What I’m writing today has taken me a long time to write. I didn’t think when I began the World Race that I would ever have an experience like this. However, this is now my experience and what I want to share with you today.
Month 4 on the World Race…my team and I are in Nicaragua at New Song Mission Nicaragua. New Song staff tells us on day one….”We don’t have anything planned for you. We want you to ask the Lord where He wants you this month…and do it.” Immediately, I’m drawn to the young men of the church. These young men are a special group. You wouldn’t look at these guys and say, “oh, those are nice boys.” They are dangerous (or at least they think they are). They get into trouble. They cause mischief. They are fun. They have huge hearts. They are children of God….and I love them.
We spent the first couple weeks playing sports. We played American football, soccer, we had hitting practice, and a variety of other adventures. One boy stood out to me. His name is Anthony. Anthony is sixteen and scrawny with the best head of hair of any teenage boy I’ve seen. He could throw a football in a perfect spiral as if he grew up playing the sport. His ambition is to learn computers and work with computers as a career. He even volunteers to operate the Powerpoint slide during every church service.
Anthony is a special boy. His spirit is contagious. He is slow to anger, kind, full of patience, joyful, peaceful, gentle, self-controlled, and loving. Anthony is a follower of Christ. His example is one to be followed by his peers and his community. And God has huge plans for his life…
April 19th of this year, God took Anthony’s life and began using it in an extraordinary way. Anthony died that day and when I received word about his death, I immediately asked the Lord for scripture. He provided me two verses. The first is Psalms 116:15… “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.” And the second is John 15:13… “Greater Love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. I felt peace knowing that the Lord was speaking to me and that He was in this situation.
The World Race staff allowed my team and I to stay in Nicaragua an additional month while the rest of our squad moved on to El Salvador. We were able to be supports for the staff of New Song and the youth in the church. We prayed, cried, and worshipped together. During that time we saw God doing work there…a work that He is continuing with them even in this moment. These young men and women are walking in righteousness, boldness, and truth. They are being taught the TRUTH of what God says and thinks about them and replacing the LIES that have been spoken over them with these TRUTHS!
I was witness to some of this change. It is a work in progress and will not be a one day event. After all, the Lord is never through with us. His LOVE for us is so great that He doesn’t want to leave us where we are. He wants the most for HIs children…for us!
What I have learned from Anthony and his life is this. Live courageously. Love ridiculously. Love well and Love often. Don’t sweat the small annoyances of life. Focus on your goals in life and pursue them, but don’t forget to have fun while in that pursuit. This is what I remember about Anthony…his CHARACTER…not his possessions. His character is what lasts…it is what changes people. His character is what the Lord is using as an example for the rest of us. Anthony is my friend and this is just a small part of his LEGACY.
Anthony’s Baptism three years ago
