This is a summary of my time in Nicaragua and some of my thoughts 🙂
Month 2: Granada, Nicaragua
Ministry Host: El Puente
Ministry: We had several ministries this month, including construction for a Christian school being built for children in a very poor town called Pantanal, cleaning and building relationships at the “House of the Ancients” (nursing home), the children’s feeding program, children’s VBS program, Island Zapatera church construction, ministering to and feeding people at the dump, and the sports ministry.
Living Situation: This month was “all-squad month,” which means that all members of X-Squad (which is about 50 people) have been living together all month. We had a total of 8 showers, 4 toilets, and 1 kitchen. We lived in a dorm with bunk beds…nearly everyone had a bed and some people slept in hammocks.
What each day of the week looked like:
Sundays: Church at El Puente, the rest of the day was free.
Monday-Friday: Work/ministry days
Saturdays: Sports ministry in the morning/afternoon and then the rest of the day was free
Challenges of the month: Finding alone time due to having all 50 squad-mates together, the growth and lessons that God has been teaching me, plumbing issues at El Puente, a very long walk to the grocery store, constant sweating (still not used to it haha), not being able to speak Spanish, biting ants everywhere, not having a clear-cut schedule like we did last month, a very long walk to get internet, sharing 1 kitchen with 50 other people
Awesomeness: Getting to know people within the squad better, seeing shooting stars, having deeper conversations with my teammates, celebrating Derik’s birthday, getting wifi at The Garden Café, taking the ‘chicken bus’ to our ministry site every day (I loved claiming the middle seat beside the driver up front…no one ever wanted that seat but I loved it), volcano boarding was INSANE and amazing, sunsets on the island, sleeping in a bunk bed for most of the month, celebrating Halloween together, Victoria teaching me how to make pancakes
Sights: Colorful buildings everywhere, volcanos in the distance, beautiful doors and gates, blue skies, people riding bikes, lizards, all 50 squad-mates living together
Sounds to remember: Music playing everywhere, lizards squeaking, cars driving fast and honking, people speaking Spanish, the guy who works on the bus yelling at people to get in quickly, guineas (birds on our property that look like turkeys but way scarier)
Favorite Verses of the Month: Hebrews 10:19-39, 2 Corinthians 12:1-10, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, Matthew 5:3, Acts 3:6, Hebrews 12:1-2, Hebrews 13:5-6, Hebrews 13:14, Hebrews 4:12
My own personal Bible readings: Mark, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews (currently memorizing Hebrews 10:19-39…so good)
In case you haven’t read my last blog from Costa Rica, each month on the World Race I will be leaving behind something that I feel God is wanting me to leave. In Costa Rica I left my fear behind, and this month in Nicaragua I’m leaving behind my comfort.
Comfort is something I’ve been slowly letting go of since I signed up for the World Race, and each day God has been chipping away parts of comfort I was holding on to. Nothing about the World Race has been comfortable, so I’m ready to officially leave behind my natural instinct to be comfortable in a situation. I’ve seen that it’s in the uncomfortable moments that God is molding me.
The level of poverty and despair we witnessed this month was completely different than what we experienced last month. It’s been extremely uncomfortable and saddening. My heart has been broken over and over and over again all month in a variety of ways.
I’ve been angry at God this month. I’ve thought “I can’t do anything about the way these people live, so why did you bring me here to see it?” It didn’t make any sense to me. I thought over and over again that I could have just stayed back home, knowing in the back of my mind that people live in poverty but never having to see it with my own eyes. I used to see commercials on tv of people starving and living on dirt floors, and then turn the channel…because who wants to see that?
I can no longer turn the channel. I’m right in the midst of it all. And it hurts. It’s painful and at times unbearable. And most of all, it’s uncomfortable.
It’s uncomfortable to go to the city dump, the smell suffocating you and the buzzards swarming overhead, and try to share the Gospel with people who are looking through the trash, trying to find something they can salvage for money.
It’s uncomfortable to be asked to pray out loud at the city dump as all the ‘workers’ stare at you, waiting to be given just a glimpse of hope in their lives.
It’s uncomfortable to give honest, raw feedback to your teammates to help them grow into the people God created them to be.
It’s uncomfortable to see children coming down the street with their bowl and cup ready to be fed a meal, not knowing when the last time was that they had something to eat.
It’s uncomfortable to go into someone’s home (a 1 room shack) and be asked to hold hands with and pray for a stranger who can’t walk or see.
It’s uncomfortable to be told we would be digging and wheel barreling dirt since we did that for most of our time in Costa Rica.
It’s uncomfortable to walk out into the middle of a lake, stare at a volcano in the distance, and yell at God for all the pain He’s bringing me through.
It’s uncomfortable to be told that something I did was wrong and hurtful.
It’s uncomfortable to be crammed into a bus like sardines, having a stranger’s sweaty arm pressing against yours.
It’s uncomfortable to see a teammate hurting and know there’s nothing you can do or say to make the pain go away.
It’s uncomfortable to start a conversation with someone, not knowing whether or not they speak English.
It’s uncomfortable to have thousands of gnats swarming around you while you try to eat alittle bit of rice and beans.
It’s uncomfortable to be asked to play goalie in a soccer game when you’ve never played soccer before.
It’s uncomfortable to ‘clean’ yourself with dirty lake water.
It’s uncomfortable to hear from a lady named Ruth in the nursing home that she isn’t visited by her son because he “doesn’t have the time.”
These are a few of the uncomfortable moments I’ve experienced this month. But I’ve noticed that it’s in these uncomfortable moments that God’s presence can be felt the most.
Jesus didn’t avoid uncomfortable moments.
He went towards them.
He didn’t turn his back on the poor and the sick and the hungry.
He went to them and gave them what he had…hope
Chase after the uncomfortable with me. You’ll never be the same.
