Today is Wednesday. On Wednesdays we wake up at 7 for breakfast and leave at 8. We squish 10 people into an 8 seater van that looks similar to a ghetto Mystery Van from Scooby Doo. Except 100x more awesome. We get our core workouts for the day by keeping ourselves upright the enitre trip despite the stick shift transmission continuously abruptly stopping and going to avoid the innumberable amount of potholes, broken asphalt, stray dogs, people in the middle of the road selling their goods or trying to wash your windshield, buses cutting in and out of traffic like they are motorcycles, motorcycles obeying zero traffic laws, and the occasional gawker who is frozen in time because they can’t get over the sight of a van stuffed full of gringos (white people, crackers, Americans, etc.) in the middle of San Salvador, El Salvador.
Depending on traffic we usually arrive at the school, where we teach English to teens and young adults, around thirty minutes later. This has always been a fun experience for me the last few times we have gone. Being able to converse with the people one and one really helps me with my Spanish and I get to help them with their English! It’s a win win for all involved.
But today, God had more than fun in mind. I was partnered with a man named Nelson. Pastor Nelson. A middle-aged man who is a pastor at a local church who is learning English. We worked together in his notebook on regular and irregular verbs. Now… okay… so, it’s been probably close to seven years since I have studied grammar, (sorry Mrs. Dixon) and I admit he may have been more irregular verb savvy than I. This led to laughter and then laughter led to conversation.
He asked me about my trip and what I wanted to do after I got home. I told him I didn’t know. He asked, “Will you continue to be a missionary?”. I paused. Would I continue to be a missionary? If so, what would that look like? I was honest with him. I said, I would like to be a missionary and continue to be a nurse but I don’t know what that would look like or how I would do that. I told him that I was leaving that part up to God. He nodded in agreement.
He then went on to tell me that he has a big dream. I was intrigued. Not just because of his statement but because he had said it in Spanish and I understood! (Thank you Mrs. Mapes!) He continued and through broken English he began to tell me about how he wants to build a church in the mountains and also an orphanage because, “My heart is for the children”.
The joy of the Lord welled up inside of me! What a big and amazing God-given dream! His smile stretched from ear to ear and his eyes lit up as he talked about his plans. This made my heart so happy. I felt the Lord pressing on my heart to ask him about what name he planned for the church to be called. He looked at me curiously, as if no one had ever asked him about it before.
I quickly said in Spanish, “Un sueño grande necesita un nombre grande!” or “A big dream needs a big name!”
His eyes lit up and then he said excitedly, “Strong Tower” as he motioned strength with flexing arms (aka “the Jimmy”).
(Shoutout to Fearless Youth Group and Camp Corley 2017!!!)
I then asked him, “What about the orphanage??”. He paused. His eyes searched the floor as if he was trying to find the name in the tiles. He looked up and smiled and said, “I was thinking of calling it The Eagle’s Nest“.
“As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings: So the Lord alone will lead you…”
Deuteronomy 32:11-12
Now that is a big name for a big dream. The name rang so clear in my heart. All I could think was how beautiful a name for such a beautiful dream. He then looked at me and asked, “So what will be the name of your clinic? A big dream needs a big name.”
Wow, okay God. You found me. Here in El Salvador. And knocked me right on my butt. Here I am, trying to encourage and speak boldness into this man’s life, and he turns the tables on me. How beautiful it is, the way God does things. I looked at him and said, “I’m not sure yet, but I will be praying about it.” And without skipping a beat, he said, “Can I pray for you now?”
And so, he prayed for me in Spanish and then I prayed for him in English. He told me his church will be praying for me and I promised him that I would tell my church about his big dream and be praying for God’s divine appointments for it to come to pass. So, will you join me in praying for Pastor Nelson’s big dream?
“The wonder and mystery of prayer is God waits until someone asks.”
~Billy Graham
“Prayer moves the arm of God.”
~ Dorris Johnson
