This post contains an affiliate link for the book Kisses from Katie which I highly recommend reading
I recently returned from a week long, “loving children one backpack at a time” missions trip, to Nicaragua. I have been very eager to tell you about my trip, but I ran into technical difficulties with my site, lost some past posts, and am finally back up and running. My goal is to tell you about my trip over the next few days, and then return to my normal posting schedule.
Some of you know Nicaragua is near and dear to my heart because we adopted our son from Nica almost 2 1/2 years ago. That is actually the extremely short, one sentence version of why Nica is near and dear to my heart.
I have been to Nicaragua several times with Living Waters, and lived there for 4 1/2 months during the in country fostering period of our adoption. On this most recent trip, our team pictured above, traveled to 5 villages and passed out 2,000 backpacks. Each was filled with a notebook, pencil, pen and booklet sharing God’s love. This means 2,000 children will be able to attend school which begins on Feb. 9th!
While sending so many children to school is so rewarding, it can also be daunting because there are still so many children who can’t go to school because their families simply can’t afford to pay for basic school supplies.
I read the book Kisses from Katie: A Story of Relentless Love and Redemption
So rather than focus on the ocean of backpacks still needed, I remembered our team’s call to love the children God placed before us one backpack at a time. It truly was a joy to see the children test out their new mochilas (Spanish for backpacks), sing songs with them during our short presentation time, and play games. My favorite game is Head It, Catch It, which I call Cabeza y Manos in Spanish. We also had the privilege of serving lunch to everyone who came.
It’s difficult to fully express all that took place on this trip, but I hope you now have a sense of how our team tried to love these children, one backpack at a time, the first couple days of our journey. In my next post I’ll introduce you to some of the people we met during the medical clinic portion of the trip. As always, thanks so much for reading and exploring the world with me one suitcase at a time.
Have you ever had a special experience when God prompted you to show love to someone else with a specific action? If so, please share it in the comments section.
This post is linked up over at… Smart Schoolhouse , Sincerely Paula , With A Blast ,Cornerstone Confessions , Social Media Saturdays , Laugh & Learn Link Up , Castleview Academy, Education Possible , All Things With Purpose , Creative Kids Culture Blog Hop, Bowl Full Of Lemons
I really want to read that book! Thanks for the reminder to do so. I loved seeing the photos. And how neat that you were able to help those kids attend school. I’m reminded of Compassion’s goal of changing the life of one child…and then that child will go on to change the lives of others!! Our first Compassion graduate is now staring a ministry for over 30 disabled kids in her home country of Uganda. This is why we invest, even if it’s just one child who’s changed. We can never see God’s bigger picture!
Stopped by from the Peony Project! What an amazing opportunity to minister to these kids. I’ve seen the book “Kisses from Katie” around, but have never read it. Now, I really want to! Thanks for sharing your experience.
I would saw it’s a MUST READ Kaycee! Hope you get to read it soon. It’s so inspiring. It’s truly amazing what God can do with our lives when we make ourselves available!
Thanks for sharing! I traveled to Nicaragua in October and will be returning in March–the country has caught hold of my heart for sure. I love hearing about other ministries working in this beautiful country!
Thx for stopping by and sharing Breanne! I love hearing about different ministries there too. I got to meet lots of wonderful people who do all kinds of amazing work when I was there 4 1/2 months for our adoption. And on a side note, be prepared for HOT weather in March. I hear that’s the hottest time of the year in Nica!
Beautiful pictures and wonderful story… God’s love can be shown through His children passing out backpacks. I’m excited for you and am excited to hear more about the trip!! Nica is special to your heart
Glad you read it! Today is actually the 1st day of school for kids in Nicaragua so I am imagining lots of smiles & new backpacks in the classrooms! Would love to be a fly on the wall to see…
Thank you for caring and helping. So happy for your son to have your family to love.
Thanks so much for your kind encouragement Kathleen! I really appreciate it.
Awww, this is beautiful and so inspiring.
My aunt recommended Kisses for Katie. I’m going to have to read that one.
Thanks for sharing and for linking up to the #SHINEbloghop.
Wishing you a blessed day.
xoxo
I agree with your aunt. Kisses from Katie is a MUST READ! I’m glad I could share at the link up.