by Nick Coy

God’s love has been extremely influential in my life. He has provided me with several opportunities to serve through In Jesus Name We Play, Bible Study activities and my Sunday School class – where I am the lucky teacher of an awesome group of first graders!

In addition to church based activities, I have also been able to spread God’s love and Word in school and sports. At school, I have been asked by several students about Jesus. I can only hope and pray that they choose to ask me due to God’s love being shown through my actions and the way I live my life.

Sports, especially baseball, has also helped me spread God’s Word. Often, my travel baseball teammates comment on my pre game prayers and the Bible Verses I use. These comments usually lead to amazing conversations about Jesus and the love he has to offer us. I pray that God is using me to make an impact on my classmates and teammates – I want them to know that there is a way and love in this life greater than any human pleasure on the Earth!

During my first visit to Nicaragua, I absolutely plan to use my sports background to interact with the kids, and I cannot wait to shower them with love to show them the love of Jesus working through me!

I know my calling is to spread His word and His love in EVERYTHING I do, and my time in Nicaragua will definitely be a tool in God’s mighty tool belt to reach out to a place I’ve only dreamed about. I have no doubt that God’s love has zero boundaries and should be shared with everyone everywhere – I cannot wait to share it and show it to my friends in Nicaragua!

This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. ~ John 15:12

by Sam Bolin

Last year was a GREAT YEAR for the volunteers and friends of In Jesus Name We Play! We’ve had a multitude of opportunities to serve our community. We’ve had the privilege to share God’s love with those who have needed it! God even introduced us to some who had never experienced His love or forgiveness in their lives. This is no small miracle! God has led us to so many great relationships – for me, it begs the question – what’s next? My answer is to continue following God’s lead. Love those He puts in our path – and continue to serve as He directs. I’m all for change… but God says He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. So His love, His purpose, and therefore, our Mission doesn’t change. It’s a New Year and that’s exciting! But the goal is the same. Just like Paul wrote in his letter to the Galatians, “You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature, rather, serve one another in love.” Stay strong in your faith, and have a Happy New Year!

by Madeleine Rau

I took my first trip to Nicaragua in 2012, I was 12 at the time, and since then have been a total of eight times. However, my love for Nicaragua began to grow in 2005 when my mom returned from her first trip down there. I saw the way the trip changed my mom, but I never imagined that my experience in Nicaragua would break my heart the way it did.

The first place I visited in Nicaragua was an orphanage called Puente de Amistad, which translates to Bridge of Friendship. I remember connecting right away with a little girl named Crystal. I played with her for hours, we smiled at each other, and we laughed together, but the language barrier between the two of us could not have been bigger. Later that night, my mom retold me the story of the little girl who had been abandoned and was brought to the orphanage just a few months prior to that trip. As I recalled the painful story of this little girl’s past, I asked myself how I didn’t know it was her. Crystal was one of the happiest little girls I had ever met, yet she had gone through more pain and trials in her two years of life than I probably ever will.

My eyes were really opened that day to the way I had been living my life. I saw first hand someone who had been living without basic, everyday needs, yet was happier than most people I went to school with. That two year old girl taught me that I will never have anything to complain about. Not only because I have everything I need and more, but because Jesus’ love will always be enough.

The time I have spent in Nicaragua has changed me and made me into the person I am in more ways than one. Going down there has taught me that it’s okay to not be comfortable. God actually calls us to do things that are uncomfortable so that we can grow our faith in Him. Being down there has also pushed me to love everyone I meet. Not only the people of Nicaragua, but the people I am closest to here, the people that are sometimes the hardest to love. Finally, my love for Nicaragua has given me relationships that I never imagined. Each time I go back I can look forward to seeing the faces that have tied my heart to Nicaragua. I can’t wait to go back and serve on a team of high schoolers who will develop the same love I have for Nicaragua and its people.

by Trenton Line

When I traveled down to Nicaragua this previous spring I was expecting to help some people out, get my hands dirty, and spread the kingdom of God. All of this did happen but what I was not expecting was that my perceptions and relationships would be radically transformed. I met so many beautiful people and formed many great relationships that still stir my soul to this day. The people I met have close to nothing. Many have broken families, live in tiny shacks, and have no access to basic necessities such as food or water; it was not their poverty that touched my heart. It was their amazing attitudes of thankfulness, praise, and happiness.

Everyone I encountered had a big smile on his or her face. They sang at church as though they were a 15-year-old girl at a Justin Bieber concert, dancing and crying out. Their mindset was that God would provide them with everything they need and that they were blessed. This blew my mind. In our country we have everything we could ever need, yet we struggle to maintain an attitude of thankfulness and love. What is it we are missing?

What this experience taught me is that true happiness is found in loving people and loving God. In our commercialized world we are constantly told that we cannot be happy without the best, newest, or the next thing, whatever that may be. At some point in our lives we all trip over this lie and believe it. When we begin to search for our happiness in worldly things, it takes our focus off of the true source of happiness, and that is God.

In the US we have all that we could ever need to survive, and then some. It seems to us that we don’t need God in our lives because we have everything we think we need and what we believe to be happiness. In Nicaragua, people have very few possessions. They are forced to rely on God to provide them with their necessities. They are far less likely to be distracted from God’s love and the fulfillment that it brings by material things. This reliance on God causes them to sit at His feet and grow in their relationships with Him. They are therefore filled with His spirit and can love one another more effectively. This is where true happiness is found. This lesson rocked me to my core and changed the way I interact with God as well as with other people. I began to derive my happiness from these things and I am much more joyful on a daily basis.

My point in this reflection is not that you should go on a mission trip to Nicaragua solely to improve yourself or to experience new things. The focus should be on meeting the practical and spiritual needs of others and allowing God to use you to change someone’s life. My point is that Nicaraguans are not the only needy people, and God will use this experience to show you things about yourself that may make you uncomfortable. You can’t go down with a condescending attitude and expect to make a positive difference. We are all people in need. You also can’t go down expecting to stay in your comfort zone. God will use this experience to rock your world as well as others.

“Delight yourself in the lord, and he shall give you the desires of your heart.” (Psalm 37:4)

By Samuel Bolin

Nicaragua is a place that is very near and dear to my heart. My sister Carolina, now 21, is originally from Nicaragua. I love her and I love that at the age of 12, she became a part of our family. When I was in second grade, I made my first trip to Nicaragua to bring Carolina home. I remember many things about that trip, including traveling to the orphanage and seeing all of the kids that were just like me. They loved life to the fullest everyday. Sometimes we think people who live far away, especially kids in a third world country are very, very different from ourselves. In reality, I learned at a young age, that children in other parts of the world are amazing, talented, life-loving people, who just may need a helping hand.

A few years later, I returned to Nicaragua with my mom on a mission trip where we dug trenches and water wells to improve the quality of water at a school called “More Than Conquerors”. It was a time in my life I will never forget.

And now, I am preparing to return to Nicaragua again. In a way, for me, this feels like “unfinished business.” There’s always more to be done. Always more lives to touch. It is my prayer that with In Jesus Name We Play, there is so much that we can do to be a blessing to the children and the community we will serve. There’s always another person to love. There’s always another relationship to make and to build. There’s always another life to change. The funny thing about a mission trip is that the life that may change… may be yours.

Love you all,  Sam