I just returned home from a week long trip to Candelaria with my
parents and my best friend. It was amazing to be able to introduce them
to the community, ministry, and people that have stolen my heart! We
had an incredible week living in the village and reconnecting with the
children and teenagers that I have prayed for, loved, and missed
everyday for the past 13 months. I promise to have more stories and
videos from our week in Candelaria, but while I am processing and
creating videos I wanted to give you a preview of our time there
through pictures of the week:
parents and my best friend. It was amazing to be able to introduce them
to the community, ministry, and people that have stolen my heart! We
had an incredible week living in the village and reconnecting with the
children and teenagers that I have prayed for, loved, and missed
everyday for the past 13 months. I promise to have more stories and
videos from our week in Candelaria, but while I am processing and
creating videos I wanted to give you a preview of our time there
through pictures of the week:
Welcome to the beautiful village of Candelaria! I love walking through New Song’s property with the surrounding mountains, the large gardens, and the beautiful Nicaraguan sky. There is such a peace surrounding this land.
It was also amazing to see how the ministries have grown! I love seeing how the Lord
has continued to work through New Song in the past year. I loved seeing the expansion of the gardens and the goat program that are serving this community. I was amazed at the number of students now attending New Song’s community classes. I think one of my favorite moments was visiting the New Song clinic. My team and I lived in the unfinished clinic last year and now it is completed and offers dentist, doctor, counseling, and pharmacy services every Friday.
has continued to work through New Song in the past year. I loved seeing the expansion of the gardens and the goat program that are serving this community. I was amazed at the number of students now attending New Song’s community classes. I think one of my favorite moments was visiting the New Song clinic. My team and I lived in the unfinished clinic last year and now it is completed and offers dentist, doctor, counseling, and pharmacy services every Friday.
My parents’ hearts were really touched by New Song’s ministry when I was there last year. Since then they have been supporting some of the teenagers in the work-to-school program. They were able to meet Cesar, one of the boys they are supporting, while we were in the village. It was a wonderful time for them to meet and encourage him.
We spent one day in Granada exploring the city with the New Song staff. We ziplined through the rainforest canopy, shopped in the city’s market, and rode a boat through the volcanic islands where we fed cheetohs to monkeys. It was such a fun day!
I was blessed to be able to connect with the family that took care of us last year. Pastor Jose and his wife, Bonita, were our Nicaraguan parents when we lived in Candelaria. I was able to visit the new village where they now live and spend the day hanging out with their kids and catching up with them.
Of course, my favorite part of the week was reconnecting with the teenagers that I have been discipling. It was amazing to see these girls who are continuing to grow in the faith in the Lord. Itzel and Kenia (pictured right) are both doing amazingly well. When I met them they were new Christians, but now they are solid in their faith. They are both getting ready to graduate high school and begin university. Both have a passion to enter full-time ministry. I can’t wait to be there to share life with them and to help them work towards that passion.
One of the highlights for me was being able to celebrate with Andres for his 15th birthday. I love him like he is my little brother! I also know that Andres lives in a house where no one is going to make a big deal about his birthday. I really believe that everyone needs to feel special and loved on their birthday. I loved being able to do that for him!! Brittany (one of the New Song staff and my future roommate) and I showed up at his house in the morning and surprised him with breakfast. He is getting to that age where he is much to cool to show his emotions. It was really difficult to get past that tough facade at all, but when we showed up to wish him a happy birthday his face absolutely lit up and he gave me the biggest hug. I could tell that it really made him feel special. We were also able to take him out to dinner with my family and just continue to shower him with love.
*Please stay tuned for stories of specific people, ministries, and answered prayers.
yaaaaaayyyyyy!!!!!
my heart sings a NEW SONG for Nicaragua 🙂
PS the entrance to our little clinica is hardly recognizable!!!!
I still would love to come down there …maybe with a medical team!! Thanks again for checking in on Anthony