Nicaragua Recap

Here are just a few stories of people I met. There are so many more amazing people but these are some of the people I got to see multiple times and felt more of a relationship with. 

  The man leading VBS at the church we helped with decided to tell us his testimony. We learned that he had a very hard past. When he was younger his uncle was very abusive towards his mom and family. One day his uncle went to jail and threatened his mom that he would kill he went he got out of jail. He was about 12 at this time and decided to learn to fight so his uncle couldn’t hurt his mom when he got out. So he went to the streets to become tough and got into drugs and alcohol at that time too. A man that we met at the church evangelized to him and he decided to follow God. He now is so gentle and kind and you would not be able to know of his past. He now has worked at that church for a few years with kids ministry and is so good at what he does.

 We met a 16 years old girl but she looks about 8. About 6 months ago her bones became very weak. She now can barely walk and spends most of her time sitting in a plastic chair in her home. She used to be very good at school and now is unable to go. Her smile and eyes are so bright. There family goes to church and are so full of faith which is beautiful to see. She is such a sweet and beautiful girl.

   We met a 12 years old girl who has a Kidney disease. Because of this she can’t eat food with salt in it. She also needs shots once a week and has to go to the hospital in Managua once a month for scans. This family also needs a new house as there are 11 people in a tiny weak house. We went back to their house a few weeks later and our translator was telling us how great this families need is. Someone on our team wrote a blog about this family and raised over $800 for them!! Which is about how much they will need to rebuild a house. The first week we were there they said they new God would provide and have faith in him to help their daughter and her health problems . When we were leaving Nicaragua the grandma told us because we came their she wants to go back to church and give her whole heart to God. This family was such a blessing to us and their hearts were so kind.

Recap of Nicaragua:

Favorite thing: I loved the people we met their, they were so kind and their faith was very encouraging. 

Hardest thing: I felt numb at times and the type of ministry we were doing was difficult for me. This ministry was very prayer and evangelism based. Which is very good but i typically like more discipleship and work where you can see the fruit more easily. Because this was so hard for me I didn’t feel super passionate about the work which made me feel numb and like I wasn’t growing much. 

What I learned: I learned that there are different seasons for growing. I was talking to out squad mentor Cami and told her about feeling numb and like I wasn’t growing much and she told me that sometimes you are in a winter season. You may not be growing or changing much but God is giving rest and preparing you for a season of growth. And this time also teaches you how to be faithful in spending time with God even when you don’t feel like you are growing in it. 

We left Nicaragua early Wednesday morning and drove 9 hours to our ministry location in Costa Rica. We have done two days of ministry and I already love it so much here!! I can’t wait to tell you guys more about this beautiful place:)

Love you all, 

Halle