Hola from Central America!
Our first month in Nicaragua has come and gone, and a lot has happened in those few weeks. This month has honestly been quite a bit different than others for a couple different reasons. For one, I have split my time in two different locations, ministry hosts, and teams.
The first two weeks here, I was still with team Kainoseros on an Island called Ometepe that’s found in the middle of a lake. We lived at a Kids Refuge home called CICRIN. While there, we mainly spent our time working on a plantain field. Every morning, part of our group would go out to the field and spend three hours there putting in work. Each day, there were these two locals who told us what to do. The first day, my team spent our time sweeping away old plantain branches to clear the rows. The rest of the two weeks, we dug holes for new trees to be planted into. Near the end of our time there, we ended up planted the new trees as well! I honestly had a lot of fun working in the fields. The plantains themselves are used for many meals that the kids-home makes, and is also a large portion of their yearly income.
When not in the plantain fields, we were also doing a lot of spring cleaning on the grounds, helping the cooks in the kitchen, teaching English at their school, or playing with kids at the after school program.
The island was amazing and we all felt super blessed to have been able to spend half of the month in that location.
(Our whole group at CICRIN)
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At one point during every World Race 11n11 trip, there is a week called Parent Vision Trip (PVT). This means that racers invite their parents to travel out onto the field and do ministry with them for one week. We hosted PVT at the end of our time here in Nicaragua. So halfway through the month, our entire squad was re-shuffled around. All the racers who had parents coming went to the AIM base was in Granada, and the rest of us went to a small town called Palacaguina.
(Our group at Palacaguina with our coach Mike, host Yenar, and Osmand who did construction with us everyday)
Here at Palacaguina, we are living with a host that is connected to a church in town. While here, we have had the opportunity to share testimonies at church, share messages to the youth group, do sports ministry, and even speak on their radio station that is played in 20 different countries about what God has been teaching us and to encourage others in their faith! The first Sunday here, I shared my testimony in front of the congregation and this Sunday, our entire group is going to sing a song. But mainly what we’ve been doing here is a lot of construction.
A nearby pastor is currently building a church and we have been helping with that project. Practically, this looks like digging and relocating dirt to level out the church floor. We have also dug and laid pipes for their baptism pool. Construction ministry definitely feels a little more detached and distant than ministries that I have done in other months, but I have come to realize how much of a blessing it is and how God is using our team as an answer to prayers.
This pastor has been trying to build this church for the past 5 years and it is just now beginning to become a reality. Originally, our group was supposed to partner with a different host but they dropped out last minute and a switch had to be made — so we were not even supposed to be here! But again, God used us to answer this pastors prayers to get his church built. Also, we have the opportunity to pray over the future of this building. As we lay the foundation, we can pray for the foundation of the future body that will worship within the walls. We can pray over the lives that will be baptised within that pool. So sure, it’s a different type of ministry. But sometimes when God calls us to be His hands and feet on this Earth, He literally wants us to use our hands and feet.
To dig holes, to plant trees, to shovel, to carry bags of dirt, to walk uphill, to rake, to carry children, to cook, to feed the hungry, to lay hands and pray, to walk with people through hard times. It’s all the same and it’s all glorifying to God.
But I did realize that sometimes, it can be easy to slip into these moments of not feeling Jesus at work within the work you’ve been asked to do. But God called me on the World Race so that I could do all the things mentioned above and then more. So that says nothing about the ministry, the organization, the hosts, or the placement but about my heart posture. And so it’s really not a question of is God at work, but am I inviting God into the actions. As I strive to carry out a life honoring to Him, I need to ask myself how am I seeking to pursue things that require the help of God? Am I simply carrying the bag of dirt from point A to point B, or am I declaring that as I walk the grounds that this building is a place of freedom, of worship, of spiritual blessings, and a place that will bring fruit to the body that will one day call that building home?
So while I am feeding this village, while I am leading a bible study, while I am going door to door, while I am cooking/cleaning/planting/playing/etc what is my motivation? Who is it all for? What is my goal? If it is not to glorify and do the work God has set before me, if it is not to be a vessel that carries the power of the Holy Spirit, if it is not stemmed from the love for my neighbors I have because God has given love to me, then really what’s the point.
There’s this verse, Proverbs 21:31 → “The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the Lord.”
Well, we have been made ready. We have been equipped with the skills&desires&visions over our life. But the victory is the always the Lords.
I don’t mean to say that doing good things is bad if it makes you feel good. That’s great! But that shouldn’t be the underlying reason. So do good and do great things! Make an impact, use your skills, respond to the calling and vision that God has casted over your life. But don’t forget to take that extra step, to need God’s power in what your doing so that success can only be found through Him.
