Coming to Nicaragua, I knew that our ministry was going to be ATL (ask the the lord). If I’m honest with myself, I knew that this wasn’t something I was excited about. I had a negative mindset thinking that no one would actually do ministry and just relax and use WiFi during the whole day. This wasn’t something I wanted to happen, so I started making a difference in the way my mindset would work. I started asking God what are some things I can do this week to show people His love and just to simply talk to them about him.
Sunday was our first day of ministry. It was also the first day we got all our money for food, so a lot of us went and got our food for the week. When I was walking back from the veggie market, I saw this little boy walking in front of me. I started a conversation with the basics you“what is your name?” “how old are you?” and “where are you going?” The first thing that came to my mind was that this little boy was a beggar. I assumed he was a beggar because he was a little kid walking the street with money in his hand. But this wasn’t the situation. The little boy was going to his mothers food truck. I walked over there with him and told his mother I would come back later to buy something. I was thinking that this could be my ministry for the day. When I came back later to get a hotdog, I got to know the mother and got to ask her some of the same questions with the best Spanish skills I have.
As I was sitting there, just watching this mother do her job, I asked the Lord what are some ways that I could minister to this mother and her job. The first thing that came to my mind was to paint her food trucks. Now these food trucks were not in bad condition at all, but I just wanted to simply show her love and that she is seen. The next few days, I came early to help her set up her food trucks and just continue to get to know her. I saw that she had an amazing heart. There were many times when she would help people give money to the beggars and her food to the hungry. Her trucks sit right in the corner of the central park, and at this park there are carriages that take people around town. As one leaves another one comes, and they start that line right by her food trucks. So I really just got to know the community around her.
There was one day I was trying to really get to know Glenda (the woman working the food truck) and one of the carriage men came up to us and started to help me translate. It literally was a God moment because I was trying so hard to get to know Glenda in this moment. The man’s name was Ohmar. During this week, I not only got to know Glenda but Ohmar as well.
As the days went on, and I started to paint her truck, I noticed that I was running back to the paint shop a lot for more items. There was one day I didn’t have my wallet on me, but I thought I should try to get a paint bush and ask if I could pay for it later. Why I thought the store owner would let this would happen, I have no clue. People in the states wouldn’t even allow you to come to there shop to get something and hope that you’ll come back later to pay for it. But this paint shop did. Not only once but twice. The second time I came in, I was looking for smaller brushes to be able to paint the letters on the truck. When I walked in the store, I noticed that there was Christian music playing. Even though I don’t speak Spanish, I knew the song by the beat of the music. I knew this was a worship song. I looked at the worker with the biggest smile on my face and I asked “are you Christian?” and he said yes! I kid you not, I opened my hands wide open and I hugged that guy! I was so excited that he was Christian. And in that moment, that thought of “I’ll see you again in heaven” was going though my mind. I thanked the guys for the smaller brushes and went on with my day.
As I was painting the trucks, Ohmar came around and we started talking everyday. “how are you? “what’s new?” …. but today, I just felt like I needed to go a little more personal with Ohmar. I simply asked Ohmar, “Can I ask you a personal question?” And he gracefully said yes. I asked him if he went to church. He said no, he used to go to a Catholic Church, but not anymore. He asked me if I went to church, I said yes, but that my church was different. He asked what the different was and I told him that while basically catholics pray to both to Mary and Jesus. I believe that Jesus died on the cross for our sins and that we are free in him today. I told him about Jesus and how he is still alive within each of us. He is the God of all gods. Ohmar looked at me and said, “ok that makes sense.” I said, “Ohmar, I’m not gonna make you but if you would like to learn more about my God, I can bring you a book.” He said he would like to learn about my God. I was just like “sweet.”
Then we went on with our normal conversation and back to painting. As I finished the painting, I went back to my hostel to hang out with my friend. As the day went on, I was getting so busy I forgot about everything. There was one moment I was with my friend and she said something about getting shampoo and conditioner. I told her there was this store by the paint shop. Then I kinda freaked out because the paint shop was about to close and I needed to pay them for the brushes. When I went to the paint shop to pay for the brushes, I asked the owner if he knew where I could get a Bible. He went to his deck and got his bible and told me, “Yes. I read my Bible here and on my phone.” I asked, “do you know where I can get a bible like that?” He said, no, that his wife had gotten him this bible. But he asked me why I was looking for a bible. I told him that I felt as if the Lord put it on my heart to get a bible for this guy I met. Then the paint owner looked at me and said, “well, you can give him my Bible.”
I was shocked. This paint owner, who I had only had a few conversations with, said “My country needs to know about our lord and Savior Jesus Christ. If I can give my bible to him, this means he will know our lord and savior.” I was so choked up that I began to cry and thank him a lot. As he gave me the Bible and put it in my hand, I looked at him in the eyes and I said, “You are going to be so blessed in heaven some day by giving this man your bible.” As I was crying, he was crying also. I got to pray for him and the other workers as I left. I took Bible with me and wrote a note in it to give to Ohmar. I told him that if he had any questions about God, he could ask the paint guy at the shop.
This week was a week of asking the Lord where he wanted me to glorify to him. He lead me to Glenda, where I had gotten to show her love and serve her this whole week! Then Glenda lead me to Ohmar just by having her shop on the corner. Glenda also led me to the paint, where I bought paint and met a Christian man. That led me to give a bible to Ohmar. I’m so in awe with just how our Heavenly Father works and puts these puzzles together. My time in Nicaragua was one of the best weeks I had on the whole race. It was also perfect timing for God to show me that I can hear his voice and that there is so much more that he has in stored for me than just painting this woman’s truck.
