We left Nicaragua
last week and I think I’m just now starting to reflect on what went on
there. It was a tough month in many
ways.
The media team had split up and although it was really tough
to be apart from our team mates, we all agree that it made up grow more. Each of us experienced new things and were
challenged. For me, the biggest
challenge I think was when I decided to only speak Spanish, kind of like a fast
from speaking English. When I wrote the
blog on this, I thought I might only end up doing it for a couple of days, but
I ended up doing it for about 5 days all together.
I not only learned
more Spanish vocabulary, but I also felt God revealing more about other thing
in my life as well that had nothing to do with speaking Spanish. I went through a variety of emotions. I experienced joy when I had my first
conversation in Spanish, to frustration when I couldn’t remember if “Y” came
before “U” when flipping through the dictionary, (seriously -when you are in a
hurry, this is a problem) to being in tears when on day 3 forgetting every
single word in Spanish and not being able to talk to anyone. As much of a challenge it was, I would do
another one again and think I might do another one sometime with in the next
month. I really think that this whole
thing was not just for the time that we are here in the Spanish speaking countries,
but I’ll be using it for something more in the future.
There are more experiences that made an impact on me as well
during our time there. I’ll never forget
the sights and smells of the dump….the climb down (and back up) some broken
concrete steps to reach the barrio…the elderly couple on the other side of the
dump that had such a big impact on me personally…handing out water and food to
the people in the barrio across from the dump…being able to have church
outdoors…praise and worship on the roof of the hotel, under the stars, with
Team B during our first few days there…having 40 little kids for kids church
each Sunday and seeing how excited they were to sing songs…playing with
puppies…burying two puppies…the faces of all the people that we continually met
up with and prayed over…being prayed over by the people at the dump on our last
day there….my first (and hopefully last) encounter with a tarantula…eating rice
and beans with every meal…keeping the bathroom door shut with just a piece of
string and duct tape…having my dates with Jesus (quiet times) under the mango
trees…outdoor ministries in the park…and more.
As we move from place to place, each country steals a little part of
your heart. There’s no doubt in my mind
that Nicaragua
stole a big chunk of mine.
