It’s been almost 4 weeks since we landed in the beautiful country of Nicaragua and we only have one week left before heading to Honduras.
Ministry this month looks so different than what we were doing at Transforma in Costa Rica. To start, our whole squad is together this month which has been amazingly fun. There’s never a dull moment around here whether it’s a game of soccer, a game of hockey, a dance party, a movie night, or just hanging out in our hammocks.
We are serving at Vision Nicaragua which is a ministry in Chinandega which is just about 30 minutes from the Pacific coast. Vision Nicaragua is a large compound with an open gym in the center. There’s also a medical clinic on site, a dining hall (which was originally built as a bakery), oh and a casual volcano in the backyard.
The day we arrived at our ministry site, we had to pick up our ministry host from the airport. Meet Ron.
He is a fun-loving, family man from Indianapolis that comes down almost every month for weeks at a time and he’s a character! We all felt like we had an adoptive dad this month.
So the first day we picked up Ron, he explained that we would be doing door-to-door evangelism majority of our time here and I’m not going to lie- my heart sank. The thought of walking up to people’s homes and just sharing the gospel was terrifying to me. How do I even start to explain that? That’s awkward for them. It’s awkward for us. It’s just awkward all around!
Turns out… it’s really not that awkward at all. In the States I would imagine that most people wouldn’t even open their doors if they saw a group of 10, dressed like hippies, walking up to their door. Shoot, I know I wouldn’t. But, everyone here has been more than welcoming. In fact, most immediately pull out chairs and invite us to sit and relax on their porches and are open to hear what we have to say.
However, there’s been a consistent theme as we go door to door, village to village. Most of the people, know the Gospel and they want a relationship with Jesus but just not right now… They want it later. Some are too afraid to give up their current lifestyles and others think they aren’t worthy of that relationship yet. They believe they are too sinful to start that relationship right now.
It’s heartbreaking, really, because I think majority of people think this way. Most don’t want to give up their current lifestyle and others think they need to be cleansed before coming to Jesus which isn’t the case at all. Jesus accepts you as you are and He just wants you to come to Him as you are. He wants all of you; the good, the bad, and the messy;
“The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ Everyone who hears this should say, ‘Come!’
If you are thirsty, come! If you want life-giving water, come and take it. It’s free!”
Jesus invites everyone into His Kingdom, not just the rich, not just the smart, not just the innocent or the privileged but EVERYONE.
Another running theme I’ve noticed around the world is that everyone gets caught up in their traditions and rules and along the way Christianity becomes very legalistic and the message of Jesus is lost. For instance, the main churches in our area this month are the Catholic Church and the Evangelical Church and sadly there is tension between both. Our ministry host warned us of this from the beginning. Many people of the Catholic church won’t listen to what we have to say because they don’t agree with the evangelical church and vice-versa. I’ll never understand why different denominations judge other denominations. Even back at home, we hear Christians talking negatively towards the catholic church or I hear my church being called a cult. We’re all on the same team, guys— Team JESUS! As Christians when did we start talking bad about one another? I’m pretty sure this isn’t what God intended when He created the church. It’s not about religion. Its about a relationship and Jesus is waiting patiently for you to embrace this relationship as you are, mess and all.
