From Granada to Managua. Nothing up our sleeves, but the word of the Lord that said, “Go.” Bus ride after bus ride, we arrive and I’m still sick from the beginning of the month. We arrive to the hostel we planned to stay at only to find out that it’s double the amount we possess in our budget.
Having little to no energy to function, much less make decisions, we walked around to quickly realize that Managua isn’t a place you can travel by foot and also a place that lodging is not within budget. The backpacker, the original hostel, was the cheapest place in Managua so for night one it would have to do and we would pray about where to go next.
That night we spent the remainder of the evening researching Unsung Heroes, which are ministries that may be interested in hosting mission trip teams from Adventures in Missions. My team was designated to seek Unsung Heroes out throughout all of Nicaragua for the whole month. We sent out countless e-mails and made phone call after phone call. Everything we did, it appeared we were hitting brick walls. This lead to some of us quickly becoming frustrated.
Emotionally, physically, and even mentally drained my hope was dwindling and my heart was so heavy. I was at a loss as to what I could do about anything and it was becoming more and more real to me as time went on. At this point, we were banking on going to a local bible study, whose mission is to host teams and network others with other ministries, the next day and asking the Lord to provide us with a place to stay or a ministry who would take us in.
Going to the front desk, we ask the on duty employee and our soon to be friend, Roberto, how to get to this specific ministry site. As he gives us directions he begins opening up to us and sharing with Markelle and I how special we are and how our hearts are for the Lord and he can see that all over us. He encourages us to not give up on the special calling the Lord has given us. He continues to say, “People are going to tell you that you are crazy. They will not understand. You will even have family members that may not get what you are doing. There will be times that you feel alone and lost, but remember that God is with you.”
In that moment, I was encouraged to the point of tears by the words not of man, but those were the words of Jesus. Paying double our budget was all of a sudden okay for me. He then starts to tell us how he used to be close to the Lord and was a pastor of youth, but he stepped down and is working on growing more intimate with the Lord. We then got to pray and prophesy over Roberto and he also prayed for us. We all felt the presence of the Lord so thick and our time together ended in tearful eyes of refreshment and joy. Roberto was the Lord’s gentle way of calming our storm and reminding us that He was with us and He was in control.
There will be times when the circumstances of life don’t line up, but the Lord’s will is still at hand. In those moments you have a chance to trust God or to question. It was the words of Roberto that lead us from questioning to trusting and for this encounter I praise God. I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that instance was why the Lord allowed us to stay at the Backpacker.
