Sagebrush and a little push.

 On Monday we headed up to La Esmeralda with the team from Sagebrush church from New Mexico.  The trip took a little longer than expected and we did not get there until about 2pm.  We ate a quick lunch and had a short day in the clinic. This was a good way for the team to get their feet wet and get an idea of how things run in the clinic.  I started at the check in point, which is taking temperature, weight and height, basic complaint, and blood pressure (my sweet friend Rosalinda did this).  Then I ended up helping in the pharmacy a bit as well.  Last time we were in La Esmeralda I had been at the check in part a couple of days....but I was helping my friend Tania who speaks English.  This time it was me and two Spanish speakers which was really scary to me at first but as we got going I realized I could do this; well not me but Christ in me.  Working in the pharmacy was something I did not feel qualified for either, but I got to work with Jim (from Sagebrush) and Kim (from Managua) and the pharmacist and we all got it done together!  This week I was pushed out of my comfort zone.  This was just the beginning of how God worked this last week.

Tuesday we gathered together to eat breakfast and then have some time of devotions.  Then we waited out the rain....and waited...and waited hahaha!  It was a national holiday here in Nicaragua so we had to close the clinic that day.  Once the rain let up we headed out to a community about an hour drive from the clinic to hand out some hygiene packs and share God's love with the people.  The packs we were giving out were the ones that Fox River had funded but we didn't have enough time to give out.  I saw God's plan in this because as we were walking around the team from Sagebrush was really impacted by being able to bless these people and pray for them and see how they live.  One of them shared at dinner that night that they felt like having seen where the people live and what they have she would be able to better treat them and have a better understanding of why they were struggling with the things that they did.  For some it was a realization of where to truly seek for joy. A humbling experience for everyone in one way or another, one that I pray we will not forget and will be a point of change.

We also got to visit the waterfall on our way back to the clinic.  It is so beautiful and so powerful.  It reminds me of God's grace.  He pours it out on us and it just overflows into such a beautiful thing. This week His grace was evident, His power was evident.  My friend, Betsaida, wanted to go across to the other side (something I usually refrain from because I am already clumsy enough) but didn't want to go alone so we made our way across....with some help from our very loving Pastor Denis, Dixon and William.  None of them know our to swim and all of them soaked themselves so that we would not have to.  I ended up falling in anyway hahaha!  Once we got to the other side William told us that we were missing out on the best part and so he took us (Bet, Kim, and myself) on a short hike.  We ended up going to to top of the waterfall and looking down from the overflow.  It was so beautiful. 

 

This week was a really cool experience for me for a lot of reasons.  One of them being that I got to see the impact Fox River has on this community and those around it even after they are gone.  I got to see the clinic in action in many capacities throughout the week.  We got to show more love with the hygiene packs, and I got to see some of the different ways things work when a team from Fox River isn't there.  God is truly using this clinic and this church to bring His Kingdom here on earth and it is one of my favorite things to be part of.  I really enjoy all of the ministries I get to be part of here in Nicaragua, but when I get to be in La Esmeralda and serve with some of my best friends it is just different.  I so so so love that community and the people in it. 

 "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.  And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.  If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing."                                                                                                                                  1 Corinthians 13:1-3