Working hard or hardly working…

Sam: I have to admit, I wasn’t super excited about this whole work day idea to begin with. I didn’t quite understand why we were spending days apart from the Centro De Fe students especially doing a work project because our trip wasn’t supposed to be your typical “missions trip”.

Sam: But this work project was not about coming in and taking the place of local workers, it was about standing alongside them. We want to support the Nehemiah Centre and their desire to transform Nicaragua through enabling local leaders, which includes Christian educators.

Susan: Working together is also about building relationships with our team members. We were always having fun or joking around, but a work project is more serious, and we are actually working toward something.

Sam: ACS has always been “what a school is” to me. Having countless lockers and a massive gym has always been what I thought all schools had. Today my eyes were opened to what the majority of schools in the world most likely look like. These classrooms that we have seen have been small spaces and open to the outside which completely makes sense for this climate, but seems so out of the ordinary for a place like Abbotsford.

Susan: Even though they have small classes, they are closer with each other because the whole grade is together. They also seem to know all the people from the school, not just their own grade.

Sam: Experiencing visiting these schools and seeing some of the teachers so passionate about transforming these student’s lives, makes me want to experience it myself. At the same time, there are so many things at my school that I take for granted, such as our bipolar heating system, but it helps me to see that I am so blessed by the Lord.

Sam: Although today had its high’s, a low for me was not being able to see our friends at Centro De Fe. Only having 4 full days left here and we only get to spend 1 full day with them tomorrow and then we say goodbye on Friday morning. I am dreading it. Even though we’ve only been here for 7 days I do not want to leave and I just want to spend every day with them. The relationships that have been built will hopefully last a lifetime, and I just really hope that one day we will all be able to see each other again. I believe that God is weaving his presence between each relationship that has been built between all of us. I see God in the brown eyes of the amigos that I have met and I see his glory in their smiles every day we spend time together. I am excited to see the works he has planned for these students in the future.