This has been our final full week in Nicaragua, and it’s been really sweet. We’ve done some of the same things like chores, working at the school, evangelism, and one of the highlights of every day is always spending time with the kids at the orphanage after dinner until they go to bed. Some of the little boys have realized that I like to play “beisbol” with them (aka wiffleball), and during the day when I see them around they ask me “Jordan, beisbol esta noche?” and I assure them that we can play after dinner. There was one night last week when we did a devotional with the kids before bedtime which involved everyone spreading out into their own space while we listened to some worship music. After a while, some of us began going around and praying with the kids, and then all of the kids got up and asked to pray for us individually and it was the sweetest thing ever. My little friend Celeste came up to me and put her arm around me and prayed a simple little prayer for me in Spanish and it was a moment I will always remember.
Also, this past Wednesday night some of us went to a service at the church with all of the little girls from the orphanage. We sang some worship songs (some of which I actually recognized from Spanish class at HCHS) and split up into groups to pray together for specific things. It was a cool experience to pray out loud all at the same time with voices speaking different languages but knowing we all believe in the same God. These types of cross cultural experiences have given me a perspective that will be one of the big things I’ll take away from this first month, that the western Christian Reformed church experience that I had growing up is wonderful and I’m thankful for it, but the kingdom of God knows no culture, language, or specific denomination, and my worldview is being widened to understand that.
I’ve been reading Acts lately and I want to share a few things that have really stuck with me. First, it really stood out that “God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right” (10:34-35), and “even to the Gentiles God has granted repentance that leads to life” (11:18). Reading this reminded me that I’m adopted into the faith, I’m a Gentile and contrary to my subconscious belief, the shape and size and color of my western version of Christianity is not the “right” way, or the wrong way for that matter. It’s just one version of how following the Lord looks in my space and culture. But my eyes are being opened to how Christians in other corners of the world love and serve the same God, know the same stories, believe the same promises, but worship differently, have different traditions and culture, and that’s so beautiful. There are things I think that North Americans could learn from Central Americans, such as the ability to slow down and be interruptible, to be content with only basic needs met, to practice radical hospitality, and to actually lean on God to provide tangibly when human powers simply can’t get it done.
Second, it’s been powerful reading about the way people like Peter, Paul, and Barnabas obediently followed the lead of the Holy Spirit, and that miracles happened because of his power in them and through the power of the name of Jesus. It’s wild that I’ve been taught these stories for a long time but for the first time they’re coming so alive for me. It’s always seemed sort of like a fairy tale or something hearing about the Holy Spirit leading people and miracles happening, but here and now on the race I have learned more about as well as witnessed first hand this kind of spirit led living which makes these stories feel so much more real and possible.
Thursday night we got the special opportunity to listen to Helen, the current director of the orphanage, give her testimony and share about the history of how CICRIN came to be. It was really cool to hear her story about how she ended up reluctantly coming to Nicaragua from Costa Rica and how God had to really work on her heart to convince her to eventually be the one to take over CICRIN as well as adopt two of the little girls here. Helen is a really amazing woman, and hearing her share with such honesty and and vulnerability about how she struggled and was resistant to God’s plan at times was really powerful because we look up to her so much and think she is incredible, but even she has had her fair share of wrestling with the Lord.
Helen also reiterated how the last year was just a really difficult time in Nicaragua with the political unrest and over 300 people being killed, and that all the teams for the second half of 2018 cancelled their trips to CICRIN which really made for financial hardship for the orphanage as hosting teams who pay to stay and serve here is how they finance to keep things running. But it was incredible to hear about how God provided for CICRIN through all the difficulties of the past year and the school was able to be the only one on the island still operating through the thick of the political struggles. Helen shared how they were still able to feed the children lunch every day out of clearly insufficient amounts of food because they prayed each day that he would multiply what they had in order to provide. The faith of these people is so big, but Helen gave each of us a little piece of paper with a mustard seed taped to it to remind us that even if at times our faith wanes small, God is still willing to move mountains. This place has and continues to be such a pillar of hope and safety in the community here on the island of Ometepe, and it has been so special to be a part of it this month.
(I haven’t been able to load photos on the blog but I made an instagram account specifically for this trip @jordanworldrace for anyone interested)
