Candy Celebration

[By Mahala Mohler]

Hello from the beautiful, warm and welcoming city of León, Nicaragua! What a blessing this trip is and has been! I wish I could share with you every single rich moment that this week has been filled with.

Tuesday, November 17^th, was a great day, falling more in love with this place and these people. We woke up to rain, and it would continue to rain the rest of the day. The rain was a result of the hurricane that hit the opposite coast of Nicaragua. God’s hand of protection has been over us this whole trip, and we are all so thankful! We started the day with meeting at the church and splitting into a few teams to accomplish a few different tasks. Some of us went shopping for groceries and helped cook for the village food delivery, some went shopping for care packages, and some planned events for the afternoon “candy celebration” for the ERA program.

Once all of those things were done, it was time to go to Monte Horeb to serve them a warm meal of rice, chicken, vegetables and a tortilla. Watching the joyful, playful, adorable little children run after the truck, food containers in hand, as we pulled in felt like a scene from a movie. Some of them dressed in ragged clothes and barefoot with no jackets, in the middle of a torrential downpour was a sobering thing to observe. But, amidst their various situations they beam with so much joy, happiness and love. We all gathered in a lady’s house, with no light or power, to share God’s love and serve them. 60+ children lined the walls and filled the room eagerly waiting their turn to be served. Looking into the children’s eyes and having a little conversation with them as they were being served was a life changing experience. I think I speak for all the team when I say that. After being with them a little while it was time to go back to the church for the candy celebration.

Before the candy celebration they fed us lunch at the church, and in that moment the love of God shining through the people was, again, so apparent to us. We came to serve them, but yet they continue to serve us daily. How humbling!

The candy celebration was such a fun afternoon being with the children and getting to know them. We played games together, sang together, and performed for each other. We showed them our drama and they showed us a couple dances that they had prepared for us. A couple of us shared a devotion with the children to lead into the candy part of the celebration. The children had a blast hitting the piñata as hard as they could, and we had just as much fun watching them have the time of their lives. They burst open the piñata and in the blink of an eye the candy was gone! The children were so sweet and kind and shared their candy with us, with grins on their faces. Way too soon it was time for them to go home and time for us to come back to the hotel. We are so excited to see these sweet children again soon!

The evening was a much-needed evening together as a team. We worshipped our loving, gracious and merciful Father and reflected on how good He has been to us. We discussed what we have seen and experienced this last week, and how God is using this to work on our hearts. It was such an encouragement to be together and have those conversations. Having brothers and sisters in Christ with the same mission has been, and continues to be, such a blessing.

Seeing how God has gone before us and prepared these works for us, how He uses the people here to bless us when we came to bless and how He is changing and working in each of the team members has been a great encouragement! We are so thankful for His perfect plan and provision for us!

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:8-10

Thank you for all your prayers and support! All glory be to God!

~Mahala Mohler