While in Nicaragua I’ve met many wonderful people. Our host Ron gave me a piñata on my birthday. Mario and Juan Carlos played chauffeur for us and we’re patient when we ran late. Our hostess, Lauren made every effort to pour into us. She even held a Bible study for just us women. Everyone was so kind. There were so many people who stepped into my life this month.
One of those people that I really got to know is Pastor Antonio. One of our first days of evangelism Pastor Antonio lead us through a small village. None of us really spoke Spanish but we could still feel his heart. Pastor loves everyone. We sang songs for the sick and prayed for a widow. We even went to a house to share about God with a group of teenagers. We did our best. We told them stories and sang song but they still weren’t into it. Their grandmother thanked us for coming. I could only imagine how she felt, knowing her grandkids and their friends didn’t want to follow God. We spent awhile their telling stories and praying. The kids basically ignored us, but our presence really touched their grandmother’s heart. I felt like a failure though. But I know we cans force people to have faith. Pastor Antonio had so much grace for us. He thanked us for our help.
Pastor Antonio is a strong fearless man. He has a sickness/injury in his neck in his 5th vertebrae. I’m not exactly sure what the problem is because translating medical terms in Spanish is especially hard. But we prayed for him for healing and I encourage you to pray too. His injury doesn’t stop him though. He goes door to door, house to house evangelizing. He just preaches and does his thing without anything stopping him.
One day we asked Pastor if he had any Bibles we could give to people in the villages. He said he didn’t. My squad took the initiative to start an online fundraiser. Within 3 days we had raised funds and purchased something like 160 bibles. We gave them to Pastor knowing he knew where to distribute them. It’s always best to give to someone in the community so they can be the one to give to others. That way the community respects them. But Pastor wanted to include us in the distribution of the bibles. He even saved a portion of the bible for Doctor Michael and Lauren to give.
He’s such a sweet man. He was always grateful to us. He didn’t care if we only knew 3 songs in Spanish or if we told the same bible study to both the morning and afternoon groups. Pastor loved us with such a deep love. He has a passion that just radiates from him. He has gone with us through everything. He was such an important part of this month. Because of him 120 people gave their lives to Christ. Pastor Antonio is the man who will get to see these people walk in faith. He will be the one who will make sure someone follows up with them. Even though there was 34 of us, Pastor remembered my name. He’s just one of those people who is unforgettable.
