One – Uno
While trying to catch every grain of sugar that was falling off my sweet donut I listened to Hellen share her testimony of how CICRIN came to be.
This month I am living on a beautiful, breezy island in Nicaragua called Ometepe. I am here with 4 other teams serving at CICRIN which is a home for children whose families cannot properly care for them. CICRIN is not just a place for 23 children to lay their sweet heads at night, but a place where they find family and really discover the Only ONE – God. The staff at CICRIN strive to pour into these children – to love them and to demonstrate who Christ is. They teach them the importance of faith in Christ and how crucial prayer is. Just ONE prayer or response to Christ can mix things up, shake things up, and change lives – just like it did to Hellen’s.
As Hellen shared her story, different emotions filled my head – frustration, excitement, amazement, respect. She had just turned 23 years old when a missionary couple left CICRIN in her hands to maintain. Hellen agreed to serve ONE month with the couple. About 2 months into her ONE-month commitment they told her they were visiting the United States for 2 weeks, but would then be back. Here she is… 27 years later… they never came back… she has never seen them again… (but no worries, they are now friends on Facebook).
Bitterness rushed through my heart and frustration overtook my mind as Hellen shared this with us. I thought about my own life. I am 23 years old. I can’t imagine how I would feel if I was ‘mislead’ like she was. The beauty is this… she realizes that she was never mislead. This was God’s plan for her life.
Hellen built relationships with other missionaries and pastors that have come through CICRIN to help her build this safe place. CICRIN was once a place where boys were beaten and abused as the government trained them for war – now chains are being broken and freedom reigns at CICRIN.
Hellen gave God what she thought was going to be just ONE month, but that was all God needed! Just ONE ‘yes’ to begin writing the beginning of what’s been a beautiful story.
God knew that with every bath in the crocodile infested water, every scream she shrieked out while running under the bat-covered awning, and all the times that she went without eating because there was no food, He was luring her closer and closer to Him. Hellen has fallen in love with CICRIN, but that’s not why she is still here 27 years later. She’s here because she knows that this is God’s plan for her life and that where His will is, she is safest.
After hearing her testimony, I started thinking more and more. What if she had said, “No God, I’m not going to CICRIN.” What would happen then? Would God have met and lured her in at a different time? Then I thought, God gives us so many chances to say, ‘yes.’ I look at my own life and can list tons. It’s up to us what our response to God’s call will be. God doesn’t give up after just ONE ‘No’ from us. If He did, I don’t want to think about where stubborn HB would be at this point.
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One year. One month. One week. One day. One person. One word. One moment. You fill in the blank. One ________.
The word ONE is small. It’s only 3 letters. The small quantity of ONE is not a lot either – It’s actually defined as the lowest cardinal number. This can make us think that it is insignificant. But let me tell you, there IS power in ONE. God has chosen me, ONE person for a such a time as this. I look back on the past 7 months of being on the race… He has used me in so many ways by giving Him ONE ‘yes’.
Guess what? He has chosen you too. Giving Christ ONE ‘yes’ means you are allowing Him to come into your life and not only show up, but show out. There is so much power in responding ONE time to God, just think about the endless possibilities if you say ‘yes’ more than ONEce.
I dare you to give God ONE day… or ONE week… or ONE year… Let me know how it goes for ya.
*CICRIN is an incredible place, and though there is freedom here, there is also a lot of spiritual warfare. Please keep these children and the staff here in your prayers.
[feel free to visit CICRIN’s website at www.cicrinus.org]
