My Most Memorable Experience

My sophomore year of high school started just like any other year.  The bus came on that Wednesday morning, much earlier than I would have liked, and off to school I went.  Little did I know, the events of that year would change my life forever.  At the end of ninth grade, I had filled out an application for Undignified, the school missions team.  I found out that I was accepted, and was excited to see what it was all about.  We decided that we would be going to Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua, where the previous year's team had gone and had an incredible time.

To get to Nicaragua, we had to do some serious fundraising; we had a spaghetti dinner, baked like crazy every Wednesday, sent out support letters, and sold sweatshirts.  And finally, April came.  We were all packed and ready to go, ready to go build houses and dig wells for Jesus.  We said our goodbyes, got on the plane, and after many hours on a few different planes, we finally arrived at our destination!  ...And found out that we would be doing ministry and running a vacation Bible school for the kids at the orphanage.  While we were planning on doing lots of physical labor to help the people of Puerto Cabezas, this change of plans could not have been more perfect.  The week of VBS, along with ministering at local schools, the park, and even a maximum security prison, was absolutely incredible.  I could not have possibly dreamed of a better week.

My time in Nicaragua impacted me so much more than I ever would have thought possible.  The people that I met, especially the beautiful children at the orphanage, changed my life forever.  I look at what I have so much differently now, after seeing how the people of Puerto Cabezas live.  One day, we went out to the people in a particularly poor area of Puerto Cabezas, and gave them bags of rice, beans, and cooking oil.  That day taught me to never take for granted what I have, which is a hard thing coming from Long Island, where everyone lives like royalty compared to most of the world.  When we went to the maximum security prison, I learned not to judge people.  When we first arrived, I was terrified, and did not want to go in and try to minister to these people.  However, by the time we got in, and they even sang a song to us after we were singing to them, all my walls were broken down.  My heart just shattered for these children of God.  I felt His love for them, and realized that no matter what they had done to get where they were, He wanted them to come back to Him.

When it finally came time to leave this amazing place, I did not want to go.  Saying goodbye was the hardest thing I have ever had to do.  The morning of the day we had to leave, I went over to the orphanage for the last time to say goodbye to the kids before they went to school.  I'll never forget saying goodbye to this one little girl, Lumera.  As I gave her a hug goodbye, she squeezed me so hard and just refused to let go.  Any pretense of avoiding tears that morning disappeared in that hug.

I'll never forget that little girl and her love for a silly American in clown pants, or Mario, who gave his life to the Lord in the prison.  My experience in Nicaragua changed my life forever.  All I want to do now is go back there and never leave.