I have been warned to wear tennis shoes and long pants when walking through the barrios. I am grateful for this advice. It is quite simple. This part of Diriamba, Nicaragua is built around the landfill. The land is dirty, but the people are beautiful. As I mentioned in my last blog, Down in the Dumps, many people sort through the trash for anything of value – depending on the person’s need at the time. It might be a shirt for his or her son or a scrap of reusable metal that can be sold in order to feed a hungry belly. While the land cries out for redemption, the Lord – first and foremost – reaches out to his people. He sees their physical need and does not ignore them, but he is ultimately concerned with their spiritual being. It has been amazing over these past few days to see the Lord reclaim his people for himself. Each salvation is a miracle. And I have been humbled to see miracle after miracle. The lord is building his church here in Nicaragua.
Paul wrote to the Corinthians, as followers of Christ, we have been given the ministry of reconciliation. We do not reconcile individuals to God – Christ has already done that through dying on the cross for our sins. But we are entrusted with this powerful message, as sons and daughters who have already experienced the redeeming power of salvation.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God make him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” – Paul (2 Cor. 5:17-21)
Just as Paul was sent to preach this message, God is still sending his disciples out to the nations today. This month, Team Nessa has been entrusted with three barrios (neighborhoods) in Diriamba: basically the “poorest of the poor”. We are partnering with a local congregation, Iglesia Nuevo Amanecer, that has laid an amazing foundation of love, grace, hope and forgiveness. The town is ripe for an even greater harvest. Each day the Lord sends us out to join him in what the Holy Spirit is already doing in the hearts of the people. He cries out for them, as do I.
We walk through the barrios…house by house…family by family…individual by individual. We alone are empty vessels, but by the power and authority found in and through Jesus, we claim souls for Christ, heal the sick, prophesy into peoples lives and encourage them in their walk with Christ. Unlike in the United States, doors are open to receiving visitors (if they have doors) and hearts are eager to accept the Gospel. People here are eager for prayer. In fact there are often times random people approach us asking for prayer. (Truthfully, I think that I have prayed more in the past month and a half than I have in my entire life!) The pictures (above and below this paragraph) are two of the individuals who have accepted the Lord this past week: David and Darling.
What an honor that our Lord actually chooses to use his people to help advance his Kingdom. I pray that the Lord continues to break me everyday for Him and for his people – for I cannot do it in my own strength or with my own love. I will run dry and get tired. It is only in his power and through his love that we are compelled, day after day, to preach the message of reconciliation to a dying world.
