rehab center. I´ll report in tonight if I get the chance. Once again, thanks so much for all your prayers and support. God is so awesome and powerful and amazing. He is changing our lives and the lives of the people we are coming in contact with. I miss you guys and can't wait to get back and give the full report.