This month my squad and I have been in Chinandega, Nicaragua and its surrounding communities. It is all squad month which means all 34 of my squad mates and I have been living and doing ministry together. Our ministry is called Vision Nicaragua and it is run by some pretty incredible Nicas and missionaries from Ashville, NC. These people are fiercely loyal. They are gracious. They are kind. They accept you. And they love with their whole hearts.
I have been looking forward to this month since I began looking at World Race routes. My family has been involved in ministry in this country for years, and I was super stoked about working with the people here. I actually picked this route for the simple reason that they were going to Nicaragua.
This month I have stepped outside of my comfort zone. Anyone who knows me knows that I do not like speaking in front of people or being the center of attention in a group full of strangers. I knew at some point on the World Race I would be pushed in this area, but I had no idea that it would be in month two.
As luck would have it, our ministry has been completely focused on evangelism. For us, that looked like many, many, many house visits with a couple of people from my squad and an interpreter or ministry host. Our host would introduce us and then ask which of us was going to share a word from the Lord. Sometimes we would show up at a house and there would be 20 or more people waiting to hear what we had to say.
To be honest I panicked every time this happened. I told my teammates that I was NOT going to speak, but of course, being the good teammates they are, they pushed me in this area. By the end of the month I had spoken in front groups of alcohol/drug addicted men, families, women’s Bible studies, and schools full of children. I can’t say that public speaking has gotten any easier, but I have seen the fruit of my squad mates and I stepping out in faith that the Holy Spirit would provide words.
In the past month, we have seen 120 people come to know Jesus! 120! That’s something to get excited about!!! Another incredible thing that happened this month was that we were able to raise enough money to buy 160 Bibles for this community! After many house visits, our squad saw a great need for Bibles. Many people were interested in Jesus, but they had no way of learning about Him for themselves. Several of my squad mates took action and raised over $1,000 in a day for these Bibles! It was an incredible feeling to hand an adult their very first Bible.
Just think about it for a minute, what if I wouldn’t have spoken when I felt prompted? What would have happened if others in my squad hadn’t shared their testimonies? What if the girls who started the fundraiser to buy Bibles hadn’t of taken a huge risk and asked supporters for money? What if we had all stayed in our comfort zones? The answers to these question are simple. 120 people wouldn’t know the love of Jesus and 160 people wouldn’t have the tools to strengthen their relationship with their Creator.
The world is slowly changing because supporters like yourselves have lifted my squad up in prayer and/or followed the Lord’s prompting and given to our ministry financially.
The things that I talked about in this blog don’t even begin to cover the things we’ve accomplished here. We’ve hosted medical clinics, held workshops on the dangers of drugs and alcohol abuse for schools, prayed over sick people and seen healings, and built more relationships than you can count. Thank you, thank you, for your continued support! Love you all!
