We’re out of Central America TOMORROW (and I get to see Brooky baby!) and I have to say I will be leaving behind a piece of my heart! I know many people here have a piece and I am so thankful that God continues to replenish the pieces and I will never run out! In Nicaragua I fell in love with the family we stayed with, Eliab, Janet, Arleth (7) and Karen (2), and the kids that lived around them!
We spent the month helping a pastor out with different tasks and ended the month doing door to door evangelism and in the in between times we got to love on the people and kids in Eliab’s church. We also had a translator helping us, Eliezer, and spent a lot of time with him and his wife, Maria. It was so fun to partner together in the ministry and spread the Good News together (see the missionary undefined blog)!
A couple of highlights this month include, discovering caramel suckers, getting Mcflurries at the McDs in the mall, living with Eliab and his fam, meeting new friends, Darwing and Adonis and many more, getting loved on by the kids 24/7, celebrating Thanksgiving in a new way in a new country with new friends, purchasing 3 bikes for Eliab and 2 other pastors thanks to Milt, hanging out at the city park and going on a ride, attempting to sing songs in Spanish, getting motivated by Eliab’s preaching not because we understood anything he said but by the passion in his voice, living in community, teeth brushing parties, pillow talk, riding in crammed busses every day, getting into random conversations with people, hearing the roosters go off at 4am and on, fireworks, loud motorcycles, the icecream man and his fudge bars, gallo pinto, observing the neighbors water the dirt roads, seeing and hanging out for a few hours with Tom Dillman, meeting many new contacts for future WR teams, and so much more!
It was a great month! Carly really connected with Darwing and she is going to stay in contact and help him finish school, and I am praying God allows Adonis to come and visit as well. Jesus did some awesome things in and through us. The month started out a bit rocky as we were working through things individually and as a team. Moriah stepped back and I stepped forward as team leader and he continued to work in our team. We have come out a tighter team fighting for one another and loving each other so much deeper. We are ready to receive our new teammate Jake! You’ll get more info on him later! Watch out Asia here we come! God continues to call me up and rock my world and I continue to learn to depend more and more on him.
I will close with this awesome moment I had with Jesus as we were singing and worshiping yesterday. We sang an old Chris Tomlin song and I thought about the first time learning it about 10 years ago at a National Youth Conference and how I was so in love with Jesus then. I am of course still growing and still in love, but just as you miss the good old days, or have favorite memories with someone that’s how I felt for a minute, I wanted to return to that moment. I love my journey with Jesus, from my commitment to him as a child, to high school remaining strong, diving deeper at Moody with an overflow of new information and realizations finding all of my identity in Him. From taking me on my first missions trip, even back then realizing my potential for missions! To stepping into a volunteer youth role at Calvary and how much deeper Jesus brought me as I walked out my relationship in light of teens watching me, going through some hard times of despair, losing Jon my best friend, guilt, convictions of sins and areas I needed to be worked on, and complacency, but then Him calling me into a leadership role at church and now calling me out into this race. I love all aspects of my growth with my best friend. Take some time to reflect on your journey with Jesus, I’m sure it’s quite an adventure if you’ve let Him lead you! I love that He is the one I never have to say goodbye too. That He is the one holding my heart helping me hand out the pieces. He is my all and everything and in Him I’m being made complete! I love being able to enjoy this season with Him, leading me, wooing me, and guiding me! As a team we read out loud Psalm 136 and it’s so true when you say, “His love endures forever” in the good times and the difficult ones. Truth.
