While in Nicaragua this month, our “days off” from ministry here in Candelaria are Monday and Tuesday of every week. Our first week here we spent a day in Leon, the town outside of Candelaria. We stayed in a hostel, enjoyed an American movie (in English), hit up a great coffee shop and the next morning traveled to the beach nearby. Our day at the beach was so great. We had time to relax, which last month was entirely difficult to come by.
Anyway, last Monday and Tuesday brought forth time for a new/different adventure. However, our *wonderful* ministry contact, team leader and finance person decided to keep it as a surprise to the rest of us, which I thought was highly annoying. That’s beside the point. We headed out super early and throughout the course of the day rode in a taxi, 3 [school] buses, and hitchhiked in the back of a pick-up truck until we arrived at our destination. Let me not forget to mention, I sprained my ankle at the first bus stop of the day. What do you know . . if I’m not puking, something else is wrong with me. I believe this is going to be a trend this year. We get to our destination and had to hike a little ways, cross a river, and trample up a muddy hill on all fours, which I’m sorry . . no one wants to do on a sprained ankle. However, I began hearing water which was obviously coming from the cascades, (waterfall) and I got excited. Everything was so lush, and the view was gorgeous. Behind the waterfall was a cave, which is where we would be camping for the night. We are nearing the end of month 2 on the race, and we were just now getting to use our tents. Okay, I seriously was excited about this because that’s what I had prepared for. We immediately changed into our swimsuits and jumped off the edge into the frigid water. Well, due to my impairment, I actually slid down most of the way. Esta bien. Once was enough, and we started setting up camp before it got dark, which is super early inside a cave.
Our great guys went in search for fire wood and persistently attempted to make fire. They also came back with news that we would be having some company for the night, being that was alright with everyone. The company would be the son of the owners of the property and a few of his friends. We said the more the merrier. Manuel, Holland, and two girls arrived after having trekked in the dark with no light, and through the mud to get to the cave. Thank goodness, because it took the locals to get the fire going. Throughout the night we roasted marshmellows, which we have introduced to numerous people over the past two months, were entertained by Allan and Manuel’s musical talent, and had great conversation with Holland. Meet Holland . . a 33 year old man from Texas who has lived just about everywhere in the world. He left home six years ago and hasn’t been back since. Instead he has traveled around the world living in each country he enters for approximately a year. Before that, he worked in numerous parts of the United States. He talked to us about his travels, his experiences, his family etc. He was so open and desired to share with us. Due to the alcohol and marijuana you can only wonder what was true or not, but that’s not for me to decide. His family are believers, in fact his younger brother has run a prison ministry since being discharged himself. Holland knows the Bible front to back and was very interested in talking to us about the World Race and what we’ll be doing this year. He also had alot of advice and opinions about some of the places we will be in. However, he also told us for some reason that he believes God is displeased with him for the things he has done/is doing, but he isn’t ready to live by “the law” yet. Holland acknowledged the truth that God can use “people like him” sometimes in greater ways than people who haven’t been through the things he has. However, he sees himself as unworthy.
Seriously . . I thought, “DUH. What are you waiting for then?” How in the world could someone say that and in the same sentence say they don’t care? I just don’t get it. The conversation between Holland and Tim, one of our squad leaders who is here staying with us this week, went on for a good while. I was proud of Tim’s boldness as well as that of Amanda who also chimed in. I was sitting nearest to Holland and the only reason I said anything at all was because he blatantly asked me my thoughts at different points in the conversation. For one, I was processing all that was being said, but I also didn’t feel much pull from the Lord that it was my place to speak. All I felt the Lord telling me was that Holland was His child and He made him with many talents, which He wanted to be used for His glorification. He told me that Holland didn’t give himself enough credit. Holland is wise and has had so many awesome life experiences. He has been shot 3 times, survived a plane crash and car wrecks, he is an artist, and has alot to say.
It started getting late, and one by one we headed to “bed”. Sidenote- I still haven’t used my tent because we slept in the cave, only covered by the cave ceiling. It was awesome. When we all woke up the next morning, Holland was gone, along with my headlamp. His friends had stayed, but he decided not to. As we hiked back down and were waiting for a bus, Tim said, “So much for a day off”, and it hit me. As Christians, why do we think we have days off? We are supposed to live in a way that illustrates the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We are supposed to spread the Good News of the Gospel and make sure everyone has heard the truth. We are supposed to do this at all times, meaning we don’t get a break from this. We don’t get days off.
Just some extra info . . on Tuesday we ate/hiked at a coffee plantation and that night rode the last 2 hours of the trip on the back of a flatbed 18-wheeler. A great way to end our “days off”. This week’s adventure was . . volcano surfing.
