Days 4 and 5- Alabanza and Goodbyes

We made it! A long week of hard work and lots of playing at Centro Escolar has come and gone, and it has been a blessing to us all. Yesterday morning we were blessed to watch the school's gymnastics team perform an amazing routine for us; these kids have been working with their coach Jocelyn since first grade, with hopes that one day one of these kids might represent Nicaragua in the Olympics (based on what we watched yesterday, that seems a highly attainable goal for these kids). The gymnastics program at this school was designed to teach kids about hard work and achieving goals, and it has proven to be a huge success, we are so proud of those guys!

After a lot of rain and a lot of construction, we attended a beautiful service at a Pentecostal church led by a friend of Wayne and Meghan's. It was truly a moving service led by Pastor Dennis. The power of God's love was pouring out of the doors of this church, and it was an incredible to watch God's people worship him with every fiber of their beings. Afterwards, Dennis took us all aside and showed us the mural that Mary Scott had painted when she had visited, and explained how he serves 300 kids a day five days a week out of his church, and how he dreams of opening a preschool on his property for those 300 kids. We were all moved by the work Dennis has done for his community, and the purity and strength of the faith of the church is nothing like I have ever seen.

Our last day at Centro Escolar was an emotional one. The kids had an abbreviated schedule, and the fourth and fifth graders performed the music they have learned this week for the rest of the school. They did an amazing job! Afterwards we went out for an awesome recess with the kids and played some serious dodgeball and soccer with our all-star athletes. Afterwards, we said a tearful "hasta luego" to these kids. Getting to know them has been a blessing to us all, and all of us can't wait to come back and see how they've grown. The hugs were plentiful, as were the tears, but all because this week has been such an amazing experience for us all. We waved our last goodbye...for now... to our incredible kitchen staff, Gerald, and Jessy (yes, there was another Jessy), and made our way back to Hotel Ticomo, knowing that this goodbye is only temporary- that God has placed Centro Escolar in our hearts for good reason, and someday He will guide us back here