Monday July 5, ten youth and adults from 6 churches in CO, WI and MI began boot camp on the campus of Grace Christian University in preparation for serving together in Nicaragua. The team flew to Liberia, Costa Rica and then traveled by land to Nicaragua. GMI missionaries, Milo and Raquel Seravalli, Lili Ortega, and Aaron Cordero hosted our team. It was the last week of winter school vacations (about 95 degrees every day) and Arraigados, the church affiliated with Grace Ministries International in Nagarote, was hosting its first annual Kid’s Games. No amount of pre-field orientation would prepare us for the fun and joy of serving alongside the youth and adults of Arraigados church. Smiles, hugs, and loving on kids far out-weighed a limited knowledge of Spanish. About 200 kids came daily (7:30- 11:00 am) and heard the Gospel shared through drama, music, sports and small group discussion times. Friday brought water games to Kid’s Games as well as a visit from a tanker truck of the local fire department to cool everyone off. In addition to painting projects and helping to prepare the campus for Kid’s Games every day, the team was able to teach Bible lessons and share their testimonies in Kid’s Club, youth group, the college group, and in the Sunday services. In our down time, we got to visit many beautiful spots in Nagarote and Managua and spent a day at the beach in Costa Rica on our way home. From a leader’s point of view, it’s always amazing to watch high school students step out of their comfort zone and be used of the Lord to bless others. In reality, at the end of the day, the high school student is the one who is blessed the most as they grow in their faith and experience cross-cultural ministry. These youth represented their churches well and shared the love of Christ with the warm, welcoming people in Nagarote. Pray that each one of the EXITE team students will walk in faith and be open to God’s future leading in their life.