This past week my mom got the opportunity to come and spend some time with me in Granada, Nicaragua to do ministry! It was such a blast, we saw people re-new their lives to Christ, hear testimonies of how God has worked, and see how he has changed both racers & parents.
During the week while my mom was here we got to prayer walk, there we met a woman who lived in a gang run neighborhood. We began by asking her if there was anything we could pray for. She, like almost all the people we meet, welcomed us into her home, running to grab chairs and eager for us to, as they say, “bring God’s word.”
Over the course of our conversation, we learned she had accepted Christ but stopped attending church because of the gangs. The ministry we were working with is in the process of building a community center in that exact neighborhood to minister to these gang members, start bible studies, and are going to connect her with a church closer to her home.
One of my favorite parts of her story was when we asked her if she had every seen God in her life, and she responded, “yes.”
As the tears started to flow, she shared with us the sad story of how her youngest child had died at just two months old. She became so depressed, and tried to drug herself many times, but God had a plan for her. He took away her pain, and gave her a beautiful vision. She explained,
“There was one night, when I had all the pills poured out and was going to take them. I cried out to God that I couldn’t handle the pain anymore. Right before bed, my older son came to me and told me he wanted to lay with me. He didn’t want to see me sad anymore, so he slept with me that night and I wasn’t able to take my pills. While I slept I had a dream where God came to me. I saw him carrying my child in his arms, safe and sound. He carried him away to a better place and when I woke up, I wasn’t sad anymore.”
This is just one of the many stories I hear of God meeting people where they are. What a wonderful God we serve who loves to come and meet us, carry us, love us, and heal us from our pain.
As we prayed over her and her family, her granddaughters came running to provide us with dolls to hold. The love, and hospitality these people show when they seem to have nothing of the world is amazing. It just shows that it’s the joy of the Lord that’s our strength.
The day we visited the dump, we were able to meet a girl named Maria Elena. Like 80 or so other Nicaraguans, she works there with her family to help provide, making about $20USD a month sorting through plastics and metals. She was a beauty among the trash. She had heard the gospel, she had seen her brother accept Christ but stay the same and she didn’t want to follow in his steps. She was afraid to come to him, broken and messed up. That’s when we shared with her how we are all broken and messed up. One of the racers had shared the story of the prodigal son, it’s when we are broken and messed up that he runs to us. He hugs us, he loves us, and HE makes us clean. We prayed over her, and I am continuing to pray that she encounters God in a new way and that she sees when we accept Christ, really follow him, our lives are never the same.
Those are just a few of the stories from this week, not to mention all the other ways in which we racers, and parents have seen ourselves grow.
The Lord is so good to us, and I am always so thankful for this opportunity to spread his name across the globe!
“I used to think you had to be special for God to use you, but now I know you simply need to say yes.”- Bob Goff
Here is my highlight video from the week, enjoy!
