Nicaragua Thoughts & Lessons

It’s been almost two months in my (new) favorite place, and we leave for debrief on the seventh. I wish I could accurately describe how life here has been, yet all my descriptions feel like a jumble. I would say Nicaragua is so slow and soft, while also having a fast pace and a hard love; it doesn’t make sense. I know. The people here love so truly, you can tell they mean it and it’s real. Everyday I’ve been here I’ve had the opportunity to do house visits, and every single time I’ve been welcomed in with warm smiles and an open heart. I’ve never seen anything like it, people wear their truths on their sleeves, whether it’s good or bad it’s there. My favorite moments are when we find certain people in this community who feel just like family. You start the conversations with an eager “yes come in!”  and end with a tight hug and prayer. And in the center of all of these moments, what makes them so special, is the Lord. When the Lord is the center of our conversations it makes sense that they would be full of life and love, because he is life and love! From getting to hold newborn babies (literally!!) to visiting widows, I can whole heartedly say I’ve been able to see the Lord move in every interaction. When we aren’t pouring into others, we’re the ones being poured into and wow do I just love it!! I’ve had moments during these past two months that honestly I thought would’ve separated me from the Father but looking back it’s so evident that every time I thought I was running from him, he was waking right next to me and teaching me how to slow down to walk with him.

The biggest thing I think that the Lord has taught me so far while during this “race” is to appreciate what I have in front of me. It’s so easy for me to look at my future and be excited, nervous, or timid, or look at my past with feelings of longing or bittersweetness, but God has me where I am for a reason. He’s given me what I have and every situation to bring me closer to him, so why would I waste that worrying about something else that he controls? Whenever I find myself missing home or missing certain people I’ve learned to remind myself why I am where I am, and that it’s not for me. To serve the Lord we have to be able to give up things of the world we’re often finding our comforts in, no matter how good they may be. We have to die to our flesh to begin living in the Spirit. How gracious is God to give us what we have? We’ve done nothing to deserve any of it! And that’s the coolest part about our Father, his selfish love for us that we’ve done nothing to deserve.

As my team transitions into our last week of ministry in Nicaragua as well as a period of debrief before our next country, please be praying for us to continue to long for the Lord and for him to continue in revealing himself to us!! He’s been so good to us in Nicaragua and I know his love will be bright in India. I don’t think this transition will be easy but I know we have strength so much stronger than we could imagine through Him. Also pray for us to have a steadfast love for the Lord as we walk into this new environment full of unknowns.