Nicaragua LWI-Day 5-Thursday. Today was a special day and our last in the Tolesmaida community where the well was drilled. We all worked as a team to put the finishing touches on the well pump and then all our team members signed our names inside the pump cover. As we were working, a group of the community women and one of our team members came around the side of a house with a special surprise; beautiful multi-colored flowers in huge bouquets taken from their gardens to decorate the well! We all gathered around the pump by late morning-the LWI staff, our team and the whole community including all the children. We did a brief final hygiene lesson about caring for the pump and keeping it clean. Then the community had time to give thanks for the well. They thanked God for remembering their prayer and they thanked God for putting it on our hearts to come to Nicaragua to help install the pump so that for generations to come they would have clean water and healthy children. Then it was our teams’ turn to thank the community for their generosity, their participation in digging the well and hygiene lessons. Throughout the week, the community welcomed us, offered food, smiles, support and words of encouragement. We were all blessed to spend the week with them and find out more about their lives and culture. At the end of the service, we all said our goodbyes and were invited to share a meal and conversation with the leader of the community and his family. We drove a short distance to his house and were greeted by a refreshing breeze coming in off the lake that spreads out for miles just behind his house. Two volcanoes rose up from an island across the lake. We all sat in rocking chairs on the leaders’ spacious back porch enjoying the sound of waves and good company. Later in the afternoon we were treated to…pizza! Back home, the whole team enjoyed some swimming and then we were invited to enjoy a Spanish worship service in the evening with some of the LWI staff. We pray that even as we leave our friends at Tolesmaida, that they will feel the presence of God dwelling in and around the well each and every time they go for clean, safe water. We pray that our group who will soon be far away in physical presence will keep this community close in our hearts and prayers for a long time to come. Janine