Quick Update:

 Hello,

I wanted to write to share and update with you and to say thank you for your continued support…

As you know, over the last couple years, I have been trying my best to live out God’s purpose and plan for my life.  In September of 2019, I moved to Nicaragua to start language school, with a plan to be finished by May of 2020. 

As I started language school, I received some advice from another missionary to focus on learning the language and not to get too distracted by adding a bunch of ministry to my plate right away. To be honest with you it was really hard for me to not have a place to serve regularly.  Then my friends pointed out to me a ministry God had placed in my lap without me even acknowledging it.  My Spanish teachers!  I had a couple different teachers that I was working with.  During my class time, part of what we would do is converse, to work on my vocabulary and for them to help me fix my problem areas.  During that time, Jesus became one of the main topic points!  I was able to share about a love so great that nothing you can do can separate you from it.  Although I did not lead either of my teachers to salvation, I was able to plant many seeds.  

After having a few months of school complete, I felt like God was telling me it was time to get involved in a ministry. In January of 2020 I started co-leading a girls soccer team by leading the devotions.  A great joy that I was able to use my Spanish in ministry.  

In March of 2020 as we all started hearing about Covid-19, I had about three months left to finish my classes.  However, I had to quickly make the very hard decision to return to the states as Covid-19 was more of an immediate situation.  At the time, I was convinced I would only be gone for a few months and then be able to return to finish school.  God had other plans.  By June all airlines had stopped flying to Nicaragua due to Covid-19. 

During my time of waiting to return to Nicaragua, God provided me with many random jobs, which were a huge blessing for me!  I also had the opportunity during my time in the states to be involved in a few different ministries, by way of translation, prayer, and financial support. When I left Nicaragua, I couldn’t see the opportunities God would lay out for me, but it has been really cool getting to use what I have learned to further ministries. 

Something I have learned over the last year, is that my location cannot and will not stop the plans God has for my life!  God wants to use me, and that will not stop whether I am in Wisconsin, Nicaragua, or somewhere else completely.  

As I waited and longed to be back in Nicaragua, I was asking God when my time would be to go back. That day finally came, after a year and a couple months.  On Monday, May 17th 2021, I landed here in Managua!  I am excited and anxious to see what God has in store for these next few months.  

My first couple weeks back have been full of so much love and laughter but we have also seen the devil at work against the advancing Kingdom of God here in Nicaragua. I ask you to join me in praying for my friends here who are giving everything to answer the call of Christ in their lives. Their strength and courage inspires me each and every day to do more to see lives saved!

Without you I would not be able to answer the call God has put on my life. Thank you for making it
possible for me to share Jesus with the people of Nicaragua! 

Basic Level ☑️

This week I received my first “diploma” from language school 😂 while I think it is kind of humorous this marks my first milestone as I study the language and I am proud to say I received a 98% on that exam! I passed the basic level Oct 21 and I have been studying intermediate since then. Basic level was pretty easy because I had taken a basic level class already...but moving up to intermediate has been a challenge! Spanish has a lot of rules that English does not so making room for them in my brain is hard 😬 but I am learning a ton and feel as though I am improving (you’ll have to ask my friends if that is true or not). I understand a lot more and I have decided I am going to speak even if I make mistakes while doing so, I mean that’s how we learn right?! Thank you so much if you have been praying for me and/or giving financially to make this happen! I truly would not be without everyone who is in this with me!

#persiguiendo13 #thankful

Unexpected Opportunities

I am about to complete my first month here in Nicaragua. As I reflect on the last month I can tell you that it has been full of a lot of emotions...fear, excitement, joy, anticipation, nervousness, happiness (lots), sadness...I'm sure many more things. In all of it God was/is with me. There is not a doubt in my mind that I am exactly where God wants me to be. I am resting in that on the hard days and finding the joy and peace he brings..I am happy here!

Since being here God has opened a couple doors for me and I want to share about one with you today. Let me first start by telling you about school. In my first week of class I had a young teacher and she was a good teacher, but I had to change the time of my class by half an hour and she could not make that work so the school assigned me a new teacher for the start of week two. By the end of the first day with my new teacher I was completely fried and felt like I was not going to be able to learn anything. I had just figured out the way the first teacher taught and we had found a rhythm and then everything changed. The next day I went back nervous but ready to get to know the new teacher. Her name is Grace and she has actually turned out to be a super great teacher, she very patient with me. I believe it was totally God moving these pieces around for me so that I would have a better learning experience but also open a door for me.

Grace asked me the first day we met why I wanted to learn Spanish. Easy! Because I want to be a missionary here in Nicaragua. Well little did I know that this conversation that I have had million times over would be the start of God doing something new. Over the last few weeks Grace and I have talked about our lives and the differences of growing up in different countries. Part of my classes are to have conversation and it is much easier to talk about real life than to make up stories. On Monday we began our class as usual with her asking me about the day before. I spend most of my day on Sunday in the church, the rest I usually spend at home with my family here. She then asked me what we are talking about in church...and well my friends this is where it gets interesting. Currently we are in a series talking about Revelation (have you read it?? Its not easy to understand in English..and I go to a spanish speaking church..duh)). I told her that and then she asked me if I could give her and overview of the book....I want to remind you here that we are speaking Spanish and NOT English. So I told her I would do my best but that it would probably be a bit rough!

As I began to explain how Revelation tells us how the end will be. That Christ will come for His church and there will be a lot of events that happen during this time. (I will not go into detail because I know there are many beliefs on how things will play out, but I told her as I believe). I ended by saying in the very end of all of this the Bible tells us that all those who have not accepted the free gift of salvation will be thrown into hell and suffer there for eternity. But all those who chose to accept that gift and be saved from their sin will go with Him to the New Heaven and New Earth (perfection) where we will spend our eternity. Well as I had been explaining all this I was just praying that I was not losing her and that God would make it make sense. Something I forgot to mention is that my teacher, Grace, is not saved and has never really attended church. Anyways...the next question that came out of her mouth scared me to my core. "So how do I get saved and not spend eternity in hell?" ummmmm...HEEEEELLLLPPPP!!! Where is the pastor who speaks spanish when I need him?! So I said a quick prayer silently and started to share with her about this free gift of salvation. We are all born as sinners and there is nothing that we can do to change that, no good works will change the fact that we deserve to pay for our sins. But God in his great love and grace sent his only son to earth to live a perfect life, free of sin and then sacrificed his life on the cross to pay the punishment for my sin...for your sin..for the sin of the entire world. But Christ did not stay dead, he resurrected and with his resurrection he brought new life to all who believe. So it is pretty simple, believe and receive because Christ did all the work. And the crazy thing is that He knows that even once we accept him we will continue to sin and he loves us and that will not take away our gift of salvation. Nothing in this life whether you chose to follow him or not will change the fact that he loves you. ((Okay breathe Kerri...God will use this it doesn't matter if you said everything perfect..he is planting seeds and watering.))

After that she kind of smiled and then asked me "what about the people who are the worst..like the murderers and thieves? Is there salvation for them too? "
Yes! Salvation is for everyone who believes! God has made no exclusions to who can come to him..the only thing he asks is that you would believe what he did for you and accept the gift of freedom he is offering. He wants a relationship with you, not for you to spend your life trying to be good enough to come to him. He wants you just as you are.

She told me that is incredible and very interesting. After that we moved on to something else but I know that God is working. He is working even when we least expect it! My prayer was that God would give me opportunities to serve him and I had no idea it would be by sharing his love with one of my teachers.

So that is the excitement from this week! haha.

Prayer:
Would you pray with me for Grace? For God to give me more opportunities to share his love with her and that she would have a tender heart to hear.
Pray for me as a begin my second book in class...this one looks a lot harder. Learning a new language is no joke my friends! It is dificil(difficult)!
Praise God for the opportunities and doors He is opening! It is scary and exciting at the same time!

Thank you so much my friends! I love you all and pray that God blesses you with an opportunity to share His love as well! Look for the opportunities...there are more than you think. And if I can do it in Spanish..you definitely can in English! Hasta luego :)

Exciting News!

Well...it sure has been a while since I sat down to write a blog post. Better later than never, right?

I am so excited to share some news with you! In just a few short days, I am heading back to Nicaragua to attend language school. I will be studying 4 hours a day 5 days a week...my brain is already tired just thinking about it. hahaha! This is something I have known I would need since I left in 2016 for my first extended trip to Nicaragua. To say that things have not gone the way I expected would be an extreme understatement...But looking back now, I wouldn't change a thing. God's plan is so SO much better than my own.

Let me share with you a little bit of what brought me here...

In 2016, I left for my very first 3 month stay in Nicaragua. While I was there, God confirmed for me that Nicaragua would someday be the place I called home. It felt like home. It still does. Honestly, when I left for that trip, I assumed that I would do the three months, go pretty much straight to language school, and then move there within the next year or so...Well, that was not God's plan for me. After I completed my few months serving there, I made my way back to Wisconsin not knowing when I would return to Nicaragua, but God knew. Over the last few years, I have gone back and forth between Wisconsin and Nicaragua, spending about 10 months altogether in Nicaragua. I could talk for days about what I have learned and what I had the opportunity to experience on this journey...but that is not the point today.

In February, God showed me that I was not allowing Him to really truly be in control. He revealed to me that I was using "waiting" as an excuse to not do anything. And even more than that I was using it as a wall to hide what was really going on.. I was afraid. Afraid of what might happen if I leave, afraid of trusting God with my whole life, afraid of failing, afraid to break free from comfort and do something different and new. To be honest, I didn't even know that was something I had brewing inside of me because I had told the story so many times that I started to believe it myself. "I am just waiting for God to say 'go' and then I will." While I told everyone that I was waiting on God, I knew there was more I could be doing...I just didn't want to. I didn't want to move forward because that meant I would have to let go of some of the fears I had grown so comfortable with. My fears had become normal and familiar enough that I stopped trying to fight them and just gave in. And let me tell you that is a dangerous place to be! A place where you are okay with being afraid, in a stagnant place, one that is full of lost opportunities and without growth.

When God showed me these pieces of myself on February 16th, I sat stunned for a while. How had I allowed myself to get here? It was in the daily decisions to not take my "little fear" to God and instead hiding it in shame. So it was there that I made the decision to stop allowing my fear to control my life. I was going to do what God asked of me no matter how scary it was or how stupid it sounded to anyone else. I knew that going to language school was my next step in this journey. With the help of God and my friends, I found a school in Nicaragua.  Next I contacted them about taking some classes. I am enrolled in a program that will be one on one with my teachers. It will be completely tailored to me and allow me to get the most out of my schooling.

I am also really excited about having the opportunity to speak and help lead worship at a women's retreat while I am there. The theme of the weekend is Fruit of the Spirit and I will be speaking on faith. It is Oct 4 & 5 in La Esmeralda. I will be having a translator for this one since it will be just two weeks after I start my classes.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask! I would love to share more about what God is doing in this story. If you would like to partner with me financially you can do so at https://my.foxriverchristian.org/give click the "give now" button and then you can choose Kerri Roberts Missions Fund under "other accounts".  If you would like to partner with me in prayer I will be sharing on here some ways you can be praying for me.

Prayer Requests:

• That I would be able to have a clear and focused mind as I go into my classes
• To have boldness and not be afraid to make mistakes in conversations 
• For ministry opportunities
• As I prepare to speak at this women's retreat that I would be attentive to the Spirits voice and sensitive to His leading
• For God to reveal to me my next step and to prepare my heart for whatever that might be

Thank you so much for reading and walking this journey with me. I am committing to be better at posting on here and sharing what God is doing in my life..will you keep me accountable? If I don't post for a while message me and ask what is going on!

Mom

Mom,
   How can I begin to thank you enough? There are no words that adequately describe your importance in my life. I know people say things like this all the time so it sounds extremely clique...but I have no idea where I would be without you. Actually, I do have an idea and it is so not pretty. There are so many things that I should thank you for but there is not enough time and not enough words to write them all...so I will just mention a few.

Thank you Mom for being the one who always welcomes me with open arms in all my mess and failure. You are the person who since I was born has been there for me day in and day out when I mess up big? You are there. When I am excited about something you are excited too (mostly haha). When something makes me sad, you sit with me and make me feel better even if you don't say any words. When I completely don't know how to do something I need to do and come to you crying like a baby, you pick me up off the floor and help me figure out how to do it. When I make a mistake and have to come tell you how stupid I am and you say "I still love you".  Mom, how do you do it? You seem to somehow make all (me, Seth, Abbey, Jess, Heath, and dad) of our lives still work and have your own too.

Thank you Mom for all the nights you spent with little to no sleep taking care of me. For the times when I was a baby and fully dependent on you to wipe my butt and give me food.  For the times when I was a bit older and could walk and talk but got sick and spent the night in and out of the bathroom or coughing so much I couldn't sleep, you were there holding back my hair or rubbing my back.  Or when I got my license and was out late with my friends and you waited up to make sure I got home safe. And those nights that I couldn't go back to sleep because I had a bad dream that felt too real. One thing remained the same...you were right beside me, with a warm rag for my forehead, with a bowl, with the nasty cough syrup, and best of all your arms that wrapped me up tight so I knew it would all be okay in the morning.



Thank you Mom for helping me know how to treat others with kindness, love, and grace. For teaching me when I was young that I should treat others with the same kindness I would want to be treated with. For showing me in many different ways how to love people who are different than us, in whatever way that might be. For being someone who asks people into your home and showing me in very practical ways what it means to have hospitality and helping others to feel comfortable in your home. For making cookies and meals for people who maybe had a surgery or is new to the neighborhood or church. Because doing that was a gift to those people, but also a gift to me by teaching me what it means to take care of those who may not be completely able to do that for themselves. And welcoming others into something that may seem unfamiliar and uncomfortable and letting them know that they are loved.

Thank you Mom for being my teacher. Whenever I think about being home schooled I remember how blessed I am to have a mom that would spend her time teaching me when she could have sent me to school somewhere else. I think about how you had five kids and somehow home schooled us all..at the same time and survived with sanity in tact...that is impressive to say the least!

Thank you Mom for never wanting us to miss out on an opportunity whatever it may be.  No matter if it it meant you bending over backwards to get us there and then having to wait around so we would have a way home. I am sure there are countless hours you spent driving us around to the different things we were doing whether it was music lessons, youth group, baseball, fundraisers, ect. And even after all that still having a home cooked meal on the table for dinner...you truly are an amazing mom and a top chef if you ask me :)


Thank you Mom for pushing me to achieve my dreams, but also speaking truth and reality into my life. For giving me balance and level headedness (apparently thats not a word but I'm sticking with it anyway). For raising me to be my own person and for allowing me to do so even when I seemed a little weird to you and the rest of the family. Hahaha!  I know there were times in which you probably would have made a different choice than I did, but you allowed me to make my own because you didn't want to control my life. And thank you for supporting me in it.
 

Lastly, and most importantly, thank you for always telling me about Jesus. Thanks to you (and Dad) I cannot remember a time in my life that I did not know who Jesus was.  It is because of you that I stand today and say that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior. Without you telling me, taking me to church, showing me through your life, and praying for me I am not sure I ever would have known Christ. Thank you for raising me in a home that allowed the Holy Spirit to lead and actually following even when it meant moving away from family. And for leading me to Him when my focus was just not quite right. It is because of you, Mom, that I have the courage to do what God has called of me. I remember the day when I told you and dad that I felt called to be a missionary and I will never ever forget what you said.. "Do you think we are surprised?" because you knew even before me. You knew that because you raised me to know Christ it meant that he may someday have a call on my life that would lead me this way.  Thank you for making God greatest in your life so that I might see that and get to live by the example you placed in front of me.

Mom, you are my biggest blessing, my #1 cheerleader, my best friend, my nurse, my counselor (Lord knows I need it), my safe place, my constant, and so so many more things. You inspire me to be better each and every day. To be loved by you is more than I ever deserved. For all the times I didn't say it, THANK YOU!  For all the times I won't, THANK YOU!  Happy Mothers Day!

I love you Mom! <3

Seeing the growth

It has been an exciting couple weeks here in Nicaragua, specifically at the Pochocuape church!  God has been working in this church and these last couple of weeks we have gotten to see some of that in visual representation.

I love serving in this church and getting to see what God does in this place.  Something unique about our church is that we don't actually have a building yet, we have a small area which has some posts that hold up a tin roof, and as of Saturday we have two walls made out of plywood.  It was a pretty exciting thing for us to be able to enclose our space a bit in that way because this time of year is extremely windy...I have never experienced wind like this before.  People call Chicago "the windy city" but that is only because they have never been to Pochocuape.  The wind is actually painful.  It knocks small children over, and since I'm already clumsy enough it surely doesn't help my balance.  We were also able to add a wall made out of pallets for the space we have childrens sunday school in so that we might have a bit of protection from the wind over there.  Something else we have been up to is clearing/leveling a space to use for games, soccer, baseball, football, ect.

This last week we had a lot of different construction projects going on!  One more that I haven't mentioned is getting the space ready and putting the baptismal (water tank) into place.  We have a really awesome group of men who lead this church and their dedication to God never ceases to amaze me.  They spend countless hours doing all sorts of different things as we build this church, I have learned a lot from them about really and truly being sold out for serving God.  They are pretty much willing to do anything they are asked to advance God's Kingdom and Church here on earth.  This week they worked hard to get all these things ready for our weekend services so that we might see God work in new ways. 

 

On Sunday we had our very first baptisms!  Oh it was so exciting and so fun to be part of.  It was also Pastor Marcelo's first time getting to baptize.  We had four of the people who have been saved over the last year choose to get baptized and become members of our church!  I love watching people make the choice to show their faith in Christ by getting baptized and obeying what God has asked of them.  I can't wait to see how God continues to work in all their lives!  We now officially have 8 members at our church in Pochocuape!  I am so blessed to get to be part of what God is doing here!

"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

It has been waaaayyyy too long!

Hello again, I know it has been far too long since I have written.   If I were to try to tell everything that has happened since we would all be here for a while...so let me give you and overview and try to share some of the cool things along the way. 

I guess I never wrote again after I told you I got to Nicaragua in October...so let me see what I can remember about the rest of that month and November.  While I was here for a month I got to continue some of the working I had done over the summer and see some fruit of it as well.  I also got to translate for an amazing medical team and saw God do incredible work in three of our churches here.  And of course I got to continue building relationships and start some new ones.  I headed back to Wisconsin the day before thanksgiving with a heavy heart not sure what was next for me.

I got to spend the Holidays with my family and friends in the States and freeze my booty off while doing so!  Haha.  I had been invited to come back in January and wasn't completely sure if that was going to be possible but God made a way, a very clear path actually.  I honestly do not know how to explain to you the way God moves when He makes these things happen, it is like I don't even have to speak a word and all of the sudden everything is in place and I am going.  It is such a blessing in my life right now to see how He continues to fit all the pieces right together in front of me.

Pretty much right after New Years I was back on a plane headed for the next chapter in this crazy journey God is taking me on.  When I got here my best friend picked me up from the airport and I got to spend the next day with her before I headed for camp with the teens/young adults.  I actually got to surprise almost all of my people here by coming this time so that was really fun.  Only five people knew I was coming.  Lets just say the blonde haired, blue eyed, white girl on the bus stands out a bit!  Faces were priceless. 

Once I got to camp we hit the ground running.  I was the photographer because...well I am just too clumsy to play the games they play at camp.  These games are the real deal!  It was military themed this year and that stepped it up even more. Just imagine a training camp with some silliness and devotions and you pretty much can get the picture...oh and no bathrooms!  We did have showers though, Praise God!  It was a cool week getting to see camp and some of the leaders speak and some of the campers commit to God in new ways! 

I can tell you that the fun and silliness is not all that comes with ministry.  There are hard hard times and you get bad news when you aren't home and have to deal with your feelings and try to make sense of life again.  Sometimes you get good news and that makes you a little sad too because you want to celebrate with your family.  Sometimes you just want to ask "what am I even doing here anyway?".  Sometimes nothing seems to make sense and you have to trust God when you can't see.  But in all that God is still here, He is still working, and if you choose to allow it He will use you.  And if you don't He will use someone else, you just have to decide if you want to be involved. 

After camp we started getting ready for the team that would arrive in a few days.  Once they got here we worked hard in Pochocuape.  Visiting, playing, building, running VBS, and getting to spend some good time in fellowship.  While they were here we saw nine kids start a personal relationship with Jesus Christ!  We also finished a beautiful chicken coop and the team gave us some chickens to fill it!  What a blessing!  Today at church we were able to eat the eggs from those chickens and praise God for the people who allowed Him to work through their lives last week. 

That brings me to the present.  Wow!  I don't even know how to express my gratitude and love for all those who support me and love me in all of my crazy.  God has blessed me abundantly!  Today I got to work in Pochocuape all day, first during church, and then in the afternoon we worked out in the field trying to get some of the land ready to be able to us for soccer, baseball, and whatever else we might want to do.  I get to see the growth in one of the girls who accepted Christ while I was here in July and see what God has done in her life since.  She is a changed child of God, and I could write a book about all the ways I see it.  Yes, she still struggles and she still fights and still messes up...but God has changed her heart and what it beats for.  That is truly beautiful.  That is why we do missions.  I love this work.  I love these people. 

Pray that God would continue showing me what is next right when I need it.  Pray for a sweet friend of mine who is struggling right now.  Pray for my friends who start seminary classes this week, that God would work in them greatly and raise them up to be leaders in their homes, churches, communities, and relationships.  Pray for the amazing Donna (missionary) as she starts this semester with the students and sets them up for a year of study.  Pray for our church in Pochocuape, that the men God has put in leadership would continue to be sensitive to His leading, for the people who are coming to church that God would work in their lives, for those in the community who are maybe thinking about coming would you ask that someone be able to touch them in a special way this week that would bring them to church?  Would you worship with me for the lives saved and changed in Jesus name?!  We serve an incredible God! 

Forgive me for writing a book this time!  I will try hard to be better!

"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

I'm back!

I have now been in Nicaragua for about a week and a half and it is just as crazy as ever.  When I landed in Managua there were a bunch of loco people waiting for me and waving at me one the other side of the window.  Something that is just heart wrenching when you land is that once you get to baggage there is a wall made on windows...and for me I usually have at least one friend waiting on the other side.  This time I had five.  What a sweet blessing it was to be greeted by friends in the airport.  They then watched as I struggled with my four bags ((mostly not things for me)) to customs.  We ate dinner in the airport and headed to drop the guys off and as we rode in the car I was serenaded with the songs we use to teach the younger grades English.  "Its a rainbow, its a rainbow, a beautiful rainbow in the sky" in a Nicaraguan accent of course!  hahaha!  I so missed my family here.

What have I been doing since I've been here??
If you have been following my journey you might know that while I was here I taught English to preschool through 6th grade.  I am still doing that along with helping Pastor Marcelo start his church in Pochocuape.  I love being part of this brand new ministry.  It comes with its own set of struggles but it has been so awesome to see how God works in so many different ways. Wednesday I got to just sit and talk with a couple of the girls on the soccer team and get to know them a bit.  It was really a cool time because it was just me and them, no translator to rely on so instead I looked to for something better, someone better.  And man did He show up.  I don't know about you...but for me one of the biggest ways I see God in my life is when He makes my ears to hear a language I don't fully understand and makes my mouth to speak words I'm not even sure I know.  THAT is cool.  That is God! 

The second day I was hear I got pretty sick...and midway through the day as I am lying in bed one of the two people who I am living with texted me and let me know that they had both been checked for lice and had it.  So I promptly got up and showered and started washing everything.  I then spent the rest of my day and good portions of the next three to follow picking lice out of their hair.  But you know what?  That is ministry.  It isn't always pretty and it isn't always fun, but when we are called to ministry it means taking the good with the bad.  It means getting lice because the kids you spend almost every day with have it and they need love.. they need to be hugged and picked up and tickled and danced with and to play with your hair.  So you might just end up with lice.  I did not this time ((thank you Lord!)) but I had it just months ago. 

I almost forgot to mention that I have had my first hospital experience here in Nicaragua.  The story goes like this...I was playing soccer because on of the girls we are really pouring into is trying to learn how to play.  So I went to be goalie so that Dawn (who has knowledge about the sport) could watch and coach Sinai.  I was playing for all of about ten minutes when I am going to the ball and all of the sudden my knee is going left and my body is going right and I hear snap crackle pop and I somehow end up sumber salting trying to save myself.  Well I didn't hahaha!  So I started icing it because I was not able to bend it or fully straighten it. We went to the doctor just to make sure I hadn't torn my acl or something but they said all is good and just to rest it. They shot me up with some pain killers and sent me on my way.  My whole visit costing less than $100 with xrays, consult, and drugs.  Only took two hours as well!   :)

I have been able to see a lot of my friends and spend time with a few of them.  I know it might shock you but.....I just love it here.  This place, these people, the creation, the food....oh my goodness the food, life.  I cannot explain it to you in words but there is just a feeling I have when I am here that is so sweet and so distinct and so God.  When I am gone I yearn to be back, when I am here I miss my family and friends but there is no place I would rather be here on earth. 

Will you pray with me?  Pray for the pastors I work with here, that they would be refreshed in new ways and given a new excitement for their church and the ministries within it.  For the upcoming pastors who are getting ready to take their own churches.  For the missionaries I work with that they would receive wisdom and guidance from our heavenly Father that is unmistakably clear.  And for me that I could be and encouragement to those around me and shine the light of Christ in the darkness that looms.  Pray this week for us as we have a medical team in three areas (same team that will be moving around).  That we would all be filled with the Spirit and are ready to pour it out for the sake of God's Kingdom here on earth.  That those who will visit would have hearts softened and ready to receive the good news of Jesus Christ.  And that God would receive all the glory and honor and fame!  Amen!!!    He is a good good good God!  I stand in awe of Who he is and all that He has done.  May we never loose our wonder!  
 

 "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

What am I doing?

Okay, so i realize it has been way too long since my last post.  I am sorry that I have not been better about posting and keeping you all updated on what I am doing.

I have been back in the states for a little over a month and a half.  What am I doing now you might ask?  To that I say...great question!  Right now I am trying to figure out what avenue best fits my life and God's plan for me as I follow His call into full time missions.  Obviously I need to continue studying Spanish and that is one thing that I have been able to continue doing since I have been back.  Other than that I am working part time as a nanny for some of my close friends, filling in for some others at the church when they need ((which really has only been two days)), and spending a whole lot of time with my mom and the rest of my family.  God has blessed me with time, time to spend with those I love, time to dig into His word and who He is, time to grow, time to minister, time to pray, time to support, time to learn, time to rest ((this one is hard for me)), time to allow the Spirit to lead me.

As I have been seeking God and His will for my life I discovered that He was allowing me to go back to Nicaragua for a short trip.  I will be leaving Tuesday the 25th to go back for about a month.  I will be doing a lot of the same things I was doing over the summer.  Teaching English, helping with the church in Pochocuape, working with a medical team, and just getting to build relationships with people.  A couple of my friends will be graduation from seminary while I am there so I will get to be there to support them as they do that as well!  I could not be more excited to go back and see some of the growth that has happened since I left.  This trip is a huge HUGE gift that God has given me and I plan to glorify Him in it to the best of my ability.  Will you join me in praising Him for this amazing gift?!

What an awesome God we have that not only does He meet our  needs, but He also fulfills the desires and passions of our hearts!  You see I believe that if He puts something in our hearts to do He will bring it to fruition.  It may not be how we would plan, it may not be how we had hoped, and it may not be in our timing, but someday in the day of His divine choosing God will fulfill the thing that He has given you to hope for.  In the process of waiting be intentional.  Use the time He has given you to grow so that in the time that God has appointed you will be more prepared for the thing He has designed for you.  You see sometimes I think when we don't have the thing we hoped for we say "well it is up to God now and there is nothing I can do" while it may be true that we cannot make something happen, we can be preparing ourselves for when it does.  And I think the most important thing we can do in preparation is drawing close to God.  Because when the time comes it is Him we are going to need and it is Him who we need right now.  Good and bad, happy and sad, we must look to Him!  We must trust in Him.  We must rely on Him!

 "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

Pochocuape Ministry

I want to share with you about some of the ministry I got to be part of while I was in Nicaragua.  There is a neighborhood in Managua called Pochocuape.  My friend, Marcelo, was looking for some land to start a youth camp on and while he was doing so he caught a vision for this community.  God planted a passion in his heart for these people and this place.  Marcelo answered God's call to start a church in this neighborhood and so he started by having Bible study and from that it has grown.  Now we meet three times a week.  We have a Sunday morning service, Bible study on Tuesday, and youth group in Saturday.  There is also a soccer league, school ministry, and discipleship going on in Pochocuape. Almost every week we have teens, kids, and adults find that Christ is what they are missing and accept Him as their Lord and Savior!  Can we just shout out some praise for that?!?!?!?!?! 

I got the privilege of serving along side Marcelo and his team, Geovanny, Chris, and Donna.  They became my family.  On Sundays I was in charge of worship for the kids, which means a whole lot of moving around.  Most of the songs I do resemble zumba. Haha.  I do not usually enjoy working with young kids, you can say what you want but nothing you say makes it less true.  But God gave me a deep love for these kids and even though I couldn't always understanding everything they said He gave me the ability to communicate with them.  God is so so so faithful.  This was something I was so worried about before I went and as I think about it now being with them (the kids in Pochocuape) was not scary at all.

Not only did I work with kids in Sunday school, but I also worked in the school five days a week.  Me and Donna would spend every morning teaching character lessons and English to preschool-6th graders.  Being in the school almost everyday and then at the church on the weekends gave me the opportunity to see some of these kids every day of the week.  God was building relationships and bonds that only He could.  Some days in the school were harder than others but I believe that He used each and every day we were in those rooms to plant some seeds and sow some love into these lives that we got the chance to touch.  Donna is still working in the school and I cannot wait to go back and see what God has done there.  

These kids that I worked with, they are desperate for love, they are desperate for someone to hug them, for someone to tell them they are beautiful, for someone to dance with them.  They want someone to notice them and love them, this is what I did.  I got to love to these kids, I got to share God's love with them.  I know I am repeating myself a lot here, but do you understand what kind of a blessing it is to love those who feel unlovable? Do you know what kind of impact that has? You know that even though I got on to these kids over and over and over again, at the end of the day they had to hug me and kiss me goodbye. There is no thing in this earth that is greater than love.  Love that sits with kids in the dirt, love that lets them braid your hair (even though you hate it what people touch your hair), love that shows up, love that makes sounds and motions to try and communicate, love that holds on tight and never lets go, love that gave it all.  This love is what they need.  They need the love of Jesus.  I am so blessed to have been able to be part of giving that love to them.

Will you pray with me that they would receive this love?  The kind of love that reaches down into our brokenness and starts to heal us.  The love that we are all missing until we find it and accept it.  Will you pray for my friends as they lead, teach, disciple, and love the people of Pochocuape?  That their lives would reflect Christs light and love so clearly that those who see wonder what they have that is different!  Praise God with me for the work that He has begun and promises to fulfill in this neighborhood with such great need for it!  God you are so amazing and I am humbled each day that you have chosen me to be a light unto this dark world!  Would you show me how I can be light and love to others around me today and every day?  I pray for my friends in Nicaragua as they minister to these people who are searching for something, God that you would show them that it is found in you and you alone?  Thank you for the way you have worked and thank you for how you continue to work!  You are so so good!

"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

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