Here’s a quick life update on what has been happening over my time in Nicaragua.
On March 8th my parents arrived to Nicaragua on the Parent Vision trip for about 5 days. This was a time kind of to show my parents how I had been doing life these past 6 months. We were able to catch up, hangout with my friends and their parents, do ministry and consume a lot of gelato together. We prayer walked, helped with a children’s feeding and did some farming for our ministry. Then, on the last day we went to a beautiful volcanic lagoon. We had so much fun swimming, eating, relaxing and just simply hanging out. ALSO, I decided I wanted my dad to baptize me while there. I have honestly waited a lot of my life to get baptized because I wanted myself to be fully ready. I wanted my relationship with the Lord to be stronger then it ever had been. I always knew God had a perfect time and place for my baptism, and this was it. There just aren’t words to describe how special that moment was to me. But it was definitely a moment I will never forget.
Well after my parents had left, my new incredible team (team Change) and I took off to our ministry site where we would be spending the last 3 months of our race. After lots of hours on uncomfortable bus rides we made it to our town, Estelí. There, we met our host, Kerri. Kerri is from America and is 23 years old. She is married to a Nicaraguan man and has a 3 month old baby, Oliver. Kerri is so inspiring, so very sweet and loves The Lord a whole lot. My team and I were very excited to be here and work alongside Kerri and her ministry here in Nicaragua.
Talking to Kerri on the first day, we realized we weren’t going to be having a lot of ministry opportunities due to her being so busy with a newborn baby and just coming back from maternity leave. We knew that was very understandable so we told her we would do whatever she had for us. We ended up teaching English to a university class, helping cut vegetables for a children’s feeding every other Saturday, learning dances to entertain the lil’ kiddos at a VBS, and playing with little preschoolers at a preschool. But to be honest, a lot of the time we found ourselves stuck in our house all day long.
At first, it was fine and I accepted it. I had a lot of down time to spend with God. A lot of time to dig deeper in the Word and in prayer. A lot of time to spend getting to know my teammates better, and a whole lot of time to process going home.
While all these things are so important and awesome, at the end of that 7th month it got frustrating. I found myself becoming very lazy; sleeping in the most I have ever slept in and filling my time with movies and unnecessary amounts of food. This wasn’t what I wanted my race to look like. I felt like I was sort of wasting my time here and could be doing a whole lot more back home. I started becoming more negative with absolutely no joy in me at all, and I knew this wasn’t me. I always strived to be positive and to find joy even is sucky situations. But, for some reason, I just couldn’t..
I prayed and prayed for God to fill me up with His joy. For Him to show me my purpose here and for Him to give us more ministry opportunities.
And just like always, the Lord answered my prayers but in a very surprising way. He called us to a new ministry host, Mama Kaye, in a whole new part of Nicaragua, El Crucero. Mama Kaye is something else let me tell ya. She is from America but moved here 12 years ago when her husband passed away. She is in her 60’s but has the energy of someone in their 20’s. She started this ministry, Casa De Gozo (House of Joy) from the bottom and now has an incredibly fruitful ministry. Mama Kaye has poured her heart and soul into this place and pours Christ’s love onto everyone that walks through the gate.
Not only is Mama Kaye our host, she has become our grandma over this past week being here. She goes above and beyond to make sure we are comfortable. She loves showing us how to cook and bake, and she leads us in a bible study every morning filled with great conversations and lots of coffee. My team and I are so blessed to have such an inspiring lady mentoring us over our last month on the race.
What about ministry though?
Mama Kaye has a busy, busy schedule here. She does a children’s program for around 60-100 kids every Saturday where she does a bible lesson, crafts, games, songs and then at the end cooks and feeds all the children and parents that show up. Also, during the week she does soccer lessons, cooking/baking classes for girls, computer classes, music lessons, English classes and so much more. Like I said, this lady has her hands full.
Over our time here, we are helping her plan and being extra hands to help assist her in the many ministries she does. Currently, we are going around the villages in the area and inviting everyone to the various activities we have going on during the week. In the process, it is so cool seeing the relationships Mama Kaye has made with the families here and how the kids greet her with the biggest smiles on their faces.
Mama Kaye exemplifies the truth that God really can use anyone. No matter your age, your qualifications or you past, if God chooses you, you are able and equipped. She is one of the most inspiring people I have ever met and has taught me so much about this thing called life.
Mama Kaye is such a blessing. A blessing to my team, to the people here in Nicaragua, but most importantly, to the Kingdom. And she really, truly is an answer to my prayers.
Anyways, thanks for reading and I’m very sorry this blog was so long overdue. Please keep praying for my team, Mama Kaye and Case De Gozo.
Love y’all,
Bethany
