Laura Overs
¨Above all things have intense and unfailing love for one another¨ 1 Peter 4:8
Laura Overs
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What I'm Learning...



It brings me joy to share the ministries I am a part of with you supporters, but the Lord is revealing Himself to me by other means as well. Outside of specific ministries, here are other areas that the LordFrom lauraovers.myadventures.org is working in my heart through and what I am learning in those areas.

 

In my quiet time- Currently I am going through the book of Matthew with a fresh look. I have heard each story in Matthew more time then I can count, but I am actively seeking a new understanding in each verse. Several stories and verses have touched me in new ways. For how many times I have heard the story of Jesus' birth, it fell on me with a new significance. It struck me that God spoke to Joseph three times through dreams. I love how the Lord choses to speak, and I am amazed by Joseph's obedience. I long and pray to hear the Lord's voice clearly in my life, so by reading of the many times God spoke through a dream, I am extra-attentive to my own dreams now. I regularly counted my dreams as nonsense and spoke of them for amusement, but I believe God still does speak to His people, and that he can do so by whatever means He so desires. With that said, I have started tracking down my dreams, however crazy they seem and I am praying for an interpretation of them. If God is speaking to me, I had better be listening! 

 

In personal prayer time- I have turned into a frequent visitor in our House of PrayFrom lauraovers.myadventures.orger. I wish everyone could experience the Holy Spirit in those 4 walls (no roof) the way myself and my teammates have. The Lord is alive in that place and I cannot get enough. Though my prayer time, a word that keeps echoing within me is "Abandonment." After prayer for this resounding word, God's message to me is clear: Abandon yourself, surrender to Me. Though I long to glorify God with every fiber of my being, my own self gets in the way often. God pours mercy and patience upon me as I am learning how to truly abandon myself and love Him completely. Prayer time has been huge in my learning to lose my selfish ways and to seek Him alone. The Hillsong lyrics sing within me, "Rid me of myself, I belong to You. O lead me, lead me to the cross."

 

From my team- What a blessing my team has been, and how I have neglected raving about them. As our time here shortens, I realize how much I will miss every brother and sister from my team that I have grown tFrom lauraovers.myadventures.orgo love over these past nine months. In a recent team meeting, we heard wise words from our fearless leader, Seth Barnes Jr., encouraging us to not grow tired even though our time here is winding down. Seth said, "Tomorrow is not guaranteed and yesterday is already gone. All you have is right now." How that stuck with me. I remind myself daily that all I have is today to live to the fullest. To pour into each relationship, to love the Lord with my all, to enjoy each breath, today is the day. Many other wise words have come from my teammates, but those words from Seth run through my mind daily.

 

I pray that the Lord is speaking to you also in the various areas of your life. Let's stay attentive to His voice so to make the most of each blessed moment we have on this earth!

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Oscar Gutiérrez's Story



  My dear friend Oscar Gutiérrez, has grown up in a world of soccer, partying, and girls. His life has been changed through the ministry of Vida Joven (VJ - In English, Young Life). Now soccer provides a way for him to invite kids to VJ, where he is preparing to be a leader while continuing his education in the university that he withdrew from three years ago. This is his story...
 
From lauraovers.myadventures.org
Before VJ, before I knew anything about it, my life was completely dedicated to partying. I toyed with the emotions of girls and smoked regularly. When I started partying, I was not necessarily smoking and involved in many vices, but the more I got into that lifestyle; my life was certainly spiraling downward. I got into marijuana a few times. This whole scene lasted about eight months. Looking back, I felt like my life didn't have any meaning.
 
In September of 2008, I met a girl. When I met her, she didn't tell me anything about VJ. She was hanging out with a couple of other girls who wanted us to go to VJ's club, so I went with them. In the club, we watched a video about a guy named Nick, who should have been incapacitated, but functioned very well considering his circumstances. I saw in this video that nothing was impossible.

Shortly thereafter I had the opportunity to go to my first VJ sports camp. At the camp they took us to a labyrinth and taught us about listening to God's voice. I tried it out, but it was very difficult for me to hear Him. The camp was good because, while they were somewhat restrictive, but they were not legalistic. VJ made me not want to do the things I had been doing.

Following this I was invited on another VJ camp. When we were there, we had a time of worshiping God. Something moved me to tears during the singing. I was closing my eyes, and when I opened them, I looked down at the floor and I saw the face of Jesus. I sobbed uncontrollably as I felt the Lord calling me. I felt him intimately; I knew then that he cared for me. This motivated me to give my testimony about my life and what I was still doing to the others that were with me. They were people from my city that knew me or knew of me before. Before I started talking, I didn't feel like I'd have the words to speak because I was embarrassed, but my heart compelled me. I wanted to express that yes, I can change and others can too.

From lauraovers.myadventures.orgMy next camp was a follow-up camp. There we went on a walk of faith. They blind-folded us and had us walk around. It reminded me of Catholic tradition we do here in Granada in which they blind-fold a statue of Jesus and parade around the street carrying him on their shoulders. They do this a lot the day before his death. It's called a Procession of Silence. The idea is that Jesus is walking through the crowd - the world, but he's blind to it, he is not of it. During this walk we were put through a barrage of tests.

In one of the tests they had me grab onto a rope and to imagine two worlds - this world and the one Jesus calls us to. The devil started speaking to me then, reminding me things of my past. I remember a moment when my past was all I could focus on. I felt pretty confused and I cried because I did not know what to do. I felt very alone. But I kept walking and tried to focus on God's voice alone. Then he spoke to me. He told me He is the way and the truth and the life. After this, the things that the enemy was saying to me did not matter at all. As I continued walking, I felt closer and closer to God. Later, we were given the opportunity to go to the labyrinth again and invited into intimacy with the Lord. This moved me a lot. I felt great meaning and purpose in this relationship I was introduced to. It was one of the most impacting experiences of my life.

By the fourth camp I was playing soccer and stepping into leadership. I felt incredibly incapable and ill prepared, but every time we had a meeting or I was pushed into something, God gave me the words to say to the youth there. These kids were into drugs and after a number of activities. We encouraged them to cry and let their emotions out. I said then, "Lord, I want you to change these kids' lives. I know that they need you and I know that you're the only one who can touch their hearts. You're the only one who can change them."

When we got back, I followed up with these kids. I saw that they truly desired God and this brought me great joy. True joy. It brought meaning into my life.

VJ is very close to my heart. It introduced me to Jesus and taught me how to move forward in my life. I know that because it has changed my life, it will continue to change others as well, and I want to be a part of it. I love that sports can still be a part of my life and I can actually use it to reach out to other kids. Now, I am focused on other kids and it had given me a direction and meaning. I'm moving forward. I am available and want to be available for the kids at VJ. We have a vision to change their lives and facilitate an encounter with the Lord. I am really excited about VJ. I love it! I want to continue moving forward to be a great leader for them. I believe in this vision; it changed my life and it will continue to change lives.
 
 
Vida Joven is not funded by Young Life in the states, but has to raise money to run here in Granada. Our team is putting on a 5K Fun Run to raise money for Vida Joven, Granada. The run takes place April 25th, please hold it in your prayers. We still have a lot of work to do, but we work in joy because this will be an impactful event. If you feel it in your heart to contribute to Vida Joven, you can do so by going to

https://www.adventures.org/give/donate.asp?giveto=worldrace&tuid=257360 

Once you are on the web page, you: 

1.       In the drop down menu select "Support A World Race Project" 

2.       In the Project box that appears, type in: Nicaragua Kids Camp Fun Run 

3.       Follow the donation process through. 

I pray you all had a blessed Easter, and rejoice! He is risen!

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God of this Universe Loves Me!



The Lord poured joy into the Children'From lauraovers.myadventures.orgs barrio ministry Monday. I believe it was the best week we have had yet. Here is a rundown of what happened, I pray to have the words to express the delight it brought to my heart and God's as well.

We had about 25 kids come this week and a few parents came with their infants to watch the program. We started out as always with a Nica friend, Carlos, leading children's songs on the guitar. The songs had the kids dancing around, jumping up and down, clapping and singing at the top of their lungs. All this excitement was at 9:15 in the morning. The first game we played was a water balloon toss. Water balloons are always a blast, and it seemed to me that the kids do not see water balloons often. 

Our story for the day was the parable of the lost sheep found in Luke. We told the story then had the kids act it out, costumes and all. The Pharisees wore oversized dress shirts and the sheep wore white t-shirts on with socks on their hands. The shepherd used a broom as his staff. The kids get wound up and really excited when we bring out whatever costumes we can scrape up to work with for the story. The kids then acted out the story as we read it. It was goofy, but still got the story across.

After the play we played telephone with bible verses; Deuteronomy 6:5, "Love the LORD your God with all you hearFrom lauraovers.myadventures.orgt and with all your soul and with all your strength," and John 15:12 "My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you." Again, telephone is such a common game in the states but the children played enthusiastically, that I do not think they had played before. It was comical to watch yet beneficial for the kids to hear the first two commandments.

For the first time during this ministry, I gave the message this week. Maybe not word for word, but here is the message:

            Repeat after me, "GOD OF THIS UNIVERSE LOVES ME!" (the kids screamed it) Wow, God created the trees, the lake, flowers, animals yet He is in love with us! Our story today was about a shepherd and his sheep. How many sheep where there? (They scream 100) Yes, and what did the shepherd do when one sheep was lost? (They say, He looks for him and finds him!) Absolutely, this story is a picture of how Jesus loves us. He personally knows us and loves us dearly. When we are surrounded by 100 or 1000 people, Jesus stil knows each one of our hearts specifically. He rejoices with us when we are happy, and as we learned last week (we did the story of the Good Samaritan) Jesus is compassionate when we are in trouble. His sole purpose in creating us is to loves us intimately. Because of this great love, let us love God the best we can. We love Him by praising Him to the fullest of our ability, by praying in all circumstances and by loving each other as we were commanded to. We are going to practice these things in a minute but let us say again, "GOD OF THIS UNIVERSE LOVES ME!" (We screamed this again and cheered)
     
            Then as usual we separated into two groups to pray. My friend Caleb leads the older kids in prayer and I lead the younger group. On Monday we prayed in the two groups, then had the younger kids circled around the older kids and repeated a prayer over the older kids.  Then in return our younger group sat in a circle and the older group, ages 8-10 laid hands on each person and prayed aloud for them. The faith of innocent children astounds me, I long for childlike faith. They prayed briefly, yet sincerely and it amazed me to see the boldness in each child to pray aloud. I feel so blessed to have been a part of that prayer time.From lauraovers.myadventures.org
            Our friend Carlos closed our program in worship songs. During this time we encouraged the kids to sincerely praise God as He deserves. For such young kids, I am astonished by their expression of praise during this time. Kids will jump up and down in excitement, or close their eyes in awe, and even lift their hands in praise. The Lord is glorified through that time always.
           After the program was over, we stayed to clean up. We ended up playing around for another 20 minutes or so. The beautiful kids long for love, hugs, attention and we find joy in pouring love on them.
           Overall our prayers for the barrio children's ministry were thoroughly answered through a very fruitful time of ministry Monday morning. Thank you all so much for ongoing prayers and support. It is my delight to share with you the Lord's work in this place.

"May mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance." ~Jude 2

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Nicaraguan House of Prayer



Here is a short video about the House of Prayer that the team started this semester. I encourage you to take the time to watch the video and please keep this ministry in your prayers! We can expect God to do might things through 24/7 prayer!


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Psalm 45:17



As I have mentioned before, two teammates and I started a children's program and community prayer meetings in the barrio. Though we invite the youth ages 15 and up to Vida Joven, it came to our attention that we have not effectively addressed the 10-15 year old age group. In an effort to share the gospel to this crucial group of kids, a vision came to our ministry group. We envisioned sharing a powerful dryme with the community, giving a testimony, then sharing the gospel and closing in worship. So that is what we did last Thursday.

We had talked about this event for the youth at our prayer meeting, and we prayed over it. So last Thursday night we went to the barrio, unsure if 5 kids would come to the event or 50. To our surprise, the house were this took place was filled with as many people as could fit. People were outside the house in the street and through the doorway to be part of the event! Wow! I was overjoyed because several of the kids from our soccer team came to the event too. We started our doing the dryme, where I play one of two demons. Great. It is a powerful story of a girl being attacked by two demons. The innocent girl becomes unable to escape. Then Jesus comes to her rescue, and just as he is taking her hand, the demons come and crucify Jesus. After an emotional scene, Jesus defeats death and saves the girl. It is a beautiful story, and one we can all relate to. We shared the dryme with the group of kids, and then my friend Caleb gave an awesome message to further clarify the dryme and to share the gospel message. My friend Joe gave his powerful testimony to the group next. We closed in worship and invited anyone to come up for prayer.

 I am struggling now writing out what happened that night because it does no justice to how powerful of an evening it truly was. The Lord had brought His children from the poorest areas and let his love be known to each of them. The faces of the youth there were coming alive, as if they were soaking in every word spoken. There is a hunger for light within the community, especially that age group, and I feel like the light was just shining from the inside of the house to the street were people were crowded to hear the Word. Let all the glory be to God for the opportunity to share of His love that beautiful evening.

 From lauraovers.myadventures.org

Last Saturday through yesterday, our team had the week off for spring break! I traveled to Tamarindo, Costa Rica for the week with 4 friends from the team. The week consisted of relaxing on the beach, watching the sunset over the pacific, going on an ATV tour through Costa Rica, lots of laughing, eating, reading and swimming. All the sudden in turned into a book worm as I read Captivating by Staci and John Eldridge. I strongly recommend for every woman to read Captivating. The week in Tamarindo was a well needed break for sure. With a refreshed spirit, I am eager for ministries this week. It came to my attention that I only have two months left here. Please keep this time in your prayers that we may have a dynamic final two months.

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I Can Not Stay Quiet!



From excitement and business of having my cousins Jodi and Dario visiting Granada last Saturday, I was unable to post this blog. Sorry for my dereliction, but with joy and praise to our Father, I share this message with you today: JESUS HEALS.

As I have shared before, since the start of the second semester, I have had a hunger for knowledge and application of the spiritual gifts. Desiring to understand healing specifically, I read parts of the Jack Deer book, Surprised by the Holy Spirit. (You should read it if you have not, it is powerful) The book describes why God heals, and why at times He chooses not to.  Now this is all assuming that we agree God can and does still work miracles today. After you finish reading the blog, I pray you will see that indeed He does. The more I read God's word and study His ways, I realize that God does not run by formulas. We can study, read and compile the 'best' or 'right' way to heal, but God simply asks for our faith and confidence in His power. (Eph. 3:12) With this said, let me share with you the miracles God has shown me first hand over these past few weeks.

Three weeks ago I went door to door in the Barrio with a local pastor and my leader Seth Bowen Barnes Jr. We introduced ourselves to the families and told them about the several programs that started in the community. We shared the gospel and asked if the family desired prayer. There were a few ladies I prayed healing over, but today as I was in the Barrio for a children's program I stopped by one particular woman's house to see how she was. This lady had an issue with her stomach. She experienced constant pain and thought it may be a tumor. A few weeks ago I laid my hands on her stomach. By the power of the Holy Spirit, I saw her today with a smile she said "I have no more pain! Gloria a Dios!"

In the same barrio, last week at our prayer meeting, a sister, Sonya shared that she does not have the money for a necessary heart surgery. As she explained it, she used to be a gordita (heavy set lady) but she is unable to eat and now is a flakita. (Skinny lady) To say the least, she looked unhealthy. Sonya said she had not eaten in the past week. After our prayer meeting I approached her with my brothers Mario and Caleb, and asked if we could pray for healing. She said that she had been prayed over before and has faith that God will heal her. Never the less, we laid hands on this little lady and confidently asked for Holy Spirit power to heal her. After the prayer tears were streaming from her eyes and she said she had felt a tingling feeling up and down her body as we prayed. Then when we were saying good-bye, she turned to us and smiled, saying, "I feel like a new woman!" Praise the Lord. Yesterday at our prayer meeting she was gleaming as she said, "I have been eating all week, I am better!" Let the truth be told-God heals.

Ok sorry if this is getting redundant, God is healing! I can not stay quiet! This story might be my favorite. On our ATL three weeks ago, through a series of events, we met a man at a fruit stand whose pregnant wife was ill. The 5 of us on my ATL team went to the man's house to pray for his wife, Elsa. When we saw Elsa, she had bumps that looked like the worst acne imaginable all over her face, arms and legs. Just looking at her made my skin feel irritated. She tried to treat it but had no success and was concerned for her baby. We shared the story in Matthew of the sick woman to whom Jesus says, "Take heart daughter, your faith has healed you." Knowing the only one who could heal this lady was Christ himself, we talked with her and her husband about healing and assured them that it was only through faith. With that knowledge, we prayed over the lady. My impatient self wanted to command healing and open my eyes to see her skin flawless. However, she just had tears streaming down her face, still covered in sores. Without losing faith, we promised to return the following Friday, expecting a miracle. Do you want to guess how this story ends? The next Friday my friends visited her to find her skin clear. Wow! No more sores and a family with a renewed faith in Jesus. How incredible is the God we serve. Wow.

God's ways are so funny sometimes. Just read how this story goes. I was with my friend and we were searching for Choco-bananas. We went to the best choco-banana stand in town: they did not have any bananas. Then we went to the cheapest choco-banana stand: they were closed. So we went to the "all else fails" choco-banana stand, and they were not making choco bananas anymore. I asked into this and it turns out the lady who makes the bananas is getting old and therefore her body is continuously soar and ill. It turns out she had shooting pain in her arms and issues with her stomach too. Out of compassion we told the lady that we are Christians and we believe God has the power to heal. We asked if we could pray healing over woman. So with open arms they invited my friend and me into their house. So with laying hands, we asked for healing over the choco-banana lady. (I wish I could remember her name) Sure enough, I passed her on the street today and she is back to making choco bananas because her arm no longer hurts. She was full of joy and excitement to tell me of the miracle. How beautiful.

I hope that you choose not to treat these stories with contempt, but see that God desires to reveal His power to his dearly loved children. I am convinced that Jesus is alive and moving in this world today. Jesus said "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things that these." (John 14:12) I encourage you reading this to HAVE FAITH! and prepare to be amazed.

"In Him and through faith in Him we may approach God with freedom and confidence" Eph. 3:12

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El Hogar de los Ancianos



Every Wednesday and Thursday I work at the nursing home here in Granada. This particular home is for seniors who were abandoned by their families or fro those in a tough financial situation. Before I go into some fun stories of the nursing home, let me paint a picture of this particular home.

From lauraovers.myadventures.orgUnlike nursing homes in the states, no one has individual rooms. There are two huge rooms, one for men and one for women, lined with beds. There are about 30 beds in each room. The bathrooms are not handicap accessible. There are little stalls that the seniors use with out any complaints. To be quite honest, the people at this nursing home are in pretty good shape compared to the people I worked with at Homewood. People here do not have the money for medication to stay alive when their bodies are shutting down. For that reason, they die sooner, and are healthier while alive. All of that to say, most of the people are fairly independent.

In the middle of the facility there is a courtyard, it is very open. Birds are flying around, cats eat spilled food and flies are everywhere. At times I just cringe because of the safely violations all over the place. To name a few:

-A frail man was walking barefoot on a just mopped floor.

-No one is around when the residents eat meals. They could easily choke!

-Pretty much everyone has a wheel chair that is too big or too small for them. They are either squeezed in or sliding out of the chairs.

-When someone is sliding out of their chair, the nursing assistants tie a piece of fabric in a knot around them!

- No beds have side rails

No one sees an issue with these. Oh my, I just cringe and do what I can to watch out for the old folks. From lauraovers.myadventures.org

            My role at the nursing home is solely a volunteer. I was given free range by the Nuns who work there to take on whatever I feel necessary. So I usually spend an hour serving the workers by cleaning, then I visit with the residents until lunch time. I help serve lunch and feed a lady. Then until two, usually get involved in more discussions, card games, chess, nail painting or make-up applying.

            On Wednesday a youth group from a local church came in with guitars, a key board and an array of percussion instruments. The group played for about 45 minutes, which turned into an all out dance party with the seniors. It was a blast. We were clapping and singing along with the songs and everyone had a smile on. The group finished by playing the Nica version of the chicken dance, which is called El Pollo. My friend Annie and I danced El Pollo with theFrom lauraovers.myadventures.org men in wheel chairs and with the hopping ladies.We are bringing a guitar this week to keep sharing in the happiness of music.

            Yesterday I talked with two men who are devout Catholics. We had an interesting hour and a half discussion about the contrast between Catholicism and Evangelism. I believe by the end of the conversation we both understood each other better and came to the glorious conclusion that we both serve a powerful and all-loving God.

            Overall the Nursing home has been a joy to me. I am meeting sweet and unique people every day and I love the relationships being built.

            I would like to ask you to please pray for protection, physically and spiritually for my group. God's name is being exalted in Granada and the devil is just seething. We have encountered some strong attacks from the enemy this past week. So please pray for Satan to have no hold of us and for God to continue revealing His power in this place.

 

 Side note- as I am writing this the boys in my group are slaughtering then butchering a goat for our Valentines Day present.  With that lovely picture in your head, Feliz Dia del Amor y la Amistad!

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What god is so great as our God?



         Every blog seems to start out like this, but what can I say? God is answering prayers. With all the glory to God, I will joyfully share with you our first week of barrio ministry.

         After several meetings and prayer time with Luz del Mundo, the church in the barrio, we started the Children's program Monday morning. Joe, Caleb and I planned out songs, a bible story and interactive play to go with it, a few games and a message for the kids. For this ministry we do not want the focus to be on games, but for the children to genuinly come into a relationship with Christ, and for the Holy Spirit power to be among the community. With it being the first week, we planned for 15 kids, completely unsure of what to expect. 
          The three of us walked up to the church building along with our translator Natalia at nine Monday morning. From the building there was so much noise. We assumed that something else was going on inside and that we would have to wait for it to end, then the kids program could start. Upon walking in, we saw 60+ kids, new borns to nine year olds, jumping and screaming in excitement. We were shocked and a bit overwhelmed, but we did our best to adapt. It ended up being a blast and the kids were especially into the bible story and goofy games. The pastor and his wife invited us to come back to do the same program for the youth aged kids that night.  We came back that afternoon and changed the program a bit so we could have more time to get to know the people in the community. Overall it was a blessed day of ministry.
          Tuesday morning we felt it necessary to go door to door to introduce ourselves to the community, to inform them of what we are doing here and to personally invite them to the programs and church. We went in two small groups. I went with my leader Seth Bowen Barnes Jr. and the pastor in the barrio, Migel Angel. Some of the people we interacted with were Evangelicals, some Catholics, some non-believers too. They all welcomed us and thanked us for what we are doing the in the community. We ended each conversation by asking if we could pray for the person or family. Most people wanted prayer for a family member, or their economic situation, but we were blessed with the oppertunity to pray for phyical healing over a few ladies. By faith, I am convinced that Jesus will heal.
          Later on Tuesday we met with Luz del Mundo to pray for specific needs of the community. 20 people or so from the community came to pray. It was a beautiful thing to see the community arise and take a stand in prayer. God answers our prayers in huge ways so once again, we can expect miracles. And an added blessing, I got to hold a one month old baby girl for the 2 hour prayer meeting. Does life get any better?! I am just in awe of the response we have gotten from the community. They are eager to see a change and actively seeking God for that change. It is a dangerous place and full of sin, but we are fighting the battle with Christ on our side. God has great plans and we are seeking to obey Him fully as they unfold.

"Your ways, O God, are holy. What god is so great as our God? You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples. With Your mighty arm you redeemed your people." Psalm 77:14-15
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I Love Serving Our Father*



What an exciting week! After diligent prayer, my ministries started off wonderfully this week. Here is an overview of each ministry. Let me tell you, I am so excited about how God is working though each it is hard to type!

Barrio Ministry- My friend Joe Carter was given a vision from God for this ministry. He envisioned himself, me and our friend Caleb along with our translator Natalia ministering to a local barrio. Barrios are very poor communities. Most houses in the barrio are made from branches of palm trees, maybe limited cement and with tin roofs. The adults in the community are kind and hard working. Supporting a family is a challenge for most families, therefore the children in the communitFrom lauraovers.myadventures.orgy do not get as much attention as they deserve. Joe envisioned the four of us coming a few times a week to sing worship songs with the children, to teach them bible stories, to share the gospel, then to bring joy though games and activities. We do not want to just come in as a temporary light to the community, but to provide the community with a lasting change. We have met several times with the church in the barrio to make this ministry a partnership so it will carry on once we leave in May. We shared with them Joe's vision and the pastor's wife was moved to tears. As she put it, this vision was a direct answer to prayer. Praise God! With the church, we are going to be praying together every Tuesday afternoon for 2 hours, then Monday and Tuesday mornings we will have the children's ministry. God's hand is orchestrating this, so we can expect miracles! We seek comfort from Luke 10:21,

"At that time Jesus, full of Joy though the Holy Spirit said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned and revealed them to the little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure." "

Hogar de Ancianos- Myself and two teammates are helping at a local Nursing Home two days a week. This particular home is free for the residents. It is for people from low income backgrounds or for people who were abandoned by their families. Right now it looks like myself and my teammates have free range to help in anyway we would like to in the nursing home. For the two days this week, I took time to get to know the residents. Talking to the residents resulted in great conversations about God, a few Spanish lessons, some singing, a chess game (I was crushed by a 90 year old) and a few new card games. It's funny how God prepared me without my even knowing it. From the CNA certification I got last year at CTC, I now am able to care for the seniors here in Nicaragua. I find so much wisdom and joy though senior citizens, I am eager to see what God has planned this ministry.

Children's Ministry- As I previously blogged about, our trash-pick up last semester turned into a children's ministry. Since we really got to know and evangelize to the children who came, we are continuing this ministry Wednesday afternoons. So far it is off to a good start, we had about 20 enthusiastic and energetic kids come this week. It is always a blast.

Friday ATL- ATLs (Ask the Lord) in the past have been fruitful. Though it is out of my character, I love having no plan at all and just letting the Lord alone guide my day. Our ATL on Friday resulted me and 3 other teammates playing praise music with our guitars in central park. We talked to a guy, Antonio, and ended up taking him out to lunch and sharing the gospel with him. It is discouraging sometimes to pray and pray then only reached out to one person. In a moment of discouragement, my friend JD Russell spoke words of truth. He said, "Hey, one is enough." God delights in seeing his beloved children actively serving Him, and if we can share his love with one person, God smiles on that.

Soccer teams!- I am playing one day a week on the Vida Joven girls soccer team. It is not a competitive team, but I joined to build relationships with the girls in Granada. Also, Los Cachorros are looking good. (That is the younger team we coach) We had a scrimmage this morning and our first official game of this new season starts next Saturday.

That sums it up for the ministries at the moment. Please hold these in your prayers. I am anxious to see our Savior win hearts this semester.

Oh and should we say go Cardinals or Steelers? I'm pretty neutral. No one here cares about the super bowl, but I'm eager for the big game.

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Hope Does Not Disappoint Us



A running theme of this week has been Hope. Here are a couple stories of the true hope God has revealed to His dearly loved children this week. I apologize ahead of time for the scattered nature of this blog. Have grace with me and my random thoughts.

Last week I blogged about a man I was privileged to share the gospel with, Patrick. Patrick came to our worship service Sunday morning. The message Sunday was from Luke 15 where Jesus tells the parable of the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son. Patrick said for the first time after hearing that message, he could understand the bible and identify with it. After the service Patrick talked with From lauraovers.myadventures.orgCharles Kaye, a full time missionary here in Granada. On Wednesday Patrick enrolled in a Christian rehab center called Pinniel. He is living there now and for the foreseeable future. When I first met with Patrick, he cried of desperation and at one point in our conversation he got on his knees and begged for help of any kind. What a cry we all experience! The complete brokenness of this world comes to all of us, and our only hope is in our Savior Jesus Christ. In your prayer time please give Jesus an extra shout of praise for revealing His hope to Patrick.

On Tuesday we had meeting after meeting about the ministries we are going to be involved in this semester. There is too much to say about the plans God is putting together for our team, but let me just say that God is going to do big things this semester. Our hopes and visions are becoming a reality and that is only through the power of Christ. I will blog more about these ministries as they get in action. It's going to be good.

             In Managua there is a trash dump where 200 families live. Wednesday we had the opportunity to spend the day there. It is going to be hard to put into words all that God revealed through the community and life at the dump, but bear with me as I attempt.
           As we drove into the dump we were overwhelmed by the foul aroma of burning rubber. The air in the dump was thick and dirty. When a breeze came in ash and smoke rose and got in our eyes. By the end of the few hours in the dump my clothes had a tint oFrom lauraovers.myadventures.orgf black and I had a headache from all the smoke. The average life expectancy of people who live there is 40-50 years old due to the damage done to lungs breathing in polluted air for a lifetime. Everywhere throughout the community fires were smoldering. The streets we walked and drove on were just paths cleared of trash. Families live in shelters composed of garbage they found. Families earn their living by sifting through mounds of trash to find anything of value. We walked up one of the several mountains of trash where fires were going on, and fathers were diligently searching for trash that would be useful for to their families. There is a school and clinic in the community built and run by mission organizations such as Love, Light and Melody and others. From lauraovers.myadventures.org
           The seemingly poorest of poor in this community are just normal people though. The children and adults we met were joyful, content and dignified. The children wanted to be loved and played with, the adults were friendly and conversational as anywhere else. It is as if they did not even know they were living in absolute garbage. Isn't this a picture of our lives? We live surrounded by garbage; corrupted media, skewed morals, excessive possessions, confused politics, the garbage gets piled up more and more each day. Yet we treat all this trash with contempt. We accept it and live in it. The community who lives in a trash dump is a mirror image of our lives more than anything else. Here is the catch, just like the people who live at the trash dump, WE HAVE HOPE! Through the blood of Jesus Christ we are not going to forever be stuck in our trash dump lives. Our Savior promised to come back to earth and He will take His own to spend eternity with Him. Praise God for that! He does not leave us out here to dry, but met us right here on earth. Feeling every temptation and taking on all our pain, Christ died so we are now redeemed and have hope for a better life- a life with Jesus Christ. He is our hope! Can I get an AMEN? (I've always wanted to say something that I could ask for an AMEN after)

"Hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts." Romans 5:5

Please continue to hold me in your prayers. Christ is definitely doing a work in me and the fires of revival are being lit within this city. If there are specific prayer requests any one reading this has, please e-mail me at Lauraovers@comcast.net. I desire a 2 way relationship with all you who support me and I apologize for being neglectful in that so far. May the God of heaven and earth bring you hope this week and forever more.
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