The physical sun is shining very bright and hot here in San Juan del Sur (SJdS) as we enter the Nicaraguan “dry season.” Praying that the righteousness of Christ will enter peoples lives and shine bright in the darkness here.
Praises:
1.God’s protection for our area of Nicaragua during Hurricane Otto, the earthquake, and the tsunami warning.
2.God’s abundant faithfulness to me as He continues to teach me to ask in faith and trust Him.
3.Opportunities to share about Jesus with children and adults here.
4.God’s blessing on my first time giving a presentation in Spanish to a group of pastors’s wives at the church planters institute in Managua
Prayer Requests:
1.Additional funding to cover my shortfall as well as to cover the final 4 months of my two year term (the cost of living here in SJdS turned out to be higher than expected, as things are more expensive here than in the capitol)
2.For salvation for Salta, Angelita, along with several neighbor kids with whom I got to share.
3.Health and energy day by day. God to fix my messed-up sleep cycle (lack of sleep)
4.God to bring the right Nicaraguan man to become the pastor of the church here in the future.
It is incredibly obvious people are praying for me and for Nicaragua. Almost daily I’m reminded of God’s power and care in how He takes care of me and also opens doors of opportunity.
He protected us during the hurricane, and the following day He protected me as I took a 3 hour bus ride by myself on a Nica bus from the capitol back to SJdS.
Even with my very limited Spanish, He has given opportunities to share with my teachers, my landlady, and neighborhood children.
Busy here at the church with organizing the music for each service, singing, helping with Sunday School (including translating the lessons into English for the English-speaking kids that come), and leading games for all our youth events, including for a recent community outreach event at a neighboring barrio (Las Delicious).
This month has also given me many opportunities to give comfort to women and families who were facing challenges. One lady lost her mom, another has stage 3 cancer, my teacher is trying to apply for a US visa, and my landlady is burdened for her kids and husband.
With help I was able to prepare and give a 20-30 minute devotional in Spanish about “God’s Comfort to Us so We Can Comfort Others” both to our teen group and to a group of pastors’s wives at a training session.
This month there were many Nicaraguan cultural experiences as well: graduation ceremony, birthday party, funeral, and in a few weeks I’ll be attending a wedding.
Two days ago God orchestrated an incredible experience. I was on a ferry ride and had been praying to be courageous in sharing. A hardened looking woman was on the other side of the ferry. Gave a quick prayer for her. Forgot about her and tried to nap, couldn’t so started to read. Suddenly she came over and plunked herself down across the table from me. Talk about God dropping an opportunity in your lap!
Another quick prayer for Jesus’s love to shine through to her and for wisdom. I smiled and said hi. Mentioned it was my first time to the place we had just come from. She began talking about the place as well, then asked why I was in Nicaragua. This led to an hour long conversation and with Diane also participating we shared our own stories about why we here and about how each of us came to hear about and receive Jesus. Rather than shutting down the conversation, this woman revealed she’d been thinking a lot about God and the various religions and she asked a lot of questions. God must have done a mini-miracle because she was able to understand my Spanish and I hers. Incredible to share with her that God is not some money-grubbing ogre, but rather a loving, truthworthy savior who offers to every person a personal relationship with Him.
Please pray for Salta that she would keep in touch and she would receive Jesus as Savior.
The day after that my landlady stopped by for a long chat and let me pray with her about all her worries for her family.