A Cup of Water in Jesus' Name

Last week I had the incredible opportunity to travel to Nicaragua with a team of friends from my church to drill a clean water well in a small village outside Granada. I have shared my thoughts about the trip through email and facebook, but since I use this blog as a journal as well as communication with friends, I wanted to share here as well. First the pictures...

The team: Jeff Sawyer, Brandi Koppelman, Kelly and Lain Grant, Greg Duncan, and me

The drill site in La Bolsa

Sisters Eveling and Rosa. They were so sweet. Rosa's face would light up each day when she saw me, and she would frequently hold my hand. Eveling is very smart and I was able to teach her a little bit of English. I will miss them!

The morning of our second day at the village, the pump engine wouldn't start. After several failed attempts, the guys decided to circle around it to pray. This is my favorite picture from the trip.

My sweet friend Fredi! He was very shy at first, but by the end of the first day he was bulldozing into me and smiling and laughing. 

Water is so precious to the people of this village because they have always had to work hard for it, hand-digging wells, pulling up a bucket of water at a time, and sometimes walking long distances to get to the well. They would never consider dumping the water out or playing in it. But that all changed on this day, due to the well that we drilled. Jorge started a water fight and the kids were timid at first, but it didn't take long for them to join right in!

My favorite part of every day...morning devotion on the porch.

These three siblings were absolutely precious. Ronaldo, Ana, and Dayana. 

The entire team with the completed well: Chico, Eric, Frank, Kelly, Lain, Jeff, Brandi, Jorge, me, Lisseth, Greg, Leo, and Scarleth.

"A cup of water in Jesus' name
 John 4:10-14
This well was donated by:
Cy-Fair Christian Church
and drilled by:
Living Water International"

Our last day we toured the Volcano Mombacho

The crater with a beautiful view of Lake Nicaragua

At the well dedication, the pastor led the children in a song. When they were done singing, they asked us to sing to them, so we sang "Jesus Loves Me"

This trip was amazing. Once again, God allowed me to take part in His work. He let me see how He loves people, all people, how He cares for them and provides for their needs, and how He is faithful to His promises. It was such a blessing to see the love and faith of the people of La Bolsa. 

I began the week with excitement and anticipation of a great experience. I came with expectations of how I would meet and connect with the women of the community and with the LWI staff. Then when my expectations were not being met, I became frustrated, disappointed, and then upset with myself for feeling that way. I had to accept that God had a different experience planned for me this time around and I asked God to keep my mind and heart open to what He wanted to show me. Then on Thursday at the well dedication and celebration, I saw it. I saw what a blessing the well will be to the people of La Bolsa. I saw their faith and heard their praises to God for bringing them water. We shared in their joy and celebration with fireworks and pinatas and their best dresses and food, and then I knew that is what God planned for me to experience this trip. God's perfect provision and His people coming together to rejoice in Him. It was incredible, and I'm so thankful that God cares about me enough to let me be a part of it.