This is a long overdue update and I want to thank everyone for still continuing to read my blogs. My team and I are now in Nicaragua working with REAP Granada. We’ve currently been doing evangelism, sports ministry, working at a community center, visiting nursing homes and local dump workers. We live on the 70 acre REAP farm and it has been so peaceful. You can honestly feel the presence of God as soon as you step on the property.
This month has been a turning point for me as I’m starting to see small steps of growth. Last month for our ministry with Ocean’s Edge we all had to take a spiritual gift’s test. My gift that received the lowest ranking was in evangelism, which was no surprise to me. I have never been the one to walk up to someone on the street to talk about Christ and I never knew how to weave in the topic of Jesus in a conversation. I remember learning that typically it comes from truly being in love with Christ. The same way that you lovingly talk about someone in the beginning of a relationship, when we really start to confidently walk in being a beloved child of God it’s hard not to want to share more about His goodness. Almost every ministry day includes going out to evangelize and I’ve learned to truly love it. I think that sometimes we can over-complicate the idea of evangelism but when we simply speak truth and love to people, Christ is visible through us. Here in Nicaragua there is strong sense of shame culture that causes some people to not feel “good enough” to go to church. There have multiple comments like a young girl feeling that because she curses she doesn’t deserve a bible and “When you go to church God will hear your prayers”. There is a religious stigma that resides here that going to church means that you are saved and brings about a notion of religion over relationship. Salvation and church attendance goes hand in hand here and my team & I have been working to build relationships with those in the community to show them how much they are truly loved regardless of what they have done.
This month our team is doing a book study on Spiritual Slavery to Sonship (which I highly recommend) and it breaks down how God views us as children and the common ways that we can misinterpret who God is as a father because of the earthly examples that we see. Also, earlier in the month when we first arrived we had a small 3 day debrief that allowed everyone to pour into one another in multiple sessions and devotionals. Through this debrief I started to feel God’s presence deeper and started to peel back another layer to understanding how much he truly loves me. Right after debrief is when we started reading and it has allowed me to grow deeper in that understanding. The book deconstructs the idea of true sonship compared to the spiritual orphan that many Christians operate as.
“An orphan spirit can reside over an individual person, over a church, over a city, over a region, or even over a nation. And wherever an orphan heart holds sway, whether individually or corporately, people get up every day feeling like they don’t belong. They do not feel accepted. They have little sense of being valued, honored, or loved. Their lives are defined by their perceived need to perform in order to be approved and affirmed.
Those who are secure in Father’s heart, on the other hand, know they are loved and accepted for who they are as God’s creation, not for what they do. They know they don’t have to perform; they don’t have to strive hard to meet up to all the rigid demands of what a “good Christian” ought to be. They know that they are loved just the way they are”.
UPDATES
MINISTRY: My team and I are in Granada, Nicaragua working with REAP Granada for the month. We’ve mainly done evangelism and have been trying to build relationships with the locals in surrounding towns.
FUNDRAISING: Currently I am at $10,787 and I am in danger of going home if I don’t raise more funds. My grand total is $18,100 and I’m looking for monthly or one-time donors to help me reach this goal. Any amount ($5, $20, $100) brings me one step closer to my main goal. I’m currently selling my Faith over Fear t-shirts and hosting a Chili Cook-Off Fundraising Dinner on November 3. The shirts sells for $20 and the fundraiser includes beverages and a variety of different chili’s to try. You can contact me if you would like to purchase a shirt.
