I have recently left Costa Rica where I had a great first month. I've seen 5 people come to know the Lord, volunteered at an orphanage, painted murals on a missionary school, taught a 1st grade social studies class (I'm most positive they knew I had no idea what I was doing), visited different villages and evangelized and taught Bible Studies, and most importantly I've see the Lord's provision and steadfast love more and more everyday while I was in Costa Rica. His promises are becoming more and more real to me every day. When He says something, He means it.
Fast forward a few days, I'm finally here in Granada, Nicaragua and I love it! We are only in Granada for a few days for debrief. Debrief is when our whole squad comes together in one place, and we have leaders from Adventures in Missions fly out to meet us to help us process everything that has been going on in our lives. Which we are all very thankful for because even though we are on the adventure of a lifetime, we left all of our comforts at home, we don't get to talk to family and friends a lot, and culture shock is starting to kick in, well at least for me it is.
I'm not good at transition, I hate change. Friends at home are going to know exactly what I'm talking about. SO its hard for me to go to a little of different places and sleep in different places after I just got used to the first place. So as soon as I got here with my team I let them know the fear and anxiety I was feeling, they quickly all surrounded and prayed for me. I spent some time with the Lord and He just confirmed to me that He loves me and He does have my back. I don't have to be afraid of the things of this earth because He knows everything from beginning to end. He is going to protect me, and I can trust that. I love when God makes these revelations to me, but at the same time, I feel like He really wanted to show me and put it to the test…
After I was comforted by the Lord, I got into my nice bed surrounded by a lot of my squad mates and we all closed our eyes so we can be well rested for the next day. the weather is beautiful here so all you need when you go to bed is a sheet, and there are fans above our head for a nice breeze. After a few hours of sleeping, I remember feeling something on my face, so being half way asleep, I just remember taking my hand is brushing whatever is was off, and the next thing I know, something was biting my finger! So I threw my hand to get whatever is was off of me and jumped up out of bed. I remember falling asleep on my bed with my Ipad and ipod next to me. So I was in a pitch dark room trying to look on my bed to see what it was or if this was just a dream. So i looked on my bad and I remember seeing something black and not the same size as my Ipod or my Ipad so I immediately woke up one of my teammates to take a look at it. Since I was half way asleep and in the dark I thought it was an iguana? Haha I don't know why but that's just what I thought in my head. Next thing you know, she said it was a bat.It must have flew into the fan and gotten injured and fell on top of me. We woke up every person in the room including the guys right next to us to make sure they can get the bat and get it out of here. It was under my pillow not moving so they put it in a bowl with a lid on it…Im not going to go through every little detail of what happend after that cause it was a long day of people thinking I got rabies, going to a doctors office here in Nicaragua, calling doctors back in the states, having a doctor come to the hostel I am staying at and meeting with him. But they are very positive that I dont have rabies. They do have me on a strong anti biotic so if anything is in my system it will be out of me real soon! If you were to ask my teammates how much fear has been apart of my life these past few weeks, its crazy. I'm was so afraid thinking that I was going to get sick and die or if something would have happend I wouldn't have the money to pay for it. But like I said, the Lord has my back. I had a squad mate come up and tell me that if I need any medical attention or shots, she would pay for it. I had people walk me to the doctors and I had doctors come to me and meet with me face to face. I had people around me praying that nothing would happen. What God said was true, He will not forsake me and He DOES have back..
and since I found out I don't have rabies, I have a pretty cool story to bring back to the states!
The Lord is my light; whom shall I fear
The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? –Psalm 27:1
