A day in the life

Oh hey!  It has been a while...and I am sorry about that.  I didn't realize how hard it would be to keep up with sharing what all I am doing here.  We are always on the move and when we are not..well I honestly just like to sleep haha!  One of my friends here will always without fail text me the moment I lay down and then get on to me for always being in my bed or in the hammock.  And I always like to remind him that although I am laying in my bed at the moment I was EXTREMELY busy today!  haha! 

Let me give you a look into a day in my life.  No two days are the same, I do not have a weekly schedule that is always the same.  Literally every single day is different.  So I will tell you about yesterday.  First thing on the list was school, we teach preschool on Wednesdays.  They are a tough class to teach, I am not really great with little kids so that makes it just a little bit harder for me.  The longer we are in the school the better idea we have of how to teach the kids in each of the different grades.  We discovered that singing songs helps the preschoolers so we have tweaked a few songs to make them what we need for the class.  After class we were going to meet with a girl from church to start discipleship, but the train got derailed at 8:30 when Donna got a phone call saying something needed her attention immediately.  Okay.  We are on the way.  Got to the church and Donna went to deal with the problem and I..well I sat and read a book and chatted with a few friends who happened to walk past.  ((Sometimes I get to read or talk with people when Donna is dealing with things I cannot help with))  Then we went to grab some coffee and something to eat quick.  Once we finished there it was back to talk with a couple more people to figure out some solutions.  Then time for some discipleship with two of the girls from Pochocuape.  After that we had one more stop to make so Donna could work this all out and hopefully be done with it.  While she did that I talked with Jose Rene (he is in his last semester of seminary) and we got to know each other a little better. I have been so blessed to have time to just sit and talk with some of the Nicas who work in this organization.  They have become some of my best friends and I am so very thankful for that.  Then we finally got to head towards home, we stopped to grab some food on the way and got home around 9pm.  Oh and I think we made it home at some point in the day to switch out of our nice clothes from school..

Something I have learned is that ministry doesn't always look like what we think it will.  It isn't always this beautifully put together group of people who always get along and never choose to sin.  Sometimes ministry is coming alongside those who make some bad decisions and working through it with them.  Sometimes ministry means dropping all the plans you made for the day, good plans, plans that edify God, so that you could go help someone else with their mess.  And maybe then end up with one of your own because you now have to figure out how the things you needed to do will get done.  Sometimes ministry means you get to sit with some girls and talk about the wonderful gift of salvation and what that means for our lives now that we have received it.  Sometimes ministry means staring in the face of someone who has so much need and is following God's calling on their life and telling them that they have to trust God to provide.  Sometimes ministry means you are who God is providing through...but sometimes it doesn't... because we are not meant to try and fill every need we see, we cant, and we are not asked to.  Sometimes ministry means you get to have fellowship with friends and just talk and laugh and enjoy life together.  And sometimes it means showing up to be with them after their dad passes away.. There will always be good and exciting parts of ministry, but along with the good comes the hard and broken and just down right ugly.  And usually they walk hand in hand...because as soon as God is getting hold of hearts and moving in lives the devil gets pretty upset and takes every inch he can find and does his best to make them miles. 

These months have been extremely stretching for me in so many ways and I am thankful for every one of them.  I am so incredibly blessed that God chose me and gave me this life and this love for this country.  I would not trade one day of it...well maybe the few I was sick..  God has blessed me by showing me so many different sides of the ministry and what the true cost of living a life fully surrendered to Him looks like.  These are the people I have worked with, people who have left their homes and their families because they knew God had to be greater in their lives, people who have handed God their children, people who have moved to some place without anyone so that they could share the good news of Jesus Christ with a community that so needs Him.  This is ministry.  This is radical faith. 

Will you pray for me?  This is my last week here for now and it is incredibly hard for me to think about leaving.  I know that God has a plan and he is in control, but this place and these people hold my heart like never before.  Pray that I would be able to take each day as the gift that it is and use it to glorify God in whatever way He has asked of me.  Pray for my friends who are struggling with many different things.  Praise God for being sovereign over every situation!  Thank you so much for your prayers and your love and support! 

"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

Pueblo Nuevo

Pueblo Nuevo is different, just like any of the communities I have been in.  The people there are not like most people.  They all care for one another.  They work hard and love hard.  Pueblo Nuevo literally means New Town...which is exactly what it was to me.  But they all opened their arms to me and made me feel like family.  Like I had simply just been gone for a while.  Some of them welcomed me into their home and took care of me while I was there.  As we came into town we went to the home we would be staying in.  Irma welcomed us in and we got to sit and talk with her for a while that afternoon.  After that we went to youth group where I got to meet the youth pastor (who is in his last semester of seminary) and some of the other leaders of the church.  Then we had practice for Sunday.. :)

My friend Enmanuel had invited us for the anniversary celebration.  He had asked me if I would like to be part of the children's music portion of the night.  I innocently believed that meant we would just be in the kids class....weeeeeell I was wrong.  I found out just two weeks before the celebration that this would be happening in front of the whole church.  We did two of the songs I have brought with me in the past few years and we did two songs from their music.  It was really fun getting to be part of the anniversary!  Getting to serve alongside some of the people of the church was a huge blessing and I am so thankful for all of the opportunities I get to do that while I am here. 
 

This church is full of passion.  One of the biggest areas I saw this was in the worship they had.  Just watching some of them worship was one of the most beautiful things I've seen.  It is so passionate and so genuine.  Not only those leading from the stage, but also those who dance and sing the kids songs, and those who are worshiping in the congregation.  If you know me at all you would know that worship is what my soul longs for.  Worship in music but also in life.  Being able to see others do that as well is so encouraging and so sweet to me!  I just love worshiping with someone who is abandoned for God.  Someone who is ready to give of themselves and to pour it out so that God may be blessed.   So many times in life I think we get caught up in the technical portion of it that the reason we do it and beauty behind it gets lost.  It gets overwhelmed by flashing lights and fancy guitars.  The best, most humbling moments of worship are the ones you forget about all that stuff.  Whether the piano is tuned correctly and if I am singing the right harmony.  These are some of the times I feel closest to God.  They are the times I truly love music and where it leads me. 

I am so thankful for the time I got to spend in Pueblo Nuevo and the people I met while I was there.  I pray it won't be too long until I get to go back and see what God has done since.  They truly touched my heart and blessed my life.  Praise God for people who surrender to Him with their whole lives.  Thank Him for the working He has done in Pueblo Nuevo and for what He is continuing to do.  Pray for the church family that they would continue to do what the church is called to do, love one another.  Thank you so much for your prayer and support!  I would really appreciate some extra prayers as my time here is coming to an end waaayyyy too fast.  Pray that God would give me at least one step to take next.  That is all I ask for, one step. 

My good friends Luz...

and Enmanuel

"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

Strangers in the airport.

The rest of our time in Jalapa was spent doing a soccer tournament, helping with youth group, some of us putting on Sunday school for the kids, and the rest sharing testimonies and music in church service. We also spent a bit of time in Pochocuape.  Some of the team did class with us one day and the rest went visiting with Marcelo.  They played soccer with some of the teens from the church and we did bible study there as well.  To finish of the week we spent a day to relax a bit and reflect on what God had done that week.  And of course did a little touring, first to the Masaya volcano that is active right now, then to do a bit of shopping, and off to the volcano crater that is now filled with water creating a fantastic place to swim and chill and just have fun.  Every morning we had a time of devotion to fill ourselves up and be ready to pour ourselves out that day.

God really used this team to encourage and strengthen the Pastor and his family, to bring love, joy, and peace.  It was so awesome to see how God simply used the testimonies and lives of those who came to lift up this church.  Something I think we tend to forget is the importance of every single story, every life saved, every moment that God used to bring people to Him.  They are all important because they tell to story of the One who gave it all so we could have these lives.  Lets all remember that even if you don't have the "huge come to faith moment" God's work in your life is just as amazing and praise worthy as those who do.  Because no matter what He deserves the glory for what He has done in all lives.

This team was such an encouragement to me personally as well.  We became a family and I am so grateful that God gave me this blessing.  Being away from my family is hard, and I was really missing them before this team came.  Don't get me wrong, I still very much miss my family...but having this group here who treated me like a sister and joked with me and made fun of me was exactly what I needed.  Hahaha!  They have become some sweet sweet friends that I didn't know I needed, but am so so blessed to have.  Growing up in a big family who spends a lot of time together and then all of the sudden not having anything like that around is something I hadn't even put thought into as I came.  I had thought of how I would miss them all individually just not as a unit. It is one of those things I didn't know I took for granted.  I have been blessed to make some really great friends here and I so love my Nicas and they truly do feel like family to me...but I have to be careful not to cross lines and I cannot fully communicate with them. So having people I could just let loose and be silly and rude (in the nicest way) to and just straight up sassy with was super refreshing. I don't know why I felt so comfortable with them but I just went with it and it made for some really awesome relationships.

When we picked them up from the airport all I knew was that this group was a bunch of weirdos.  People who I would consider strangers, I mean the way they identified me was by the sign I held in my hand with their church name on it. So it was bound to be a little awkward at first.. Little did I know that these weird strangers would become my family.  It is crazy to me that at the beginning of the week we didn't know each other at all.  By the end of the week we had shared stories, ones of great times and those of some not as great times.  We found out what kind of people we all are. Went from wondering where boundaries are to taking selfies on each others phones and sharing waaayyyy too much information about many things. haha! We had shared jokes and tears, we played games, had some sweet times of devotions, we prayed, and we worshiped together.  Although we all came from different backgrounds, with different stories, with different opinions and talents we were able to be unified by one thing.  One person.  Jesus Christ.  He brought us together and holds us together still. I think that is why the bonds we built were so strong, because they were built in Christ!  In Him we can become one family and one Church.  It is truly a beautiful thing to love and be loved in Christ.

Thanks guys!

 Will you continue to pray with me for the church, Pastor, and school in Jalapa?  That they would lean into God and what He is doing there.  For strength to be able to do all the things they are called to.  For wisdom to know what those things are.  For encouragement and joy in all times.  And for an unmistakable love for Christ that shines so bright those who try to refuse to see it will fail because it is just that powerful.  God is so good!  Always!

 "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

Prayer and trust.

While in Jalapa one day our plan was to have a prayer walk to pray over the property of the church and the school and those who are running them and the people who would come.  For anything God had put in our hearts to pray for.  After that we would have a pop up VBS in a park.  So we got to the church and all took some time to walk around and pray and ask these things of the Lord, and then we all met up on a hill that overlooked the whole property and you could see a good amount of the city from there.  I could feel the power in that moment, when we were all seeking God together even when we were not all praying together.  As we all walked in different directions and areas of the property the presence of God was there.  These moments brought such encouragement and joy to me.  Just to know that as we asked He was there listening and caring for what we care for. We read some scripture and took some time to pray together.  Then we went back to go get ready and head out for vbs.

As soon as we got to the church it started down pouring for about ten minutes.  Usually it only rains for about ten minutes and is done for the rest of the day so we waited a while to make sure the rain was going to be done and it started raining again.  This time we just decided to eat lunch and then head out after, but as soon as we were about to walk out the gate the officials we had been praying would come showed up.  So Pastor Porfirio met with them and we all waited anxiously to see what would happen.  It started raining again after they left so at that point it was almost three and we decided it was best to just cancel the vbs for that day.  And we had some team building time and some time that the Pastor shared his testimony.  He shared about how him and his wife had to make a very real and difficult decision to give God everything, including their son, in order to follow Him.  Because of that God has blessed them and their son is a bright and silly twelve year old.  These people are a true picture of what it looks like to completely abandon worldly things to follow God.  They are some of the sweetest, most humble, caring people I have ever met.  Blanca (Pastor Porfirio's wife) has the biggest heart and uses it to love anyone she meets!  This family has Christ pouring out of every word they speak.

 

After Porfirio shared his story we were all, of course, eager to hear what happened with the officials who came so we asked him to share what happened.  He said that they had told him as soon as they walked on to the property they knew they were going to approve this permit and one of them even asked him to save a spot for her daughter.  Another offered to take the papers to Managua to put them through.  When he shared this we were all crying, and I mean all of us.  It was so so cool to see God answer our prayers right in front of us just hours after we had asked this of Him.  There is so much power in prayer, power in the Body of Christ coming together and unifying in one purpose, power in love being poured out, power in humility, power in trust, power in hope, power in faith, most of all there is power in the name of Jesus. 

We got to then spend some time just in some sweet sweet fellowship and worship of our God! This day was special.  I don't think there was ever a day that I was so happy our plans were ruined. He is truly in control and sovereign over everything in our lives!  Praise Him for working in the unplanned days!  Pray with me for the school as they continue to take the last steps to opening in February!

"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

Restoration, Metro, and Jalapa!

This week I have been with a team that is two different churches.  One from D.C. and another from Detroit.  We picked them up from the airport at some different times and headed north for Jalapa.  Jalapa is in the mountains right on the border of Honduras.  We arrived right in time to hop into bed and rest up for our first day.  We went into this week not really knowing what this team had planned for the week and it started a little stressful but God has made it beautiful.

Alex giving out invitations in the school

Our first day we spent some time in different groups and walked around the city to invite kids out to a VBS event we would be having later in the afternoon.  It was really fun to walk around and go into the school to talk with them and invite them.  For me it was also a good time to get to know some of the people I would be doing ministry with for the week.  Once we finished with that we all met back up at the church and got to hear a little bit about the school that will (Lord willing) open in February.  We were told that they have been waiting on some permits that they need before they can officially say they are opening.  The officials who needed to approve these permits were supposed to come that day...but never showed up.

Pastor Porfirio leading games at snack time

We had lunch and got ready for the kids to arrive.  VBS was really fun and we had about 175 kids show up.  We had some music, games, activities and of course snack!  Someone read the story of Joseph and then Marcelo gave an invitation.  Five children gave their lives to Christ that afternoon!  Can we just praise God for this??!!! It is so beautiful and so humbling to be part of others coming to know Christ as their Savior.  After we wrapped up the VBS we headed to our home for the week to clean up a bit and have dinner and devotions.  This was such a sweet time that we got to have every day, sharing what God had done in our lives as we had poured out for Him.

Thursday we had another VBS in a school and saw 2 more kids receive Christ as their Savior!  We got a bit of time to relax and get ready and then we headed to church.  Three of the people from our team shared their testimonies, some of the group lead a couple songs, and one of the guys gave a short message.  It was great to see them jump in and get involved and really invest themselves in the church here.  We made some new friends at church that night and just had a good time getting to know some of our other friends.  And again we came back and had some dinner and devotions.  The Pastor shared with us later in the week how much the testimonies had truly touched his and his wife's heart and the hearts of those in his church.

Jacquelyn reading the story of Joseph

I'm sorry I have missed more than a week of sharing...just means I have some catching up to do!  God really worked this week and to just be there in the presence of what He was doing was extremely powerful.  Will you praise Him with me for those who gave their hearts to God through the working of this team?  Pray for them as they begin to understand more of who He is and how that should change their life for the better.  Pray for those who will disciple them and lead them.  Thank you so much for your prayers!  They are important and truly impacting what God is doing here!

Coloring with the kids

"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