We have been in Nicaragua
for around a month now and I really haven’t done a great job of keeping you
updated on what we have been doing. Sorry…. I have been really busy but I do
recognize the importance of keeping all of you back at home updated on what the
Lord is using us for. The Lord has been doing so much in me and my teammate’s
hearts but that is another blog in itself that I hope to get to for you guys. Within
the next couple of paragraphs I am going to try my best to explain all that the
Lord has used us for in “official ministry”.
A normal work week for us
is Monday-Friday. Saturdays and Sundays are the days that we are “off”. We
spend that time catching up with family, resting, writing blogs, worshipping,
conducting our own church service, and venturing out to see what new adventures
we can find.
For the past three weeks,
Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, we have been building a house for,our cook,
Estella. Estella, a widow, works hard for us each day and in return we have
been able to offer our services for free to help her out. I am proud to say
that we completed her house today! (02/17/12) While we were working there some
of the jobs that were assigned to us were: mixing concrete (several times
throughout each day), pumping water from the well (to fill up a 50 gallon
barrel), laying bricks, pouring concrete to make posts, cutting wood, making rebar
for the posts, setting rafters in place for the roof and putting the tin roof
in place.
During our time in Leon there
was a lot to do but we have 13 people so there was not always a job for
everyone. Those who were not working on the house took the initiative to build
relationships with each other and with the people in the community. That looked
different every day but here are a few things that we did to build relationship…
While we were at the well
pumping water we tried our best to talk to the locals who were there. I met a
few kids who I quickly built great relationships with along with many teenagers
and adults. Today while I was the well, Kacie and I had a great conversation
with a man for about 30 minutes while making sure we included Jesus in our
conversation. I believe that the conversations that each person on the team had
with the locals at the well has been very fruitful.
We have also prayer walked
around the village, played soccer and basketball with kids, prayed with kids,
had great conversations with the locals in the village, and prayed for a drunk
guy who randomly came up to us to ask for prayer (yeah… God led him to us!).
We hope to go back to the
village in Leon to continue the relationships that we have built with the
people there but over the next couple of weeks we will probably be moving on to
do different things that we are needed for.
So that was what we have
done on MWF for the past three weeks. On Tuesday’s and Thursday’s we decided to
stay at our house until lunch time to prepare us for going out in the communities.
From 8-9:30 we had worship and a bible study. Those times have been so good for
the team to get filled up with God’s spirit and learn more about His word. Then
we take a 30 minute break and come back together for Spanish class at 10:00.
The point for doing Spanish class is for us to be able to minister to the
people here more effectively and I have seen a lot of fruit come from these
classes.
We have been ending class
around 11 or 11:15. Lunch is at 12:00 and after lunch we all load up in our
truck and head to a village called Bethel to practice the Spanish we just
learned. While we have been in Bethel, we have focused on building
relationships with anyone and everyone. We have played soccer, played baseball,
walked around the community seeking people to talk to, thrown kids in the air,
had races with kids, and prayed for the sick.
God is working so much in
this village. He has been giving us favor in earning trust with the locals so
that we can tell them about our glorious savior Jesus Christ. Many of them know
of His name because the organization we are working with actually built the
community and placed a church in it. However, there are many people in the
community who need freedom and need to know Jesus personally. There are 156
families living in Bethel and most of the men are dying from a kidney disease.
That really is another story in itself but basically the only job for many of
the Nicaraguans around where we live is in the sugar cane field. The men breath
in the pesticides that they use for the field and eventually they reach a point
where their kidneys start failing because of the chemicals they breath in.
Every worker will
eventually get fired from the job because they are tested every six months to
see how bad their kidneys are. Once their kidneys reach a certain level they
are fired and left to go home and die. We have prayed for a few of the men in
the village with the kidney disease and have prayed for one woman who is sick
with some other kind of disease. Our hope is to go around to more of the
families to pray for the men.
There you have it… that is
what our ministry has looked like for the past three weeks. Besides going out
into the community, we have family time every night. For the first two weeks we
shared testimonies with each other and now we are doing different stuff that
God is leading us to do. Over the next couple of weeks we will be transitioning
into some new things because there is so much to do here. We hope to continue
building the relationships with the people in Bethel and Leon.
Some of the things that we
may be doing over the next few weeks are: building school desks, putting
together and acting in skits, installing sinks and mirrors, visiting poor
communities, digging trenches, and building relationships with more locals.
I wanted to give you an
update because you are important to me and I want you to know what we are
doing. I also want to ask a favor of you… Will you please pray for our team?
The team is doing really well but the devil sees that and wants to destroy
that. Our team is so joyful and encouraging! Please pray that we stay unified,
have great communication, go deeper into what God wants, and from there let the
Holy Spirit lead you into prayer for our team. Thank you for your time and your
donations. You are the ones that keep us missionaries going.
