When we were still in Manila we were asked by our leaders to individually pray about where we wanted to serve in Nicaragua. We had two options – stay in Granada and help set up the AIM base there or head out and do hurricane relief work to an unknown area of Nicaragua. My first inclination was “of course I will stay in Granada!” I don’t really do manual labor (as a habit) and I prefer to stay in cities and not in the middle of nowhere. Even in developing countries the cities have a few modern conveniences. As I was praying and thinking it over in my head there was the sense of unrest or the lack of peace. I just didn’t have peace that I needed to be in Granada. But what would I do with hurricane relief in the “middle of nowhere” Nicaragua? Maybe there would be some babies to hold or some women to befriend. Well, the Lord knocked my socks off with His answer!
We get Puerto Cabezas and the Lord’s provision was abundant! There are two schools run by the church but they have very few actual Christians in these “Christian Schools”. He wanted us to go in and teach the children Christian values and principles. There was a ministry of going to the hospital, there is an orphanage onsite of the property we live on, that houses 70+ children and there was also the barrios (where people who are in extreme poverty live). The whole time I was just expecting to coast through this month doing manual labor and here at our doorstep are abundant opportunities for ministry.
THANK YOU LORD!
We broke up into small teams to tackle the schools every morning. Allison and I go to the “airport school” (named that b/c it is near the airport) Monday – Wednesday mornings and with a small group of our Nicaraguan brothers and sisters. I cannot describe in words all that we have seen at that school! We go in with a “tentative” plan. Maybe a plan of a bible story we may share and a couple of songs. The ages of the children range from 5 – 18 years old. So every day and class is different. Every day we see the Lord show up in that place and change hearts and turn children to Him.
Some girls at the school and one of the classes we teach
I have been stretched and moved in those classrooms more than I have in a long time. I usually share a testimony or a bible story at least once a day and many times the Holy Spirit moves and the salvation message is given. One day I was teaching about lying and we were using the story out of Acts 5 where Ananias and Saphira were struck dead b/c they lied. And somehow by the leading of the Holy Spirit the gospel presentation came out of my mouth. I looked over at Allison and said I don’t know where this is coming from and she said keep going. We have seen students broken over their sin and come to know Jesus for the first time and we have seen children hurting and in need of comfort because of the state their families are in. Alcohol, drug abuse, absent fathers and hurting mothers are very prevalent here in Puerto Cabezas.
I thought things like this would only happen in Africa but no they are happening in Central America too! God is really stretching and challenging me to step out of my box and trust Him more every day. It is awesome to be surprised by the Lord. Please pray for the people of Puerto Cabezas. The devil has a stronghold here and the only one who can break the chains of sin and death is Jesus Christ! And pray also for us that the Lord will continue to use us to share the good news to those we meet not only here in Nicaragua but also for the rest of our time in Central America.
Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation. Romans 10:1
