“Just keep going strong, Alisa. The JOY of the Lord is your strength. You have power to overcome this obstacle. The Lord NEVER gives you more than you can handle. Jesus is here with you. HAVE NO FEAR. Stand firm in the Lord and the identity HE has given you.” These were the words that were going through my mind as I climbed to the top of Volcan Mombacho (volcano) with my team aka Sisterhood of the Traveling Awesomeness. Yes…you read correctly! Hahaha
Anywho, our team decided to climb a volcano on our VERY first day off because we figured it would be LOADS of fun and a great bonding time. Well…it definitely bonded us in ways we did not expect and challenged each of us individually. This experience was completely devoid of all of our expectations…that is for sure. I will expand on our time on the volcano in a minute, but first let me update you on how our first week has been here in Nicaragua!
Through testimonies, debriefs, prayer, and spending almost every waking hour together, our team has come together in beautiful unison. We have already comforted those who needed comforting, cried with those who were crying out to God, called out the things that do not bring Kingdom, encouraged one another to be the woman God has made us to be, and brought forth laughter that only comes from pure JOY! Trust me, we laugh a WHOLE LOT. God is SO good and is bringing together HIS body of believers that are GOING to bring Kingdom to the country of Nicaragua. Every single one of these girls has been such a light, not only to the locals, but also to me! I rejoice that the Lord has brought us all together in this exact time and season.
Ministry wise, we have been doing a lot of prayer walking and door-to-door visitations with the poorest of the poor here in Jinotepe, Nicaragua. It has been such a blessing to see these girls come alive when the Lord speaks through them to HIS lost sheep-so incredible.
Now, going back to our first day off…I was SUPER stoked that we were choosing to climb up a volcano because that has been on my bucket list for the past few years. The moment we got there the guides asked if we wanted to walk up to the base of the volcano or take the shuttle up. Well, the whole point of going was to hike the whole thing; so, of course we decided to go without transportation. What we did not know was that normal people take the ride up the mountain due to the steepness of the volcano. Who knew? The journey up the volcano ended up being the HARDEST things any of us had EVER experienced physically. From the beginning to the end it lasted two and a half hours and we are NOT talking flat lands here.
As the nine of us were making our way up, Brittany pointed out something that Saleena had previously spoken into our lives; God SPEAKS crazy-awesome things to that girl. Just a few days prior, Saleena was having her God time and noticed an ant and how much it was carrying for such an incredibly small creature. Saleena felt like the Lord gave her this image to explain that we may not know the big picture, but Jesus NEVER gives us more than we can handle. So as we were climbing this volcano, Brittany pointed out that there were many ants carrying what seemed to be heavy objects (well for an ant anyways), which made us all think about what God had shown Saleena. Yes, we did conquer the volcano that day, but what I came out with was that our God is ALWAYS with us-routing us on every step of the way. Also, I really do not know what these next few months are going to look like, but does that even matter??? Jesus KNOWS what the BIG picture is and HE is a man of HIS word; He will NEVER give us more than we can handle. All we need to do is take a few steps at a time and then our Sovereign Lord will guide our steps and make our paths straight. I am trusting in the Lord and BELIEVE that HE has brought me here for a reason. Now, although it may be difficult at times, I am willing to take the challenge- are you???
