Every time our school gets hit with vandalism, my response and, that of the students is, “it was probably teenagers.” Sad, but, most likely true. No doubt much could be said about why that is and what could be done about it. I’ll leave that for another article by someone who knows more about it than I do. What I do know is that most of the teenagers I know and get to hang out with are just plain great.

Case in point—the members of the Nicaragua Team.

Wait, I know what you are thinking. For those of you that actually read my blogs, this may be sounding very familiar. I wrote about the team and how great teenagers are last fall. Bear with me.

A little humour always helps

On January 3, we held our annual Bottle Drive and Tree Chipping Fundraiser. Fortunately, it wasn’t raining, but spending the day outside sorting through cans and bottles isn’t exactly the most enjoyable way to spend the last Saturday of Christmas break.

There were also times when not much was going on and we were just hanging around, which lends itself to thinking about what else you could be doing. When the truck still hasn’t come to pick up the fruits of our labour, two and half hours after it was scheduled, and people need to be there to load it when it does come, it gets really frustrating.

Through all of that, the students organized the work on their own. Everything was done efficiently and effectively. Students came up with ideas to improve the process and they took initiative to make it happen. They made it as much fun as possible. Throughout it all, they remained positive and upbeat (okay, there was a little grumbling by the time we hit the two hours overdue mark, but the jokes kept coming).

Out of pocket expenses

All of this was done with a complete understanding that they were not reducing their own out of pocket expenses. They need to pay their own way for this trip. The students may not even see much of where the funds they raise go. Their focus is on building relationships with the students at the school we partner with. They get that, and they are excited about it.

Consider this—all the funds raised go to supporting Christian education in Nicaragua. It helps Edudeo Ministries, the organization that plans the trip, to buy locally made materials and hire local tradespeople to build and improve local Christian schools. There are more fundraisers coming up. Please consider supporting them or even making a donation. In supporting this trip, we all can play a part in transforming a country by supporting dedicated Christian teachers, some of whom we have the privilege of getting to know. Shaping God’s world on a global level—Awesome!

And if you have a teenager in your life (not just in your family), tell them how much you appreciate them.