We recently just had a debrief. And basically what that is…it’s a time for everyone to come together and have time to decompress as a team and as individuals. We are able to have time with leadership to process out life and help us prepare for the next month. We are also encouraged to rest and relax and get filled up for what’s next. These only happen every few months but I didn’t realize how needed they are!
This debrief we were in Granda, Nicaragua. This city was absolutely beautiful! It has an older feel to the city, but it was full of color, and small shops and coffee houses. It also had it’s fair share of street vendors, kids selling things like hammocks, bracelets, nuts and a few other things. You couldn’t walk down the street without having to say over and over no gracias.
These last few days I met a couple of awesome people, but the one that sticks out in my mind is Juan. Another squad mate met him while he was out on the town one day. Juan walked up to him and asked for prayer for his healing. Juan was using a lot of hand signs, and quickly learned he was deaf and mute. Well later that day he came to our hostel to say hello and that’s where my team met him.
And this is where a true miracle happened!!!
As Juan was signing I quickly realized although he was speaking Spanish with his lips, he was signing in ASL. (American sign language). I was able to pick up what he was saying and piece things together. As soon as I went to respond to Him the Lord moved SO MIGHTY because I became fluent. (Now I do know ASL. I’ve learned some from a friend who is an interrupter and also from working with special education children, but I’ve never used it in this extent). I was able to have full out conversations with Juan. I interpreted for him when he spoke to other and when others spoke to him. And this happened day after day, where whenever he would speak I was used to be his voice, and when someone needed to tell him up I spoke in a language he understood. I literally was in shock at first. After the first day I just had to laugh because I knew God wanted him to be heard, and He used me to be that for him.
Over the next three days, he came our family. He joined us for worship, squad dinner and even came and hung out at the hostel everyday with us. It was awesome to see everyone just accept him and to see the joy on Juan’s face being surrounded by people who loved him, and wanted him to be a part of our family even if for a short time.
He also sold bracelets as income for his family. He was able to share and his story is so beautiful.
As a young child he lived on the streets begging for money, food and whatever else he could get. He would sniff glue, smoke and drink to help escape his life. Plus being deaf and mute he was always disregarded and pushed off as if he didn’t know anything. One day he met a missionary. As juan describes it, he was a large man, gringo, with a BIG BEARD!!! And he was carrying a Bible in his hands. He met Juan and took him in. He gave him a shower, new clothes and food to eat. As he was describing it, he made it sound almost like this man ran a homeless type shelter. And that is where Juan was given a voice with his hands. This missionary taught him ASL. He was also taught about Jesus and it now a believer. He also was taught how to make bracelets and such to provide for himself. This is also the place where he met his wife. So now Juan lives further away from where we were staying, but daily made the trip to hang out with us and show off the new bracelets he had made. He also told us about his daughter she is young and very girly. She also helps make bracelets which he also sells and gives her the money that she earns when they are sold.
I also learned that he took time to know people, while walking down the street with him, he knew other vendors and workers. He knew their story and wasn’t
Afraid to share those things with us. He was just an all around awesome guy!
Crazy how in a short time you can meet people and have them become part of your family.
Although we were only there for a few days, I saw the Lord move!
I had Juan pick out a bracelet for me. And I noticed with every person who bought a bracelet, he carefully put it on each persons wrist and tighten it. He was just such a sweet sweet soul!
Juan also told us about a cafe. And this cafe was a little different because it was ran by people who were also deaf and mute. It was such a cute little cafe. The walls were filled with sign language, the tables had different things like salt, sugar, and other things so that you could communicate with the waiters. They also make hammocks in this shop. All to give them an opportunity to make income for their families!
We are currently in a different city Chinandega. We are working with a ministry called Vision Nicaragua. This month we will be doing a bunch of different projects such as door to do evangelism, helping in clinics in local villages as well as running services for children, youth, and adults. I’m excited to see what this month holds for each of us as we all grow in confidence, and boldness when speaking to others about the Lord!!
Prayer request:
Sickness: myself and some other squad mates are dealing with some different sickness but continue to pray for health over our squad so that we don’t have to continue to miss ministry opportunities.
Boldness: a lot of people say they know Jesus but don’t have a personal relationship, so pray that in our boldness we can share Gods love in such a way so that they want to know His love too!
Finances: myself and a few teammates have this next deadline quickly approaching and not a lot of donations coming in.
I have about $1,455 needed for the end of THIS MONTH!
And around $5,016 needed to be fully funded! (By January)
If you have thought about donation but haven’t yet now is the perfect opportunity even $20 goes a long way! Or if you know someone that you can share my journey with, please share my story and send them along to my blog!
