I’m so sorry I haven’t blogged since I’ve been here! I truly am not great at keeping up with blogs- but I really want to include you in this journey with me. It’s hard to put into words everything that’s been happening the last 2 weeks, but I’m going to try.
Our ministry this month is at a 70 acre farm called Reap Granada. REAP partners with the community to provide work to the local people. It is absolutely beautiful on the farm! There are always horses roaming around. And there are often children and staff around to practice my Spanish with. This month is “All Squad Month” which means all 36 of us and our team leaders and squad leaders are all together in one place. It has been so special to be all together for our first month. Usually I will just be with my team or maybe with one other team.
Ministry in Nicaragua looks different each day. Pretty early on, my team and I met a woman named Maricela who runs a local library. We have been able to go back several times now and help clean or read with the kids. Being half Mexican, it’s always been frustrating to not fluently speak Spanish. I don’t even think I realized that it frustrated me until coming to Nicaragua. God has definitely been pushing me out of my comfort zone and putting me in situations where I am the translator. This week at the library, Maricela asked me to read a book aloud to the kids. I thought it was going to be a simple book…wrong! I struggled through paragraphs full of words I knew and some I didn’t. The kids didn’t laugh at me once. In fact, a couple of them got up after me and read aloud to their peers. For most of these kids the library is the only place outside of school where they can read. It was neat to see that by me uncomfortably reading in Spanish, the kids felt safe uncomfortably reading out loud.
Another ministry we have been able to be a part of is working with moringa trees. Moringa seeds and leaves have great nutritional value. They are full of antioxidants, iron, calcium, and can also lower blood sugar levels in diabetics. Many Nicaraguans can’t afford medication, so this could be a great inexpensive or even free option for them to improve their health. Picking the seeds and drying the leaves is a very involved process. When I left for the World Race I prayed that God would give me opportunities to use my nursing skills and once again He has been faithful. For the next 2 weeks I will get to be part of a small team who will lead the Moringa project. We will create a system of collecting leaves and seeds in hopes of turning them into capsules to help with the health of many people here in Nicaragua.
I feel like there is so much happening and I just want to share all of it! But that would be overwhelming for both me and you as a reader. So I will leave you with the word “seen”. This month God has been reminding me that I am seen. That you as a creation of God are seen. He knows me so well. I don’t have to perform or do anything to gain his love or favor. My prayer for everyone reading this is to know that you are loved and seen by a God who WANTS to know you. Who knows all the horrible things you’ve done and still sent his only son to take the place of those things. I encourage you to read Psalm 139 and learn about the God who I am getting to know more and more of this year. Please feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions about anything I post in my blogs. I love you all!
“O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away. You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do. You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord. You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand…How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!”
??Psalms? ?139:1-6?; 17-18??
