Yesterday for ministry we went on a prayer walk. How they do this is Nicaragua is the goal is to pray over every person we encounter. This normally looks like if we stop to talk to people on the street, we pray for them before we leave. We also just go up to peoples doors and are almost always invited in. We have conversations with people about their faith or about what’s going on in their life and their families life. It may seem surprising but 9 times out of 10 people are super open and excited to ask for prayer in a certain area.
My team went prayer walking and we had a translator named Nelson to help us communicate. During our walk we encountered three different people. The first one was a 17 year old girl named fernanda. Her mom moved to Costa Rica to find a better job and she now has to take care of her little brother and do all the house chores of cleaning and cooking.
Next was Nicolas. We talked to him forever and he opened up about a lot of his past and his current struggles. He became a believer 30 years ago and continues to pursue the lord every single day. He’s currently in a sticky situation with his neighbors and it’s so bad his wife and him have to switch off who stays home because if they don’t the neighbors will destroy the house and hurt his family. People have threatened to kill him, it’s a serious situation. His kids don’t have a relationship with God, but because of Nicolas we prayed that they will come to know him. Lastly we stopped at this cute orange house that 2 ladies lived at, each of them had one child and no husband. The first lady has a 2 year old with down syndrome. The second we walked in you could not help but notice the pure joy this little boy brings to this family and how his mother loves him unconditionally. The other lady has a 10 year old son who was so sweet. This family was so full of joy it was contagious. They didn’t define themselves to a religion but rather they have a personal relationship with the father and that’s all that matters they said. (Side note: the churches in Nicaragua are very legalistic and causes a lot of people to leave and have resentment towards the church)
The reason I told you a little about each of these people is that the theme of hope ran through them like crazy. These people all live in small shacks, dealing with hardships like family having to move countries, the safety of their lives and families being threatened, and living in a developing country with a child who has disabilities. What I saw in each of them as we talked was that they loved Jesus and put him in the center of their lives. Our friends who prayer walked on the other side of the street led someone to Christ who had never heard of Jesus! Even though we didn’t ‘lead’ anyone to Christ, the fact that we could come to their houses and encourage them and join them in prayer is what this ministry is all about. I was encouraged by these people’s faith even when they’re in really hard situations. Their hope was raw, it was real and there was nothing but love coming from that.
If you’re still reading this blog I hope that this has encouraged you. Even in the hardest and most difficult situations to continue putting Jesus in the center and to never lose the hope that he’s given you because it really is a gift.
