If you asked me a month ago what I would be doing right now, I probably would have said something like, “oh you know, just the same old same old. Vida Joven, jicaro, translating.” I didn’t have the slightest inclination that I would be leading a Real Life Team for three months here in Granada. But here I am, bunking out with four awesome gals at El Puente and walking with them through the experience of living in Nicaragua for twelve weeks.
I got the phone call from AIM about one week before the trip was to commence that they were in need of a leader for the team, and I knew immediately that I wanted the responsibility. For over a year I’ve watched teams come and go, always trying to figure out exactly how I fit into the mix. I’ve rarely felt on the ‘inside’ of the groups, and I was ready to go through the entire process, not just as a translator, but as someone the team could look to as a leader. So the day after my birthday I headed up to Georgia for eleven days of training and returned to Nicaragua on September 12th along with Ruth, Kayla, Annie and Jessalyn.
In Georgia, we trained alongside three other teams heading to India, Swaziland and Kenya, and it was obvious from the outset that ‘team Nica’ was a unique group. Not only were we the smallest team, but because of my position here in Nicaragua I was automatically acting as host, translator, and leader all at once. The first week I felt incredibly stressed out because I realized I was going to have to balance the girls with the relationships I already have here, but I think I’ve been able to surrender that concern to the Lord, and I am free to do both within boundaries.
I’ve decided to pull back on my involvement with Vida Joven during the next couple of months, although I’m still planning on going to camp in December before I come home for Christmas. For now, my main priority is being available for the girls on the RL team, and it’s been a joy for me to do that. There is an intimacy about being such a small group that allows us to get to know each other really well, and I hope that in the upcoming weeks that we learn how to function as different parts of the same body as we grow and are challenged together.
Thanks for your prayers over this team! You can check out their blogs as well:
