We haven’t had great internet access the past couple days so we’re just now catching up on writing. Everyo
ne is fine. Prayers for Nick who is sick but feeling a bit better. Andrew hurt his leg playing soccer with Jon, Jordan and some kids but he’ll deal with it – you know Andrew. Prayers for tomorrow as we hear more about Nica and visit the city dump. And more prayers for rain, cooler weather, and no sunburns! Now here’s Andrew and Adrienne….
=0), Narcie
Adrienne Chlumsky from Burtonsville, Maryland:
As one of the only collegiates that has actually been to Nica before, this trip has definitely been different. Last year, only 3 people from Wesley and our token dentist, Dirk, went. This year our group is much larger and louder. So I love it! Yesterday we took our long 4 hour journey (each way) to El Porvenir. My trip was very different this year. I was asked to assist our dentist and was able to help set up equipment and assist in cleaning teeth of people who are up in the village there. For anyone that knows me, I hate the dentist and I HATE having teeth pulled so watching that was not very fun and very gag-worthy. Anyway, this community is at the top of the mountain and the view is beautiful, including a view of Honduras on one side and Costa Rica on the other. So, unlike most dentist’s offices in the US this one had an unbelieveable view. And to top it all off we actually made it home safely and in less than 8 hours and no rain storms that flooded the riverbed we were driving in… let’s just say last year’s trip was…
interesting. Being here a second time has really helped me enjoy the trip a lot more, I feel like I have more of a feel for what I am doing and understand more of the country and it’s circumstances (unlike last year when I was a lost soul and Narcie wasn’t here to explain anything to me about what was going on). We have a great team this year and everyone is working together so well! Today we started to fix the entry gate road to the community where we are staying, which had a large ditch in it (probably almost a foot deep). It is very exhausting, but in the end, I know that it will be extremely rewarding to see the difference it will make. I am so glad for the opportuninty to be here again. So, Mom and Dad, if you are reading this– I am safe and totally loving the experience (as Thelma and I would say I “totes loves the experience- lol” ) a lot more than last year. Thanks to everyone who is keeping us all in your prayers!
Andrew Wilson from Greenwood, SC:
Earlier this summer I listened to a message and a phrase really stuck out to me. That phrase was, “There is beauty all around us and I believe that in beauty there is God.” Nicaragua has been no exception to this idea. As someone who travels as often as possible there is always a search for the thing that no one else has seen before. The search for the most authentic experience. We’ll call this the authentic effect. Well this trip has been the authentic effect to the maximum. I have done things that few others have done. For example, I rode in a cart up a steep mountain to a mountainside coffee plantation and looked out over almost all of Nicaragua. From that spot, I saw Lake Nicaragua, two of the largest volcanos in Nicaragua, and a Nicaraguan landscape that would make anyone sit in wonder. So, if it is true that God exists in beauty than I have never seen a greater example of God than here. Not only have I seen beauty in nature, but I have seen it in the people. In the way they trust, in the way they dream, and most importantly in the way they show love. They have shown this gringo a lot of love. They have also shared their amazing stories with me, which has given me a perspective that I wouldn’t be able to get in the United States. All in all, it has been an amazing trip so far and I want to sum up my experience with this final idea… Learn to appreciate beauty in all forms, because God doesn’t always show up in a beautiful mountainside or in a elderly Nicaraguan women with three teeth, but he is always around us all we have to do is look.
