Nicaragua training camp

    Our pastor this past week spoke about how the Christmas story is both so ‘earthy’— a teenage pregnancy, government demands, an expectant couple struggling to find a place to stay as the baby comes, smelly shepherds, etc.--- and yet so much more than earthy as the veil is lifted and we are made aware that so much more is going on than just what we would usually see. I loved
that description of Jesus’ birth and it reminded me of my time in Nicaragua just before Christmas.
    Thanks for praying for that trip. We were really excited to have over 400 (!) leaders and potential leaders at two training camps. Most were from Nicaragua, but we also had teams of leaders from Guatemala, Panama, Costa Rica, Honduras and El Salvador. It was a wonderful time of spiritual growth and ministry training and watching God’s spirit at work in Young Life in Central America. At one of the night meetings we sang the song “Hosanna in the highest” (in Spanish) which has a line about seeing how God is raising up‘una gran generacion’ --a great generation — and it was amazing to be looking at a multi-country example of that young generation.
      One of the young leaders from Nicaragua said this “Every camp is special but in this one I had a unique experience where I learned to develop my leadership abilities and how to walk as a leader and a daughter of God. I had a communication and harmony with God in this camp that I wouldn’t change for anything….”
        It was a real joy to help encourage leaders like this young woman in their walk with Jesus and in how they reach out to teens in their neighborhoods and schools. They live in a very ‘earthy’ place— every day dealing with the complications of life in the barrios of Central America—but also help lift the veil for so many teens around them to see how God is at work in their lives. It was a great way to see ‘God with us’ today. So thanks for your prayers and thanks for helping make this kind of ministry and training possible!
                               God's rich blessings to you this holiday season,
                                                                                                Scott

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