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Day 2 Blog

Jose Vega
ETBU Senior - May 2017 Graduate
San Antonio, TX

Monday, May 8, 2017

On Monday morning, the team woke up and had an awesome home cooked breakfast prepared by the home owner and her sister.  After breakfast, we headed to the Donna Holland Christian School, which has over 500 students.  I was in awe of how the kids at the school greeted us and how excited they were when we arrived, greeting with hugs and high fives.

Walking through the school and looking at the condition of the classrooms reminded me of how blessed I am and how I take for granted the quality of education that I received throughout my life.  These kids were so full of energy and were so happy to see us and started chanting "recess" in Spanish. As soon as they were released, they immediately ran to get the soccer balls from the bag and started a soccer a game with the team.  I looked around and all the kids were all hugging and climbing on us like they have known us their entire life. We then conducted a soccer clinic and taught the kids several soccer drills. After the drills we played an actual game that became very unorganized, but that did not keep the students from having a blast.

I went around with several kids that showed me a few mango trees and they had several of us climb the trees to get the mangos down. They also showed us a fruit called "waya" and the students showed our team how to open and eat it.  After the morning session, we headed back to the house for lunch and a few of the players and I were able to spend some time with the bus driver and his crew.  They shared about their lives and asked us questions about life in the US and how it compared to Nicaragua.  We then went on to talk about our faith and the bus driver shared his testimony with me, which I completely related to.  I thought it was amazing that I was able to sit down with a complete stranger and someone from another country, that lives in a completely different environment, but yet we share the same convictions and struggles in our walk with Christ. I went on to share my testimony with him and had a great conversation.

We then went on to host another soccer clinic at a different school in a community right outside of Diriamba.  The field that we were doing the clinic on had a small patch of grass in only one corner and the rest was just dirt and rocks. It amazed me how these kids were so excited to be out there to learn from us and did not mind the condition of the field.  At the end of the clinic, I had the opportunity to share my faith with the kids and their parents that attended the clinic. I am so happy that I was granted this opportunity to share not only my personal faith but also share the gospel with these kids and their parents. I know that it was not by chance that I was brought on a mission trip to a country where they speak a language that I am fluent in. God put me in this situation, so I knew that I had to step out of my comfort zone and share my story. I had an amazing time on the second day in Nicaragua and I already have a great feeling that God is going to do some amazing things through our team while we are here.