Planting Trees

Something that the Water Mission International people do every morning is get together and do a devotion. During this devotion, they go around the circle and everyone says a victory/praise from the day before and a priority for today. Then they go around the circle a second time and say something that they are stuck on, and a prayer request. I really enjoyed this, and Jessica and I decided that we would do this everyday down in Nicaragua. I would really like to share this with everyone who is reading because that might give you and idea of how to pray for me/both of us.

And even though we aren't down there yet, I would like to do it for today:

My victory from yesterday: I safely got to Hickory with all of my stuff.

A priority for today: to relax. I've been a bit stressed over these past couple of weeks between finals, RA check out, and moving out. I haven't got much sleep and last night was one of the first nights in a couple of weeks that I had a full night of sleep.

Stuck: At the moment there isn't really anything that I am stuck on. God has really helped everything go smoothly up until now, and there are no huge issues that I need to worry about.

Prayer Request: I am excited about going to Nicaragua but also very nervous. I've never been on a long term mission trip, and even though I was out of the country for a month last summer, three months is a long time and I think that it is finally starting to settle down in my brain.

Yesterday the Mayor of Shelby and a few friends from churches who have been helping us get everything organized met up with us for breakfast--just one last send off before we leave. With them came a man named Rodney McDonald (I think that's his last name). He is a warden for the embassies down in Nicaragua. He is an American who did some Peace Corp stuff down in Nicaragua and he now lives there. He and his wife have opened his home to Jessica and I the first couple of days that we are down there. He'll be picking us up from the airport and then I believe that we'll be staying with him until Friday and then we'll go to Jinotega. He is going to take us to see different places in the country and just try to help us get accustomed before sending us out. He is going to try and get the GPS location of the hotel and try to set up an emergency evacuation plan for us.

Rodney also does a project called ERSLA (Emergency Relief Services for Latin America--I believe that is what it stands for). They work a lot with the firefighters down in Nicaragua and are trying to get them more organized, trained better, and more supplies. Jess and I have volunteered to help with some of the projects that he does in Nicaragua. One project that has sparked my interest is a tree planting project.

When ever a woman is pregnant in certain areas and her time draws closer, she'll come down from her town and stay at a desginated home near the hospital, and she waits there until she gives birth. Rodney is wanting to plant this tree (I've forgotten what it is called but I'll say more about it later). If you take the leaves of this tree and dry them out and then grind the leaves up, you can sprinkle it over your food. Apparently the leaves are full of vitamins and nutrition that the mothers would need. The leaves would also help induce more milk. The fruit of the tree is used for medicinal purposes, and then the seeds can be ground up, put into a cistrin and can help purify the water. Rodney wants to raise awareness of these trees to the people and have them plant more and use it to keep healthly.

Just for the little time that we met him, it seems that Rodney will be a huge help to us in the country and I am looking forward to working with him.

Hope everything is well with everyone and thanks for praying for us!
~Courts