Tuesday was a success

Hola

Today our mission was to bring cheer and love to the parents and children of the Children's Hospital. There is housing across the street from the hospital for parents to stay who have sick children or are waiting with their children for treatment.  Many have been staying there for months, and the place is pretty dismal.  They are provided a room and one meal a day.  There are no sheets or towels, no toys, nothing to do.

We brought along our manicure supplies, facials, some toys, music and one of the girls from the Villa who is attending beauty school colored and cut hair.  Heydi also joined us again today and taught beading class.  The cooks at the Villa made a huge box of rice for lunch which we passed out with rolls and iced tea.  After lunch we passed out skirts and small toiletry bags.

I found myself thinking about when I had a sick child for years.  I can't imagine living in this atmosphere, so dismal and alone, and still having hope.  It made me think.... why me?  Why was I born into such a priviledged world where I had medical attention for my child, a support system around me, and money to pay the doctor bills.  I can't imagine not being able to get help for your sick child. Blessed to be a blessing.

We met a boy named Yader who will have a kidney transplant this coming Monday.  He has been waiting with his mother.  He has not seen his father in 5 years, but his father's kidney is a match.  We are praying his father will show up on Monday for the surgery, which is a legit concern.  As we were about to leave we learned he would not be able to have the surgery unless he came with 5 clean towels, 5 clean sets of PJ's and a few other things.  We gathered the $40 between us which should buy the supplies he needs.  Please be praying on Monday for Yader, that his dad shows up and they operation is a success.

Yader is just ONE story of many, many we heard today.  It's heartbreaking, but we were able to listen, pray, love and give hope.

Deep breath.....

Tonight we took dinner to Heydi's house where a few of us first met her a year ago this week.

The transformation in only a year is a testamony of God's amazing power!

Til tomorrow..... adios.

Toiletry gift bags

beading class

dishing up lunch

Yader, his mom and Lisa

Pearla coloring hair

Dinner at Heydi's home

Selfie of the day!

Monday has come and we are about "gone"!

Hola, familia y amigos

We are just finishing up our work for today, it has been a very long day, but so rewarding!

First thing this morning after breakfast we met with Papa Wilbert who welcomed us to the Villa.  This is a man who is always so motivational and encourages us in our work with his huge smile!

Soon after we met with the chicas and talked to them about what love, dating and healthy relationships look like.  There was a lot of squirming, but we know they were listening.  Several of our team shared their stories to give the girls real life examples of what works and what does not.  The common thread among all the stories is to have a relationship based on God, love, respect, patience and kindness.  We hope to be able to continue these conversations in the next couple days.

After lunch a very special friend that Judy and I met last year came to visit and work with us.

Last year we met Heydi, a woman who had just had her leg amputated due to cancer and living under extreme circumstances.  Since last year she has learned to walk with a temporary prosthetic leg and hopes one day to be able to have her own permanent prosthesis that is made specifically for her.  She is an expert at making jewelry and trinkets out of beads.  With Heydi's help we were able to provide the mothers and family with an assortment of services.  Of course, manis & pedis, facials and lessons in bracelet making. 

At the end of the mothers' visit their daughters joined us for an afternoon snack and sweet goodbyes.

We had a short break before dinner, followed by a de-briefing, planning of tomorrows work, prayer, packing supplies and now we are headed off to bed.  Even though we are not doing physical work in the direct sunlight our work is draining.  Between the heat, humidity and the emotional work of hearing their stories, praying for them and trying to translate at the same time.... we definitely could use some prayer for stamina!  We LOVE our work, feel honored to be doing it, and are tired AND joyful!

Tomorrow will be another very long day starting at 7am and ending after 9pm!

Thanks for your support and prayers!

Papa Wilbert, Team Sweet Sixteen and our translators

Pedicures with the Chicas

Manis with Connie

Manis with Julie

Heydi teaching beading class.

What's a day without a selfie?  

Sunday IS funday

Greetings from The Sweet Sixteen!

As you may have heard, we all made it here safe and are inside the walls of a Nicaraguan Oasis,

the Villa Esperanza!

Hours after we arrived we experienced the biggest thunder and lightening storm most of us have ever seen.  It was CRAZY and shut down much of the wifi.  I know there were family memebers waiting to hear from their loved ones, and for that I am sorry, not a lot we could do about that.

Today was hot, humid and beautiful.  We started out our day at church, which is a small cement building the size of a school classroom, with with only bars for doors and windowns.  No microphone, no band, no instruments, but the joy in their singing is big and LOUD.  It's a sound that makes you smile, clap and want to dance!

Our team lead a song and Cara shared a message, then it was down to work.  We gave manicures, facials and pedicures for 3 hours!  Each woman was loved, touched, prayed for and made to feel special.  They were also allowed to pick out a pair of shoes or a dress that we brought, along with a bag of sample toiletries.  Connie also shared her testamony in the afternoon and did a beautiful job tying in her life experience with hardships they may have gone through also. Awesome!

The highlight of the day for me and many of us was when we were all done serving them and ready to leave they asked us to circle up and wanted to pray for us.  With hands on us one woman started praying, then another, then continued until they all joined in and the sound was that of a pack of swarming bees!  It was beautiful and  incredibly touching.

We are back at the Villa tonight watching CARS II with the girls.  When we met earlier to talk about the day and what we took away from it,  it was Joy.  Women that seem to have so little have so much joy and are so thankful to Jesus!  We can learn a lot from them!

Until tomorrow, and if the wifi continues to work!

Adios

Biggest rainstorm ever!

Sharing a song

Toria and Shawna entertaining the kids

Our debrief time on the porch.... sometimes I just can't help myself!

I'm coming home

 

Nine days and I'll be back with my Nicaragua family! Watch for new posts!

Please read and share this update on my Nicaraguan friend Heydi!

Some of you may have heard of my new friend Heydi (Pronounced HayDee, as I spelled it earlier).

You may think you know all the details, but you don't.

I've written about her three times now (see posts from July 21st, 24th and 28th) and you may be thinking, "alright, enough already Tracy".  But I'm not done talking about her, because I have more to share.

This is Heydi, of Managua, Nicaragua and my team of 10 women the night we celebrated her on July 24, 2014.  A couple days earlier we had met her and heard the story of how she's been battling cancer for a few years and had just had her leg amputated above the knee.  It was a sobering night for us 10 Americans who live quite a different life than she does. But on the night above, we hung decorations, lit candles, had a meal with her, listened to music and taught her to knit.  Erica, below, played outside with her son and daughter (on the ends).  We walked away with so much joy!  

I received an email 3 days ago with an update on Heydi's medical and financial condition I'd like to share.

Since I saw her last she:

• Has experienced seizures.  She will have an MRI and a Dr. appt on August 4th
• She will need 2-3 rounds of chemotherapy starting sometime soon.
• She has very large kidney stones.
• The current medication she takes for pain is very powerful and very expensive.
• Her husband pays $40 a month for insurance just for her so she can have access to the private hospital.  He fell behind and it was covered by a donor.  If he falls behind again, they will lose her insurance and access to the private doctors and hospital.
• Her husband is not dealing well emotionally with his wive's illness and needs prayer!
• She could use some more 4mm seed beads and supplies which she uses to make small trinkets that are sold to provide an income for her family.

The directors at Villa Esperanza in Nicaragua, Wilbert and Gloria have come along side this small family to help them in their time of extreme need.  Gloria made a few immediate recommendations for my team to pray about and consider.  I'd want to share the requests and hopefully bring more people on board. Here we go:

• Pay monthly insurance of $40/month
• Medications are roughly $80/month
• Her taxi to/from hosp is $25 each time and she goes to the hospital about 3x's a month
• Consider extra funding for living and food expenses

Forward Edge International, the non-profit that I facilitate teams for has put the category of "Heydi" up on their "donate" page.  The monies you donate to Heydi will go into a fund to pay her insurance, medical and monthly bills.  Forward Edge International is a 501.c3 so there is a tax benefit for those who desire to donate financially.  The link to donate is: Donate Here  Once there, select category of "Villa Esperanza", then select fund "Heydi".

This is pretty easy to do, however if you don't know how to do this online you can write a check out to Forward Edge International & make sure you put in notes "Villa Esperanza: Heydi".  Mailing address is:  Forward Edge 15121-A NE 72nd Avenue, Vancouver, WA 98686

Let's do this!  And...... please PRAY!

Thanks so much for reading this and possibly forwarding it along to others who can help out this family.  There are few times in my life where someone has wrecked my heart and life perspective as Heydi has done for me!

Grace + Peace
Tracy

I'd like to introduce you to "my top four"

I've been back home for over 24 hours now, doing things Americans do without thinking twice: flushing toilet paper, taking a warm shower, have clean cold ice water, throw away excess food. Comforts I have that most of the world does not.  The people I saw, touched, and served in Nicaragua have wrecked my heart.  Wrecked my heart in a good way!

I often get "you are such a good person for going and serving others".  I can't even begin to explain how indebted I am to those I serve.  They have changed me for good.  They have set my life perspective in balance.  They have shown me what is really important.  I am humbled beyond words to be able to serve, touch, pray and just be with these precious people.

I woke up at 3:30 this morning and couldn't get four women in particular off my mind.  The good thing about that time of the morning when sleep escapes me, is that I can lay there and pray for them.  Just thinking of them is not enough.  These are the four that crowd me out of myself.

Maria.  Sweet Maria.  I started sponsoring this little girl 5 years ago when she was just 9 years old.  She lived in a dump..... literally the Managua city dump.  She was left alone a lot and was in danger of a life of prostitution and certain early motherhood.  She is now 14 and will celebrate her Quinceañera in October.  She goes to school, has a home with 26 sisters, has food and is safe.  I am so proud of her. She is the little light that finds me every time I am there.  I love her.

This is Candita.  She is 73 and has diabetes that confines her to a wheelchair.  She was so grateful to God for what she has. She has a supportive family and grandchildren who adore her.  She was thankful to have us sit with her, hear her story and pray over her.  Life in a wheelchair in her surroundings isn't easy.  She wants to walk again.

This is Jośe's grandmother. I'm sorry I didn't get her name, but I still pray for her.  She has been staying at the hospital shelter with her grandson for 2 years while they wait for a new kidney for Jośe.  He is a darling boy who played with Samantha much of the time we were there.  It's a place where we noticed there were no toys around to occupy children.  The love and sacrifice she has for Jośe is shadowed by the sadness she wears on her face.  I'm praying against the odds of him dying before a transplant takes place.

This is my new "sister" Haydee.  The night my team met her she poured out her story to us for an hour. She would cry as she spoke and our delayed response caught up as her story was translated. She has been battling cancer for 4 years and lost her leg a few weeks ago.  The physical pain she endured during the actual amputation was almost to much for us to listen to.  At the same time her gratitude for Jesus was astounding!  Two days later we went back to see her and found joy where we didn't see it earlier.  She was in the front of her house out of bed, in a wheelchair, wearing a dress we had brought her.  We brought pizza, set up chairs, a table with candles and hung handmade paper garland.  When told this is how American's celebrate someone she cried.  She told us she had been praying for God to bring her family so she wasn't so alone.... and he brought her 10 sisters.  I got to teach her to knit, which she picked up in 10 minutes!  If we wouldn't have returned to celebrate her, she would haunt me, but I am so joyful every time I think of her.

These are just MY "four".  I know that the other ladies on my team each have their "four".  And every person that travels to the Villa Esperanza with Forward Edge has their "four" too.  There is no way you can go and not be changed in some form.

In the next month I will be scheduling dates for next summer and then will be asking people to sign up in the fall.  With an early commitment you can schedule your summer around this one week AND you can start saving money or fundraising.  If you have EVER considered going, I encourage you to just jump on.  Really!  Take a step of faith and come with me.  I love to see the amazement through others eyes!

Day 6 - A day at the pool with the chicas

Today is our last full day here in Nicaragua and we spent it with the Chicas at a pool.

It was nice to have a day with them at the end of the week so we are more familiar with them than a few days ago.  They started filling the pool when we got there.... interesting they way some things are done here.  With 27 Chicas they don't all like to do the same things so we brought some games and crafts for those who didn't want to get in the pool.

 Serious UNO game here

 Rubberband bracelet making

 Selfie with the 3 facilitators + Maria and Scarlett

 Guess who isn't Nicaraguan?

 The Babes of the group, now BFF!

This week I was privileged to serve alongside 9 amazing women.  This may be the hardest work I've done in Nicaragua so far.  We didn't build anything, or repair anything, but we had to be bold in relationships.  It was necessary for each of us to step outside our comfort zones and engage with those who were in desperate need of touch and possibly a few words. Most of us don't speak much Spanish so the week became a lesson in trust, transparency and dependance on God.  We all feel honored to be His hands and feet!

We will be heading for the airport in the late morning.  Most of the bags are packed.  Our last group session is done and we will meet for devotion again in the morning.  We've all seen a lot of hurting people this week and some of us carry faces in our mind that we won't forget.  Sometimes going back home can be a hard transition, please be careful with your loved ones and extend an extra helping of grace to them in the next week.

Thank you for allowing me to serve with this amazing women!