Nicaragua 2014 - day 6

Last Day

Yeah, it's never fun to wake up and realize it's the last day here.  All the goodbye's that have to be said and all the crying. :-(  The thing that keeps me from getting too upset is the amount of progress I've seen here this week.  Not our progress in what we did, but the progress God has done through this ministry over the past year.  Kids are growing up and learning.  Houses are being built or repaired.  Young men are comign to know God and are serving Him.  It really makes my heart jump to see all of it and knw that I have been a very small part of it.  

The Second Step

This was about the 5th or 6th time I've been to Nicaragua now, but only the second mission trip here.  This trip, to me, felt like "coming home to people I knew" this time.  There was very little 'newness' to it, but there was a wonderful, day after day, expectation of who I would see and what we would be doing.  It was great to - continue - the work here.  I'll admit, I got really tired here this week.  Probably a lot more so than even last year and I'm not sure why since we had great weather and it wasn't so hot.  It might be because of "life stuff" that is going on, but who knows.  It really slowed me down.  In some ways that was good and in some ways that was frustrating.  The good was that it gave me time to think, reflect and pray more throughout each day.  I was able to slow down and not go at a breakneck pace at whatever we were doing.  The bad part is that it was hard for me to get moving sometimes.  I saw some of our group work like crazy all week, sweating it out and I wanted to do that 100% like they were doing (like I had before), but my strength just wasn't there this time all week.  Yes, I worked hard and the sweat and dirt will take at least two cycles in the wash to get out ;-) but it was different this trip.  I will say that it did allow me to be mentally present more with many of the kids, Josue and Luis. And that - was good.

Ruby's House

First thing this morning was Ruby's House.  There is no way to fully explain Ruby's House to someone.  It really is something to be experienced.  In one sentence, it's a place where we go to pray for each other in deep and connecting ways.  God moves hearts and changes lives there sometimes.

Last year I got shredded emotionally at Ruby's House.  It was one of the hardest times for me spiritually that I have ever gone through.  There was a lot of healing that began that day, but it took a lot of pain.  I brought back with me a lot of what was prayed that day and, throughout the year, it helped me remember the healing, focus on what was to come and look forward to the future instead of fearing it.

Today was different.  It was wonderful and very much what I had expected.  I prayed.  I prayed and prayed.  For myself, my family and each person on our team.  God gave wonderful insight into each person and we spoke deeply into each other's lives.  There were many tears, most of which were of joy, but some were for things that had to change in their lives.  It was wonderful to see more healing start.  God had words for Trish too.  I can't wait to tell her. :-)

And yes, I'm bringing something back from Ruby's House again.  It's much different than last year and much more promising, in a 'growth' way.  I'll keep those words in my heart for a long time.

The Market

After Ruby's House we went to the market.  Now Huembes Market is gigantic.  It must be acres and acres of small shops and stores and fruit stalls and barbers, and everything you could possibly imagine.  It's a fun place to find things to bring home for everyone.  I didn't expect God to do anything at the market.  It's cool how God moves when we aren't even expecting it.  Terry and I were checking things out at one stall and a young lady came up to see if we needed anything.  She had her phone in her pocket blaring music as loud as it would go.  At first I thought it was kinf of weird that she would have that while trying to talk with us.  Then, suddenly, I realized I was singing along to a great Christian tune that was playing out of her pocket!  :-)  How fun!  She heard me and asked if we were Christians.  The next 5-10 minutes were me, Terry and her just talking about each other's lives; where we came from, what church we went to, etc.  She shared that she loved to sing.  I asked if she was part of a choir and she said that she wasn't because she was just visiting the church where she attended right now.  That was about it.  So, if you want a truly random encounter from Nicaragua on your prayer list to pray for, pray for that young lady, that God would give her a place to use her voice in praising Him, that she would find a church where she felt comfortable to become a member and that God would help her continue to grow.  :-)

After the market we had a fast food, friend chicken lunch in an air conditioned Tip Top restaurant.  :-)

Back at The Park

The funny thing is that when most groups come down here for the week they take the last day to go do something fun in Nicaragua.  When our team was asked, "What do you guys want to do on the last day?"  Almost the entire team said, "Go back to Los Braisiles!  Be with the kids!  Do skits!  Build houses!"  ;-)  It was funny, I don't think Coburn expected that.  It even seemed like there might be a bit of a logistical challenge aroudn doing that because it was on the other side of town from Ruby's House and the market.  Needless to say, we DID go back.  It was late afternoon, around three, and the kids were gone fmor the school, but all of our kids in the town were there and, as usual, when the van came by, the kids came out.  Running around, piggy back rides, games of tag, sitting and talking, meeting more new kids.  It's amazing.  I look over and Kim S. has taken otu the EvangeCube again.  There must be 15 kids watching and listening to the story.  They look enthralled!  Praise God!!!  We never know how many times the message much be heard of if one of those children said something to God right then that we may never know about - but - it was shared and they heard it.  I pray that God uses every word that was spoken and that He changes lives because of it!

The kids goodbye

This is why I think God will continue our (BEP) ministry here in Nicaragua.  Every trip has a last day.  And, every last day is hard.  I was trying very hard to keep things upbeat with the kids and not let it be so serious or sad.  "We would be back".  "It's been a ton of fun"., etc...  But, when I said, "Don't worry, there is another team coming right after ours - next week!" three of the kids rolled their eyes.  It took a minute for that to register, but I asked them, "Why did you roll your eyes?".  The answer was that other groups were 'different'.  Now, I know that our group may not be anything amazing, but there is something very, very special about our BEP groups that come down here that even these kids see that we are diffferent.  This is what I think:

- we love different, strong and full of the love of God with these kids

- we remember them and they remember us because we "KNOW" them

- we serve WITH them, not just FOR them.  We come alongside them.

- we meet emotional, physical and spiritual needs when God shows them to us

- we get dirty with them and don't let anything in the way of our hugs and kisses (that was new for me this year.  Hugs were always easy for me, but this year I must have kissed 100 little heads,  I think I finally saw, in a very small way, why it was easy for Mother Theresa to love the horribly sick ones that she worked with.  Yes, they may be contagious, but how can you help but touch and hug and kiss and love them???)

- GOD HAS CHOSEN TO BLESS US WITH - PEOPLE - NOT JUST A MISSION TRIP LOCATION

And yes, there were tears and hugs and kisses at the end.  And, I'm not sure Kim Stewart has stopped crying even now. ;-)  It is hard to leave them.

Debrief

The nightly debrief was good.  We talked about Ruby's House, the whole trip, the kids, what we want to take back and continue (if you want to get involved - talk to Terry!!!).  Our small group really connected this week.  It's always cool to see how God takes such a diverse group and pulls them together.  It was also really cool to see the differences in bring a small group verses a large group.  The dynamics are different and things "flow" differently.  I think we are all coming back (again!) with a renewed passion and a renewed perspective on many things.  Please ask each one of us to talk about the trip.  I think it will bless you and it will help us remember and remembering is GOOD!

That's It.

I'm sitting up in my morning spot this morning for the last time of the trip.  It actually raingin and the smell is incredible.  Fresh and cool.  There hasn't been any rain all week and it's so good to see and feel.  I'm pretty sure that I need to build a deck on top of my roof so I can have this spot at home.  ;-)

We leave in about 90 minutes to go home.  Time to pack, time to go through customs, etc..  We get to see family and give hugs on that side now.  We head home, but part of stays behind and we feel it.

Prayer requests:

- That God would continue His work here, at BEP and in our lives.

there are a million more stories and things to tell.  I can't wait to catch up with everyone.

Nos vemos pronto!  ;-)

Matt