July, 30, 2008

Hola Familia and Amigos,
We might as well practice while we are here. A language barrier exists for many of us who do not know Spanish or only a little. On this trip we only have one person who can speak Espanol in our group, Pastor John's mother, Blanche. Our mission guide from Orphan Network, Steve also speaks Espanol. There are a few others visiting who were here before us, who serve as translators for us when we teach Vacation Bible School to the children. Amazingly enough, even though a language barrier exists between us and the children, it does not seem to be an obstacle. This just reinforces that the language of love transcends all other languages. Although, we may not be able to tell them everything we want without finding a translator, we speak to them with our hearts and they respond.
This morning after a breakfast of fresh fruit including "the best pineapple many of us have ever tasted," and pancakes, we gathered on the porch for our morning bible study. Today we reflected on the initial impression many people, including ourselves, have when first hearing about or considering going to Nicaragua. We first think of all the things we will have to give up or do without, such as air conditioning, hot water, television, electricity, cell phones, and networking sites. Rarely do we think about what we will gain. Actually, what we gain far outweighs, anything we have to give up. It is hard to explain, but what we gain is priceless, it cannot be measured in monetary means, it is also hard to measure it with words. It is something you feel as soon as you see the faces of the children, the pain and joy in their eyes, the smiles on their faces, the laughter as you play with them, the excitement when they see you coming to visit them.
We talked about meeting the physical needs of the people with the resources we so many with the five loaves of bread and two fish, we will try to approach this from a problem solving perspective, if we are like Andrew, we immediately have a lack faith and see this as impossible task. If we think as either of these men think, we will certainly be frustrated before we even begin. However, if we use the faith of the little child who offered the bread and fish, we know that all things are possible with Jesus. We don't need to concern ourselves with what resources we have, God will give us all we need, when we need it. Maybe it doesn't take as much as we believe. The needs of the people here are great there is no doubt about this. But, their expectations are not. They are content without all the conveniences some of us consider necessities. The power goes out, no worries, they just roll with it. It is a powerful example of how we are slaves by all the possessions we own. Without all the distractions we have in the United States, we experience time for each other, time for God, and time for the children.
The presence of God is very evident here inside the Verbo Compound. The staff here show God's love by the wonderful meals they prepare for us, in the time and care they spend washing our laundry by hand, and it cleaning our rooms, and making us comfortable in every way they can. The children show us love, and we show them love, and the spiritual and physical needs are met. We may have to put up with a few inconveniences, but none of us seem to mind. What we gain is much more than what we have to sacrifice. Until next time...........