Nicaragua Bound

Well, the much anticipated trip to "Nicawa-wa" (as Hamp calls it) is finally here! We fly out tomorrow!  There are many thoughts and feelings that make me a little nervous as we load up three kids to fly to a third world country!  Don't get me wrong!  They are MOSTLY happy thoughts, but I'd be lying if I didn't admit being a tad bit panicky about the plane ride and the three hour dirt road ride to the small fishing village we will be serving.  Hamp is not the best traveler just riding in the minivan to school and back!  The thing is, I can't just pull over the plane on the side of the road  for you know what!

Once we reach our final destination, we will be staying and spending most of our time ministering to the people of a village called Padre Ramos right on the Pacific coast.  There we will teach the children about Jesus, feed the hungry, have Bible studies with the teenagers, and visit and give supplies to the local school.  We've been told that our children will play from sun up to sun down with the village kids.  Of course they are thrilled!  As Whit was praying last night, he asked God that he would make many new friends and share with them.  Luke is excited because he was told their favorite sport to play is baseball!  Isn't it neat that kids automatically get that sharing Jesus is all about spending time and building relationships?

We have been completely overwhelmed with the support from our family, friends, and church.  We are extremely thankful for the prayers and the financial support.  We believe that praying for ministries/ missionaries and giving is just as important as going, so THANK YOU all.  We truly appreciate it.  We've always heard those stories at conferences and revivals about how the money all came in at the last minute, but we really experienced that ourselves with our fund raising!  Just this week, the final dollar came in!  God's timing is always spot on!  

We humbly ask you to join us in this journey by continuing to pray with us and for us.  Pray for the people we will meet- that they will be receptive to us, and ultimately to Jesus.  Pray for the health and safety of our team- there are 9 adults and 6 children traveling.  Pray for smooth travels, and that I don't have to nut up on any of my precious children mid-flight (kidding.  kind of.). We are grateful for the relationships we have with you all!  We will try to keep everyone posted with a few pictures via Facebook/blog so stay tuned!

"The same for the rich and the poor.  The same for the saint and the sinner.  Enough for the whole wide world.  Your great grace"    -Matt Redman