Wish you were all here with me, to see, hear, and experience life here in San Juan del Sur and more importantly to meet the people. Pray hard that God would provide the funds for me to get down here as soon as possible!!!
It has been awesome living with Andy & Diane and getting to know them better the last 7 days. The Bible talks about "you will know them by their fruit." Well it has been no surprise but a great joy to encounter the fruit of changed lives here and the fruit of Andy & Diane past work.
San Juan del Sur is a small town "hanging out" between the Pacific Ocean and a mountain. In fact the town is slowly crawling up the side of the mountain.
For all of you "bottom line" people, here's a bullet point version. The rest of you can read below for the more interesting version ;-)
-Almost didn't get out of the USA
-Found out I'm very popular with the Zancudas
-Handled "drugs" (now you have to read below to find out more :-)
-Rode in the back of a truck to a village and got to sing and share with a family there.
-Joined church ladies in a Bible Study
-Participated in a youth gathering and did games with local kids
-Learned more about life in San Juan del Sur
Thanks to those who prayed for my trip down here. The trip went very well, except for an adventure just as the adventure was beginning. It happened just as I was about to board the first flight. When they scanned my ticket so I could walk onto the plane the machine flashed red. I was told to step out of line and to give them my passport. The staff person started looking up my info and whether I had/needed visas. Thankfully, as I explained to her, Nicaragua does not require a visa for US citizens as long as they come for less than 90 days. Glad the lady finally let me board and that my trip didn't end before I started!!!
Had a great little visit with my aunt in Atlanta between flights (she and her husband are also missionaries with ABWE).
A big shout out to Traci & Carmen, two missionary ladies my age who work in the capital of Managua, who had breakfast with the Larges and I the first morning here. Great to see them again and hear what's been happening with them. They just had a team of 80 people come down from a church in the US to help out!!! That number blew my mind. How cool that a church had 80 people interested in coming to Nicaragua.
So apparently I'm very popular down here. The "Zancudas" just love to see me. They come swarming up and want to stay as long as possible. Apparently they think I'm pretty sweet...but these blood donation requests are out of control (Zancuda=Mosquito). You all should buy stock in the mosquito repellant companies because I'll be single-handedly boosting their revenues!
It was awesome this past weekend to work alongside a team of Nicaraguan believers who came here on a missions trip to do a free medical clinic. This great bunch of doctors, adults, and teens are from the church that Andy & Diane started in the capital city a number of years ago. The church is now led by a national pastor and they have a real heart to share the gospel in other parts of Nicaragua. So they sent a doctor from the church and a team here to San Juan to help out Andy & Diane and the new believers here to further connect with the community. Isn't that fabulous! And the church doctors had invited a few of their colleagues from Managua to come along with them. So we had several extra doctors and a pharmacist.
We stayed up Friday night until midnight, over at the apartment the group here rents for a meeting space, getting set up for the clinic. These Nicaraguans were a fun bunch and it was good practice listening to non-stop Spanish.
Saturday morning I was assigned to be a "drug runner" (i.e. help the pharmacist with medications, after patients had seen the doctor and received a written prescription). Well, the pharmacist and I encountered a few challenges. He didn't speak English and my Spanish is so limited. Then we discovered that the night before when the drugs were being checked and sorted, there had been a mixup. So we had to work together to recheck and re-sort the meds even as patients were coming to collect their prescriptions. Glad that guy was a pro and had a lot of patience and that God gave me a good attitude and a sense of humor. Again I am so glad you were praying, because God got us through those challenges.
During some quieter moments at the clinic I enjoyed watching the Managua team in action as they helped and chatted with patients. They were able to share about Jesus with the townspeople that came in, while the townspeople waited their turn to see the doctors.
Thursday night was the first time getting to meet the believers here in San Juan at a weekly Bible Study. I think I felt a little bit like a person going on their first date which happens to also be a blind date. I was thrilled to finally get to meet these people face-to-face but also didn't know for sure what to expect. It was great! While Andy met with the men, Diane and I had about 12 women and girls arrive. They were very welcoming to me and I was able to share my testimony partial in Spanish & partial in English and then hold a baby while the women and girls took turns reading and discussing the Bible. Afterwards I did games with the children while the adults cleaned up.
Then Saturday night, there was a youth activity and the place was packed with young people ages 10-20. By now some of the faces and names were starting to be familiar. Happily a lot of games didn't require words, and the teens were very helpful when I didn't understand something. One of the teens from Managua shared the Bible lesson and then one of the men from the church here in San Juan got up and gave an invitation if any of the teens wanted to turn to Jesus. Folks, God is working down here!!! A teenage girl stood up and prayed to Jesus to forgive her sins and come into her heart. I had been in the back corner taking pictures of the evening, but at that moment I just paused in awe.
Fast-forward to Sunday. A few people that had visited the clinic showed up for the Sunday morning service. I was out back helping with the children's class, but I heard afterwards one of the visitors had also prayed asking Jesus to forgive him and come into his heart.
Pray that these new believers would be for real and that they would keep coming and grow. It is very hard for new believers here; they face an uphill battle between families that pressure them to give up following Jesus, complex and messy relationships that they must make a choice about, addictions to be overcome, etc.
Sunday afternoon, after the Managua team left, I found myself with a bunch of the children and adults from the San Juan del Sur church lined up on the sidewalk. Andy & Diane have started going out into the neighboring villages to meet with people who have expressed interest in hearing more about Jesus, and they invite the San Juan believers to come along to help with the mission work. So these people on the sidewalk with me were mostly recent believers ready to go out and reach others! WOW. Andy took some people to go to one village and the rest of us went with Diane. I rode in the back of the truck with 4 of the kids (It was enclosed and there were benches installed) and we had a fun, exciting ride down dirt roads to a rural village. We sat on a porch with a family that asked to learn more about the Bible. One of the kids from San Juan read some Bible verses to them and led us in singing a few Christian songs. Then a grandmother from San Juan shared her testimony and Diane shared about what the Bible says about knowing for sure you are right with God. I too got to briefly share my testimony in Spanish. The family seems open and ready for us to come back in the future. Again part of the time I was just sitting back in awe as the Nica believers Andy & Diane have been discipling are stepping up to share with other Nicas.
There are so many kids and teens in San Juan. Seems like there is a school on every corner. Sunday evening, when we got back, the kids who had come with us along with some other kids in the neighborhood asked "Can we stay and play with you?" So for the next hour or so I got to chat with kids ages 6-12 and we had fun teaching each other games or making up games as we went along. As time went by more kids joined us.
Monday afternoon I went for a walk to explore the town and the schools were just letting out. Seemed like on every corner was some kid I'd meet in the previous 3 days and it was great recognizing them, remembering their names, and seeing them light up when I greeted them.
So many of these kids have a lot of "counts against them." They are also bombarded by so much "garbage" (drugs, alcohol, immorality, abuse). The whole town needs Jesus in the biggest possible way. If only every child had the opportunity to hear about Jesus and turn to Him before they get sucked into all this. They have the chance to have lives without all the tough and complicated baggage that those who get saved later in life have to deal with. Can't wait to get down here and serve alongside the Larges and the Nica believers to reach out to this community.
Yes this town is small. The kind of town where everyone knows everyone and knows everyone else's business. This is a double edged sword. The good side is that it will not take long for me to get to know everyone and for word to spread about who I am and why I'm here. The challenge is that I will have to think twice about everything I do and say in order to live above reproach and avoid even the appearance of evil. You see, given that immorality so saturates society here, people can be quick to jump to wrong conclusions. I was also told that down here, there is no such thing as being "just friends" with people of the opposite gender. As one person put it "You are either nothing or you are something." And guys here read a basic friendly attitude as something more.
For those of you who know me, know I'm going to have to turn down my outgoing personality a little bit (yes, yes, I know - A LOT). No problema, living in New England has its benefits, as I can turn up my northern icy reserve a bit when it comes to the male population.
Early each morning in San Juan del Sur you can watch the fishermen, who used to be the town's main source of income, bring in their catches to sell on the beach front.
As the day progresses, the tourists, now the bigger source of income, begin moseying around town. Most come here to surf and boat and party. But for all the supposed thrills they came for, it is sad to see how many of them have faces that tell a different story. I've watched dozens walk past me on the sidewalk and 9 out of 10 have faces and eyes that show an inner empty deadness, as though they are just existing but have no interest in life any more. It surprised me at first, can you imagine being 20 - 30 yrs old and feeling like life is pretty much done?!
Someone could have a vital ministry reaching these North American/European young adult tourists, along with those who have opted to stay and live here. They need to discover the hope that is found only in Jesus.