May ’15 Highlights (Photo Blog)

    This month we have absolutely loved having Julie work alongside of us in our sponsorship program (pictured above). She has been such a huge blessing to Cadence and me. Julie is studying Special Education and has been doing one-on-one tutoring with some of our kids who have learning disabilities. She is such a hard worker and helps our kids with such compassion and creativity. We love her! Please come back soon Julie!   

 

    Again this month I had sweet time with my girl, Yubelkis. I just thoroughly enjoy my mom days with her- cooking lunch, talking about life, playing, reading some of my favorite childhood books. Please keep praying for her healing from losing her mom, for our relationship, and for wisdom in regards to her future. 

 

    I love watching our little first grade loves grow and improve. Our top students have moved beyond basic letter sounds and decoding. They are now building their own words and reading larger and larger words. I’m so proud of their progress! 

 

    This month our church moved from New Song property out into the community meeting in homes. There is something beautiful and real about meeting in homes. Although stray dogs wander through, kids cry next door, and singing is often off-key, my heart finds a realness in house church that I love. 

 

    This month we’ve gotten out to a few of the schools. I love checking in on our kids and hearing how they are doing in their classes. I especially love receiving good reports from many of our kids. (School lunch time pictured above). 

  

    One of my favorite parts of life here is time spent in the homes of the precious families I love. There is nothing better than afternoons brimming with love, laughter, hope, and prayers surrounded by these beautiful faces. 

 

   Cadence and I spent a super fun day in Granada with Tito and David so that they were able to visit with Tito’s sponsor while she was in Nicaragua. We had such a fun day with these two sweet boys. There was a lot of travel involved, but it was worth it to take them out on the lake to see the monkeys, hanging out in the city, spending time with Tito’s sponsor, and seeing the boys feel so loved. 

 

   This month, Kate Gazaway has been here teaching photography to our youth through Picture Change. It’s been so great to see our kids learning to see their own community in a new way. We were able to stop by their first photo gallery in Leon to support them and see their photographs of Chichigalpa. I am so proud of these incredible teenagers and young adults! 

 

 

    May 30th is Mother’s Day in Nicaragua. It is one of the biggest holidays of the year. Our Sunday school teachers worked so hard to throw a beautiful celebration for the moms in Candelaria. We had time worshipping together, laughing and playing games, and letting these women feel so honored and loved. I’m really proud of our Sunday school teachers for organizing and hosting this incredible event for these lovely moms.  

 

 

    This month we had to say goodbye to the Medlin family (pictured above). After almost two years here in Nicaragua, they will be headed back to the States in June. This past week we had our last family dinner at the Palmeras house with everyone together. It was so much fun to have one last night all eating, laughing, and playing games together.