It has been over a week since leaving Honduras and I am already missing the country, ministry and people that we worked with. I saw the Lord work, love, heal, and invade the lives of so many people. It was a blessing to work with the street kids and the women and children that have become victims of human trafficking and abuse.
My journey to Nicaragua began last week when my team took a ferry to the island of Ometepe. The island is made up of 2 massive volcanoes which make up the backdrop for our backyard.
The ministry we are working with is an orphanage that takes in kids from all over Nicaragua and gives them a place to live, food, education, and a Christian family atmosphere. There is also a school that has been built on the property that has over 80 kids a day enrolled in it for free.
Our time here is spent living a daily life with the kids here. We work in the kitchen, garden, school, and building projects. The more we can do the less the staff will need to work themselves and have to spend money on hiring people. God has faithfully provided enough each step of the way for this ministry and the workers live by faith that through prayer and fasting, the Lord will show up and he DOES! The garden here is run by a man who moved here from California, provides the food and healthy diet for all the children. By living on an island water is also a lot easier to come by and there is hardly worry for it to run out.
The community here is beautiful and is a picture of harmony. God uses the kids to teach me to stay focused on today. That by worrying about the provision of tomorrow you will miss the fun and beautiful moments that are happening right now. Whether its stopping to take time to give a child a hug and tell them “eres muy bonita”( you are so beautiful ), carrying them on your back for a mile because the sound of their laugh outweighs the tiredness, or stopping so that they can tell you a crazy story in Spanish that you don’t understand but you want them to know they are valued and being listened to, it is so worth the time. Children don’t worry what they will wear tomorrow, what they will have to eat or where they will be next week.
Being here is truly teaching to let tomorrow worry about itself. It is a much more peaceful place to be and suddenly life isn’t so complicated anymore but simple. Frustration and stress turns to contentment and joy and I can truly say I wouldn’t want to try another lifetime for how I feel right now.
