It’s interesting how as Racers sign up for the race there’s a tendency to think we will have an opportunity to travel to 11 countries and help with 11 different ministries. This is true, but what no one can prepare you for is how your heart may get rocked 11 different times. How no matter what you think you may be able to bring to a ministry, the reality is they are going to give you more than you could ever imagine. You will undoubtedly have an impact on those you meet, but this race and the people you meet will change you more than you ever thought possible.
The original intentions behind the design of moving from country to country every three and a half weeks or so is to help each racer develop a particular lifestyle and not become comfortable with certain circumstances. Living a Christian life should not be dependent upon any particular situation. Seth Barnes, the founder, wants us to be who God has created us to be in any environment we are placed in regardless of how long we actually stay there and regardless of what resources we have. It’s beautiful.
Philippians 4:11b-13 “For I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him that gives me strength.”
I saw these verses lived out this past month. My team was placed at Vida Joven (Young Life) camp in Nicaragua. From the moment we stepped foot on the 154 acre camp we knew this month was going to be different.
Nicaragua is the poorest country in Central America according to economic studies, but from my experience Nicaragua is the richest country I have ever seen. The people get it.
The typical work day at the camp was from 7:30a-4:30p and most of the workers lived a decent distance from the site. Not many have a car so the bosses leave early hours in the dark and drive around picking up workers for their shift. When the day is over they all gather around the vans and the bosses take them home.
Morning devotion was at 7am every morning and we would go in our work clothes and sit among the workers. Before we would break to get our assignments for the day we would all huddle up. A room full of grown men, women, teenagers, and our group would pile together putting our hands in the middle and shout out a word as a team would before the championship game. We are a team. We all have the same goal and every day we would work alongside one another to accomplish that goal.
Throughout the month we shoveled a ditch along the main road to help with the mudslides. We cleared a three story drain, helped construct a team building exercise by carrying phone poles up a mountain, digging holes, and building one of the structures for a side of the bridge. We carried posts down the mountain, dug more holes to help with the building of a new shed, cleaned yards, washed and scraped paint off the main gate, made a pool stick holder, a new door, helped change over a hundred beds around the camp, trimmed bushes and shrubs in the labyrinth, built steps from a water hole up the side of the mountain, helped build a retaining wall around the side of a new water structure, dug a ditch to help with drainage around the bone yard, and various other jobs.
I have always been a fan of manual labor and the physical exertion on your body. It’s incredible the conversations that stem while you are carrying your third phone pole up a mountain with seven other people, or when the rain is beating down so hard you can hardly keep an eye open as you’re trying to check with the others whether the posts in the ground are lining up. You get to know these people. They share their life with you. There’s no faking it. There’s no pretending. You see the real them and they see the real you. It’s beautiful. There’s freedom in it. God is in it.
Regardless of the weather, regardless of how difficult the task may be, I never once…never once saw anyone at this camp complain. They always smiled. They always laughed. They were happy. They may do work others view undesirable. They may not be able to buy things those chasing the American dream feel are necessary, but they are rich beyond words. They come to work day in and day out and carry hundred pound cement blocks on their back to build a new dining hall because their camp is busting at the seams with kids and they need more room. Most of the men we worked with had their lives changed at this very camp. They are incredibly passionate about the work here and are willing to do whatever it takes so other kids can come to camp, meet God, find hope, and have their lives changed as well.
As the month was almost over the realization we would be leaving soon was weighing heavily on all of our hearts. In Nicaragua they don’t celebrate Thanksgiving so we thought it would pretty cool to cook them an American meal and explain to them how thankful we were to be able to do life with them this past month. We got permission from our boss and cleared it with the head cook. They took us to get groceries and the preparation began. The morning before we left we helped prepare the food alongside the cooks and at lunch all the workers piled in packing the dining hall. We shared how grateful we were to have been able to have the opportunity to meet all of them. We explained how God’s presence is evident at this camp and how our lives will never be the same after having been here. We were all crying.
These people are the real deal. They get it. Leaving that place was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. Hugging grown men, both of us crying, because we know how hard it is to put into words what we’ve experienced this past month, but we know it was without a doubt a gift from God. Nicaragua will always have a piece of my heart and I hope to see my brothers and sisters again some day.
If you would like to bring a part of Vida Joven into your own home and make a difference in kids’ lives you can do so by purchasing some of the best coffee in the world at beyondbeanscoffee.com. Vida Joven grows and grounds their own coffee, which has won awards all over the world. For every bag of coffee they sell it pays for a kid’s day at camp. Please check them out and tell everyone you know. Allow Vida Joven to permeate your home and I promise you…. you won’t regret it.
