This month rainy season has begun here in Nica. I love the afternoon and evening showers with the rain beating down on the tin roof and the cool breezes that follow the rain. As an added bonus all the clouds that come with rainy season makes for some pretty incredible sunsets in Candelaria.
After last month’s Sunday school training, this month our new teachers entered in to their roles and our new Sunday school classes began. I absolutely love to see these teenagers growing in their leadership roles and to see them loving and teaching the younger kids (Gissell and Gissell playing games with their Sunday school class pictured above). Also this month, I have started trying to step out of my role in Sunday school and hand more authority over to Gabriela. I’m now only attending Sunday school every other week to help with this transition because honestly delegation is not my strong suit; it’s difficult for me to be present and not try to lead.
This month I was able to attend some of our baseball games through the sports’ ministry at New Song. This month they entered into their 3-game championship series. I loved to watch their final games and to see their joy and celebration when their teams were named champions. (Youngest team from Candelaria celebrating their championship win)
In the middle of May, we took our most adventurous field trip! We did an overnight camping trip with our students in their 3rd year of high school (9th grade). It was definitely a sleepless night (as you would expect camping with a dozen 15 year olds to be), but it was so cool to see them try so many new experiences, to worship in the silence, and to gaze into Telica’s crater. Many of our students told us afterwards that it was the best day they had ever had.
I have continued working with my sweet reading group in Santa Matilde. Next month we will be finishing Esperanza Renace. I have always loved books and I cherish the opportunity to see my students fall in love with books too! I absolutely love reading and discussing the story with them, to see them connect with the characters and learn valuable lessons about life.
At the end of this month we took our last grade level field trip of the year with our students in 2nd year of high school (8th grade). For this trip we left before the sun was up to travel south to Masaya and Granada (group pictured above in Masaya). Our first stop was to visit the Masaya Volcano. Masaya Volcano is incredible! You can gaze into the massive crater and even see the lava. It was such a cool experience for our students! From there we headed farther south to Granada where we took a boat tour of the islands (which were formed from a volcanic eruption), saw a little of the city and visited the cathedral and Merced church. Both churches allow you to climb the tower to take in a better view of the city. It was a LONG, but fun day with our students. I have loved adding field trips to our program!
