And the King will answer, “In truth I tell you, in so far as you did this to one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it to me.” -Matthew 25:40
One gift we got before we left for the U.S. was to visit a Nicaraguan school in San Marcos to share the gift of our family and my music. This school has two parts: 3-5 year olds and Special Needs.
The Pope urges us “that we are to get out of our self absorption with our anxieties, fears, and problems and turn to our neighbor.” Visiting this school gave us a small opportunity to try to put this into practice. We were also happy to meet college students from Missouri on a mission trip who are studying speech pathology and were giving of their time to evaluating children with different disabilities.
With Eliasar at the special needs section of the school. He lives at ‘Los Quinchos’ orphanage. Blaise is always very happy to see him!
They were a little shy to get their picture taken 🙂Maria de Rosario is the girl on the right. She is the brother of Eliasar and also part of ‘Los Quinchos’ orphanage.
At the 3-5 year old school, we led them in an ‘Our Father’ before I played some songs in Spanish and some in English. Since they were young, I invited them to use hand motions for some of the songs, including ‘Pray, Hope, and Don’t Worry.’
Blaise showed up to see the kids and hear the music. He loved it, despite a scratch and mosquito bite.The moment you realize that most of these kids may have never been directed by a non-native Spanish speaker and that you should have just kept playing the music 🙂
We’ve included some pictures of the University to show you the beauty of the campus. The University is our oasis for prayer, discipleship, play, and community. We have good relationships with the staff their including the chaplain (Fr. Robert), the director of campus life (Keyla). We are grateful that we can serve the students. Calena and I both experienced a conversion process to accept Jesus as Savior and the truth safeguarded in the Catholic faith. “You did it to me” is not just about those who are in a physical need. The students here desire spiritual life and growth and many are either searching for the meaning of life outside of Jesus while others are seeking Him out but are in need of guidance. Through discipleship and presence, we are hoping to allow Jesus to use as His instruments of mercy, faith, and life to impact this University, this town, and this country. One girl commented to Calena after we both attended a daily mass: ‘Seeing your baby and his joy has inspired me to want to have kids!’ More and more we are realizing that a young missionary Christian family just being present to the people is opening hearts up to the love and truth of God! Please keep praying for us. -Jacob
Beautiful chapel we go to daily mass here often at noon. This summer they are re-doing the roof. I believe it is going from ceramic to aluminum. The side doors – wait there are no side doors, which makes it really cool!The babies break the ice for conversation 🙂 Notice no side doors!Fr. Robert celebrating mass!The University used to be owned by Ave Maria. Though it is no longer officially a Catholic University, Catholicism is still a big part of the University: The Eucharist is posted on the dorm with a Marian grotto outside it!Soccer field where not only soccer is played but Blaise enjoys playing in the grass and mom and dad take turns going for a run sometimes.Through the tennis court is a nice outdoor basketball court. We met the cook of the University cafeteria with his wife and her daughter one afternoon to shoot around.
Thank you God for our joyful son Blaise. 🙂 Thank you that we can love You by loving him.
