Man on a mission...

First off, what an amazing trip. It was amazing to see 13 individuals come together for one cause, bringing our prayers together, hoping we would be able to help out even just a little bit during our stay.

At first, I was a bit worried, not because it was Nicaragua, but because we were doing everything last minute. We were scraping up donations just a couple days before our trip and we did not really have a set plan yet. However, people were ready and willing to go. It was a little awkward at first because it was the first mission trip with the English and Korean Ministry together.

At the beginning of the trip, the EM (English Ministry) and the KM (Korean Ministry) were hanging out separately, but slowly we started to poke fun at each other and began to act more like a family. We gave each other nicknames and laughed as we headed towards to Nicaragua.

When we arrived in Nicaragua, we were ready to work. Each of us got the bags and I carted some bags with a rice cooker on top. The customs officer told me to go to the side. He then put the rice cooker through the X-Ray machine and the dude was like what is this? I said, "It is a rice cooker". He looked at me like I was a martian. I then said with confidence, "Arroz" which he understood a bit better.

When we stepped outside, I took a deep breath of Nicaragua's air. It was fresh and humid. I came to a quick realization that I wasn't home anymore. A stranger kept roaming around our bags and attempted to help us. We told him no a dozen times but I could see that he was desperate. Desperate to find food, or to steal. It was sad.

That first night, we went straight to Jinotepe which was a hour drive away.It felt amazing to be in a different country, but since it was dark, it was hard to tell what it looked like. The next day is when I got a complete realization. Every house had guard rails with two locks to get in and rails over the windows. Some houses had additional locks to just walk in through your front door. Every door had locks on them and had to be locked at all times.

Homes had chipped paint and all of them had an overlay of years of dirt. Dog and horse feces were everywhere. Horses had the legs the size of of a NFL fullbacks and dogs probably weighed the same as two NYC pigeons. Everything in the USA is supersized and everything in Nicaragua seemed so small.

I felt privileged to be living in the USA, with the luxury of throwing my toilet paper in the can and to drink a Coke and throw my bottle away (glass bottles had to be returned to stores). There was a 9-5 curfew, from sunrise to sundown. These people were getting the equivalent of nine US dollars a day to build structures on the school property. I felt like a spoiled brat, complaining about having no job. It was an honor to work with these people, who need the money to get food on the table. These people live this everyday, not by choice, but because they have to live.

Most of the time, I was digging land for where the IN2 house will later stand, breaking pieces off the ground and hauling chunks of mother nature off a hill. At other times I was painting and cleaning. It was amazing to see everyone working so hard and diligently. We wanted to make our time there worth every little second. We kept encouraging each other and kept on laughing and we accomplished so much while we were down there. It might seem minimal, but that is time that can be saved by the permanent missionaries. It gives them time to do other things and to focus on growing the Christian school.

It was an eye opening experience and I want to do it again. It is amazing what people can do if they set their minds to it.

Sang Kang - Welcome Team Leader, Mustard Seed Ministry