As most of you know, I am going on a missions trip to Nicaragua with Eagle Brook Church's Blaine campus on August 12-19. I thought I would post an email I just sent to friends and family who have so graciously supported me in prayer and also financially:
Hi everyone, I just wanted to thank each one of you for your financial support and/or prayer support as I prepare for my Nicaragua trip in less than two months. I am humbled by the amazing support I've already received, and I know more is still to come. So thank you from the bottom of my heart.
I just wanted to take a few minutes and share what I've learned so far about the upcoming trip. We had our second team meeting on Tuesday and each time I get more and more excited about the opportunity. Although we haven't learned exactly what our team's "projects" are going to be (we will learn that at the next meeting), we have discussed what to expect as we go into another culture, being aware of our own spiritual gifts and how to best use them, and most of all, being flexible! Our team is broken into 3 small groups; our small group includes 4 of us girls of which I'm the small group leader. I absolutely love my group and so far I think we've connected well! Please pray that I can lead and encourage my group, and help meet any needs they might have.
One of the neatest things about Tuesday's meeting was that we were able to connect through Skype with Eddy Morales, the field director of ORPHANetwork (the organization we are partnering with down there.) What an amazing man. He used to work at the U.N., and has now been with ORPHANetwork the past 3 years. He has such a vision for the kids at the orphanages -- to develop kids to be the next generation of godly leaders in Nicaragua, to break the cycle of abuse and abandonment in their past, and to teach them to make a difference in others' lives. The orphanage that we'll be going to is called Arms of Love. There are 31 kids there ages 5-20, most were abandoned or abused and a couple have special needs. Eddy highlighted five "success factors" that they are using to measure the changes in the kids' lives: Education, Self-Esteem, Health, Spiritual Development, and Staff Development. One of the things he stressed was that he'd like us to help the kids with their English. Instead of worrying about speaking Spanish to them (thank goodness), if we can help them with their English they will have that much more of an edge when they are someday competing for a job (the unemployment rate in Nicaragua is 70%.) So many of their goals are things we take for granted like eating balanced meals, having preventative check-ups, learning computer skills, learning good manners, obtaining birth certificates -- these kids need an identity, and you can't get a driver's license, diploma, or anything without a birth certificate. If you'd like to learn more about ORPHANetwork and see exactly where we'll be going, click here: http://animoto.com/play/8SCzL6HzwVVAqFnQPz90ng
Praise God the financial support has been coming in as well. Thank you so much for your prayers! I have a little bit left to go but am confident that God will provide! Please also be in prayer that I will carve out time to prepare "spiritually" for this trip. At our meeting on Tuesday we were each given a short book entitled: "Before you pack your bag, prepare your heart: Short-term mission preparation guide with 12 Bible studies plus trip journal." It looks like a great resource and I can't wait to dive into it. Our homework for our next meeting is also to prepare a 3-minute version of our faith story, so please pray that God will bring the things to mind that I should include.
Thank you all so much for your support! This trip wouldn't be possible without each of you.
In Christ,
Stephanie Brandt
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