Santa Matilde is just an average barrio of Chichigalpa, Nicaragua. A couple hundred people, mostly men, scratch out a living working in the sugarcane fields for six months, trying to make their measly pay spread out for the entire year. That seems pretty honest and innocent right? Maybe a little heartbreaking, imagining them working in the 100 degree weather with barely any water and no shade, but not really sinister or a life and death matter. That’s what I thought at first, however, the reality is far different.
Many of you have read the blog I posted written by my squadmate Bethany Waddell about the sugarcane epidemic. For those of you that haven’t here is the gist: The sugarcane companies in Nicaragua are using a pesticide (that was banned in the United States) which causes Kidney failure in almost all workers exposed to it for any prolonged period. Since most workers start in the fields as young as 14, many of them have kidney failure as young as 20, and often die by the time they are 30. One man which Bethany was helping to treat (she’s a nurse) died while they were there, at the age of 23.
What does this have to do with Santa Matilde specifically? Well, this little barrio has started to become known for its unique and devastating response to this epidemic. In order to feed their families, the women have had to make a terrible choice between what they believe are their only options… selling themselves, or starvation. Many 
have begun to prostitute themselves out, and even sell their daughters into local sex slavery to avoid watching them starve. This has been happening for a long time, but it has been hushed up, no one wanting to beg for help or deal with the shame of public knowledge. However, one of our contacts, Whitney, has been burdened by the Lord to go into this community and reach out with a message of hope. Her goal is to help the women that want to get out of this, to educate them and give them hope for a future, all the while sharing Christ; showing them that He can take away their shame and replace it with abundant life and deep seated joy.
Only three of us girls were able to go with Whitney our second Saturday in Nicaragua, so Liz, Ada and I were privileged to be able to be a part of her very first meeting with the women of Santa Matilde. Not knowing how many women were going to show up, she just had a short message prepared about why she was there, and God’s ability to heal, restore and bring hope. We arrived, set up, turned on some worship music, and waited. Almost exactly 30 minutes later, over 20 women just started piling in under the little shelter of a church we were waiting in. We couldn’t speak their language, but we were called to love them, just to love. After Whitney shared her heart, we went around, laid hands on, and prayed for those we felt the Lord tugging us to pray for.
My lot fell to these two amazing, beautiful little girls. Yerling is thirteen years old and has an amazing love for her younger sister Yorli. She immediately latched onto me, and between a mixture
of Spanglish on both our parts, and hugs, we managed to understand one another. She held my hand the entire message, and afterwards was the first one I prayed for. When I moved on to pray for her sister Yorli (who’s 10), she grabbed my other hand, and with tears in her eyes pressed my hand onto her sister’s chest where it was caved in. “Here,” she said, “pray here.” It was a simple act, but the hope, love and faith in those three words broke my heart. This precious girl, who has probably been through things that I cannot even imagine, still has a beautiful, amazing faith that the Lord is going to heal. With tears streaming down my face, I held both of them, trying to show them without words that the Lord desires to heal so much more than just the body.
We were only there two Saturdays, and were blessed to have Kathryn and Lydia join us the last one, but when Yerling came running up to hug me as tight as she could with a drawing in her hand for me the last day, I knew that the Lord had begun a work there that is going to blossom and grow, and transform that community. No matter how strong the enemy is, the LORD is stronger. We will fight for these precious ones. There is ALWAYS hope.
(pic 1 – Sugarcane fields behind the property where we lived in Candelaria. pic 2 – Ada blowing bubbles for Yorli. pic 3 – precious Yerling)
