Dayspring Family

More pictures loaded

2008-07-12T05:57:00.000-07:00

Keep checking back. I am loading more pictures through the weekend. I will also update the last few days for everyone soon. thanks!!

Chad

WET DOG

2008-07-07T19:40:00.001-07:00

Chad has been doing a great job of keeping you up to date on the happenings here. So I thought I would just quickly bring you another glimpse of our time here. I have now been bunking in the same room for a week with 4 other guys, and we have not done any laundry. Needless to say our room now smells, shall I say, a little less fresh than it did initially. I guess the best way to describe it is that it smells like an old wet dog. That should give you a word picture you can identify with.

See you soon,
Bill

HOT HOT HOT!!

2008-07-05T20:44:00.000-07:00

We had a great day yesterday. The sun was out and shining more than normal. The team worked hard and we got much accomplished. VBS went smoothly with about 185 kids!! That in itself is amazing.

One thing I haven't said much about is our bus rides to and from the church. the ride last about an hour (as long as we don't get lost. The Pastor came and lead us to the church on his bike once.) I really enjoy our trips. We get to see the city and people and we have even had times to learn about the history and current political condition of Nicaragua. Sometimes they can get a little crazy (Sorry Travis =) but the students have a great time together. It is such a great picture of community and family. I only wish i could have you all spend sometime with us and experience the love, joy and PASSION these students pour out!! It is something incredible to experience.

Last night was our first night to just relax. After work we came back and enjoyed each others company. We even watched some fireworks on the laptop to celebrate the 4th. We hope everyone had a great 4th!!

July 6, 2008

Three words describe today.

HOT HOT HOT!!

Yes it was possibly the hottest day since we've been here. Many of us have red painted arms, necks and faces.

Today started off slow. When we got to the worksite we learned that most of the water was gone. And it had not been turned back on. SO we dug out the rest of the hole for the bathroom and moved blocks from inside the church to the back.

However it wasn't long before the water came back on. And we continued work on the rooms.

There was no VBS today but we did gather all the donations and take them to the church. With the generous support of so many we were able to purchase beans, rice, oil and other necessities to give to 50 families throughout TippiTappa. Several students and leaders went house to house handing out food and praying over the families.

It was a great experience to see the faces of these families. Not only that but to see some of the students step out boldly and pray for the families. I was SO PROUD to be their Pastor.

I had one experience with a family that truly touched me. We took food to a family of 9 one of who was a 10 month old little girl. The mom asked a special request after we had prayed over the family for her baby daughter. She said that she was sick and asked for prayer for her daughter.

So we prayed. And I cried.

Having an 11 month old daughter I couldn't help but think about that family and what it must be like to have a sick daughter and not have enough money to do anything about it. I hate when my daughter is sick and I can't do anything about it but I always have a doctor and friends close by to help. I have money for basic medicines to help her get well. Many in Nicaragua live with that reality everyday.

As I shared this with Monica, my wife, she said it's hard because she struggles with why we get the privilege of having the money and status to help our daughter and yet others don't.

This is something I believe we are going to continue to struggle through.

Andrew Protsman (who was sick previously) shared with us a passage that encouraged us so I wanted to leave with you all tonight.

Psalm 41:1-3
Blessed is he who has regard for the poor; the LORD delivers him in times of trouble. The LORD will protect him and preserve his life; he will bless him in the land and not surrender him to the desire of his foes. The LORD will sustain him on his sickbed and restore him from his bed of illness.

We have several that have gotten sick tonight. Please be praying for them. We know that God is using and blessing our lives because of our willingness.

Know that we love and miss you all!! thanks for all the support you have given us!!
Make sure you ask the students about the turranchulas, scorpions, geckos, and iguanas.

until next time,
Chad

Short Update

2008-07-04T21:31:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

Here's a short update of what's been going on. Today at VBS we had about 180 kids. We made it through...barely. The kids are picking up the songs well, are enjoying the crafts, and seem to be getting into the story. We've tried to be creative in the stories. Yesterday we reenacted the story of the good Samaritan, complete with one of our guys getting beat up and then when the good Samaritan comes by, is put on the "donkey" with Justin as the head and Ryan bringing up the rear. The kids loved it. Today started out with Nick Graves pretending he was a woman, complete with a wig made from a mop head. It actually had a point about lying, and the kids loved it.

Work on the house has been going well, with the walls going up and the hole being dug for the bathroom/septic system. It is big enough for all the group to get into (we'll try to get the picture posted soon). The only injuries have been minor, than the Lord.

Today was the second day without rain. Yeah! We can get so much more done, and being able to take the kids outside is huge.

Tomorrow the entire day will be devoted to work on the house.

See you soon.

Bill

Day 4. the rain finally ceases

2008-07-03T20:59:00.000-07:00

Tonight is going to be a quick one.

We had NO RAIN!! Yeah. But it was HOT and HUMID!!

VBS went great! We had roughly 165 show up. the team did a great job and was able to keep a sense of order in the midst of chaos. They got to make fans in craft time which was perfect considering the heat.

But Justin and Tim stole the show during story time. The story was the good Samaritan. Ryan got mugged. Nick was the good Samaritan. So how did Justin and Tim steal the show?

Together they made the donkey that carried the mugged man. The children got a great laugh as Pastor Bill commented on what a great looking camel they were.

We have half of the back wall finished along with the foundation for the front wall. We should get the rest of the back wall finished tomorrow and start on the front wall.

Another new task that we are focusing on is the bathroom which starts with a 17 ft. deep hole. s I used to say in the South... "Now that's deep yal!!"

We had one young man wake up sick and had to stay at the house and rest. He is doing much better now, but please be in prayer for our health.

We finished off the day by attending the church that we helped last year @ Dieciocho de Mayo. The area is filled with poverty and is separated only by a deep ditch and wall. When standing on the hill you can look across and see the Managua Mall. I can't imagine living there all my life and see that knowing that I would never have enough money or status to step foot in those stores.

During worship Pastor Bill encouraged the people with a message and our team sang 2 songs in Spanish.

We also visited the house we worked on last year. It blew us away to see their house completed!! It looked amazing! Especially in contrast to the wood and tin small shack they had before. The guys from the team last year had a great time visiting with the children, Pastor, families and friends that we had met last year.

Until next time.
Chad

And it was good - Day 2 of work

2008-07-02T22:10:00.000-07:00

Sore muscles and lack of sleep have started to settle in for many on our team. It seems we all got up just a little later after that long day of hard work and rain.

We started the day off with our devotions to which Cecil (NRN Missionary) challenged us all to learn what it means to be a disciple of Christ - to be involved in justice, love and mercy through actions and he pointed out a verse in matthew 25 that says to give the scraps off your plate to those who are hungry.

Next was our regular meeting to talk about the day. We hoped the concrete had settled and we thought we were prepared for VBS, but we only planned for 50 Maybe 75 kids.

So we loaded up and headed over to Tippi Tappa.

FYI - there are some more pictures loaded for Day 2 and more for Day 1

PRAISE GOD!! By only His power the concrete dried and looked Awesome so we didn't loose a half days of work.

We started by moving several of too many 100 lb. blocks for the base of the house. Of course Wilson, one of our foremen, was quick to point out that Nicaraguans carried 2 or 3 at a time.

We had 2 people carry one.

The day started a little hotter than the day before but still below average for Nicaragua and extremely humid!!

We dug the other trench and laid block most of the morning.

After a great lunch again (who knew I liked tuna salad.) we relaxed some with the kids and each other playing games with the soccer balls until it was time to get back to work and prepare for VBS.

So we had a few guys who continued laying block and the rest were inside preparing the church for VBS.

I was in the back most of the time and I must say that we worked hard. I mean really hard. In fact so much so that the skies split open and poured out insane amounts of water. Yes it rained Again.

This made for a very interesting rest of the day as our who work site was painted in red clay mud which can make for a GREAT Slip and slide but not the most profitable environment to move around and set 100 lb. blocks. Regardless God was good to us.

No one got hurt.

The presence of the rain not only made for an interesting construction day but it painted an even more incredible picture for VBS.

The rain burst down and almost simultaneously the children for VBS bust into the doors. They came and kept coming and kept coming. I believe one count put us at 150 children!!

150 children!! God was good!!

I was completely overwhelmed seeing all the children in the church. There seemed to be so many! So the team altered some of their plans and the VBS went on!

Before we knew it the kids had learned an interesting story about a blind man and his encounter with Jesus, made a tambourine to praise god with as the blind man did, got their faces or arms painted with face paint and blew the doors wide open when they sang. It was so great to listen to them as we worked on the walls outside.

the children left. And many of our hearts were filled with an indescribable love for them all.

We have a saying while in Nicaragua (other than Supah Groop Rules!!) that says
We work hard... but we Play hard too.

So we took a little time out to play soccer in the puddled filled streets and even had our own little mud fight in the back (Justin and I totally won!!)

At the end of the work day we had a wall 3 blocks high completed, the footers and foundation for the other wall poured, a AMAZING first day of VBS and a group full of DIRTY, excited, tired students and leaders.

So to celebrate the great day and how good God was we went out for ice cream at a nice restaurant.

And it was good!

Until Next Time,
Chad

Pictures, Pictures and more pictures! SMILE...click

2008-07-02T00:05:00.000-07:00

WOW!! What an exciting couple of days already. Most of the team is in bed now. We have had a great first day of work. The weather was incredible. It was much hotter last year. God truly is shining down his grace on us.

Today we made the hour long bus ride to Tippi Tappa. It was our first opportunity to really see what lies before us and to have the privilege to meet the Pastor and his family. All the students and team were very anxious to jump in and get started. After meeting with some old Nicaraguan friends that we worked with last year (Including Wilson, who we helped this past year with support as he had some much needed eye surgery) we found out about our objectives of the day.

Our main objective today was to make the footers for the room. I was very excited to see how much extra room we were going to be able to give the family. Most of the guys started digging like mad men trenches where we would be forming the concrete foundation and digging deeper to create the footings. Most of the girls were inside making the rebar that goes in each column and in the footers. It was a learning experience today for most as we learned how to build a house the Nicaraguan way.

The morning of work went great!! I was very proud as I am always of how well the students worked. FYI parents - They are extremely hard workers when they are motivated! By lunch we had the 3 footers and trench dug for the back wall.

Nick Graves, Nick Freed and Abby made us some delicious lunches of tuna, peanut butter and jelly with chips, snacks and soda.

After lunch we had a great opportunity to pull out the soccer ball for a while and kick it around with the kids - several of whom had came over and helped with some of the rebar.

I got to meet on kid that lived across the street. His name is Christian and he is 12 years old. He was so excited to get to meet us. Knowing very little Spanish always creates so fear in me to approach the people - but he truly made me feel at home. He later brought out some cards with action figures and called me Iron Man and Justin The incredible Hulk and well as bringing Drew and us all some Mango - it was really good!!

Then it was back to work - most of the rebar got completed for the first phase so several of the girls joined the guys in the back for shoveling and making concrete.

2 parts sand, 1 part rock and a HEAVY bag of concrete.... 2 no..... 3... no too much..... 2 1/2 buckets of water. Make a volcano with the water in it and then scoop and turn until it breaks the wall. Now shovel.. faster!! Rapido!!!

Then you have concrete. Needless to say, everyone on the team will learn it before we leave.

Oh yeah and the girls rocked at making cement... even being from lakewood and eastside!!

Well about 2 or 3 the sky grew dark. By this time we had poured all but 1 of our footers and were preparing to pour the foundation in the trenches. We made it half way when the drops began to fall. And they fell harder. And then the floodgates open and it flat out POURED!!

Work must go on.

have you ever tried to dig out a hole as water is gushing into it. Or tried to make concrete, shoveling rocks and sand and mixing it all with waterlogged clothes and skin when you can't see?

It's a BLAST!! We worked like crazy to try and finish the foundation. We pray that it sets tonight and that we got enough so we can start laying block tomorrow, but only time will tell.

We got to a stopping point - cleaned the equipment and just relaxed for a moment talking and playing soccer in the pouring rain with the kids. Of course we got the side with the huge puddle that just stopped the ball in a moments notice (sorry Protsman and Justin!)

Then we told everyone HASTA MANANA and loaded the bus to come home - drenched. On the way back we had a great time singing camp and children's songs and just enjoying each others company - the lizardfish that Old McDonald had on his farm was quite interesting.

When we got back we were intoxicated by the amazing smell of supper - it was so good!

We quickly showered (the water is limited and we could run out so we are very careful.) Now we smell better!! Then had supper and relaxed.

We had a meeting about VBS tomorrow which I am ending with.

The Pastor said we could have up to 80 children tomorrow. That's Incredible for a first day!!
So pray for our team as several will be building great relationships with the children tomorrow.

thanks for reading about our day.

Now for the pictures. It takes so long to load pictures on the blog - especially when I already have close to 1000 from everyone. So I set up an account and will be downloading all the pictures there. They are unedited and raw meaning that some may be out of focus or blurry or may look like duplicates. I have been down loading the students cards from their cameras and frantically working to get the pictures on the blog and finally got it all to work tonight!!

yeah..finally.

So there are several easy ways to see pictures.
1 - Click the Pictures of Nicaragua Link to in the right column of the Blog under PICTURES
2 - You can preview random pictures at the bottom of the right column of the blog. If you click on a picture it will take you to our picture web page.
3 - Go to the website. Click on this link (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dcstudents/) and it will take you to our flickr page.

Whichever way you choose they will all lead you to the same page. Once on our flickr photo page you can go page by page looking at all the pictures or I will also be dividing the pictures into sets for each day and event (you can look at the sets by clicking on sets under the large heading name and clicking the picture of the set.)

If you have difficulties connecting or need help please email me and I will get it to you asap. Share this blog with your friends and those who have supported us to get here. THANKS FOR ALL YOU'VE DONE!! WE LOVE YOU ALL!!

thanks. Until next time,
Chad

2008-07-01T18:58:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone,

I thought I'd post again and let you know some stuff you might be interested in.

Weather - The weather here is a lot cooler than the previous trip. Today it was overcast and probably in the mid eighties. The humidity was rather high though. It is the rainy season and so it rains almost everyday for at least an hour or so.

Our Lodging - We are in a large 3-story "home". Guys have the top floor and the gals have the bottom floor, sleeping on bunk beds. Being that this place is higher than most, we have a great view of the city and a super breeze that makes sleeping quite comfortable. Food has been great so far...a lot of rice. Water is only on at night in this section of the town. So the water tanks fill late at night, and are off the rest of the time. That means we have to really watch how much water we use or else we will empty the tanks. It also means one shower a day (hopefully after working), and we cannot keep the shower running while we are lathering up. The water is heated a little through a special showerhead that heats the water right when it comes out.

Worksite - As you know we are building an extra room on the pastor's home here, about an hour from where we are staying. We all load into an old church bus for the drive each way.The home is located directly in back of the church. The pastor and his wife and seven kids live in one room, and not a very big one at that. In fact, the extra room we are building will at least triple the space they now have, plus the bathroom. Today we dug trenches, poured footers and ran up the rebar to make forms for one of the side walls. The team really worked hard and I was proud of them! This afternoon half the team was still working and the other half was out playing soccer with some of the local kids. All at once it started raining TORENTIALLY for about 45 minutes. The sound inside the church, which has a tin roof, was deafening! The team just kept working and playing in the rain, and all got completely soaked. Hopefully our shoes will dry out some before the morning! On Wednesday thru Friday we will be conducting Vacation Bible School in the afternoons. We are expecting 50-80 children on the first day.

Hope this helps you feel more connected to what is going on here. If you have specific questions you can post them on the blog site.

Bill

We Have Arrived!!

2008-06-30T14:49:00.000-07:00

Our group arrived in Indy safely Sunday night around 7:30. I (Bill) was hoping to get at least 5 hours of sleep before we got up at 3:30 am to get to the airport. Alas, it was not to be. For down the hall was a guest that had a little dog in their room, and every time I was at the point of “dropping off” that dog would yip or howl. This weekend I spoke on “Life’s Too Short To Be Negative,” so I was trying to stay positive in the situation but inwardly I wanted to use my “big but’ and commit “doggycide.”

Actually I was able to get up this morning with a positive attitude, thanking God that I got two hours of sleep rather than none and that I would probably never see or hear that dog again. That’s why I was so thrilled at our departure gate when I heard a dog bark. Yes, the same dog…going on our flight. We boarded the plane with the dog yapping about six rows up. I was thinking “OK, time to get my earplugs out.” But guess what? The owners didn’t have the right kind of cage for use on the plane, and they ended up having to take him off the plane. There is a God!

We arrived safely in Nicaragua at about 1:30pm Indiana time. In our initial meeting today we found out that there are things here like scorpions and tarantulas! How cool is that?

We’re just chilling out today at the guesthouse, getting some needed rest, and then we will hit it hard on Tuesday. Thanks for your prayers.