Nicaragua Resident 2026 Day 1

In a few ways, this trip has not been what I or any of my teammates had expected, but every caveat has turned out to be a gift I could not have asked for. The best, most succinct way I can describe our time here so far (as someone who is not at all succinct) is— what a gift.

I hope what I share does justice to our whole team and our experience, but I’ll share from my perspective. We started this morning with a 7am breakfast and then traveled to the school (which is also the church). As I stepped out of the van, the children immediately ran up and embraced us with eager hugs, which already made every travel inconvenience melt away. They performed dances for us, and then we moved to do some home visits.

These home visits were very bitter-sweet for our team. It was cool to witness their willingness to be honest about their lives and hearts, but simultaneously heart-breaking to know we could only walk alongside them for a few minutes. These people had stories filled with deep pain, and as Emily (one of the residents) put it so well, it can be angering to witness the brokenness of the world. What encouraged me in this, though, was seeing their faith and hearing the whispers of their steady prayers amidst tragic situations. And honestly, it was convicting. What a gift it is to be immersed in these places and leave soberly inspired.

After these home visits (which you should ask us about— if I wrote them here you may never finish reading), we went back and served the kids lunch and ate our lunches. We then moved into our time of kids programming, where we did a few worship songs with motions and then a puppet show in Spanish (but don’t fear— we had scripts we read off of. And half of us were squished behind the curtain, holding scripts and puppets and sharing a microphone— it was quite the sight). We then led the kids in a craft and had more time to interact with them. I got to use my limited Spanish to talk with the kids and help do some translating, which is outside my comfort zone, but I’ve gotten to see the Holy Spirit show up where I fail. He’s teaching me to actually rely on Him instead of saying I do but then relying on myself. What also blessed me was how eager they were to interact with us and give us gifts; they were ready to love us without even being able to always speak to us due to the language barrier. What a gift.

After finishing our time with the kids, we had a few hours to kill before going back to the church, and so we rested and grabbed some ice cream. Then we headed back to the church, where Selah led worship wonderfully and Jacob gave a great message on Psalm 23. It was cool— the pastor at the end got up and talked about having a conversation with one of our field partners about Psalm 23 earlier that day that directly tied to Jacob’s message. It was an intentional reminder from the Lord of how He has paved our way before our arrival, and I am excited to see all the other ways the Lord works in and through our team and this trip.

- Hannah Gromis