I hope this blog makes your
day, because the person I am going to introduce you to makes mine day after
day. Like I previously mentioned, my team and I met Maria on a house visit with
Rosa. We wanted to meet widows in the community who were in need of physical
labor because we thought this was a ministry we would be able to do as a team. Upon
arriving at Maria’s, who lives with her daughter Gloria, they told us they didn’t
need a thing, but instead she wanted us to rest when we come there. She did say
she wanted us to visit every day though. Okay Maria, we can do that.
Maria is the cutest, most
wrinkly woman I have ever seen. She is one hundred years old, but is convinced
she is one hundred and thirteen. We actually celebrated her real birthday last week, but she is getting ready to celebrate again tomorrow. I can’t explain to you all I have learned
through my relationship with Maria, but it’s a lot. My visits with her have
become more than an everyday task on our agenda, but an irreplaceable pleasure.
My favorite part of each day is when I round the corner to her adobe home and
she looks up and sees us for the first time. Whether this be from her rocking
chair, or her hammock/bed, her chin lifts up and her toothless smile shines
bright. I love it. At first I struggled with how exactly to show Maria love,
but that was until I figured out that loving a widow through big language and
age barriers is only possible through God. He has made a way for communication
and for love to flood out of me into her. She has been impressed onto my heart
so heavily, which completely took me by surprise. She has become my main focus
of ministry this month in Nicaragua.
“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” – (James 1:27)
Gloria is Maria’s daughter
who cares for her. Gloria came to know Christ only a few years ago, and before this was the assistant to the witch doctor in Chichigalpa, the town outside Candelaria. If you aren’t familiar with this field, just know it is very demonic and dark. After our first visit with
Maria and Gloria, our ministry contact, Linda, told us to be careful with
Gloria. Have you ever heard the phrase, give someone your hand to grab and they
grab your elbow? This was the analogy she used to describe her experiences with
Gloria. She typically takes anything she can get plus more, from the church.
Let me tell you, I haven’t experienced this not once with Gloria. I have
actually seen growth in her through the weeks we have been visiting her home.
She is so welcoming and nurturing, and I have truly felt her love for me. Day
after day she welcomes us into her home, worrying that everyone has a place to
sit, that we are comfortable etc. Over time she has become more talkative
towards us and now stays around and talks during most of our visit. Before, she
did anything she could do to stay out of the main room with us. Praise God for
the work He is doing in Gloria’s heart. He is chipping off the stone slowly but
surely, and it is so clear.
Me with Maria and Gloria
Our visits have evolved
into us bringing Maria treats (rice pudding,chocobananas etc.), lots of
laughter, prayer, us singing to her and by us I mean not me,
me rubbing pain gel (vapo-rub) anywhere she asks, random conversations which neither one of us understand half of, and ultimately lots of love.
Everything Maria is given she attempts to share with others. She truly has the
love of God in her and He totally sent us to comfort her and love on her this
month, because she deserves it. This month I have prayed for God to show me
ways to love on Maria and Gloria, and He has done that ten-fold, even showering
me with love in return. Who would have thought a one hundred year old (without
a clock) would know if we were late? Maria would. She is always concerned about
us, and misses us the days we aren’t able to come. She says I am in her heart
through the Spirit when I am not there and will be when I leave for good. She
gives me endless amounts of kisses on my “big white hand” with her toothless
gums. She has begun praying for me in return for my prayers for her. It is becoming sad to know I only have two more visits left with Maria, but I know the
Spirit of God is in this home. My next task from Maria is to get a photo of her
and myself so she can have it, and to write to her. Each of these is funny
because, A) she thinks camera flashes are lightning; therefore, hates pictures,
and B) she can’t read the letters I would write to her, due to her lack of prime eyesight. Oh Maria, I love you
know matter how old you are.
