My team and I have done so many things in these past 85 days that I can’t believe that it’s only been 85 days. It’s hard to believe that three months ago I stepped onto a plane and said goodbye to everything that I once thought was comfortable. I’m still nowhere near comfortable, but I’m starting to love the life of being uncomfortable
My team, which consist of Jake, Noah, Kit, Liz, Bethany, and myself started our journey off in Costa Rica. After taking a five hour bus ride and then being dropped off in the middle of nowhere our ministry host picked us up and brought us to the “small” farm that we would soon call home. Ministry at the farm was amazing. We got to work alongside with Tony and Rosita whose dream is to make the “small” farm into a rehabilitation center for those that struggle with drug abuse. Our mission was to help them build a massive sanctuary, in the middle of the rainforest, by hand. It surprisingly worked. Our team alongside of another World Race team and some locals, almost finished the roof of the Sanctuary. The roof was completely made out of palm leaves and some nails. On the days that we were not working on the Sanctuary we were in town doing VBS at 14 different locations. Working with the kids was one of the greatest experiences. Our team would perform Bible skits, play lots of duck duck goose and soccer and sing lots of easy Bible Spanish songs. God worked in such a unique way in Costa Rica. It was truly an amazing blessing.
One month later my team arrived in Pueblo Nuevo, Nicaragua. We were the first World Race team and only the Second missionary team to ever set foot in this city. That was a big shock for us and for the community around us. Most of the community did not like what we stood for. Pueblo Nuevo is known for its witch craft and on more than one occasion we were spiritually attacked. No one on my team has ever experienced something like that before and it was one of the hardest things to get through. We as a team grew tremendously because of what we walked through. We as a team knew that this month was not only going to be physically draining, because we were supposed to do manual labor, but also spiritually draining, because of the war that was waging outside.
Ministry in Nicaragua looked very different on a day to day basis. Some days we were digging ditches and other days we were helping build the roof to the Church. Our ministry was never set in stone and we never did the same thing twice. While our ministry title said we were to do manual labor our job was to just help and love on the community. This was not always necessarily easy but our ministry host Mosses and Ruth made it one of the best experiences. This couple has this amazing fire for the Lord. They do everything for the betterment of the kingdom and they are one of the many reasons why I want to go back to Nicaragua.
After some change in plans because of the political unrest that is happening in Ethiopia our whole squad was re-routed to Rwanda. This was literally a last minute decision that AIM made for us, and by last minute I mean two days before we were supposed to board a plane. Rwanda is a very small country, by Africa standards, and is still trying to recover from the genocide that took place only 20 years ago. Rwanda still has some very deep wounds that it’s trying to recover from, but you would have never noticed because the atmosphere is always joyful and hopeful. It’s truly a unique country.
My team and I are only three weeks into living in Rwanda and we have already done some amazing things. On Tuesdays and Wednesday we teach English to kids and adults for a couple hours in the mornings and afternoons. On Fridays we preach in an open air market. The smell in these markets is horrendous, but watching ten or fifteen people get saved is an awesome sight to see. We are only in the market for about an hour and we are only preaching for about 20 minutes. Usually in those 20 minutes we have people raising their hands asking to be saved by Christ. It is one of the most joyful experiences anyone can witness. On Saturdays we walk around the small villages around our Church and evangelize to anyone that will listen to us. This is usually pretty easy because no matter where we go we usually end up drawing a crowd. On Sundays one of us on the team gets the opportunity to preach in front of the Church. This is not always easy because of the translation barrier and the fact that you’re preaching in front on 30-50 people. It’s not always easy, but watching the Spirit move through people will always be worth it.
I am going to be brutally honest with you right now. Being on the field is not always easy, actually it’s usually never easy. Some days are filled with doubt, that maybe what you’re doing is not worth it. Some days are filled with homesickness, where all you want is your friends and family, a hot shower and a comfortable bed to yourself. Some days are filled with frustration, because no one is understanding you, God isn’t answering your prayers and people are going home. Some days are filled with loneliness because all the fallowing is happening. Yet it is all worth it. Though we might have three bad days and only one good day, that one good day is so worth it. That one good day is when 15 people are saved or when you hear the kids giggle because your dog drawing looks more like roadkill than anything else. Those days are worth it. Those days are so worth it because you just made someone’s day better and you made someone’s eternity better. So yes life on the field is not easy one bit, but no one said Christianity was going to be easy. God even promised it would be hard. So I’ll take all those bad days for that one amazing day.
So this is what I have been going through in these past couple of months. It’s not easy but I wouldn’t trade it for the world. All the people that I have met all over the world have truly touched my life and impacted me for years to come.
