“The One who calls you is faithful, He will do it.” 1 Thessalonians 5:24
As was shared in prior email updates, September was the end of one phase and the start of another. On September 28th I transitioned from San Juan del Sur to the capitol city of Managua. I leave Friday for 2.5 weeks in the USA for a training conference and to connect with family. Then I’ll be back in Managua and further north in Nicaragua exploring existing and potential future ministry opportunities with the rest of our ABWE team until February when I’ll return to the USA to attend ABWE’s candidate class for long term missionaries.
Prayer Requests:
- God’s guidance for next few months.
- God’s provision of churches and individuals who want to partner in prayer and finances for the future, as I raise support to be a long term missionary to Spanish-speaking people.
- Clarity on future location of service.
- For Andy & Diane Large, and for the on-going work and the people of SJdS
Praises:
- Great final month in SJdS
- My teacher L and her baby are doing well.
- The spiritual growth of some of the teens
- Continued opportunities to share Jesus with others
The final month passed like a whirlwind.
I’ve continued teaching youth group and Sunday School. One week, our oldest boy (JR, 15yrs) asked if he could teach the devotional for youth group. We have been praying a lot for this young man over the past year. It was amazing to watch him teach a lesson on salvation to the other young people. He did a super job.
The last few weeks in SJdS it was great to see some of our other teens come back and start getting involved.
One of our church ladies “M” has a very aggressive form of cancer and has been given only a short time to live. Since she can’t get out of the house, a group of us brought “church” to her and did a mini service. Two of our teen girls did some special music with me. It was a precious time, and this lady is such an amazing woman of faith. Her peace about the situation was an example to all of us.
Nicaragua had its biggest annual celebration during the month of September celebrating Independence and Homeland. They call it “Días de Patría” and have all kinds of parades and cultural presentations. It is quite a noisy, jubilant time. I got to watch many of the kids and teens that I know march in the parades or give presentations.
The past two weeks have been filled with an avalanche of goodbyes and packing. Definitely a lot of bittersweet moments.
The church folks held a big goodbye party. There may or may not have been tears, but I’ll freely admit there was a lot of hugging. From babies to adults they have all become dear to me. And I was so blessed by their words of farewell.
Some days you wonder if you are having any impact, whether any difference is being made. There were several surprises during the final week to hear of God touching lives here that I had no clue about.
The teachers of the Spanish school surprised me with a big goodbye lunch as well. These women have become my friends and I’m thankful that through technology I can stay in touch. One of them, “V”, asked if we could continue Bible Study together online. Looking forward to doing that.
The family I lived with during September were very sweet people, and one night, the week before I left, God opened an opportunity to have an hour-long conversation with my landlady about the Bible, Jesus, and salvation. Pray for her (“L”).
No goodbyes are easy, but some are harder than others. Probably one of the hardest was with the Y family. We had our final ESL/Bible class together the night before I moved. They are going through a really hard time, but the mom is hanging on to the truth that God will never leave them.
Pray for Andy & Diane Large as they continue the work In SJdS. Pray for a Nicaraguan pastor for the church and additional helpers. Pray for the church folks themselves to be faithful in stepping up into their new roles with children, youth, and music.