iEstoy En Nicaragua!

Greetings from Nicaragua! I landed at the airport in Managua at 8:00 p.m. on Saturday and arrived in Candelaria at about 11:00 p.m. the same night. I saw a few of the kids then. One of them stuck his head in the car window and made snorting sounds. Of course the first thing they would remember about me is my laugh. :)

Sunday was interesting. The power in Candelaria is out, so since the church service is at night, we couldn't have church. Thankfully, Sunday school is in the morning, so that still happened. It was so great so see all the kids again.

Unfortunately, I was diagnosed with malaria on Thursday, and my medication is really powerful, so sometimes I feel worse when I take the meds. I spent a lot of yesterday sleeping off a really bad headache, but was awoken mid-afternoon by an AMAZING storm. It's the rainy season in Nicaragua right now, and the thunder storms are incredibly powerful. It down poured for quite awhile, and I'd never heard thunder that loud in my life. It was epic.

Yahaira, one of the interpreters that I got really close to on my last trip here, pushed me, a lot of the other missionaries, and a ton of kids out from under the roof of the church and into the rain. We attempted to play some form of volleyball, but I gave up. My coordination is bad enough without crazy wind and rain. Instead, I joined some of the kids in a sort of natural Slip N' Slide. There's a long line of land with no grass that's sunk into the ground a bit. When it rains, it gets super muddy and fills up with water, so we'd run down it, throw ourselves on the ground, and then go sliding down this...whatever you want to call it. That was even more epic.

Monday and Tuesday are the days off for the missionaries. We're at the beach right now. Its the same beach I went to the first time I was here and when I first swam in the ocean. I'm here with three of the long term missionaries and one of the short term teams. The short term team is spending the night here. I haven't yet decided if I'm staying or not. I guess it depends on what my mode of transportation is for each option (we rode here in a cattle truck with an completely open back and tied hammocks to the frame work...'twas interesting).

I'm missing Camp Okoboji a bit, although I'm definitely NOT missing some of the things that happened last week, but that's a whole different story.

I'm hoping that I'll be able to use a computer soon so I can upload some pictures and incorporate them into these entries. Until then, I hope I'm keeping you all updated enough!

Blessings to you all this week, please keep New Song Mission Nicaragua in your prayers.

Love Always,
-ellie*

Super Counselor!

Hi everyone! I hope the month of July is treating you well.

I've been keeping busy up at Camp Okoboji. Last week I served as a counselor for IDW Junior High Week. The week went well. I had an absolutely wonderful group of girls in my cabin, one of the best I've eve counseled. It was also great to catch up with campers from last year, old friends serving as counselors, and of course, the epictastic staff. Matt Eiden did an awesome job as the dean, Pastor Dahlke's topic kept the kids engaged, Pastor Ratcliffe's music owned, and Pastor Jensen had some pretty amazing devotions.

Along with counseling, I also helped lead music with Pastor Ratcliffe. It was another opportunity for me to play my new guitar that I love so much. Needless to say, my guitar playing once again improved with the help of P.R.'s teaching skills.

My cabin did a skit for the talent show that went along with the theme, so I will be posting the video recording of it as soon as I get a chance. There were also about five million counselor skits, and I sang and played guitar in two duets, one with my friend and other counselor, A.J., and one with P.R. There's video of those, too.

All in all, it was a great week of teaching kids about Jesus (and throwing them off the raft into the lake...don't worry, P.R. made sure I got thrown in, too). Hopefully I'll be able to share more when I have a little free time.

This week is Concordia Cub Weeks, so I am counseling kids between the ages of 9 and 13. I've been a counselor for both IDW Junior High Week and Concordia Cub Weeks for several years now, but going from the relaxed atmosphere of the junior high camp to the strict Cub Weeks schedule is a little difficult. I'm having a good time, though. The theme is Cubs in Mission, and there are new missionaries here each day to talk with the kids about their work, so I'm really enjoying the topic.

I would share more, but I am being summoned to clean up spilled paint in the craft building. Thanks for reading, and God bless!

Love Always,
-ellie*

Aluminum, Aluminum, Malaria...:D.

If you understand that title, you're a choir nerd to the core. :)

Yesterday consisted of my absolute most favorite thing in the world (can you sense the sarcasm?)...shopping. It was off to Wal*Mart for showering essentials, a couple pairs of mesh shorts, a water bottle, and of course: a life time supply of bug spray and sunscreen.

I can't believe how close it's getting. It's kind of unreal. For the millionth time, I'm insanely excited, but I'm honestly a little scared, too. I've never gone on a mission trip, much less left the country, on my own before. I've always been with a team, and I've never been gone for more than two weeks. Sometimes I worry that my whole world might get turned upside down this summer...what if I discover that being a long term missionary really isn't my calling? I mean, it'd be great to know sooner rather than later since I've only finished one year of college so far, but I've never really thought about doing (or wanted to do) anything else. I have no idea what I would change my major to. So, I'm just taking deep breaths and praying that the call I received as a seventh grader to be some sort of church worker, and the call I received in early high school to be a missionary were interpreted correctly. I'm trusting in God that everything happens for a reason, and He has a plan for me, whether it's being on the mission field long term, or doing regular short term mission work while serving as a DCO full time with a church or organization here in the United States.

Two verses that have really helped me while finding myself in this bit of a valley are Jeremiah 29:11 ("For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.") and Matthew 6:25-34. I encourage you to look up and read the Matthew passage on your own. Even if you've looked at it previously, it always serves as an excellent reminder that God is bigger than any problem we may have had, do have, or will have. It's difficult, but we should always trust that we are in the Lord's hands, and He will provide us with all that we need.

On a lighter note, tomorrow marks the beginning of the epic packing journey. I leave for counselor orientation at Camp Okoboji on Saturday, I'm there for two weeks, and as soon as Camp is over, I head to the airport and get on the plane for Nicaragua. I come back from Nicaragua on the 23rd, and go right to Concordia to move in, so I won't be coming home for the rest of the summer. This Saturday morning will be the last of LeMars I see until Thanksgiving. While it's cool that I'm getting to go to all these great places, it means that not only do I have to have everything packed for two weeks of Camp by Saturday, I also have to have everything ready for Nicaragua, AND all of my college stuff boxed up and ready to go. I probably should've started this a week or two ago...

Also, a trek to the pharmacy is on tomorrow's schedule. Time to pick up those malaria pills! I start them next Saturday...fun stuff. My doctor gave me a different kind than I had the last time. Those pills gave me some pretty strange dreams, so at least that won't be a problem. :) I'm glad that with a combination of bug spray and malaria pills, I'll be well protected. However, I hope I don't come back from this trip looking like I did when I returned from Peru...

Me at breakfast the last day in Peru.

I hope this entry finds you all well, and I'll try to keep posting as much as possible over the next few weeks to keep you updated on what's happening during my counseling experience at Camp before I head to Central America.

Love Always,

-ellie*

Spirit of the Living God, Fall Fresh Again.

Okay, so all the rain over the 4th of July weekend probably wasn't everyone's first choice out of all the possible weather options, but looking at the rain from a different angle can give us a pretty cool perspective. Just like the rain refreshes the Earth we live on, God refreshes us and gives us a clean slate each day through our baptism and by what Jesus did for us on the cross. We don't have to be weighed down by our sins, and, as gross of a way to explain it as this may be, we don't have to live in our own filth. God cleanses us and purifies us with His forgiveness and unconditional love each day, so that we can continue to live as His beloved children. How epic is that?

I encourage you to listen to the song, Reign in Us (haha, a little word play), by Starfield. The lyrics are incredibly powerful. They remind us of how desperately we need that forgiveness and unconditional love from our Savior. He is our light in this sinful world we live in, and it's only in Him that we find salvation.

Praise God for His amazing and unending love! <3

And in current events...

Last Wednesday was the benefit concert. It was a success, and a ton of fun. It was set up similarly to the FISH contemporary worship services on Wednesday nights at Concordia, so it was really awesome to get to share the amazingness of FISH with my hometown. And, after a month of not spending much time on music, I'd forgotten the amazing feeling of praising God through song. Ironically enough, during rehearsal before the concert, it was when we ran through "Reign In Us" that I realized this.

The day actually started the night before, with epic cookie baking.

M&M cookies!

I got hungry...:).

The next day I met up with the band at 2 p.m. at my church, Grace Lutheran. Katie and Christian Hayden, two of my amazing friends from Camp Okoboji drove up here with their dad, Pastor Hayden. Katie sang harmonies with me (and rocked!), and Christian was our epically amazing drummer. Nate Hettinger played piano for us, and learned all of the music in less than two weeks. I'm still in shock at that guy's talent. We performed around 20 songs!

We practiced until 5:30, had some pizza, and then got ready for the concert to begin.

About 40 or so people attended, and with donations still coming in, almost $300 was raised! All glory to God!!! There were also several donations of clothing and school supplies. That combined with all of the clothing and school supplies that were raised for my birthday fundraiser, there are three massive boxes of stuff. I have no idea how I'm going to get it all to Central America, but still...EPICNESS!!!

So to everyone who helped out through publicity, playing in the band, donating, or prayers, thank you, thank you, thank you. This means so much.

Me singing and playing during the concert.

 

 

The band: (from left to right): Katie Hayden, Nate Hettinger, Christian Hayden, and me.

It was an amazing experience, and I'm so glad that it went well. I definately hope to do another one in the near future to raise funds for my next trip overseas.

That's about all I've got for this entry. I'll be heading over to Camp Okoboji on Saturday for counselor orientation, and then I'll begin my 4th year as a camp counselor there (wow, that makes me feel old). This will be my first year counseling two camps in a row, IDW Junior High Week, and Concordia Cub Week (which is for the elementary schoolers), so prayers for strength, energy, and patience would be much appreciated.

After camp is over, I head up to the cities, spend the night in a hotel, and then get on the plane to Nicaragua. It's coming up fast, but not fast enough! I'm so incredibly excited to get back.

My next few weeks will be packed, but I'll try my best to keep you all updated. Thanks for reading!

Love Always,

-ellie*