A Month in Nicaragua, pt.2

So to conclude the month of Nicaragua, part of our ministry is going to the dump, serving food and a sermon. The dump is where most Nicaraguan locals go to salvage objects thrown away by others and they clean them up or create something out of it in order to resell it. This is their only income. At first glance it is saddening. But while there is mountains of trash, somehow nature still surrounds it and grows within it. It’s beautifully mundane. The people there gather in a small pavilion thats at the edge of the dump in order to hear a sermon prepared by the ministry and afterwards we give them food. They line up so close to each other that there is no space between them, some of them come with food containers in order to take seconds back home with them.
One of my most memorable encounters was when I was drawing in the dinning area; I was talking to one of our translators, Derek, when a woman from the Saturday church service approached us. She asked Derek to translate, she placed a hand on my shoulder and started to say a blessing over me. She told me how God has such plans for me and that I am His beautiful daughter. She then told me she loved me and gave me a kiss on the head and walked away. I had never met the woman personally before, I may have encountered her passing by, but never introduced myself or had visited her, but in that moment I felt I could cry by her words.
On our final prayer walk, God was making his way through me. I had been struggling with speaking up, especially during any prayer or coming up with a message off the top of my head. Within this prayer walk, we came to one house and one house only. The house belonged to an older woman and we asked her if there was anything we could pray for and she immediately started to gather her sons and place them in front of us and told us, “You pray over these people.” So we asked each of them, what do you need prayer for? Jorge, her son, told us he is an alcoholic. He explained to us that it has gotten so bad that it is affecting his health and he showed us his shaking hands. He said that he stopped going to church because of his drinking. He told us that he was a sinner and was too ashamed to come to God. I told him that Jesus didn’t come for the righteous, but for the sick (Mark 2:17). I told him about the man on the third cross; there were two criminals who died with Jesus on their own crosses, one mocked Jesus- said to him “If you are the son of God then save yourself and us from this death.” but the other man said, “Don’t you fear God? You and I deserve to die for we have committed the crimes we are accused of, but this man has done nothing wrong to deserve this death. Jesus I ask you please remember when you enter your kingdom.” and Jesus turned his head to the man and said to him, “Truly I say to you, I will see you in paradise.” I explained to Jorge that we are not saved through the good deeds of ourselves, but through the complete surrender to Jesus. Jorge explained to me that he has asked God to to take away his drinking problem, but nothing has happened. I challenged him that every morning that he wakes up, he prays to God to take away his drinking problem. I shared to him how God had reached me in my darkest moments when I used to hurt myself and Jorge showed me his own scars, I explained to him that God never left me in those moments and that God has never left him in his darkest moments; I also mentioned to him that when he asks for improvement then God will provide him with opportunities to improve and through prayer God will give him the strength and wisdom to go along the right path. As I continue on my trip, I still think of Jorge and his family and I still pray for them so I ask you to pray for them as well.
We made it to Guatemala. It is truly beautiful, truly blessed to have been given the opportunity to come here. I cannot wait to see what God has planned for this next month. See you soon.


Prayer List:
Jorge: Please pray for his drinking addiction to cease and for him to come to the Lord
Leopoldo & Jose (Jorge’s brothers): for complete and constant surrender to Jesus
Adelaide (Jorge’s mother): for her faith to stay forever true and beautiful and for it to continue to grow
Guadeloupe: for healing over her infected leg and blind eyes, for her faith to stay constant in the Lord
Valentina: healing over her infections within her body and for faith and joy within Jesus